the early miles

It takes a while to get warmed up.  To feel like I could run for hours.  Which sometimes, I do.  It never fails that the first few miles of any run are tough.  Depending on the length of the run the early miles could be anywhere from 3-6miles.  (This is especially tough for a 5K.  I've found I prefer to run 2mi before the 5K to get totally warmed up.  Otherwise, the whole race feels uncomfortable.)

Mentally, I have to get into the mindset that this is what I'm going to be doing for the next 40min, 1.5hrs, 4hrs.  Physically, my muscles need to get warmed up and into the motion of moving. 

I often find myself in the early miles coming up with ways to shorten my run.  "Maybe I don't *have* to run 12miles today...maybe I can get away with 8."  I find myself telling myself I can't do it, it's too hard, it's too hot, this route is too hilly.  Just this past weekend, the words of my friend, Molly kept playing through my head - "I can't.  Stop.  I can't."  (Full disclosure, whenever she used these words, it wasn't about running...but it works in this case, right?) 

It's in these early miles that I have to fight against my mind and my body.  I know that once I get to the middle miles (more on that at another time), I'll be fine and will feel good!  But getting there?  That's the hard part.  The experts tell you to come up with a mantra that you can use that make you feel stronger, it sounds totally cheesy, but it totally works.  To get myself through the early miles on Saturday, to combat the "I can't.  Stop." playing in my head, I used the mantra, "I can.  And I will."  This was accompanied by a defiant lift of the chin. 

The early miles are tough, but once you get through them you feel great and like you could run and run and run and run....