The Fine Line Between Mental Toughness and Insanity

OBJECTIVE
6 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
6.02 miles : 50:40 = (8:25 min/mile)

5:51 AM 62° 86% 1.5 mph

It seemed freakishly warm when I walked outside this morning. Maybe just because it's the eve of Christmas Eve with such balmy conditions ....

I drove to the Y to run the bayou trail for today's six-miler. About 1/2 mile in, I had thoughts of shutting it down. My right calf was extremely stiff/tight. It seemed to be changing my stride and footfall. It is extremely rare for me to have the thought of stopping once I'm out on a run. Of course, I have slowed down but I nearly always get the distance. I pressed on hoping it would loosen up as it warmed up.

This led me to thinking about each person's unique pain threshold. There's really no good way to compare one person's to another's (I think there have been scientific studies on this and, maybe there are ways to truly compare people that I'm not aware of yet.) I believe almost all runners from elite and "masters" hacks like myself have reached that precipice where they have to decide whether they're going to push even more, keep it where it's at, or pull back. For many this probably has occurred during a race. During challenging workouts it also happens. There's only one way to answer the question, "what's on the other side of this 'agony'?". However, there's danger in pressing. Will pushing through the barrier lead to euphoria on the other side or will it lead to injury or the inability to properly recover? This is all a very complex conundrum. Is my training partner feeling the same thing on the eighth repeat that I am? I doubt it. Is his pain tolerance higher than mine? How does my diet or sleep impact what I'm feeling today?

None of these questions will be answered today but it did give me something to take my mind off my throbbing right calf. The calf loosened/numbed? slightly over the last half of my run.

I picked up my leisurely, calf-mandated pace over the last mile or two as I passed member of the ChampionsFit group going out for their run. My last mile was 7:58.

The good news of no ITB issues continues. The calf my be a blessing in disguise since it's keeping the intensity of my runs down ....


PRERUN
Kashi GoLean cereal with skim milk, water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin, oatmeal with flaxseed, brown sugar, and skim milk.