Ever just have one of those days? The weather’s perfect, you’ve had enough sleep, but you’re just slow and achy and whiny?
I had one of those last night, when my Pacers group ran along Sligo Creek Trail, one of my favorite running spots. I was still sore in funny spots from the weekend, and my hip hurt something fierce. Something about the sore and the rain made me feel creaky and, again, slow, and I spent a considerable amount of time bitching about said slowness with my running partner last night.
But here’s something funny: When we got done, we’d finished the 5.3-mile route in 46 minutes — roughly 8:40-minute miles — which is exactly my time for the same route last week, when I felt like I was flying.
It just goes to show that, like writing (or like anything), it’s a bad idea to give up on anything just because it feels hard and slow and bad. Stephen King, whose wife had to rescue the draft of “Carrie” from a wastebasket, puts it this way:
“Stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position.”
Other things motivating me today:
* Finding Deena Kastor’s Web site, which includes a blog she appears to actually write herself and a link to some of her recipes. Check out Kastor’s awesome-looking pumpkin lasagna recipe here.
*Mine and Steve’s pre-run snack yesterday: my fabulous (if I don’t say so myself) pumpkin-chocolate muffins. Best pre-run snack or breakfast ever!
* My decision to try the 4.4-mile Bay Bridge Swim next year instead of the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim One-Mile Bay Challenge, which I’ll do for the second time on June 14. After successfully finishing last year, I’ve found myself a bit unmotivated to train this year. It’s a bit like my approach to a 5Ks, which take work to run quickly, but that most runners know they can “call in” if they need to. My lax attitude leading up to this year’s swim leads me to believe it’s time to do something that scares me a little to get my butt in gear. And believe me, 4.4 miles of open-water swimming scares me.
* My planned swim workout today: A timed 1,650, a ladder set starting with 1X50, climbing to 1X300, then back down to 50 (1,800 total for set).
Amy Reinink 
I felt that way yesterday too. I ran on the treadmill and felt like I was going SOO slow and then realized I was right around a 9:00 minute mile for most of it. I would like a run that feels good and is fast one of these days though.
Wow so were actually running at a decent pact last nite… looked at my Garmin and was shocked to see our splits!
Go for the whole shabang at the Bay Bridge Swim next year. Maybe i’ll even sign up and do one of the distances!