Ten Days to Relay

After not running for more than a week, other than the mile and a half in the horse pasture, I went out and got in three miles. It actually felt kind of good. One thing I'm learning from running is that my body is better and/or worse depending on the time of the month. The closer I get to "that time," the worse my legs and arms feel when I first start out. Heavy, tired. Right after "that time," the better I feel all the way around. Lighter, energetic. I'm learning I get about two and half weeks of feeling really good when I run. Then I have to suffer through a week and a half of rottenness. Unfortunately only a week and two days separate me and the relay I'm running in, and I'll be closer to "that time" than I want to be.

But I'll run it and give it my best shot. I still have a goal of running the 5k under thirty, and I was so close at the duathlon when I felt horrible and actually started "that time" the next day. And I've been concentrating on core work and speed work since then, and a whole lot of head work which involves positive thinking and mantras while I'm working out, so maybe, just maybe, I will pull this one off. I'm going to try something new for this race, too--writing a mantra on each hand so if the rotten creeps up on me I can look at my hands and find inspiration. I've found successful runners do this, so I figure I might as well give it a try.

So, it's time to start the countdown to the relay. Ten days. Ten days to get in some final training.