Lesson learned about running

Last night, I ran 4.75 miles in 50:00 minutes! Insert happy dance here. The weather in Northeast Ohio was very humid. When I got close to the lake the wind was blowing and it was blowing hot air! Blah! No fun.

I chose a longer run with a few more hills tonight. During the Lula 5K the gentle hills were where I struggled.
The hills on that course were nothing compared to what I will face on Sunday! The first half mile was not so good. I could not get my Garmin to go to the screen on my watch display that shows both distance and time. Somehow I had it on heart rate and time. I was so annoyed. It isn't that I don't care about my heart rate but I like the other screen more.

I ended up having to deal with just having the distance show up on my watch display. My head phones were in my ears and actually staying in place for once. I had just downloaded some new tunes. My guilty pleasure songs are the pop songs that the tweens like. Please try to hold your laughter until after you read the list:

"Forget You," Cee Lo Green
"Who Says,"  Selena Gomez
"The Edge of Glory," Lady Gaga

Tunes were cranking and I got on a roll. I hit my first big downhill and I was okay. Then as every runner knows with every down hill you must come back up. My mind started to race.

Then I started to visualize my inner dialogue about this run like having a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. Heading up the hill my little devil was saying, "whoa that hill looks so steep. You haven't trained on hills like this before you better take it easy." The angel was sitting on the other side saying, "shut up. You can do this you have done it many times before. Just think back to marathon training and college. You have done many more hills much worse than this." Then I began my climb up the hill and unfortunately let the devil get the best of me for a moment. My legs started to hurt and my lungs started not fully cooperating and I panicked. I was so annoyed!

That little devil was my self doubt talking. Everyone has this dialogue with themselves at some point during their training. I need to find a way to make that negativity go away or at least decrease during my runs. I need to find a way to stay more positive while training even when things don't go how I want them to.

How do you pump yourself up after you had a bad run?

I was trying to figure out which runs I would be registering for in July and August and came across an awesome race: http://www.woowhofoundation.com/Urbanobstacle.html.

Here is more info about the event from the WOO WHO Foundation website, "We at WOO WHO Foundation are hosting an UrbanObstacle in the city of Cleveland to raise money for our non-profit foundation that supports the local breast cancer community. As you may know, one in eight women in the U.S. will develop evasive breast cancer in their lifetime. It is a widespread and random disease, striking women and men of all ages and races. It is the most prevalent cancer in the world today, with about 1.3 million people diagnosed annually. The exact cause of the disease is unknown, and at this time, there is no cure. More significantly, Ohio is 32nd in the nation in breast cancer incidence, but 4th in breast cancer mortality.  These numbers are even worse in minority and under-served women.

The WOO WHO UrbanObstacle's inaugural run will take place on Saturday, August 6 at 9:30 AM at the downtown entrance of the Detroit-Superior bridge. The UrbanObstacle is approximately a 5.5 mile run through the city of Cleveland where a single racers, or teams of 2 racers, will encounter new obstacles about every mile to a mile and a half. These obstacles range from running through tires to crawling under police barricades. The finish line leads directly into Cleveland's coolest summer party, Krusty's at Wendy Park on Whiskey Island!"

This sounds like so much fun. I love the fact that it is helping our local community. Can't wait until August!