I won a mental battle!

I woke up at 4:50 so I could get my 5 mile run in early. I was hoping to meet my running buddy but it was pouring so I knew I was headed to the gym. There is a tornado watch in effect so I was a little hesitant to drive, but I've been full of excuses lately so off I went. It is so surreal driving in the dark with leaves flying and rain pouring. There was a tree down at the end of our street so I was on alert all the way to the gym.

The workout today was a tempo run: 1 mile warm-up, 3 miles at a 9:10 pace and 1 mile cool down. The treadmills at my gym automatically turn off after 30 minutes so I knew I'd have to break up the run a little. The run started off a little rough as I had to make a pit stop after .25 miles. *** WARNING***(This is way TMI but my husband won't listen to anything that has to do with that time of the month. If you are reading this and are like him: DON'T READ ON! I tried to tell him I need to tell someone about my victory, but he said to call my sister. It's 7:20 AM and my sister's sleeping so, sorry I've got to tell it here. Let's just say I had an emergency where I had to jump off the treadmill and run to the bathroom. I could have easily left the gym at that point but chose to continue. That was a victory in itself! I was worried I wouldn't get the whole run in but I did and then bolted out the door back to my car.)

Anyway... back on track. I did the first two speed miles at a 9:05 pace but thought I was going to puke. My heart rate was over 200. It was time for the treadmill to stop so I took that as a natural break and recovered for .25 miles. The last mile I played a little game with myself where I held a 9:13 pace for 2 minutes, 9:05 for 2 minutes, 8:57 for one and then went the other way again (9:05 for 2minutes and 9:13 for 2). It makes the time go by so much faster. I finished my cool-down and I was done.

I felt so good for pushing through that workout! I'm so glad it's done! I don't know why I struggle so much with speed workouts on a treadmill. It is so mental for me.

I'm back home and it's pouring out, but I'm done with my workout for the day. My running partner is running a marathon on Sunday (she was supposed to run Philly but got the flu on Friday). I'm going to run the last 7 miles with her. I want to be running the whole thing, but I need to be happy about where I am. The plantar fasciitis is in a very good place and I'm running pain free. What more could a girl ask for?