Running Free

I had my first week of the year in Long Beach, which means my husband is still there. My first 2008 run on the beach was great and took me back to May 2007 when I started in LB my training for my first Marathon.

Thoughts? I internalized I am running with a different attitude.

I am an extreme case of a Type A personality, but I do not want to feel that not following the fine print of my running plan is a failure. Of course, I am more laid back now because I know what I am able to do. I know that I can run long distances and feel great about it. But I needed to "de-stress" myself. Several minor events have helped me to get out of the frantic situation. Those events include:

• My Ipod was left in Thailand, so no music to follow my pacing at the exact bit.
  
• My HR monitor broke, so no controlling my HR every 30 seconds.
• My HR watch also broke, so no controlling how many minutes I have been running, and no calculations on how many minutes per mile I am doing.
  
• This week I didn't have a chance of checking my routes prior to the runs, so when I ran 5.7 miles instead of a planned 6-miler, I didn't get disappointed, and thought it was ok.
• My husband only had 35 min to work in the gym the day I needed to do tempo. I did the tempo run @ the gym, couldn't complete the easy run that comes after, and once at home at 5:45 am, I went to the beach and finished the mileage.
  

I still go and log my runs, and my log calculates my pace, and so on. But I discovered that I am running free. Free of stress.

PS: I ran 2 miles of tempo run at 9.67 and I am setting it as my benchmark for the year. How many miles will I be able to do at that pace? Five? Don't know, but I will look forward a 5K in a couple of months....