Goal: 4 miles – Reality: 4.17 miles / Light Bulb Moment!

The little light bulb went off over my head today during my early morning run. There’s a lot of time to think when you’re out running before most people roll out of bed, and today I was starting to think about (or maybe I should say dread) my upcoming group run on Saturday. Man, they always suck. Always. I always struggle with them. Even if I’ve run the same mileage at home 10 times, I get to the group run and the same mileage crushes me, leaving me feeling like an idiot for even thinking I could do this.

Why? Why are the group runs so hard for me?

Light Bulb Moment!

Out of nowhere, at 2.75 miles into my morning run today, it hit me – it was so obvious! I had just pushed through that feeling of “wow I have a long way to go still – how will I ever make it?” My feet were finally starting to get in sync. My breathing was finally steady. My legs felt strong, and there was no doubt in my mind that I would finish the 4 mile run easily. And in that moment – that moment of running clarity – the light bulb lit brilliantly above my head. How had I missed it until now?

To this point I’ve been blaming my group run struggles on LOTS of things:

1. No earphones during the group runs (I’m still holding to this one – I need my cheesy music beating in my ears!).
2. Poor pre-run diet (I’ve gotten much better with this, I’m happy to report).
3. Mental struggles with being the slowest and most inexperienced runner in the group (a continuing struggle).

And yes, all of those things are valid factors, but the biggest thing – the one thing killing me more than any other – was the one thing I wasn’t even remotely considering.

Water breaks are killing me.

Seriously – water breaks! Go figure. I’m struggling in my group runs because of the water breaks we take.

I know this sounds completely crazy, but follow my logic…

See, when I run on my own, it takes me until about 2.5 miles until I really feel myself fall into my groove – that point where I push past the initial exhaustion, my feet stop feeling like uncoordinated cement blocks, and I find the place where I feel like I’m in control of the run. My legs are strong. My lungs are strong. My pace evens out. Everything starts working in sync – and then I just keep moving forward. When I run on my own, I just run. I don’t stop for water breaks. I haven’t really felt the need to stop yet as my mileage hasn’t gone more than 5 miles during my solo runs. So my body, legs, lungs, heart, mind – all stay focused in the constant motion of the run. But this only happens once I get past that 2.5 mile mark.

Still following me? Good!

Now, during my group runs each week, we stop for periodic water breaks. Seems harmless enough. I know I’m always excited to see the water breaks because I’m always ready to die by the time I get to them. Well DUH! Do you know why I’m dying when I get to them? Do you know where they put these water breaks? They put them somewhere between every 2-3 miles, depending on the length of the run. EXACTLY at the point in my runs where my body goes from exhausted to exhilarated. Now instead of pushing through the early run pain, I’m instead shutting down to break for water – right at that critical point in the run! So now when I start up again, even after that very short break, I’ve lost my momentum. I’ve lost my strength, my stride, my confidence in the run. Now I’m starting over when I start running again, and I’m starting over at that exhaustion point I never pushed through. I never seem to hit my stride again. I never seem to be able to push through that critical point in my run once I stop moving. And if I manage to get back to that point again in the next leg of the run, it’s just as we’re coming to another water break. And the cycle of struggle begins again.

Freaking water breaks! Who would have thought?

OK, so now what do I do? Do I not stop for water breaks? EVERYONE on the group runs stops for water breaks. I can’t just not stop – they’ll think I’ve completely lost my marbles if I go running past everyone. Heck, it’s like 90+ degrees out there during our Saturday runs. We need to be stopping for water breaks. I get that. You can see my dilemma here…

So how do I work around this?

What wonderful lessons will Saturday’s run bring after today’s light bulb moment? Only time will tell, I suppose.

Keep on running!