Running Away from Cramps and Mind Games

Finally, a run that I wasn't completely horrified about. I took to the hills again today and instead of shooting pains through my calves I found a new stride that felt more like it did in December of last year rather than how it has been feeling the past few weeks. I actually enjoyed this run which is something else that has been missing from my training.

I'm happy to finally be running from the mind games and the cramping issues I've had. One of the big trick to overcome the Mind Games has been to re-do a run that beats me down. When I run a route that destroys me, I come back the following day and take it down with a nice slow methodical run like I had today. Yes, my pace was slower than I wanted, but I beat the hell out of those hills and my confidence has been given a healthy boost.

As for overcoming the cramps. I've made a change to my diet which includes more water and less coffee. That has actually helped quite a bit without much other tweaking needed so I'll go with it.

Overall, I'm pumped to have some good results coming my way. More miles to run and my fingers are crossed the gains keep coming.

Walking when You want to RUN!

I got started a little late today which meant the sun was coming up and the heat was on. The first 10 minutes were not terrible, but I stopped to stretch my calves after hitting 10 minutes of running to avoid the cramps I had a couple of weeks ago. I could feel them coming on.

I made it another 20 minutes without stopping but once I hit the hills I ran the inclines and walked the flats. Doing this took about a 1/2 mile off the total distance because there were A LOT of hills. I made sure to keep my pace quick during the walks but it didn't stop my heart rate from falling dramatically so I guess I'm still in some sort of athletic shape, just not what I was 7 months ago before taking a long, long, long, break.

I'm not too happy with how today's run went because walking when your supposed to be running sucks. I plan on getting out on the run earlier in the morning tomorrow and will run the same route to see how I do. Should be fun!

I can't wait to get back into race form. This little experience with taking months off from running is an awakening to NEVER DO IT AGAIN!!!