To G or Not To G, That is the Question

Diligent hill-trainer (trainee?) that I am, I set out today to conquer the 5-mile hill route that I devised last week. Since I was running the same route, it seemed only logical that I wear dear Garmin (a.k.a. G) and try to beat last week's time. Afterall, training is all about improvement, right? Hmmm, not so sure. Big picture improvement, yes. But week-to-week improvement? I think that's a bit ambitious. If you've learned anything about me by now then you know, of course, that I did beat last week's time. Even if I had to drag a hobbled limb up that final hill I would have beaten the time. The problem is that I was totally obsessed with beating the time. I hate to even guess how many times I glanced at G. It was pretty much my sole focus. Feeling winded? Suck it up and push on. Side stitch? Ha! I laugh at you side stitch. The run must go on, and at a decent pace to boot.

When I hit hard patches in my runs I have certain idiosyncratic coping mechanisms that usually involve counting or reciting the alphabet. I save these for when I've gone beyond the thinking realm and my options are either primal chanting or (horror of horrors) walking. They're for emergency use only. The rest of the run is usually spent enjoying the scenery, thinking about what to eat for dinner, singing to myself, etc. Now here's the issue with G: when I'm racing against a previous G record, I'm in emergeny mode the whole time. There's no relaxation, no mind clearing or wandering, and certainly no scenery-taking-in. I might have run past a herd of unicorns today for all I know. Sure I beat last week's time, but is it really improvement when the run just wasn't any fun?

Today's miles: 5
Total miles: 24