I have to admit I was a little worried that I would be the weak link in this mornings run. While I had a pretty good run last Sunday at the Lake Natoma Four Bridges Half Marathon I just couldn't find the motivation to run all week long. My mojo seems to be in hiding and I just can't locate it. Maybe it's the darkness of 4:30 a.m. or maybe it's the changing weather or maybe it's just laziness. I'm not quite sure.
When D Gee suggested that we run a little later than we usually do I was super happy. It meant I could sleep in until 5:45 and take my time getting ready to leave the house. It lifted a little weight for me. Friday nights for the last couple months have been really late nights for me and meeting up with the group in the wee hours of Saturday mornings has been tough. Really tough.
I met up with D Gee at the appointed hour and place this morning. It was cold. Colder than cold. Like 30 something degrees cold. Thank goodness for good running tights, a beanie and gloves! While we got ourselves together and our Garmins searched for satellites BC ran up (he started out an hour earlier so he could get in a longer run). His timing was impeccable! It was too cold to stand and chat so off we went.
My goal today was to not hold the boys back too much. I wanted to run hard and find my mojo where ever she may be. The boys were gracious and let me set the pace. We clipped along at just over a 10 minute pace and caught each other up on the goings on in our lives. We ran 5 miles without walking. That was huge for me. Sadly I haven't accomplished this feat for many months. I got into the walk/run habit and I liked it just a little too much. We stopped for a 2 minute bathroom break and we were on the move again.
As we approached Big Bertha that little nagging voice of self doubt starting chirping in my ear. I wanted to run every inch of her steep switch backed slope but I've only been able to do this once or twice. Usually I surrender to the burning in my legs and lungs and walk up. But not today. Instead of giving in I prevailed! It hurt and it wasn't pretty but I did it. I had to walk for a few feet up once at the top to catch my breath but then it was back to the run.
Around mile 7.5 or 8 the boys decided to do a little trail running. My left glute has been sore and tight for quite some time and today was no different so I decided to stick to the pavement. It gave me a couple miles to work on pace and push myself. I wanted to walk like nobodies business but I didn't. I pushed until the 9 mile mark and finally gave myself permission to take a small break and re-hydrate. I tried to power through the last two miles but I was quickly running out of steam. D Gee caught back up with me around mile 9.5. We both were feeling tired but good. I took one more small walk break at mile 10 and then made the final push to the parking lot.
I'm so happy I got out and ran hard today. I'm starting to remember what it feels like to really run not just half-ass run, to get out there and do work. While I can't say with certainty that my mojo is back I can say that today I feel damn good!
