Running Miles

The morning's workout was more mentally taxing than anything else because it involved visualization. I really wasn't going to work out at all because I was running in the afternoon, I just went down for the company (Will, Bill, Nancy, and Luke). After standing at the wall for a while watching, I sat with Will and tried to figure out what I was thinking. I didn't really get anywhere. And since we were going nowhere, I had to visualize running a mile. At Pinkerton Park. In 6 minutes. Will told me when every 1:30 was up because we know where the quarter-mile markers are, and that really helped me stay focused (I didn't realize how helpful it was until later when I tried it again, by myself, and finished in 3 minutes).

I have lots more to say but no time now. This was my encouragement for the day:

Psalm 37:3–6

Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

Much needed, definitely.

Then we went to run at Pinkerton Park later. 3 miles, 3 reps. Mile 1: 6:58. Mile 2: 7:12. Mile 3: 7:17. Will had given me something called Bentonite to drink an hour and half an hour before running; it is supposed to help keep your stomach from being upset. I drank it, but it didn't help. I'm sure it's not stomach-related, rather all in my mind. I think I took at least 10 minutes between the first and second miles, laying on the ground feeling ill. Then I didn't want to get up and run again but did anyway. I was at the point where I was basically just running on only Will's belief that I could—it sure wasn't any desire of my own that was propelling me.

I wanted to run for 6 minutes and see how far I could go, so I set the Garmin for 6-min intervals. I didn't always push start, so the results are kind of scattered. I was happy Will was timing.

• First mile's first 6 minutes: 0.86 miles (running up first, exactly to the bridge), 7:01 pace (5:03 best)
• Third mile's first 6 minutes: running up first, exactly to the pet poop trash can (not as far as the previous one)
• Mile 3 total: 7:17 (5:27 best), 117 cal; Quarter Mile Splits:
• 1:38, 6:41 pace (5:27 best) (this is slightly uphill to start and then mostly downhill to the marker)
• 1:55, 7:38 pace (6:55 best) (this is mostly flat then a little downhill—which I can never seem to run past when we do other reps—and then up to the marker)
• 1:50, 7:37 pace (6:42 best) (this has two switch-backs and then is downhill to the marker)
• 1:52, 7:31 pace (6:46 best) (this is around a curve and then uphill to the end)

Afterward, I tried to eat but wasn't hungry. Then I went down to watch Zach work out. It was fun just watching someone else and not having to do much. I did a few arm swings, but that was about it. I had really been trying to focus on keeping my chest up while I was running, but Will said my arm's were like robot arms and not moving much. Ugh. At least I could breathe well the whole time I was running. Slight progress.