"I run at the edge of discomfort."

I cannot take credit for the title of today's blog post.  That actually came from Jake who was on my Keys100 team.  It's an interesting concept if you think about it.

I run with my phone.  Yes, it's a royal pain in the butt, but my RunKeeper app updates me every minute with my average pace and distance completed.  I love it, but I realize it's anoying to have to carry it the whole time.  (What, you expect me to wear it on my arm?!  What if I need an update before the next minute's update comes?!  Sheesh - you expect me to wait up to another 59 seconds?!  Talk to Grandma; she'll fill you in on just how patient I am!)

So back to the topic at hand: running at the edge of discomfort.  I forget the exact circumstance surrounding this, but during the Keys100 relay, either Jake's phone or watch stopped working.  Of course, had this happened to me, it would've been a major crisis, but he took it all in stride.  I asked how he knew if he was running too fast or too slow, and his response was, "I run at the edge of discomfort."  He reasoned that if he was running too hard (ie: going too fast), he'd be in too much discomfort; if he was running not hard enough (ie: going too slow), he'd be too comfortable.

I definitely like that line of thinking, and I can see how it works.  However, if you're a head-case like I am, and your body insists that it's working too hard (even though you know it's not), it might be too tempting to pull back.  In fact, a NY Times article pretty much said that: "Tell yourself during exercise that you’re not as tired as you think you are and you could make that statement true, a new study shows, reminding us that the body intertwines with the mind in ways that we are only starting to understand."

So my philosophy is just to go balls out (within reason, of course).  Yes, it depends on how far I'm going as to the pace I try to keep, but I take comfort in this (below).  Yes, I have seen this shirt at many races; no, that's not me wearing it!