Golden Days of Running

I was excited about running a new route on Saturday. We decided to run with Runners World and check out the scenery of a midtown run. I was excited until I heard my friends say we were going for 18. Gulp, I really didn't want to go any further than 16 and the 2 others I was running with were the faster ones in my group so I knew I had to try and stay up with them so I didn't get lost. This was going to be a good mental trial. We had received an email earlier in the week about the mental aspects of a long run, particularly a marathon. We were given several tips about how to overcome the mental fatigue that you experience as you add miles to your running routine. This email was timely for me. My last 4 marathons have been mentally overwelming. I just run out of motivation after the 18th mile. I still want to finish the marathon but, I begin walking and not caring about my finish time. This dilema has been perplexing me but the email really helped because I saw that a veteran runner had challenges staying focused too but she had also learned how to overcome her mental fatigue. So, I applied what I had read, I thought about what I would do if I got really tired and as I got tired, I began to practice these new strategies. One thing that really helped was to breakdown the route into smaller segments, so instead of thinking that we had four more miles to go, I would focus on only the next mile. I can't believe what a difference that thinking made in how I felt about running. Another thing that really helped me was being inspired by the people I am running with. The girl I was running with was in considerable pain but you would never know it. When we got close to the hill at 21st and Yale, going south, and she kept on going on that hill and I really wanted to stop; it was then that I realized that I didn't really want to stop but I needed someone to supply me with motivation to keep on going. Well, I got motivation when I saw her staying strong through those hills. I thought, if she can run through pain, I can run through my motivation issues. Before I knew it, 18 miles were over and done.

We started at the fairgrounds and then ran over to University of Tulsa and then back to the fairgrounds. We did this twice and when we got to TU the second time, we ran all over the campus, trying to get 3 miles out of that part. The campus looks absolutely beautiful, the landscaping is gorgeous and the buildings, both new and old, looked stunning, especially the new performing arts center. We run the same route this coming Saturday, shorter, I hope, and I'm pleased that we'll have another opportunity to get familiar with this area.

On Monday we ran the Run into the Son 5K. This is a super event, lots of fun things for the family and an emphasis on the FREEdom we have in Christ. The route was hilly and I was happy with my time, considering that I had run 18 miles on Saturday. A shout out to Stacy, she PR'd. What a hard worker she is on our weekday runs and her persistance paid off.