For the past few weeks, I have been putting off my long runs because it has been so freakin' hot in DC that I had no desire to be anywhere that did not involve air conditioning. But yesterday, yesterday I decided it was high time I got off my butt and got a long run in. This week was the first week in a few that I've managed to get in 5 days at the box, plus a run. I have to say, I think I may have overdone things just a smidgen. I hit the box on Monday and Tuesday but had to take a rest day Wednesday so that I could be here in the house when the professional cleaners came to clean our downstairs bathroom. My former roommate decided to move out of our house and oh by the way, not clean anything.... including her shower and toilet which looked like they hadn't been cleaned in months, as evidenced by the mold. For serious. I can't make that up. Anyway, I needed to make sure that got nice and clean before our new tenant moved in, so I missed the box on Wednesday.
Thursday we hit a partner hero wod which was Coe. Each person did 5 rounds of 10 thrusters and 10 ring push-ups, and runs were added before and after, just for some extra added fun. On Friday, it was First Friday, and we got to choose our hero, girl, or benchmark wod. I chose to do Annie because I wasn't really feeling in the mood to throw any heavy weight around.... there's a reason for that which I'll get to later, but yes, that is very out of character for me.... I have not yet "mastered" double unders per say, but I have been noticing some improvement in them, so I thought this would be a good time to get some work in. For example, I am now able to string together 15 double unders as opposed to 2. I call that improvement....
Saturdays, in preparation for Fight Gone Bad, we have been doing hero wods. This week's wod was Badger, which despite feeling like utter and complete crap, I managed to PR on. Now granted, that may also be because I haven't done Badger in over a year, but I came in on Badger in 37:30. I think that I can actually do this faster, but my runs were VERY slow. The humidity on Saturday morning was AWFUL. I really felt like I couldn't breathe outside at all.... but regardless, a PR it was.....
So if you're clocking, that's 2 heros and a girl wod before deciding in the heat and humidity that it would be a GREAT idea to go for a run. Initially I was thinking 45 minutes. Laugh if you want, but for me, that is a long run. For as much as I hate running, 45 minutes seems like eternity. You may be wondering why then, if I hate running so much I signed up for a half marathon. Well, two months later I'm still trying to figure that out as well.....
Anyhoo, I went with the intention of running about 45 minutes. Since I run for time and not distance, I am always keeping a keen eye on my watch. Well, when I got to 20 minutes out, I told myself just to run for 2 1/2 more minutes. Well, when I looked down and 22:30 had gone by, I said, eh what the heck. I may as well just run for 25:00 out and then that will be a 50 minute run. Well, then I got to 25:00 minutes out and said, eh, just run for 2 1/2 more minutes. When I got to 27:30, I said, well I've come this far, I may as well just run the 30 minutes out. Well, I ran 30 minutes out, and thought, well if I run 32:30 then that will be my longest run to date, so what the heck. What's 2 1/2 more minutes? At 32:30, I decided, well heck, I may as well just run 35 minutes out and turn around, which is precisely what I wound up doing.
There were a few, um, FLAWS, however, with this series of events. 1) I was only planning on being out for 40-45 mintues, so I took no water. It was 80 degrees with 90%+ humidity when I started. Oops... 2) For the half, I want to start experimenting with sport beans and see if they help me maintain my energy. Since I was only planning on being out for 40-45 minutes, I didn't take any with me. 3) Again, since I was only planning on being out for 40-45 minutes, I didn't take anything in case of knee pain. My knees gave me some serious throb right around 1.05:00 in.
Now, despite the stupidity of this run (yes it was dumb because of the lack of water factor) I am proud of myself. An hour and ten minute run is nothing to sneeze at. I challenge you to do anything for an hour and ten minutes without stopping and see how great you feel. Despite the heat and the humidity, I got it in and got it done. Now, it was not super fast, but there is still time for fast. Fast I can build up to for the next two months. Right now, maintaining a pace and keeping my body from falling apart is key before the Baltimore half. So, that just 2 1/2 minute more mentality really paid off. Just next time you find yourself questioning whether or not you can finish a wod/keep running/or in general just keep going, just think of me and tell yourself to do it for 2 1/2 minutes. It's only 2 1/2 more minutes.
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