Another run accomplished today with a few noteworthy points: I ran my scheduled 8kms down the beloved gravel shoulder side road. I think it was about 27 degrees C again..in the late evening!! (Looks like I’m not going to get a break from the heat for a while yet. Generally though, I love it when it’s this hot.) I managed a time of 6:07/km today at 49mins finish, which I’m pretty jazzed about considering all contributing factors.
I was tested!
About 2/3rds of the way to the halfway point, (doing a pretty excellent job of pacing myself at what felt for me like a snail’s pace) I spotted, out of the left corner of my vision, a soccer ball sailing along the grass into full view and headed for the highway just a few feet in front of me!
I thought I could get it for a group of boys behind a neighborhood fencing who were shouting my way, trying to get the question out for me to retrieve it for them — after all, it was just a few feet ahead. But, because I was pacing myself so carefully and going so slow, consequently I couldn’t get myself into gear fast enough before the ball rolled onto the busy two-lane highway adjacent me and in front of a car that came to a slow stop.
…I could have made an effort to get it, but it was still rolling onto the next lane. I checked to see if anyone was coming down that side. It was even busier than the first lane. So,…that wasn’t happening. (I’d be omitting a critical thought if I didn’t mention that I also considered the time it would cut from my run to retrieve the ball. Not to mention, looking like a complete arse running into oncoming traffic that would surely beep the heck out of me if I didn’t also get hit in the process. And then take even more time to make some clumsy attempts to kick the ball all the way back to them.)
“Nope! Sorry boys.” I couldn’t be the heroine today.
That wasn’t really a test for me at all, just a bit of an annoyance wherein I made the right choice.
So I get back from the halfway point and, sure enough, but to my surprise, the boys somehow got the damn ball back and now it’s rolling back from over the fencing (that is quite a few yards away from the roadside) and back toward the damn highway! …
A few minutes prior to that I had spotted a young woman running and she had stopped to walk in the midst of a tempo?/fartlek? routine (who knows why?!), I guess.
I ran at a smooth momentum past her, but as soon as I spotted her initially I automatically picked up my pace!
This was the test.
Immediately I recognized I was unconsciously or automatically running faster to try to catch up with her. My nice pacing was in jeopardy. I have a history of doing this! It’s right up there with starting out too fast! (Don’t even talk to me about the sound of a starting gun!) I get excited. Discipline this way has never been my forte.
After I ran past her and got ahead for a few yards she had returned from walking to running again.
My pace had significantly quickened, but I kept it enough in check. I literally had to repeat, “Run at your own pace, run your own race,” to myself like a mantra.
I had to remember that I was going 8k today, which is a challenge for me right now, and I’m supposed to do it at a relatively easy pace.
I had to remember my pacing for the sake of my long-term goal which is finishing a marathon, but for today it was just about finishing my 8km at an even pace throughout!
The boys were once again hollering at me to get their ball for them. I ignored them. I ignored children, and I felt bad about it.
But, I thought, the girl/young woman behind me could easily get it for them and regardless, “I’m not stopping.” I kept looking back at her though, like “You get the ball for them please!” Of course, she did and did it fairly easily because this time the ball didn’t quite make it onto the highway.
I felt like a dick for not getting it for them myself, but I’d had enough. (How does this happen twice? Maybe they should be kicking it in a different direction? Maybe? Hmm?) I continued to pace myself appropriately, but if I had given it just a bit more effort when I first spotted her I could have easily thrown my pace out of whack for the rest of the run home!
But, that didn’t happen. For the most part, I controlled myself and I passed the test!
Sure enough, when I looked behind me about five or so minutes later she had turned down a different street. Now, what if I had tried to race her or kept on with an increased pace out of compulsion? …How stupid would that have been? ..That’s just the thing I thought to myself: You just don’t know where a person is at when in terms of their workout. Are they just ending their run? Are they running for another 10kms or a fast 5? Kinda silly to start quickening your pace to outrun them, eh? (I know, it’s childish, but it’s more of an automatic compulsion..lack of self-discipline.)
Oooh, it’s such a temptation for me though! Many times setting out I’m shocked to discover that what feels like a slow crawl for at least the first half of my run is actually appropriate and more effective for an overall better time!
That’s a lot like my life. But I want to be the tortoise now that just gets it done (no matter how long it takes).
Tomorrow’s distance will be a 5k…I am repeating Week 1 because it syncs up better to exactly 12-weeks before the day of the marathon. Today’s song is: Ruby by Jim Yosef & Alex Skrindo.
riseuprunning 