it's all uphill

It started out great. It was Canada Day, so at 7:30am no one was on the roads, but it was sunny and still a bit cool. And I was trying out a new route that would take me through one of my favorite parks.

The problem with trying a new route in my neighborhood, though, is that if I head South instead of North, then the last mile of my run is a slow ascent instead of a slow descent. That is, it's all uphill.

It's a lot harder to finish a run uphill than it is downhill. Especially when your legs feel like they haven't had a day off in weeks, even though they have had every second day off for the last few weeks.

I was dragging today at the end. It was all I could do mentally to keep myself technically jogging rather than walking.


My internal monologue for the last mile:
"One step at a time. Go as slow as you need to. Just keep going. You only have to do three miles; don't quit at two. What will you say on the blog if you do two instead of three? Just do it. Nope, that's too close to a walk, get the gait back. C'mon, it's just fatique, nothing serious. Why was 5 miles so easy last week and 3 so hard this week? Is it because I helped Cody move yesterday? Is it the 60 sec wall sit I'm doing while I brush my teeth now that Val suggested? Ok, enough with the excuses; just keep running. Doesn't matter how slowly I do it, as long as I do it. Oh, shit, is that a hill up there? I thought I was done with the hills. How could I forget the one last hill before my house? Maybe I should turnaround and head back down hill and then when I'm done with 3 miles, walk the hill back . . . . No, I can't even imagine running away from my destination at this point."

I did finish. Didn't walk. Wasn't fast.
Mile 1: 11:33, 135 bpm
Mile 2: 11:58, 147 bpm
Mile 3: 13:33 145 bpm (13:33!!!)

Anyway, I'm supposed to have tomorrow off and then run four miles on Saturday. But given how tired my legs were today, I'm thinking about taking Friday and Saturday off and just doing my 4 miles on Sunday. In other words, taking one extra day off this week.