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Last night I went to bed around 11PM. My alarm was set for 4:10. I was planning on a 12-mile run, 7 miles of which would be run at half-marathon pace. I had even programmed my new Garmin Forerunner 610 to monitor my heart rate to make sure I was running the proper zones.
Unfortunately my plans didn’t work out so well. At around 12:30AM I woke up and for the life of me could not get back to sleep. The last time I looked at the clock before finally drifting off was 2:30AM.
Ugh!
3 hours of interrupted sleep before a 12-mile run is not smart. When my alarm went off I simply turned it off and rolled over. This was the smart move, but as I drifted off again I wondered how I would feel in the light of day. Would I be disappointed that I didn’t even try? Would I be mad that I had been awakened in the middle of the night? Would I even care?
What’s really weird is that I think it made me more motivated.
It did make me mad, but not in the “I’m so angry” kind of way – instead, I was happily mad. It was almost like a flame coming back to life. I was disappointed, but instead of moping about it, I was simply excited about the next opportunity I would have to run.
Last night I was half-excited about the run (mostly because I wanted to see how well the Forerunner 610’s programmable workouts functioned. But this morning, as I made breakfast for my girls (who are home for summer vacation) I found that I was REALLY excited about my next run (whatever that may be). In the end, I will probably miss my 12-miler. Tomorrow is supposed to be a 5 mile recovery run followed by 20 – 21 on Sunday and despite wanting to try out the bells and whistles of my new toy, I am even more amped to hit the road for a long run on Sunday – no sense in me blowing myself up tonight with a hard 12. As Coach Caleb always says, don’t try to make up for a missed training run. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
I am really excited about running both tomorrow and Sunday.
Strange that missing a workout actually serves as motivation to get back out there and just GO! Who would have thought that would happen.
Run Luau Run 
Happens to me regularly. In fact, it happened today. I was at work, set to get-up at 430 and run for 90 minutes. Instead, after getting to bed around 10, I was up at 12 for a call, then got another one at 130 and it was almost 3 by the time I crawled back into bed. By the time I woke-up at 7 there was no way I was getting in a run. I figured I “might” be able to get it in at home during the day, then eventually resigned to getting on the treadmill tonight after I put the girls down. However, I squatted to pick up Charlotte out of the bath and felt a SHARP pain in my left quad. I’ve opted for a rest day. But, I’m SUPER excited for the 90 minute run tomorrow and the 2 hour run on Sunday!
sound advice. If it’s gone, it’s gone – enjoy your long run.
Sounds about right. I had a horrible mental block with running last year and then I was forced to missed some and came back with a vengeance. It was like the reminder I needed of how much I love running. Glad it is back Matt.
Happened to me too! Recently injured myself and can’t wait to get out the door to start running again!