Monday, October 5, 2009

Holding Back

I'm an active guy, and it's not all running. Despite the running streak, I also play baseball in the summer, snowboard in the winter, and do karate 2-3 days a week. Other than a few months in the fall, I typically have 3-4 other activities every week where I'm working my body. I'm also trying to weightlift a few times a week as well lightly for strength.

And that doesn't count chores around the ranch.

Lately I've been doing karate one morning a week since it better fits my schedule. What I've been trying to do is then run before I take class. Either I'll jog around town right before class, or hit the treadmill at home before I leave.

As I was running the other morning, I felt awake, ready to go, and was happy to get the run going. I like karate, so my body was feeling amped. I walked for a minute, and then started going, knowing I had 20 minutes before I needed to leave in the car.

So I ran at 5.6mph.

My "normal" pace is 6.2mph, and I run at 6.5 fairly often. A little quicker outside as it gets exciting. I could have shaved off a minute or two, or run a little further in the 15 minutes I'd allotted myself before packing up. But I didn't.

I knew this was the first thing, I had a long day of work and Scouts, and possibly chores. I needed to conserve some energy and remember I'm in this for the long haul. It's not a short training cycle for some race. This is the rest of my life.

Learning to hold back is hard. I find myself starting to overdo it sometimes, but so far I've been able to catch myself within a few days and hold back.

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