Truly great run!

Sunday, March 17, 2013 · Mike Davis

Got up at 6:45 yesterday, had a serving of Greek Yogurt, a cup of coffee and about 32 ounces of water so I was prepared for my 8 mile run. As I moved about the house I could tell my body was pretty tight but my hopes was that I would loosen up once I was running. The previous day (Friday) I did my Spartacus workout instead of the 17 minute yoga routine and I was guess that may have been the reason I felt tight and sore. The past few weeks I had done the Spartacus workout on Monday and Wednesday and a short yoga routine on Friday. However I wanted to get a good calorie burn so I choose resistance over stretching. Anyhow, I set out for my run doing the normal routine of walking lunges and other dynamic stretching as I made my way out of our cul-de-sac. I must look pretty goofy as I do this but hopefully people are getting used to seeing it. As I set out running I knew instantly that this run would be a challenge! My entire body from the head down felt like crap and I was already thinking of shortening my run. The beginning of this route is downhill so that factor kept me going but I was mentally re-routing myself for a 4 mile run or thinking that I might do some walk/ running. As I got to the first intersection where I needed to make a decision I stayed on my 8 mile route (but I knew I still had an option to shorten the run), I still felt tight in my hips and my left shoulder was tighter than normal. Since the beginning of my running days I have always had tightness in my left shoulder and I really have to shake it out multiple times during a run. I attribute it to my arm swing yet I can’t seem to correct it. So I made my way down Grove Street and my mind was continuing to think about the options (do you see a negative trend), I turned onto Ash Street and the uphill part of my route was now adding to my misery. Mile 2 of this route is not exactly the most enjoyable as there’s a steady uphill for a while that can subtly beat you up before you are even half way through the run. Normally it doesn’t bother me but on this run it wasn’t helping. After getting over that stretch I normally feel better as I have a slight downhill stretch that I can recover with; however my hips just wouldn’t loosen up and they were making for a frustrating run. I was at mile 3 and debating if I would cut off and make it a 5 mile run at about 3.5 but instead I decided a new strategy. I decided to stop thinking about running and focus on something totally outside of running. Now I was going over the plans for our house design in North Carolina and thinking about the finance options. Gone was the negative thinking, replaced with something that not so destructive. This worked well for a couple miles and got me over half way through my run. I was still tight in my hips and quads but I now knew that I was going to run the distance. As I ran miles 4 to 5 I thought about a strategy that I learned about in my running certification class and decided to give it a try. As I turned on to Bellamy Road I picked up my pace considerably trying to go from using my slow twitch muscles to using my fast twitch muscles. The idea being that by changing which muscles I was using would give my slow twitch muscles a break. I also wanted to keep my focus on anything but thinking about how lousy I felt. I set my target for that pace to be the high school road and once I got there I slowed back down. I continued for the next mile doing Fartleks (misc. intervals) and before long I was at mile 7! Once I got to mile 7 I knew I was home free and that thought would help the final stretch. Despite not being at my cul-de-sac when my Garmin hit 8 miles, I decided to walk the remaining quarter mile to give my body a good warm down. Eight challenging miles completed and they may have been the best 8 miles I have run in a long time. Overcoming and learning to go the distance on even the worst of days is far more gratifying than feeling like it was just another 8 mile run! After I got in the house I will tell you that I did some serious stretching! Today I feel better than I did yesterday.