Showing posts with label mood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mood. Show all posts

Saturday, November 14, 2015

A good way to use a run

Je suis pissed
Today's run (street): 3.3 miles
Yesterday's workout (elliptical): 30 minutes

Were this was a political blog, I would be writing a few hundred words about how disgusted I am that a group of cowards killed a bunch of people in Paris last night. But this is a running blog, so I'll keep it related to that.

I worked from home on Friday and had an early call, so I opted for an elliptical session to save time. I set the resistance higher than usual and really felt the effect of the workout by the time I finished. Another reason I'd stayed inside on Friday was the very high winds that made outdoor running unappealing. I was glad to see that conditions were milder when I got up this morning and looked forward to getting out.

After a couple of cups of coffee and and an hour watching the news, I felt deflated and unmotivated to run. It's been almost 15 years since 9/11, but I felt the same way I did after all that happened. I got my act in gear just before noon and went outside. The winds had picked up, so I dressed as if it was 10 degrees colder. That turned out to be a good choice because I remained comfortable through the entire run.

Running is therapeutic and I appreciated how it distracted me from the news. I followed my usual Friday route (although it's Saturday) and, despite dealing with some wind resistance, I got through my miles fairly quickly. The post-run lift put me back on track, and that has carried me through the day. I really hope to get out early tomorrow so I have time to cover a lot more miles, although the today's three were really appreciated.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Attitude problem

 
Today's run (street): 3.5 miles

I took a step backward this week by skipping my Tuesday morning treadmill run. I'd set up my gear the night before, and fully intended to do the workout. When I woke up, I felt exhausted and decided to skip my run. My schedule didn't allow for any running on Wednesday and Thursday, so I was excited to get back to it today. I shouldn't have got so excited.

Although my legs felt heavy and sore before I went out today, I expected to snap out of that once I got going. I headed out through the neighborhood, but couldn't generate much speed for the first few minutes. My stride was constricted and I felt a little queasy. I was uninspired and it didn't take long to realize that I was in for a tedious run. So much of running comes down to attitude, and this morning I had a bad one.

The thing that got me through today's run was knowing that I only needed to cover a few miles. I tried to think positively about the circumstances; the weather was good and I appreciated being back on the road. Yet, when my Garmin chirped at mile one, I didn't feel like I'd made much progress and I knew I had a lot more ground to cover.

Eventually my form improved and I began to feel better physically. I haven't checked the data, but I think I ran faster as the run went on. Even so, I was disinterested in the workout and only looked forward to getting back home. There are days when the experience of running turns around a bad mood and provides a great feeling of accomplishment. Today was not one of those days.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Running happy as a performance enhancement

Today's run (street): 3.7 miles

Runners tend to focus on physical methods to improve performance. If you want to run faster, do speed work. If you want to take on steep technical trails, do hill training. There's no doubt that performance training will yield results. However, there's an aspect to running performance that has nothing to do with hard physical work. I'm talking about your state of mind on a run.

Many runners talk about how running clears their mind and provides relief from stress. I agree with that, but I also feel that "running while anxious" can compromise performance. This week I've dealt with a business issue that has been weighing heavily on my mind. I did feel more energized and optimistic after my anxiety-plagued runs, but the runs themselves were not my best efforts.

This morning my situation resolved itself and the run that followed felt buoyant. I beat this week's average pace by 15 seconds a mile. I fully believe that my better performance related directly to my mood. As good an experience as that, I felt even better after the run. So I guess the lesson here is to run when you're happy. If it were only that easy. Maybe Brooks has a point.
 

blogger templates | Webtalks