Breaking the "Breaking the Record" Mindset

Holy shit I can't believe that I forgot to blog this yesterday. After staying away from the damn thing for a couple of days (1 because my legs were so sore and the second because I am sad and weak and lazy), I got back on the cross-trainer after breakfast yesterday morning.

I've realized that while it's cool that I've been going longer and longer every time I get on the thing, I've also let that become an excuse for not doing it. On Tuesday, my legs were still sore, but not so bad that I couldn't even think about climbing on the evil bastard of a thing. But when I started thinking about continuing my pattern of "record-breaking" sessions, I managed to talk myself out doing any at all. Not good.

So yesterday I went into it thinking that I didn't have to break my previous record. If I did 10 minutes on the thing, that would be better than not doing it at all. He'll, even 5 minutes would be better than nothing, and more than I could do just a week ago, right?

So I climbed my sorry ass onto the thing, and I did 10 minutes. And I wasn't dying, so I kept going. And after 3 more minutes I'd matched my previous record and I still wasn't dying, so I kept going. And after 2 more minutes (15 total) I had a new record and I was still alive, and I was going to stop, but instead I kept going.

And I kept going, and every time I'd finish another minute, I'd try for one more, and in the end, I finished the entire program, doing 7 kilometers in 30 minutes. Hell yeah I stayed on that bad bitch for a half a fucking hour! And I didn't die! And now this morning I've woken up and I'm not crippled.

I gotta say, I kept waiting for some kind of "runner's high" when I got a nice rush of endorphins and "broke through the pain barrier" and felt like I could keep going forever, and that shit never happened. :) It was more like I reached a certain level of he'll, and just sort of settled in. My legs hurt, I was huffing and puffing, groaning and grunting, and generally miserable, but it didn't seem to get noticeably worse from one minute to the next.

So that was pretty freaking cool, and I think I will be happy to let that record stand for a while. Today I'll be happy to get on the thing and do significantly less than 30 minutes on the infernal contraption. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or whatever. Because at the end of the day, any time on it is better than no time, and it sure as he'll beats walking in the rain.


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