Today, I did workout one of week three of the training plan. I was apprehensive about it because it called for stretches of running TWICE as long as anything I'd done so far. I was also in a seriously bad mood, after having a rough Monday at work - I had 6 conference calls, with only half hour breaks between them during which to try to actually get something accomplished. Then there was an issue at the end of the day and I was watching the light fade thinking "I have got to get away from this desk and outside for some exercise!"
Finally, I told the person with the issue that I had an appointment and I would have to get back to him tomorrow. I did have an appointment. With myself. To exercise. And I was running out of daylight, plus it was now starting to rain!
So I started out feeling apprehensive and annoyed. Heck, I'll admit it: I was downright angry. During the warmup, I thought "maybe I should repeat week 2, or perhaps I won't actually do the double length run yet, I'll just increase the length a bit but not double it". But then an amazing thing happened. Halfway through the first run, I realized I wasn't going to drop from exhaustion and just kept going. When I finished that first section (double the length I've been doing), I was thrilled! So I did it again. Four more times. By the end of my workout, I wasn't angry at all any longer. Instead, I felt awesome about my accomplishment. I'm certainly not anywhere reaching a "runner's high", but I have definitely become a believer in the ability of exercise to improve mood!
I experimented a bit with my form and posture, as well as with my speed, and discovered that little changes made big differences in terms of how it felt. Pacing was definitely the key - I didn't over push myself, but instead just kept going at a reasonable pace, and I'm convinced that's the reason I was able to do the whole workout. Hmmm. There's probably a lesson in there for me to apply to work (and life), too.
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