Sometimes it's hard to see the "half full" glass...

This morning's 5 mile long run was NOT GOOD. I am feeling a bit sad and disappointed about it, but let me start from the beginning... 

I went to bed by 9pm last night so I woke up feeling fully rested this morning. I finally got out of bed at around 5:45am

I felt like I was getting ready in slow motion (not sure why...I didn't really feel tired) but I eventually got to my run start location around 7am. It certainly didn't feel "hot" and it was pretty overcast so the sun wasn't a huge factor, but it was very humid.

By the middle of my run I was soaking wet and this is how I felt...

I figured the cartoon probably wouldn't capture the essence of what I mean by "soaking wet" so I took a picture...

No matter what I did I just couldn't find my running groove. My form was off, I felt out of breath and completely exhausted, and therefore my pace was slower. These were my split times

My session summary for today...

I feel so sad and disappointed. I know I should try and take a "glass half-full" approach to running, but sometimes it is hard to do that. Especially when you are trying to (as I am) run shorter distances to build up a core foundation of miles. My ultimate goal is to have minimum 10 mile LR by the end of the year. I really should be able to run:walk 5 miles!

This was my Mileposts quote of the day (very timely)...

And of course, I'm never just satisfied with one piece of motivational advice so...

(I was so disappointed my heart was tired too...)

I found this article by Christine Luff, that I also think will help me today. In the article she provides 8 ways to recover from a "bad run"

1. Figure out what went wrong (humidity? was my diet not good enough yesterday? was I under hydrated?)

2. Focus on the health benefits (I do this...most of the time it helps)

3. Don't forget mental training (mentally I was "not there" today. After mile 1 I felt so discouraged I made it worse by doubting myself)

4. Write about it (hence this blog post...)

5. Try something different next time (I will have to sit down and evaluate my plan for the next 5 mile session)

6. Talk to other runners (that's where hopefully my blog readers will come into play...post tips for how you get over "bad runs"; and share how your weekend LRs went! I love to hear the success stories as well)

7. Appreciate your good runs (and I do. Friday was a good run and I am proud of that)

8. Don't wait too long to run again (I'm running on Tuesday)

There were a couple of "memorable moments" during my run today (none of which helped to make it any better). I had a very intimate encounter with a spider and it's cobweb mansion (not fun). And I almost got hit by a car! I was in the middle of the pedestrian crossing but the driver was clearly not paying attention and came barreling around the corner. What was more amazing was the look of annoyance on her face. It was one of those WWJD moments for me, so I ignored my initial instinctive reaction and just kept running. 

On a lighter and much happier note. I got to hang out with one of my good friends, Giselle, yesterday 

We spent most of the day talking and catching up while our kids played in the pool (beach was cancelled)

And her husband, Eric, grilled up an amazing lunch, which included grilled asparagus (which was fantastic!!!)

School starts back tomorrow for Kaiyu. Most of the back to school shopping is done but the rest of my day will include: errands, grocery shopping and making dinner (plus icing my knee as much as possible throughout the day).

I hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

P.S. Remember to share your tips for recovering from a "bad run" and your LR success stories!