Intervals, Power of Positivity, & My Love For Chulula

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My second-to-last longer interval training run was scheduled for Tuesday and I planned to wake-up at 4:45 to get it done with before heading to work. However, my cold was still causing me a sore throat and slight congestion so I turned my alarm off and decided to do it after work. During the taper, I try to take every precaution to not get sick and get more sleep, so afternoon taper it was! I was still exhausted, didn't eat as many carbs/proteins as I would have liked to, it was super windy, the trails were congested, and my throat was worse- I kept coming up with excuses the entire run!

This is funny because I was just saying the other night how I was needing to start to be more positive. My mental strength definitely starts to weaken during the later miles in a marathon and I am determined to work on staying positive. However, here I was in the middle of my speedwork session and I could not get out of my head! I started feeling like Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka and how an oompa loompa would need to roll me home because I was feeling round like a blueberry. 

Then, as I began my cool down miles I started to switch my thinking from negative thoughts to positive ones. I started to think about how lucky I was to live in such a beautiful place and how wonderful the sun felt. It made a huge difference in how I mentally finished out my run. While my splits were not all 100% perfect, I hit the majority of them after a tough day and while still being SO sore from my reformer pilates class the day before.

Ended up finishing the day with 9.2 miles:

  • 2.10 miles warm-up
    • 1 mile @ 7:50-8:00 (actual: 7:58 min/mi)- 800 recovery
    • 1200 @ 5:52 (actual: 5:50 min/mi)- 400 recovery
    • 800 @ 3:55 (actual: 3:55 min/mi)-400 recovery
    • 400 @ 1:56 (actual: 1:56 min/mi)-400 recovery
    • 1200 @ 5:52 (actual: 5:55 min/mi)-400 recovery
    • 800 @ 3:55 (actual: 4:04 min/mi w/ 100 short)-400 recovery
    • 400 @ 1:56 (actual: 2:02 min/mi)- 400 recovery
  • 2.10 miles cool-down

I think working with positivity will continue to be a work in progress for many months, but am hopeful that I will be able to mentally concur the marathon when I get it down! 

This morning I felt so much better (thanks to my 7:30 bedtime last night) and headed to the gym to get in a 30 minute strength training session and easy 3.25 bike ride & 1.5 mi recovery run. 

We finished out our day with TACOS and chulula on top of everything. It was seriously so amazing. My love for chulula may rival my love for Alex...or Stella....maybe....

We're over humpday and SO close to the long weekend! The weather doesn't look too great here, so our plans for camping or backpacking are still up in the air. Hoping it clears up for us to enjoy some much-needed fresh air and sunshine!

What are your go-to thoughts to improve your mood?

Ever tried to be more mentally tough or positive? How'd it go? Any tips?

Are you a hot sauce lover?