I honestly can't say that it wasn't the run that I planned because I really didn't have a detailed plan. My training is more of a big picture mileage/volume increase rather than specific planned daily runs. It didn't feel like the run I wanted in the moment. Sometimes it takes three attempts to get the run you hoped for. The first segment was during my boys' baseball games. I did some loops at the park between stops to check in and watch a bit of my 2 boys' games. It never felt good. My legs felt heavy and the run just felt altogether sluggish and broken. It was chilly and had a bit of rain. I just never felt fluid or happy during it. It felt forced. As it reached the end of their games, I stopped with 4.9 miles. The next segment was a 1 mile run with my son. We got home from his game and he wanted to do his 1 mile training run & I was happy to run with him. I felt chilled and sluggish to start, but started feeling really good & wanted to keep going after about a half mile but stopped with him when he was done after his mile. It was time to start prepping for the kids' bedtime. I debated whether to just call it for the day but I wasn't happy with less than 6 miles for the day. I figured I would just go out again for a quick two miles to hit 8 miles for the day and then call it. I pushed myself out to do it but before I hit the turn around point for a 2 mile run I realized I was finally feeling good about this broken up run while also realizing that if I did one yard (4.16 miles) I would hit 10 miles for the day. At that point it was decided. I would do 1 more yard. And with that 3rd segment of today's run I was happy with the run I got. I like to tell myself when I don't want to go out for a training run that I can always do 1 more yard, no matter how tired I am or how much I don't feel like going out. I sell it to myself as mental training for backyards because every interloopal period between yards is an opportunity to quit, to say "I'm not going back out" or "I'm done." It really was rather serendipitous how these broken up run segments played out to accumulate to a run I am really pleased with, probably more so than if I had the opportunity to just go out and do a solid 10 miles. Life is busy and balancing what I consider my important responsibilities and my desired training to achieve personal hobby goals is always a challenge. But how this group of run segments played out reinforced my belief that I'm handling it the best way possible.
Scott Snell
2 May 2023
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