Fighting the Despair of a Bruised Ego
I am a month into training in my heart rate zone and am feeling as discouraged as ever. My pace remains sluggish. Maybe even more so considering the increasing humidity we are experiencing as we enter monsoon season here in Phoenix. What is most disheartening however is that I do not feel like a runner anymore. I spend almost as much time walking because of an almost imperceptible incline in the road that forces me to slow or dehydration that takes its toll. During my long runs, I start really early, usually about 4:30 am. I can run a reasonable pace for the first two hours, around 11:00 min/mile which is slow for me, but not a bad pace for a long training run. Almost to the second, when I hit two hours, something happens and my heart rate will not stay down. It begins climbing at even a shuffle of a run, so I am switch to a speed walk. It is not like me to get angry, but in this, I am getting angry. I am sure this does nothing to help with my pace however since my an
