Ever have one of those runs that make you wonder why you started running in the first place?  Yeah, Monday was one of those days.  I like to call those runs Elephant runs.

To me, an elephant run is a day when your legs don’t seem to work.   They feel like stone, and like they just fling in any which way.  Except the way you want them to go.  It also feels like your feet are louder than usual, like they hit the ground harder, but not in a good way.  It’s all you can hear.  This run wasn’t quite that bad but it was damn close.

After the race on Saturday, I had a company picnic on Sunday.  Between the bus ride there and the event itself, that was pretty much my Sunday.    As it was my only morning to get a little more sleep, I chose to take the day off.  Figured it would just make me more rested for Monday.  Ha!

I was just exhausted on Sunday; I was so tired that by the evening, I swear I regressed into a cranky toddler.   Not good.  Plus I still felt a little ill.  Monday was actually a pretty good day at work. I didn’t feel a hundred percent, but then does anyone ever really?  I left work ready to run.

The plan was to do around 3.5 miles at the lake.  I was aiming for a mile warm up, 2 miles of speed work and a half mile cool down.   Since I was at the lake and not the track, I knew that the speed drills were not going to be exact, but why should they only been done on a track?  It’s not like the races I do are run on the track.

I was hoping for 4 sprints per mile during the 2 miles.   From the second I started running, it was horrible.  Just crappy.  I felt like my legs were made of lead.  Ever seen that e-card about running though peanut butter?

Yeah, I felt like that.   I wanted to quit a half mile in.    I pushed through but felt like I was crawling.  The 4 sprints in mile 2 turned into 3 and the 4 in mile 3 turned into 2.    Plus it was more like the sprints were just running and the cool down in between was almost walking.  I felt completely off, it made me so frustrated!   I took a picture of the lake because I thought it looked like I felt-totally drained.

24 hours later, I am still frustrated with how it felt but I have gained a tiny bit of perspective.  The pace of the miles actually didn’t suck.  Monday I was so cranky, I barely looked at the Nike app.   Looking at it today made me feel a little better.   I am still a little nervous about my next run.  Plus this week is a little busy, so I am trying to figure out how to fit in a 4-miler before the weekend.   Today probably would have been the best day but after yesterday that was not gonna happen.   I took the day off.  Call it a mental health day.  Those are important to training too, right?

If anyone has ever had runs like this, I am sorry, but I feel your pain.

• Run!