Update of the Week

This week was bad for running. I had planned to go to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and run Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. I made it to the gym, and ran today.

On the plus side, I was able to treadmill without worry, but on the minus side, that didn't make up for two days of not-running. My reasons are legit: on Tuesday, I was counseled to stay home and hopefully head off the cold that was threatening. And on Thursday, Edmonton weather was up to its old tricks, and gave us at least 7cm of snow.

Today, I waited until it didn't seem like the mercury was going to climb any higher before suiting up to head out. It wasn't the unpleasantness like two Tuesdays ago, which I'm certain was the commencement of last week's illness, but it was only 1C and there was a wind most of the way. However, I got the 10km in like a good little half-marathoner, and kept myself warm after getting back.

One thing I put a lot of thought into while I was running was mantras. Every so often, a running magazine will start talking about the mantras that successful runners use during their races to continue. And trust me, they do work. In my last half-marathon, my mantra was, "If I can't finish this race, how can I finish anything in life?" A little dismal and exaggerating, but it got me through some of the toughest parts of the race.
I thought about the different words I would likely use during a race, and the time or distances that I'd use them at. For example, I'd start the first five kilometers with "Ease into it," to keep myself from leaping into the race and exhausting myself prematurely. After that, I'd probably try, "Slow and steady," to keep myself on pace. Right around the 10km mark, I would probably switch to, "Just keep moving," because that's when I need to keep moving forward. Then my planning went sort of out the window, preparing for the end with 'Finish strong,' or some inspiring, upright-staying message.
Of course, I remember one other mantra from my races, which I used when my knees started hurting: "Concentrate on foot placement." When one knee or the other started kvetching, I would start to pay attention to exactly how my foot hit the pavement. Usually, I found that my form was suffering from the tiredness of, surprise, running a half-marathon, so I'd pay close attention to that, and either the pain gave up and went away, or I fixed the problem that was causing the pain in the first place.

All this to say, mantras do have their place in a race, the magazines aren't out to lunch, and getting to concentrate on a mantra can take your mind to other places and the kilometers will fly by!

Interestingly enough, Myfitnesspal says that, after expending the calories of a 10km run, I should be able to eat more than 2000 calories total today. Yeah, the only way I'd do that is if I went out for pizza, and I didn't really feel like that. Instead, dinner was a herb-rubbed pork tenderloin with apples and roast potatoes. Amazing how healthy some foods can be while tasting like slices of heaven on your tongue.