Quality control guru, Phillip Crosby once said,
“If anything is certain, it is that change is certain. The world we are planning for today will not exist in this form tomorrow.”
Yesterday, I planned to hit the gym for a tempo run on the treadmill. I reasoned that it was better to run this morning, then enjoy the holiday (drink booze, stay up late) knowing that tomorrow is an off day. Apparently, a lot of people had that plan. I showed up at the gym around 10 am and the parking lot was full. There were people double parking all over the place, cars parked all along the street outside and general parking pandemonium.
I didn’t bother to go inside. Most runners would do their tempo run outside anyway, so I headed over to a local park with a 1.1 mile path around a lake. I hadn’t brought my hat, but fortunately, it was an overcast day so I didn’t have to worry too much about my head getting sunburned as long as I wasn’t out for much more than an hour. I found a tube of sunscreen in the trunk, spread it all over my head and face, and hit the path.
Planned workout
1 mile warmup
2 miles at 7:35 pace
1 mile easy
2 miles 7:35 pace
1 mile cool down
Actual workout
1 mile warmup
2 miles 7:37 pace
1 mile walk
2 miles 9:10 pace
I was actually pretty satisfied with this workout. I ran the first two miles at roughly the correct pace, which is a pretty good accomplishment for me on the pavement without a treadmill to pace me. Technically, the plan calls for an easy mile job, but I knew I’d be walking that mile in between. The real challenge for me today was to run the entire distance for the second two miles.
I was very excited that I did. Even though it was 1:35 off the planned pace, it felt good to run that distance without a walk break. Most importantly, I took an obstacle thrown in my path in stride (the packed gym) and turned it into a good run. I’m sure there will be bigger obstacles before all is said and done.
I’m going to enjoy the holiday and my day of rest tomorrow.