I went to bed last night planning to run in the morning. I woke up this morning and I did not feel like running. I was able to convince myself I was going to run and get my gear on to get out the door. As I was going out the door I was obviously going to run but I didn’t really feel like I was going to have a good run. I was in the mindset that I was just going to go out and get a run in. I was thinking that I was just going to run a nice easy coasting run. I just wanted to get the miles to keep my body in tune.

After I started running at about 1/4 – 1/2 mile I realized I actually felt pretty good. I was cruising along pretty well. My legs felt good and my mind felt good. It felt like a good run was in progress. I wasn’t running for a particular pace. I was just going to run my normal approximately 5k distance I run from outside my house up on Mt. Zoar. I know the route and the distance it covers so I never even looked at my watch. I like to run these runs by feel.

When I got done running and stopped my watch (My brand new Garmin Forerunner 230 by the way.) I was pleasantly surprised to see the readouts. I ran a sub 29 minute 5k which is pretty good for me. I ran a 9:18/mi pace which is pretty fast for me. The fact that I had such a good run when I didn’t feel like even running it made me vary happy that I had forced myself to run. I had overcome the psychological hurdle that was trying to prevent me from running.

When you don’t feel like running, run anyway. You might surprise yourself. You just might have one of your best runs yet. Once your feet hit the road your mindset can shift and your body can shift and you become the runner you know you are.