I just completed week four of 14 weeks of training. The mileage is really beginning to add up as my training plan ramps up. This week alone I ran 22 miles. I am proud to report that I hit a “cool” first milestone: my short run was six miles this week, the same distance of my long run in week one! It is pretty hard to believe that I could think of a six mile run as short, but this shows how quickly things are progressing.
Thankfully, my body seems to be taking the abuse in stride (bad pun I know). Once I purchased real running shoes and began a more rigorous stretching program, my pains seemed to fade away.
Though I have put in a lot of mileage to date, I still have not found that elusive runner’s high. On my 10-mile long run this week, the miles seemed to pass slower and slower – though I did keep the same pace. I am beginning to see that the true battle is going to be in my mind, not my body. Surprisingly my legs are able to keep moving without much protest. It is the mental aspect of willing them to do so that is challenging.
I have experimented a little in meditation running and that really helps me pass the miles the best. In this practice, I think of nothing and look at a white brick wall while running on the treadmill (still no outside training due to the weather). If my mind wanders to a thought, then I just refocus again on nothingness. Since I have never been one to meditate, this is not easy for me and is taking some practice. So for the time being, I switch around from watching a show on TV, to listening to music on my iPod, to meditative running. This week I also plan to dabble in some audiobooks that I downloaded. I just need to find something to get my mind off the mileage marker and I think I will be all set!
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