And then I went running this afternoon. I've been roughly following a 5K plan I found on the internet, and today was supposed to be a 6x400 speed workout (six 400 meter sprints separated by 400 meter recovery jogs). But as I was walking to the gym, I was thinking about my mile time- I actually had no idea what it was. It's been so long since I ran a single mile that I really didn't know how fast I could run one, so I decided that I'd get on the treadmill and try to run a 10:20 mile (it seemed like a stretch, but still reasonable), and then I'd finish up with just 4x400 repeats.Well, I started running the 10:20 pace.... and then I sped up a little... and when the first mile was over, I just kept going. I felt totally fine.... in fact, I felt better than I usually did at my normal pace. I just kept running and speeding up and running, and before I knew it, I had run the whole 5K. And I still felt awesome.
30:56.
WHAT?!?!?! That's a 9:57 pace for 3.1 miles.... I had shaved off over three minutes in less than a week.
Obviously, it didn't really happen in a week's time; I had just settled into my 11:20 pace rut and my mind was completely and totally convinced that that was all my body was capable of. This is not the first time I've fallen into this trap and I'm sure it won't be the last. It's just proof that running really is 90% mental.... If you can't get out of your head, you're screwed.
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