Friday I was to run 9 and run 9 I did but despite headphones, shorter intervals, or even making the intervals slow and the rests fast, I would find myself lost in thought before the Garmin beep summoned me to the next lap.  What was I doing?  Ah yes, running fast.  But that isn’t how it works, now is it?  By the end of the run, my Garmin registered a full minute and a half per mile slower than I had intended.  It was time to surrender.

Saturday morning, every bone and muscle in my body begged for me to sleep in and take a day off.  But my DSGCTP schedule begged to differ.   In no uncertain terms, I needed to run 16 to 18 miles because truth is that if I couldn’t run 16 after running 9 the day before then it just wasn’t going to be possible to run 26 after running 13 come Goofy Challenge Day.  There are only so many weekends to go and this one needed to count.

After a few miles, the sludge in my legs finally let go.   Serenaded by the chatter of my running club, the mileage clicked by and I finished my run.  As I stepped out of running and arrived at my car, I realized that I had crossed some sort of psychological barrier.  Suddenly, the Goofy Challenge seems daunting but possible.  If I can hold back the pace, I can do this.

Run More, Run Slower!