Overcoming Fear

Fear can keep you from all kinds of things.  My biggest fear is getting up and speaking in front of people.  On my wedding day, I was so terrified of falling or doing the wrong thing/saying the wrong thing, that I was a nervous, sweaty mess.  I did end up putting DH's ring on the wrong hand, but luckily he laughed it off and we've been very happy.

Today's schedule called for 8 miles.  For some reason I've had a hard problem keeping an average pace after 7 miles.  So this morning I was a little hesitant to start the run.  My alarm went off around 6:20 and I ate a Lunar Bar.  OMG, I've found something new to love.  I tried the Nuts About Chocolate.  It was pure awesomeness.  I also drank a bunch of water, went to the bathroom and left the house around 6:45.

I told myself that if I needed to walk, then I would and not feel bad about it.  I also gave myself a 90 minute time frame to get these miles done.  I just wasn't sure what was going to happen.

Wouldn't you know it that I ran those 8 miles in 1:13:39.  I was pretty stoked and very happy with my time.

Here's a low down of said run:

Mile 1 - 9:13


Mile 2 - 8:51
Mile 3 - 9:07
Mile 4 - 9:08
Mile 5 - 9:22 (Dog issues, I'll explain below)
Mile 6 - 9:19
Mile 7 - 9:21
Mile 8 - 9:18
Total miles - 8
Total time - 1:13:39
Total calories burned - 815

As you can see I had a slight issue with a dog around mile 5.  Luckily I had brought my pepper spray (a/k/a Jogger) and it out because I thought I was going to have a problem with a dog earlier in the run.  This particular dog was big and brown.  When I first encountered him he was standing in his yard and I figured that was where he was going to stay but no, he came out into the street barking at me the whole time.  My heart was beating like a mile a minute and I was very scared that he was going to bite me.  I yelled "NO" but never stopped running.  He got behind me, still barking but since I basically ignored him, he went back into his yard, barking, but left me alone. 

I would never spray a dog for the hell of it, but if I feel threatened or believe that the dog is going to bite me, you better believe that I'm going to spray the dog.  I told the hubs, that I would have called the cops to let them know that I did spray the dog and let them know the address, so if the owner found their dog with red eyes and called the cops, they could explain what happened.  It's against the law to spray a dog unless you are protecting yourself, so that is the main reason as to why I would call the cops.

So as you can see I overcame my fear and had a really great run.  So looking forward to upping the mileage and seeing how I handle them.

I also took a Tropical Hammer gel at Mile 2, and because of the Lunar Bar before the run, and the gel at Mile 2, I felt awesome and didn't need anything else the rest of the run.  I also carried my hand held water bottle and took a swing of water every time I felt I needed to.  I never felt dehydrated or thirsty at all during the run.  I think I'm getting a hang on the fueling of long runs.

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend.