Blog From a Plane

This blog comes to you from approx. 23,000 feet ~ United flight 406 – Billings to Denver.  Sort of.  As I write this, I am in flight but by the time I get to post it I will be on the ground because I’m not willing to pay for wifi in the air.  I’m excited to report that there is a little girl about 3 or 4 years old across the isle for me that has been having something of a tantrum for the last 10 minutes and thankfully has just now decided that she’s happy.  I hope she stays that way.

 

I do have quite a long layover in Denver.  Thankfully it’s a pretty nice airport so I should be able to entertain myself without too much effort.  My flight was changed yesterday and I am flying several hours later than planned.  Of course that means I get to my destination airport well after dark and I get to drive a half hour to the town I’ll be staying in.  I’m not too excited about THAT, but on the bright side the weather is beautiful for November and no snow is expected.  Whew.

On Friday I ran for the last time this season where it will be light after work.  By the time I was done, it wasn’t all that light out anyway but since the time changed on Sunday it will be dark by the time I leave the office.  The dark time of year is not my favorite.  It does, however give me an excuse to shop for new gear.  I need a headlamp and some reflective items.

Saturday I bagged my long run because I was too lazy to get up and get going.  This has been a problem the last few weeks and I suspect is has to do with the season.  I did go for a run but it was only 4 miles in the middle of the day.  In spite of my efforts to convince myself that it is still summer, beautiful views like this remind me that Autumn is here.  Right now, it’s not so bad.

 

Sunday was the TCS New York City Marathon and it was broadcast on ESPN2.  I heard a rumor that USN (Universal Sports Network) is going off air this month.  I have watched most marathons on that channel so I do hope that ESPN picks up where they leave off.  Because I love all things marathon, I watched it before I heading out for the procrastinated long run.

I haven’t been getting as many miles in my long runs as I would like.  The last 3 weeks have been single digits and not even what I consider “long” anymore.  But the struggle has been real.  It’s not that I’m not motivated to run generally but it has been a true battle with my mind and body to do so with as much ambition as usual.

Yesterday was NO exception.  I felt great as we drove to Phipps Park.  I didn’t have a set number of miles, but double digits was the goal.  When we got to the park it started to rain and the wind really picked up.  Rain = no big deal.  Wind = I hate you Mother Nature!

My first couple of miles were comfortable and the wind was at my back most of the run, so I can’t really complain about that anyway.  Each step from mile 3 on was a battle of wits with my head.  I’d feel great for spurts and then suddenly my brain would say something like,  “Awe, you’re tired and you should walk.”  Sometimes I would win this battle but mostly not.

Mitch caught up with me right before mile seven.  I almost hopped in the truck and called it a day.  But he was nice enough to leap frog with me – he would drive to the next intersection and wait to see if I stopped or went on.  I literally MADE myself do ten miles.  My body hurt more than it has after 10 miles in a long time, but I won.  10 miles at a  10:32 min/mile pace. I made that run my B@#%$ and I am better for it. 

Since my flight was rescheduled for later in the day, I went out for a short run this morning.  I did not really win the mental game on that one.  Two miles at an average of about 11 min/mile… I walked too much.

Next few days of running will be in the hotel fitness center.  You may or may not hear from me depending on time and whether I think of something brilliant to say.  Have a fabulous week!

How do you overcome your brain when it tells you that you can’t?