Some runs just suck … and my super easy effort run this afternoon, was one of them.  My legs were just dead and were feeling tired for miles … not just the first mile.

It is not unusual for my legs to feel a little dead at the beginning of a run.  After a while though, they typically warm up, and I can run without being conscious of how they are feeling.  Not today.  Today, I was aware of how tired my legs were feeling for at least three miles.

Running on tired legs is mentally draining.  Your mind is constantly telling you that you don’t really need to run.  Your mind tells you that it’s OK to walk.  Your mind tells you it’s perfectly acceptable to finish your workout early.

These mental ‘games’ in your head, will happen, and they will nearly always happen at some point during a long course triathlon race.  That is why I don’t mind them happening during a workout.  It gives me the opportunity to improve.  It gives me the opportunity to train my mind.

So as I ran this afternoon and started thinking about how bad my legs were feeling, I told myself “this is just like the end of a long race”.  I mentally imagined I was at the end of a marathon and I moved my thoughts to embracing the tired feeling.  I told myself “I am tired but I can easily keep going … I can finish this run”.

Then, during mile number four, things started to change.  My legs were still feeling tired, but not as tired as before.  I looked at my watch and my pace had picked up slightly.  I was coming through the other end of that tired phase.  I was going to finish the run in a good place.

While this run wasn’t great, it did allow me to once again, remind myself that things are never as bad as they seem.  I am capable of continuing to run.  I am capable of completing what I started.  I will be able to overcome these feelings, when they occur in a race.  It was great to practice mental fortitude today!!