Monday, March 31, 2014

Random thoughts

Today's post is a random mess of my thoughts, for better or for worse!

  • I am still very impressed with my Garmin Forerunner 10 and one of the neat features I enjoyed on my run yesterday was the auto pause and resume feature.  The trail I frequently run on crosses several busy streets and therefore usually requires some stops at stoplights.  While my legs appreciate the brief break, I either have to manually pause my app on my phone or suck it up and take a few extra seconds on my time.  With the Forerunner 10, if you stop moving the watch will auto pause, which is very handy at stoplights!  As soon as you start moving again, the watch resumes.  
  • I tried a GU yesterday during my run, as I mentioned, but I'm not sure how I feel about it.  I suppose it gave me a bit of a boost, but it wasn't terribly noticeable to me.  I wanted to try it for a few reasons, not the least of which is that GU's are offered on the race course for my half.  Apart from the strange consistency and less than appealing flavor, I seemed to respond well to it and didn't have any GI issues, so that's good to know. 
  • I got incredibly hungry about mid-way through my run, which was a new sensation.  It was a quick on-set feeling and it didn't last long, but it was strong!  I felt famished and started dreaming about a big glass of chocolate milk after my run.  I imagine that it didn't last long because I think the GU started kicking in at that point.  
  • I know I've said this before, but I am quite possibly the worst training plan follower...ever.  I was reading a story from the Runner's World Facebook page and confirmed that I am, in fact, the worst follower of a training plan.  The article highlighted four tapering mistakes that runner's make and my run yesterday included two of them; playing long-run catch-up and jumping up in long-run mileage (in my case from 7 miles to 10).  I'm trying not to let it psych me out, which is easier said than done.  I felt like the first mistake, in particular, spoke to me.  I went out yesterday to ease my mind, but did I produce my best effort (gosh, I hope not) and leave myself exhausted for race day, like the article suggested?  I think training for this half has been as exhausting mentally as it has been physically!  I need to trust myself and besides, it's too late to second guess what I did yesterday. 
I love this quote and am thinking of writing it on a piece of paper to keep in my pocket on Sunday!

"You were strong enough to get this far. You are strong enough to keep going." 

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