This past week's theme was adaptation and preservation.  I absolutely did not expect the heat on Monday.  Because of my job, I have a lot of flexibility as to when I can run, in fact, I usually run during lunch time.  As I stepped outside on Monday morning, I realized that it  wasn't going to happen that day.  I ended up running at 9 pm Monday night - after a full day - it was not fun.  At all.  Although I did hit every interval and I was glad I did not wuss out.  I decided I needed to do my runs in the early morning from here on out.  My wife runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for the Prairie Fire Marathon, so I could keep my M, W, F rotation with out any trouble.

Wednesday morning, everything went along quite well.  I got up, found everything, and was outside in good time.  I have a habit of opening my running app, turning on my music and just going (not looking at the what my intervals are going to be since the program tells me when to run and when to walk).  That is not longer the case as I had gone significantly farther on the first interval.  I was afraid my app had malfunctioned, so I checked, and the intervals for Wednesday were significantly different than Monday's.  "Oh well," I thought and powered through.

Friday morning I pulled up my intervals just to see what was in store.  There was only one interval: just run for the entire time.  No walking, no splits.  I kinda freaked out in my own head.  I hadn't ran for that long in years - I honestly didn't think I could do it.  I briefly contemplated not even running at all.  I quickly dismissed the idea, finished getting ready and got outside.  I told myself that I was going to run as long as I could and if I needed a 30-second walk break - I'd take it.  I actually had the presence of mind to pace my run and I completed it with out stopping!  I was really stoked as I got closer to the end.  I felt great - I completed a workout I'd almost skipped.  Now that I know I can run that long with out stopping I can run my intervals a bit harder this week.

 

I also realized that what I eat the day before (specifically the night before) can make a HUGE difference.  How late I eat, how much water I drink a head of time, and how many minutes in the morning I give myself to completely wake up are HUGE.  I know most runners already know this, but having that personal revelation helps me keep focused during the week.  I'm not just eating right because I should; I'm doing it because this program is important to me and it's something I want to do the right way.