Um, this is hard!

Tonight I was on my own (no Garrett – sad) for a maintenance run. It was tough going, and I’m not sure why. I think it was partially because I ran for 10-12 minutes and then walked for 1-2 minutes (40 minutes total) which is probably pushing it a bit, especially compared with my expectations about our pace group’s run-walk ratio. Also, I ran through the projects (literally) west of my work, up into the Lower Fillmore, and then east through the roughest part of the Tenderloin and its colorful characters crowding the sidewalks; maybe the blight affected my motivation. Also, maybe running is losing its novelty? I wasn’t totally huffing and puffing at the end of the run, and I felt good, but it’s staggering how hard I find 40 minutes of running. I had my first serious, concrete thought along the lines of wow, imagine running 9-10 times this distance:  wow, I can’t. I’ve tried to push that thought out of my head, or at least rationalize that though I can’t do it now, I’ll be able to do it come August after the training. Here’s hoping.