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December 30, 2005
Just Saying No
I'm not going to do a little 4-mile double this afternoon. I'm very, very tempted to, but I won't. It seems this running thing gains momentum sometimes, like a runaway train, and even though I know I shouldn't I can't stop myself. Part of it is that I'm a little bit afraid that if I break my rhythm I won't be able to get back into it. Which is a valid concern because sometimes a day off turns into two turns into three... until I realize that I'm in the process of sacrificing weeks of training on the altar of laziness.
At the moment though, I've run (by a conservative estimate) 68.5 of the 70 miles I have for the week (my weeks run Sunday to Saturday), my legs are feeling ok but not super-great, AND I'm planning on doing a 2 and 1/2 hr. run early tomorrow morning with Becky (which I'm going to count as my Sunday long run), then doing the Midnight Run in Central Park tomorrow night (which will end up being about 7 with the jog from my friend's apartment to the park and back and which I'm going to count as tomorrow's run). So even though I'm feeling compelled to run this evening, even though it feels a little odd to just do single runs two days in a row (just did 9 on the treadmill at the gym yesterday... was entertained by ESPN's Top 10 Games of 2005, only I kept getting choked up and running and crying don't mix... plus I was a little disappointed that they didn't put the NYC Marathon in there -- a HUGE oversight, in my opinion: what a race!), I will refrain.
Becky and I did a little more than 8 this morning along this route that follows the shoreline. For some reason (I blame her) we started out motoring. After a couple of miles, about the time I visualizing the rest of the run and wondering whether I was going to be able to hold the current pace and carry on a conversation for much longer and concluding that I probably was not, Becky spoke up and asked if we could slow down a bit. My reaction: "Thank God!"
It never occurred to me to ask to slow down -- all that occurred to me was to calculate the precise amount of suffering continuing at the current pace was going to entail. I think this is the legacy of all the training runs I did with the guys' teams in college and grad school. I never knew where we were (if I don't have a map I'm constantly lost -- I can never remember street names so I navigate visually and if things look the same I haven't got a prayer) and I absolutely couldn't ask to slow down because I was already an interloper; I certainly didn't want to be an interloper who was compromising their run. So when the pace got hot, I just sucked it up. Going to try to re-wire a bit, maybe.
Posted by alweiss at December 30, 2005 02:27 PM
Comments
Whenever I run with someone else and the pace seems fast I always think that it's just me and never say anything. I guess that I assume that it isn't as hard for the other person as it is for me, maybe because it's usually guys? Whatever the case, I should learn to swallow my pride and speak up.
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at December 31, 2005 10:59 AM
Exactly!
Posted by: alweiss at December 31, 2005 03:13 PM