Hard, so hard...

Today was no an easy run!

I had been looking forward to it all week... Outdoor run!!! And I could sleep in till 6am!
I didn't have the time constraints associated with getting kids/hubby sorted and getting myself to work...

But...

I had hot wind to contend with.

I knew it was going to be hot. I specifically didn't look at the forecast because I didn't want to stress myself. I told myself I'd just get out there, not look at my speed, and just do my distance however long it took me.

I was going for 16kms this morning.

Not only was I against the wind (in the downhill part goddamit!) but it was a hot wind! It was awful...
And by the time I was doing the last 6kms, I really really really wanted to stop and it was only because I kept telling myself "just see how you feel when you get to that next corner/end of the street/set of traffic lights etc, and if you still feel really bad, stop then" that I didn't.

It's a good tactic because by the time I get to that marked point, I've shaved just that bit more off the distance and figure I'll just 'do a bit more'.

And then those words from some article I read came to me... what separates distance runners from others is being able to push through those pain and mental barriers... so I just kept at it. One foot in front of the other, not thinking about how much it was hurting, how sore I was, how hot that goddam wind was.... and I made it back to my car with a big smile on my face.

And in the end my time was not as bad as I thought it would be.
11 kms/hour average according to my garmin. I was surprised at that. It seems no matter what distance I do (Granted longest distance I've done is only 21kms) what conditions I run in, my average is always from 10.9 to 11.2 km/hour.

I was REALLY hoping to do my 25km run this weekend but I won't attempt it in this heat... Hopefully next weekend...

Oh, and I saw that group of runners in the carpark this morning. They meet up about the time I get there and I don't know why but they intimidate me so much! They're "real" runners. I try to scamper off in the other direction before they can even notice this wannabe. I was actually going to go along the beach this morning but after I saw them, went in the opposite direction.

Total kms for February, 175kms.