11 miles/1:27:49 (8 miles)

Lots of reasons for stopping before the end of the run today: I followed the hilly route when I shouldn't have; I went out too fast (still not able to wear my HRM comfortably); I wanted to make sure I did not inflame my IT band more than necessary or become over-tired before my half marathon next week; and I stopped in sympathy with my running buddy who was trying to save his knee.

But honestly I stopped because I was bored.

I wasn't feeling particularly motivated to run beforehand. I mean, I wanted to run, but I was not excited about it. It was a run in the interregnum, a gap between long benchmark runs, and was simply not exciting for that reason. The hill route took us up Terwilliger and back, then down through Willamette Park and back, and when I looped past the car park after the Terwilliger section I thought "I don't want to run through Willamette Park again. There's no shade, it's dull, and I've been that way too many times already."

So I stopped.

I felt bad that I had stopped, but I think I did the right thing. I know I can do long distances already, to the point where I am increasingly confident that I will be able to finish the marathon in October, and saving a bit of energy for the half next week is probably more important than grinding out those last three miles. I would have learnt nothing new.

I am looking forward to the half marathon next Sunday, though. That will be good.

Posted by Dunx at July 31, 2004 01:22 PM