Ambling Along

I don’t get it. I thought running was supposed to help me sleep better. Last night, however, I had trouble getting to sleep. Consequently, I went running this morning less rested than I would have liked to have been.

Taking that under consideration, my run went as I expect it would under the circumstances. I did, however, attempt to push myself a bit more. I began intending to run four minutes before walking for two, but, when I noticed that I’d already run 4’23”, I decided to run 14 minutes. That went well, although I did run at a slow pace and kept my heart rate relatively low. After two minutes of walking, I resumed running, hoping to run for fourteen more minutes. Seven minutes in, however, the run was getting uncomfortable: I tried to adjust my breathing and pace, but nothing seemed to work. I decided to run one more minute to see how I felt, and, if I didn’t feel better, I’d resume walking. The running didn’t seem to get any easier, so I decided to walk two more minutes before running the last three.

I’m not sure why I had so much trouble running 14 more minutes. Two explanations come to my mind. First, the lack of sleep the night before may have inhibited me. Compounding the effects of sleep deprivation may have been that yesterday, I ran hard relatively late in the day. Second, perhaps my body is just not ready to do 14 minutes twice at one pop.

But I’ll live and learn. I may not get to run tomorrow, in which case I’ll next run on Monday evening. Then I’m more likely to be rested enough to try to run longer.