To run or not to run???

Today I had a really good run of a little over 8 miles.... I was planning on doing 10miles, but I woke up a little late, and I had a meeting to be at by 8:30 in the South Tampa clinic, so I had to cut it short. It was probably my best run in the last 2 months. Not that I ran really fast or anything like that, but I tend to look at my heart rate as a sign of improvement with my fitness, and I was able to keep my heart rate under 160 beats per minute throughout the run. Even better, I was able to keep my pace at an average of 9:00/mile, which I have never been able to do. It was just perfect pace, and I'm not sure if it was because the weather was a little cooler than usual, but anyway you look at it, I'll take it. I'm so happy about the run. So here it is....
Ivy Lake Easy Run

Even more important than today was on Thursday. Because I worked for Mike at the South Tampa clinic on Monday, he gave me off Thursday, so I was able to take my family to Busch Gardens. We had a great time, and got to see so many cool things there... I haven't been to Busch Gardens in like 3 years or so, so alot of things were fairly new to me. I had never been on Sheikra, so I was able to conquer it for the 1st time. Unfortunately, Kerry and I weren't able to go on it together because one of us had to stay back with the kids, so I didn't enjoy being in the line by myself and not having her to talk with. But the ride was great!!! Short, but intense....


I guess the most ironic thing about our time in Busch Gardens was that we spent about 80% of our time in the kiddie area. It's funny how when your life changes with having kids, how certain things that you never used to pay attention to are now a consistent part of your life. I have been to Busch Gardens at least 8 times over the last 12 years, and I never even noticed they had a kiddie section. Now, it's the main reason for me to go.... interesting, huh? I would have it no other way though, and I had more fun watching them have fun, than going on Sheikra... kids are such a blessing!!!!






Kerry and Adryana enjoying a ride together.....









Adryana and Arjay stopping to pose for a pic.....










The kids racing on the track in the car....








So after a long day at the park, we worked our way home and we were tired and exhausted... Unfortunately the kids took a little nap in the car, so they were revitalized once they got home. I told myself that I would go for a run at some point after I got home, but I kept on putting it off. Finally after 8 pm, we got the kids to bed, and I had to make a decision.... should I run? I wasn't really tired, but I just felt lazy.... I didn't have anything else really to do, I just felt like I had to make a choice of whether to sit down with a bag of Doritos and watch the Rays game, or go out for my scheduled tempo run.... This was one of the few times that I didn't really want to run....so I had to make a decision... I almost felt like I had the angel and the devil on both sides of my head, pulling me to do one or the other. Well after about 5 minutes of contemplating, I decided...
"Let me do my Ivy Lake Tempo"
So I guess the perfect ending to the story is to tell you that my run went fantastic and that all my hopes and dreams came to pass....well the run was difficult, I ran too fast, and I felt like garbage when I finished. I got home at 9:15 pm, took a shower and stretched a bit, and got in the bed. But you know what???? I think a few months from now, that run might have been my turning point with taking myself to another level with my fitness and training for my running. If I didn't run, it probably wouldn't have changed a thing with my fitness, no one run will really have that much of an impact on my overall fitness. I didn't lose any weight or get stronger abs... or anything like that.... but what I did get was a little bit more discipline. If I start to get into the habit of missing one run here, another one there.... then my fitness and overall potential of doing extremely well with my races will collectively suffer, and I don't want to be full of excuses. Sometimes, it's about doing stuff whether you want to do it or not. The closest analogy that I can think of for me is reading my bible at night sometimes. Most nights, I want to read my bible and find out more about the word of God. But sometimes, I'm tired, just want to get to my bed and that doesn't seem as important. But if every time I didn't "feel" like reading the word, I didn't... then it would become more routine to just "tank it" on a routine basis....the totality of that could affect me on a whole, because I try to rely on the word of God to guide me throughout my everyday life. So basically what I'm trying to say is that I think we all have things that are good for us that we usually like to do, but sometimes don't want to do... and I think that is normal, but if it's good for you, do it...don't sell yourself short. Hopefully, when I feel like that again.... I will go back to this blog to remember what I felt like.... Have a great weekend!!!!