mindfirerunner

I keep hoping for warmer weather for my long runs. The bitter cold temps of Colorado have made for a tough winter for this girl. I’ve had a challenging few weeks to boot, but was looking forward to a strong and solid run this morning. After falling asleep at 7:30 last night (yep, that’s right) I slept in until 6:00 and still felt tired. I decided it would be best to get up and get my run done, otherwise I’d start doing other things such as cooking breakfast and cleaning, and likely not get out the door.

12 miles was on the docket for this morning; the same mileage as the past few weekends. No big deal since Thursday’s hill run was a tough 9 miles and I faired okay afterwards. I started out the door and had a good start on my run. It’s been harder to get moving the past few weeks and my body has been retaliating for some reason, but I managed to get warmed up around mile two. By mile four I was done. I was already exhausted, my muscles ached, my joints hurt, my head hurt, and my hands and feet were numb. “So, it’s going to be like this again?” I thought to myself. Okay, let’s get moving then.

I headed down the country road for a change of scenery and to keep my mind on things other than everything that hurt. I powered down my watch because I didn’t want time to make me feel like I was failing. I knew if I could get through 12 miles then I would have had a successful run this morning. I had to re-vamp my goal for today. My goal was no longer to run a 7:30 pace. My goal was to finish.

Sometimes we have to change our plans and re-evaluate our goals. Life throws a few rocks at us and we have to move around, over, and sometimes through things that will in the end make us more adaptable, more confident, and stronger.

I’m not sure when 12 miles will feel like 12 miles again instead of 26, but I’ll be thankful for what I have today and am reminded that I should be thankful every day ~ not just the days when the pain reminds me. Maybe that’s the reason for it.