I May Or May Not Be A Hypochondriac

This morning I just was not really excited to get out of bed and go for a run. So, I didn't. I stayed in bed and just slept instead. Which meant that I packed myself a bag so that I could head straight to the gym after work and get my run in then. The run for today was 5-6 miles, including 4 x 1:30 AI + 6 GP. I don't think I've been to the gym at night since the beginning of the year and if I was wondering where all the New Year's Resolutioners were, I found them! They all come out at night! I managed to get a treadmill (not my favorite one) and off I went.

I was a little worried (okay, a lot worried) about how my knee would feel while I was running, which was one of the main reasons that I decided to do this run inside. I thought that if I did have a problem it'd be better to be at the gym where I'm not miles from home and then have to figure out how to get home with a hurt knee. I'd say that within the first half mile, I was miserable. My knee felt okay. I could definitely tell that it was there, (which I don't normally feel my knee, so that's something) but it wasn't hurting me.

However, what did hurt were my feet. Every single step I took was painful. Something about my orthotics was literally rubbing me the wrong way. My arches were not happy about anything that was happening and I thought about crying (it really hurt that badly) and quitting, but instead after 0.85 miles, I decided to take out my orthotics and see what happened. I ran another 1.25 miles without my orthotics and my feet felt better, but I felt worse.

I decided that what I needed to do was get off the treadmill, take a bathroom break, and regroup. So, that's what I did. I was realizing that I had two choices (A) run in my orthotics and try to save my feet or (B) run without them and possibly really hurt myself. I decided to give my orthotics another shot.

So, I ran another 2 miles with my orthotics and really suffered through the whole thing. I was paranoid about every single pain I felt even if it was imaginary or nothing at all. I just could not get in a groove, but I did manage to do two of the four aerobic intervals for 1:30 each at 7.2 and 7.0, respectively in those two miles. I tried to play a game with myself and instead of looking at the time or the mileage, I told myself that I'd count calories on my Polar and I wouldn't even look at the mileage until I hit a specific calorie goal. It turns out that this was actually helpful in distracting me from everything else that was going on and trying to beat the mental battle I had going on in my head.

After getting 4 miles completed, I decided to do the pick-ups. I needed a break from "regular" running and I actually really like the pick-ups. I did 6 of them for 30 seconds each at the following speeds: 9.5 / 9.6 / 9.7 / 9.8 / 9.9 / 10.5. Yup, that's right. 10.5! Pretty sure that's my fastest yet.

After the pick-ups were done, I was faced with the dilemma of staying on and finishing or getting off and going home. I decided to stay on and finish. I really just wanted to get the whole thing over with and I knew that if I pushed myself, I could do it. I even did the last two intervals of 1:30 each at 7.2 both times. The last two miles actually weren't as bad as the preceding miles and I was glad that I stuck it out and finished it up. I ran 7.30 miles in total tonight (at an overall pace of 10:00/mile), which I think might also be a new record of total miles in one day. Of course, I'm looking forward to continuing to break that record as time goes on and gets closer to the big marathon day.

When I was leaving the gym, I felt like I had been there forever and that even though I had just run a really far distance, I might never be able to finish the half-marathon. I don't know why I was so down on myself tonight about this whole thing. However, after coming home and realizing that I'm right on track for running and the plan, I should just trust that this plan will get me to where I need to be by March! I did go home and ice both knees, just mainly for preventative measures, but I did notice that they were a little sore on the walk home and they did feel a lot better after icing!

Run #1
Time: 42:28
Distance: 4.10 miles
Pace: 10:21/mile
Calories: 504
Maximum HR: 187
Average HR: 168

Pick-Ups
Time: 11:26
Distance: 1.20 miles
Pace: 9:31/mile
Calories: 136
Maximum HR: 182
Average HR: 160

Run #2
Time: 19:08
Distance: 2.00 miles
Pace: 9:33/mile
Calories: 257
Maximum HR: 189
Average HR: 180