Good and Bad Days

Everyone has their good and bad days.  Anything can trigger you to have a great day, or a bad day.  Knowing this, don't come to a conclusion that because of one day you're doing great, or you're doing horrible.  Look at it in perspective, seeing how you're doing in that week... that month, and you can generally tell how you're doing at a month to month basis.  Today for me was a 'bad day' where I didn't feel too strong about my running.  My main goal for today was to run for a couple hours, and I came out running a couple hours.  To some, what I did today would be something that they could not do, but at the moment, I'm comparing myself to what I did before.

I ran twice today (10 min break in between my runs) and ran first with my New Balance Minimus for 1:21:56, finishing 9.42 miles (a 8:41 min/mile average) which really used my calves a lot because I didn't have the cushioning that my Asics provide.  It wasn't that the Minimus was bad, but it was that I wasn't used to it, and because it required my feet to become stronger, I decided that I needed to run with them.  Now after that hour and a bit of running, my calves felt like they needed a break, so I returned home, took my shoes off, got a drink of water, and switched shoes... waited a bit and ran.  My feet appreciated the cushioning my Asics Gel-Frantic 6 gave me (even though they're not the 'best' shoes, they're great for training) and ran 8.06 miles in 1:05:45, an average of 8:09 min/mile.  By the end of my run, I was rather tired because I felt like I overexerted myself.

Looking at what I did today and comparing it to what I did a couple days before, the difference is like night and day... and the reason is the exact same thing.  Night and day.  A couple nights ago, I ran at night.  Running at night and running during the day is totally different, because during the day, you have the sun shining down, giving your body extra heat, causing your body to lose water, and thus little by little become dehydrated.  At night, the temperature is a lot cooler, so your body doesn't have a hard time trying to keep the body at that certain temperature.  Good days and bad days can happen for a number of reasons, but don't let that get you down.  It's not always going to be bad, and it's not always going to be good.  The important thing is that you continue to work your hardest towards your goals despite the current results, and take the steps to make that dream become a reality.