As always, great therapy

Running
I did say it was going to be 13Km today, but reviewing my diary I remembered I did 13Km on Monday instead of the scheduled 10Km, so I did 10Km today. Finished in 49:08, average pace of 4:54. Was in a total mood today, especially as the afternoon progressed. It is rare for me to be sitting there thinking "I don't wanna!!", it is usually a case of "can't wait to get outta here and go for my run". I was thinking, I need to find a new route to run, I wish I was meeting up with someone today, maybe I should just skip it and run on Saturday instead, Aghhhhhh. I was also sitting there stewing and focusing too much on negatives and just letting myself get into a slump. Anyway, no matter how shit I feel I don't bail on a run, a tiny little part of my mind knows that once I get going it will be alright.

Sure enough once I had got changed and walked back to my car to stash my stuff the mood was lifting, then by the time I hit the bottom of Anderson Street I was feeling like myself again. When I got back through Birrarung Marr (car was parked at Fed Square) the 10Km was up and I just lay on my back on one of the benches and stared up at the sky through the trees. As if it were psychic my MP3 player decided to play a nice chilled song to cool down to, Hearts a Mess by Gotye (great band by the way). Decided I wasn't in a hurry so I did some stretches, walked back to the car and chucked the tracksuit on then went back to look at all the photo's on display next to Fed Square. I had been running past them for the last week and a bit and I kept telling myself I should stop and have a proper look at them.

Looking at the positives
If I had have posted earlier today it would have been a miserable self pitying pile of garbage, thankfully the mood left me and you have all been spared.

While I was running today I was reflecting on some of the positive aspects of my training over the last 90 odd days since the last half marathon.

The mid week mini long run was introduced, where Wednesdays (sometimes a Thursday) I'd run 14Km, but soon bumped this up to 16Km.

I started doing proper speed work and have had 12 Tuesday night sessions, which at first was a real challenge for me but I have enjoyed this aspect of my training immensely.

A solid tempo session once a week.

My general easy run training speed has increased as has my long run pace.

Some good advice on form has helped me run faster will less perceived effort.

As I mentioned in an earlier post the first half of the year was building a base, this second half has been about adding some variety. Going into next year I want to concentrate on keeping the weekly mileage consistent at 80+ Kms a week. I know I will be a back of the pack AV runner, but my goal is to get the best out of myself and am committed to doing what it takes, so I am looking forward to the challenges of 2007

And by the way, I survived winter!!!!! I can sincerely and honestly say that I did not miss 1 run due to rotten weather, rain or shine I was out there working my little heart out :-)