I'm putting off my long run in the hopes that conditions improve a bit, and as such thought I would use the time wisely to write my post.
I've talked endlessly about the importance of long runs, both from a physical and mental perspective. The emotional uplifting I always feel afterwards is what makes me look forward to them. Unfortunately, there are times I suppose that what's good for the mind, may not be good for the body. Certainly when it comes down to running for 3 hours straight the old "everything in moderation" adage goes out the window.
And I know the truth of it. At my age, considering other factors in my life, and from a strictly physical perspective, I would be healthier if I did less. That's not the case for everyone either, as lots of people can successfully keep going well into their seniority. But I feel especially vulnerable today, as for the last 2 evenings I have had several hours on end of my heart skipping beats, and that my friends is an unsettling thing! Not to worry anyone though, because it is most likely caused by something called Premature Ventricular Contraction (PVC), or Premature Atrial Contraction (PAC), both of which showed up during my Holtor monitor testing. It is in itself relatively harmless, and I believe it would go away entirely if I slowed down a bit. It also seems that stress can be a contributing factor. I'll see what the cardiologist has to say about it in 10 days.
The bummer of it however is that it creates a level of anxiety that is simply not conducive to going out there and enjoying my run, Combine that anxiety with the obvious lessening of heart efficiency if it happens while I run, and it doesn't sound like a recipe for success. Of course I have no idea if this is the case or not, but never the less, the anxiety is hard to ignore.
But I'm still going out there. I need to try to get past the mental part, and then listen to my body. I'm waiting for 11 o'clock or minus 6, whichever comes first. I'll let you know how it goes.
I was also hoping to get some snowman building in this afternoon, but despite earlier promises from the weatherman, it no longer looks like it's gonna get warm enough for packing snow. I'll let you know on that one as well.
......I'm back.....
Several hours later I've gotten my run in, had something to eat, and then promptly fell asleep. The run didn't go quite as I hoped, but probably as well as I expected. As so often happens the procrastination came back to bite me. While it did warm up a bit, it had also started snowing, and it never stopped. This meant that any traction I had starting out, deteriorated quickly. By the end of my 25 kms it was just plain miserable. There was absolutely no place to get any footing.
Oh well. Given the conditions, the 25 km effort was probably the equivalent of the 30 I had hoped for. Certainly it took me that long. I'm pretty sure it was the slowest 25k of my life, but since I'm very fond of telling Odd John that speed is irrelevant on the long runs, I probably should consider it good advice for myself as well. And I know my decision to stop at 25 was the right one!
run 25 kms, 6:00/km
"There's nothing wrong with procrastination. Or is there? I'll leave it to you to decide, but only if you have the time."---Craig Brown
...and here's one of those that strikes a chord....
"Working is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination."---Gretchen Rubin
Love
Peter
I've talked endlessly about the importance of long runs, both from a physical and mental perspective. The emotional uplifting I always feel afterwards is what makes me look forward to them. Unfortunately, there are times I suppose that what's good for the mind, may not be good for the body. Certainly when it comes down to running for 3 hours straight the old "everything in moderation" adage goes out the window.
And I know the truth of it. At my age, considering other factors in my life, and from a strictly physical perspective, I would be healthier if I did less. That's not the case for everyone either, as lots of people can successfully keep going well into their seniority. But I feel especially vulnerable today, as for the last 2 evenings I have had several hours on end of my heart skipping beats, and that my friends is an unsettling thing! Not to worry anyone though, because it is most likely caused by something called Premature Ventricular Contraction (PVC), or Premature Atrial Contraction (PAC), both of which showed up during my Holtor monitor testing. It is in itself relatively harmless, and I believe it would go away entirely if I slowed down a bit. It also seems that stress can be a contributing factor. I'll see what the cardiologist has to say about it in 10 days.
The bummer of it however is that it creates a level of anxiety that is simply not conducive to going out there and enjoying my run, Combine that anxiety with the obvious lessening of heart efficiency if it happens while I run, and it doesn't sound like a recipe for success. Of course I have no idea if this is the case or not, but never the less, the anxiety is hard to ignore.
But I'm still going out there. I need to try to get past the mental part, and then listen to my body. I'm waiting for 11 o'clock or minus 6, whichever comes first. I'll let you know how it goes.
I was also hoping to get some snowman building in this afternoon, but despite earlier promises from the weatherman, it no longer looks like it's gonna get warm enough for packing snow. I'll let you know on that one as well.
......I'm back.....
Several hours later I've gotten my run in, had something to eat, and then promptly fell asleep. The run didn't go quite as I hoped, but probably as well as I expected. As so often happens the procrastination came back to bite me. While it did warm up a bit, it had also started snowing, and it never stopped. This meant that any traction I had starting out, deteriorated quickly. By the end of my 25 kms it was just plain miserable. There was absolutely no place to get any footing.
Oh well. Given the conditions, the 25 km effort was probably the equivalent of the 30 I had hoped for. Certainly it took me that long. I'm pretty sure it was the slowest 25k of my life, but since I'm very fond of telling Odd John that speed is irrelevant on the long runs, I probably should consider it good advice for myself as well. And I know my decision to stop at 25 was the right one!
run 25 kms, 6:00/km
"There's nothing wrong with procrastination. Or is there? I'll leave it to you to decide, but only if you have the time."---Craig Brown
...and here's one of those that strikes a chord....
"Working is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination."---Gretchen Rubin
Love
Peter
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