But Why?

I have a vague memory of sitting in the hallway in m childhood home, secretly trying to take a plug socket off the wall using a fork for a screwdriver. Fortunately, I managed to avoid doing any damage to myself but I'm sure I was just trying to work out 'electricity' (my mum be able to confirm).

But why?

I like things to be logical. I need to understand how things work. I can't cope with an inefficient queuing system or a decision or action that doesn't make sense. I like everything to have an evidence base. I don't like 'just because' as an answer.

But why?

Sometimes running is really logical - improving my diet, focusing on speed in training runs, getting stronger through cross-training have all directed impacted on my ability to run faster in recent weeks. Consistent training produces results.

But why?

And then sometimes, running is really illogical and nothing about it makes sense. 

This has definitely been my experience over the last few days... three runs on three consecutive days;  one on Thursday, one Friday and one on Saturday. 

Each time, I was running on my own but each run felt so completely different, not just in how fast I ran but in how I felt in body and mind.

But why?

On Thursday, I jogged up to Hanley Park and ran intervals around the lake. I didn't feel like I was running particularly quickly despite putting in lots of effort - I tried to go faster but couldn't quite manage it. So a bit of disappointment. But then the split times on each of my intervals were consistent and that was reassuring. 

Overall assessment; run average.

But why?

On Friday, though, everything was different. I was missing my running buddy so no Friday Five chat this week - perhaps that affected my mindset. I was tired, after another long week at week - perhaps that affected my energy levels. Whatever the reasons, the first mile was torture; I felt like I was going backwards in sinking sand. I was sluggish. I couldn't get moving. I just wanted to stop and go home. I definitely wasn't enjoying my run. I adopted an old tactic of running loops close to home... not quite brave enough to run any further away. I got to 3.5 miles and that was enough. I didn't feel like I'd achieved anything at all. 

Overall assessment; run awful.

But why?

And then comes Saturday's run. 

If anything, running on Saturday should have been so much more of a challenge. 

I ate far too much Chinese takeaway for tea on Friday night. I slept badly. I woke up early, feeling dehydrated (blame it on the crispy seaweed). I skipped breakfast to make it to Hanley Park on time. I was rushing around all morning in my run director role at parkrun. I walked home again. I ate leftover Chinese for lunch. I frittered away a few minutes catching up on the rugby and had another cup of tea. The spectre of Friday's difficult run was weighing on my mind. 

But why?

From the moment I started running, I felt strong, positively bouncing, a completely different feeling to Thursday and Friday. At no point did the challenge of running 10 miles seem daunting, even though I've not run that far on my own for months. My pace was consistent and much quicker than expected - almost two minutes a mile faster than on Friday evening and I was running three times as far. I ran without a care and enjoyed the freedom of running far from home. I smiled and said hello to people I passed. I didn't mind at all that it started raining. I was a new runner.

Overall assessment; run awesome.

But why?

Just because.