My Mind is Tired!

Coming off of yesterday's awesome run I was excited to crank out some more miles today.  I was a little nervous since my legs were feeling tired and I had 5 miles on the schedule.  But I was excited to have my running buddy back since we haven't ran together in a week!

so legit.

Quick tangent: Emily and I have been running together since November when I started this whole running kick.  One of the nice little perks of actually being active for a consistent period of time is that your body appreciates it and thanks you by shedding some of those extra pounds you didn't want to admit you had.  Here is a picture of me and Em from the middle of November; it's crazy to compare that one to the picture above:

pretty face, em!

One of the perks of being really self-centered and taking pics of yourself all the time is that you have a steady stream of pictures over time that you can look back at.  Serves as a cool way to see the progress that you're making!  I remember I almost ripped that jacket trying to get it zipped.  Oops.  Embarrassing.  Now I can actually wear it like a normal person.  Kudos, Em...we look a heck of a lot better than we did 4 months ago!

Anyways, back to the point of my post (do I ever really have a point?)  Remember how yesterday I did a really good job setting a goal, focusing and pushing myself and accomplishing it?  Well today I intended on doing the same thing.  And then I threw my plan out the window at about mile 1.2.  When I looked down at my watch I would have bet money that my pace was a whole minute faster than what my watch was telling me.  Oy.

I then spend the next 4 miles mentally battling myself on the decision to run super easy today.  Part of me was all, you ran four miles yesterday at a great pace your legs are tired today slow down and don't feel bad.  And the other part of me was like, push yourself you ween you ran sub-12 minute miles yesterday why the eff can't you even get near that today?!

The mind is a crazy thing I tell you.  Thankfully Emily and I were chatting the whole run so we talked part gossip part pseudo therapy session.  All in all I'd rate today's effort 50% mental 50% physical.  I'm still amazed by the fact that a run can be just as challenging mentally (sometimes more!) than physically.

We did a real great job getting slower and slower each mile (oops), but I finished the run with most of my sanity still in tact.

Definitely not the fastest run, but certainly not the slowest.  Considering the lightening speed my mind was running at, I'll cut my legs some slack on their pace. 

Tomorrow is Tempo Thursday and it's been a few weeks (with the exception of last week's time trial) since I've joined the group for the workout.  Back to pushing myself tomorrow!  Maybe. ;)