Negative splits lead to a positive view

Today's run (street): 4.1 miles

My wife suggested that I take a break from working out today and I had the mindset to do that. The thought of another run around the almost too-familiar streets of my neighborhood was not compelling. I was feeling generally negative about doing any activity. The rain did a good job of clearing snow in my town and I considered a return to Stillwell but we have a big day planned and I was again pressed for time. I dressed for a run without really knowing where I would go, finally deciding the easiest way to get it done would be to hit the local roads.

As a compromise to my negative mindset I considered running slowly and making it an easy workout that I could count as a partial effort. With no targeted distance, route or pace in mind I took off and chose lefts and rights almost randomly. At one point I came upon another runner who I followed for a while. I'd seen him on the road before and I was curious to see how our paces compared. It turned out that we both were running about the same pace and I wasn't interested in catching up to him so I peeled off to another road and let him go. When I passed the first mile I saw that I'd averaged 9:55. I picked up the pace a little and covered mile two at 9:46 and improved to about 9:40 for mile three.

Throughout my run I'd actually felt great. The weather was cold but mild and I was enjoying a run where I could take my mind off the effort and look around at my surroundings. After completing three miles I decided to run the last mile with a little more speed and covered it at 9:10. Not especially fast but far faster than the prior three. I enjoyed the run, felt strong and hit negative splits throughout my distance. My splits were negative and by the time I arrived home my mindset was far more positive.