The Agony And The Ecstasy

Wednesday
Warning: There may be too much information in the following paragraph.

I ran last night. It felt really good, but it was painful. I tried to do the same routine as Tuesday night. Walking the first ten minutes went fine. The running started out well too. After five minutes though I knew I was running into trouble. I could feel the pain starting and it wasn't going to go away on it's own. With each foot fall my colon was shrieking, "I am full!" I held out as long as I could but by 29:06 (1.655 miles) there was nothing else I could do. So I shut off the treadmill and kept pace up the stairs and through the house to the bathroom. I was surprised I didn't leave a trail behind me. Remember, I warned you.

It's interesting to think about how I view running on the treadmill now as compared to my first tour. When I was doing run/walk intervals this summer I would tell myself that I just had to run for two more minutes or whatever the time was. Then when I started trying to run all the time my head was still wrapped around the idea of walk breaks. So I'd be running for 5 or so minutes, reminding myself that there were no walk breaks, no short term goals, and it turned into a big mental hurdle. Running outside came at just the right time. My transition outside worked perfectly for jettisoning that mindset. I ran all the time because I wanted to, but also it's the fastest way home when you are a mile away on foot. I don't know what to credit, whether it's the injury or just all the time spent running outside this fall, but it's not the same on the treadmill now. Sure there is still a little apprehension in the first few minutes, "I'm really going to be down here for 30 minutes." The thing is it sure doesn't feel the same, and after 15 or 20 minutes I actually lament the fact that I will be done soon. It's just interesting how things change.

Thursday
My plan originally was to do my weights routine tonight. Instead I went 3 rounds with a Christmas tree. Living in northern Michigan I am afforded the opportunity to purchase a real tree. They are inexpensive if you feel moral ($8) and free if you don't (10 different unguarded fields in a 10 mile radius of my house). I thought I had it whipped after 2 rounds, but later in the evening the damn thing tried to body slam me and we had to go another round to prove who's boss.