Sunday 23 December 2012

Mental toughness or just mental?

Last night I was well behaved so I could have my long run this morning. Up at 6.30am to have breakfast and give it an hour to digest. It was pitch black outside and didn't sound too windy but I was at the back of the house. My wife suggested I was completely off my head to go out in those conditions - but I had to. I was running with my rucksack weighing about 3.5 kg and as I turned out the drive the gale force wind and rain hit me - wow! Man up I thought, this is what makes you mentally tough. After a mile I turned west straight into the wind and rain. Now I was struggling to move but I kept going and imagined that the rain smashing into my face was sand in a sand storm in the desert. But then I found myself in an oasis or to put it another way, water over my shoes as the road was completely flooded. Time to reconsider on the grounds of health and safety - mine! The run was meant to have involved a big climb and the wind was so strong at this level and I could hardly stand up. When I turned around I almost got blown over as the wind caught my rucksack. When I got back home I had covered the slowest 5.3k ever and had to admit to my wife that perhaps she was right, I was mental! Note to self - Sometimes safety overrides the need to complete a task.