Running Log Guilt

I have tracked the slow progression of my mileage in my running log, and it is encouraging to finally reach 30 per week - a number that makes me feel as if I am suddenly in a higher gear.  The last three weeks I ran 25.24, 27.03, 30.23, and 30.00 miles.  But last weekend I missed my long run.  Instead, on Saturday we went to Snowbird Mountain Lodge in Robbinsville to celebrate our 36th Anniversary.

Although I managed to ride a mountain bike Monday afternoon on the Cherohala Skyway, and we had a lovely hike in the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest on Sunday morning, my mileage suffered a setback.  I actually went five days without running.  So, consumed with "Running Log Guilt," I ran 9.00 miles on Wednesday, intervals on Thursday, and a long run on Saturday.  But the planned 12-mile long run was much more difficult than I had anticipated, even with nice cool breezes and lots of companions along the way.  I began to feel as if I was running the final mile or two of a marathon.  My worn shoes were not helping, either.  So I stopped at ten miles, feeling slightly disappointed at not completing the workout.

But should I really regret a long weekend with my beautiful wife in a beautiful place, eating good food and drinking good wine, and wandering amongst these towering giants?

What a foolish mistake it is to let one's life be dominated by running, and one's running life be dominated by the Running Log and its demand for more and more miles!  Instead, a runner should always listen to his or her body, and adjust accordingly.  So I took a complete rest day from running today, took new running shoes out of their boxes, and hit the reset button.  Tomorrow I am looking forward to running up some mountains again.