Sunday Runday

This morning, I went out for a run. I kind of wasn't feeling it before I went out and it took me a while to get out the door. Finally, I made a deal with myself...all I had to do was 10K and I was good. Since it was going to be a short run I didn't eat anything before I went, didn't take water, my mp3 player, or money.

It was a cool morning and there weren't too many people out and the run was nice & easy. I decided to take a route I haven't taken in months and what do you know? When I got to my turnaround point, I decided to keep going. I thought about my route options really quick and decided to continue on the horse trails here in town since they went by two parks where I could get water. And go to the restroom. New plan set. I was still feeling great. Plenty of energy and nothing hurting so why not?

Today's run was wonderful. I didn't think about much. Just slipped into a zone and listened to my breath, my footsteps, and the sounds around me. I just ran. Those kinds of runs are a blessing and when they happen, you don't want them to end. I ended up doing quite a bit of extra roaming and finished at 13 miles. Which was my original plan for the morning! But where it had seemed like such a chore before I started, while I was running it was fun and relaxing and didn't feel like work. I even thought about going a couple more miles but I was running short on time. Once I didn't HAVE to do 13 miles, I found I WANTED to do 13 miles. It's all in the mindset. :)

Speaking of... What's funny is that I kept waiting for the bonk and for the last mile or whatever to be a slogfest. That's happened to me before when I forget to eat before a run over, say, 10 miles. But that didn't happen today at all. Isn't that weird? Cool, but weird.

I have to admit I may have been a little influenced by the 50K I volunteered at on Saturday. I was at the first aid station which was about 11 miles in. It was a warm day in SoCal so everyone was carrying multiple bottles or hydration packs especially since there isn't much tree cover on our mountains. One of the runners, Eric (coming into the aid station in this pic), wasn't carrying any water though and when he got to the aid station, all he had was cup of coke. Not any food either. And I heard it was the same at the other aid stations. After he left, I made a comment to Andrew (who was working the aid station with me) about that and he said something like "Oh, that's Eric Clifton. He's a whole different animal.". Eric Clifton, the Badwater winner? From Running On The Sun? Who held the record for the JFK50 for 17 years before it was finally broken by  David Riddle in 2011? That Eric Clifton? Yep!!! I think I was speechless. Yes, I know you're shocked that I was speechless. ;) But really? Who shows up at an underground 50K in the middle of nowhere Southern California expecting to see someone with creds like that? Not me, for sure. I was talking with his wife, Noni,  after the race and she said he'd felt fine but admitted that if it had been longer, he'd have needed more drink/food. Wild, eh? I don't know how he did it. I was drinking a ton and I wasn't running on Saturday!

So maybe a little of that rubbed off on me for today's run. Or maybe it was my mind figuring that if he could do it, I could do it. I find that a lot of my running limits have been about my own mental barriers and once I see someone else "breaking" those barriers, I stop seeing them as barriers. Maybe today was just a fluke but maybe not. Whatever it was, I'm thankful I had such a great run! I'm hoping the Nanny Goat feels as great as today did. 13 days and counting!!!

What mental barriers have you broken with your running? Have you ever gone out on a run and added bonus miles that you didn't plan?