Long Run - Should have Been Longer...

It's been just over a month since the last post, and today was a long run, so I figured worth a post!!  The plan for today's run was 121 minutes, but I am still adding my extra 20 minutes or so at a gentle pace.  That made the plan to be 141minutes in total which was ever so slightly terrifying!!  It was on a treadmill so perfect terrain/weather, and I thought somewhere around 26km would maybe be achievable.  Nowhere near a marathon, but getting there, and I would have been very happy!!  But I failed 😢.  It wasn't a disaster, in fact it was kinda decent really, but one reason for posting is to share my feelings about why I failed!!  I clearly don't know the reason, but I have a guess.  And it is something that I have been thinking for some time now.  Treadmill running is very different to running outside for all sorts of reasons!!  I prefer running outside, but there are pros and cons.  Running outside means not having to go to a gym, running with views and maybe birds and other animals, running and chatting with others etc. etc., and it's been my overwhelming choice of running for decades!  But when the weather is bad, and after my injury, the treadmill is safer!!  And you can easily have plenty of water without carrying it.  And you can listen to music or podcasts or whatever (I don't agree with wearing headphones when running outside, but maybe that's just me).  And if you get injured you can sit down and even ask for assistance if needed.  In the past, running outside, I have got injured and had to limp home in the rain for over an hour!!  But another advantage that is new to me, is how it works when following a training plan.  You set the speed and run, then adjust the speed if the plan demands it, and stop when you're done.  And I have found that this works brilliantly!  Once I set the speed that I know I can do, I follow it.  And if I want to slow down, I don't!  Outside is, of course, different.  Not least because you may have cars/dogs/sticks/pushchairs and whatever to avoid.  That has been my experience of following a training plan on a treadmill, but this year I have found something else.  Running outside is more interesting.  I always have lots of stuff I am thinking about, so I haven't been getting 'bored' on a treadmill, but for the long runs that is a problem!  Earlier I have been listening to music, audiobook, podcasts etc on the treadmill for long runs.  And that has worked a treat!!  But I left my headphones at my sister's and have been running without them for the last few months.  That is no real problem, but as the time on long runs has increased that's become less than ideal.  My sister gave me back my headphones recently, but I have not got into the habit of taking them to the gym!!  I must get back into it!!  That's because my 'theory' for why I failed in the run today is a mental rather than a physical problem.  I think physically I could have done a 141 minute run at a gentle pace.  But after maybe 40 or 50 minutes, the thought of it being another two hours or so is mentally demanding!!  Outside or wearing headphones would be different 🤔.  At least that's my theory 😀.  Of course, the truth might be that I am simply not fit enough to do long runs!!  That idea is not entirely without reason!  But this run today backed up my theory a bit.  The plan was gentle running at the start and end.  And in the middle, 81 minutes slightly faster and then 20 minutes faster still.  Bear in mind that my "20 minutes faster still" pace is only a couple of seconds under 5m per km pace, so not exactly blistering!!  About half way into the 81 minutes I simply didn't want to keep going for another two hours or so!!  What I did was press the lap button and move to the slightly faster pace to do that 20 minutes.  That meant my pace increased from about 5:22 to 4:51 minutes per km.  Not a huge increase, but it was a change and so not so boring!!  I did 20m at that pace, but didn't want to do any more minutes at 5:22 pace.  Sounds like a mental rather than physical problem to me  😀.  Dunno, but thought I'd blog it!!  After the 20 minutes 'fast', I slowed down to about 5:30 minutes per km and did my planned 10 minutes.  I then did another 30 minutes - all gentle pace - but I couldn't (or didn't) keep going until 141 minutes total.  I think a combination of mental and physical is the real reason for me 'failing'...  I know this blog is just for me as no-one else will be interested, but I like writing it.  It makes me think and I sometimes look back at what I wrote days, weeks or months ago.  So I'm gonna keep blogging every now and again!!  One other thing to mention, as this is the 5th of January, I did the Penrith New Year's Day Parkrun (I was 64th) on Monday!!  The weather wasn't great, the course was changed (probably due to flooding or something) but there were 223 runners!!  Awesome!!!  Today's run, after changing it as I've said, and not doing the full 141 minutes, ended up being 23.20 km at an average pace of 5:23 minutes per km in 125 minutes.  No injury problems on the run, which is a huge relief!!  My left knee hurt a little on the walk home, but I think it's nothing.  Yay!!!  Not as long a run in time or distance as I intended, but not bad, so happy  😀.