Heart.

“The real purpose of running isn’t to win a race; it’s to test the limits of the human heart.”
- Bill Bowerman, Nike co-founder

I read this quote yesterday right before my long run, and it was the best thought to have fresh on my mind before the run. It set the tone and reminded me not to focus on the pace or anything else, but to just focus on pushing my limits.

The meaning of this quote is what inspired me to take running more seriously in the first place. I wanted to run not to be in shape, but to push my body to be the best it could be. I want to be more than a runner or gym rat, I want to be the best I can be today.

It's so easy for me to get caught up in wanting to run more miles or run faster, but hearing these words reminds me that I will get there someday. I just need to push my current limits to get to my heart's next set of limits.

I repeated this thought over and over in my head during my run. My usual mantra I use if the run feels hard is to repeat to myself - "Just keep running. Just keep running. Just keep running." I do this over and over and over again. And it seems to work for me!

I guess it did because I had a great run on Sunday according to my splits, but it sure didn't feel that great during it. My body felt kind of tired and then during the middle of mile 5, I fell to the ground like a splattered mess after missing the dip in the sidewalk. It was painful!

This nice mom and her daughter waved me down to ask for directions, so I kindly stopped (but jogging in place as they walked) and totally didn't notice how the sidewalk dipped into the road as I fell flat onto the ground. I let out a little "f***!" as I tumbled to the pavement and in my mind I was blaming them for this awful predicament, which probably meant I had a sprained ankle. Like the well-mannered lady I am (or aspire to be), I said "I'm sorry for that little outburst!" and tried to hold back the tears as my ankle was in agony. They looked terrified of me. The mom apologized and they went on their way.

I walked around in circles for a few minutes and my ankle miraculously went back to normal. CRAZY! I was so happy that I could finish my long run. So on I went to finish my 8 miles for the day!!

My overall strategy for my runs is to always start out slow and finish fast. I knew I wanted to do the first four or five miles in the upper 9s to 10:05 pace at the slowest. I should have run a little bit slower, but I'm glad to see that I kept a consistent pace for the first 5 miles - eh kinda. And then of course picked it up on the last 3, which is always so fun!

Overall, it was a nice fun/relaxing weekend! Justin and I got a lot of cooking in at home and just had fun together :) Now I'm off to stock up on carbs at Kanki (a Japanese steakhouse) for my lovely roomie's birthday dinner! I'm looking forward to all the rice to get me through tomorrow's HEAT Beach Body class at 6am and then the 5 mile run tomorrow night! Eeeee!