You Win Some, You Lose Some

Today started out great and then eventually turned into the day of wasting time.

I went for a 6 mile run this morning, around 8am, and even though it started out slow I finished in 51 min 15 sec. Times like these I wish I had a Garmin because I’m pretty sure I ran a few sub 8 minute miles in there somewhere.

Usually I maintain a pretty even pace at about 9:15 per mile but today…today there was a challenge!

At around my 3rd mile I was running through Kapiolani Park and this runner dude (sporting a tech tee that looked pretty official) passed me. For some reason my competitive spark was ignited and I felt it was absolutely necessary that I keep pace with this guy and let him know that I’m up for a challenge. And so I did. For about 2.5 miles my heart rate monitor registered a 190-197…which means I was pretty much sprinting for 2 and a half miles. I ended up losing runner dude at one of the Waikiki intersections where we took different routes but I felt really accomplished to have kept up with this guy who seemed like a serious runner.

Needless to say by the time I got home I was exhausted. My face was as red as a beet and I was drenched in sweat. But it’s runs like this that remind me why I chose not to speed train on the treadmill – because more often than not, I’ll get inspired by a faster runner when I’m on a normal run & it will end up sufficing as a speed training run.

Initially I had planned on getting some serious work done today. But after 3 cups of coffee led to a 2 hour recovery nap (the coffee wasn’t strong enough), I lost all hope on being productive. Then at around 4pm I decided to go to Barnes & Noble to peruse the Current Event magazines in hopes of gaining some motivation. Barnes & Noble is only about 5-6 miles from my house if I take the interstate but then this happened mid commute – a car jacking.

So I spend about an hour & a half sitting in standstill traffic about 2 miles way from my destination. So much for motivation!

And this entire trip ended with a night that looks like this…

Yep, you know you’re being productive when there’s a blurry photo of a half consumed wine bottle sitting next to your school books and your computer.

At least I had a good run?!