What was more unbelievable was the scary, never-ending drive I took today to get from my home to my mom’s house. I finished class early and headed north before 5 p.m. Thirty-five miles and 2.5 hours later, I couldn’t have been more thrilled to be done driving for a while. So, if anyone is heading south tomorrow, could I please hitch a ride?
The day appeared promising, despite the skin-burning wind chill, when I headed out for a run during my lunch break this afternoon. While last Saturday’s sweet potato-black bean burrito indulgence was well deserved and well remembered, I needed to get my legs moving again. But considering how difficult it had been to run to and from my car this morning, I had to break my vow of anti-trackness and just do it.It was strange at first, running on the track again. I felt like I was suddenly running slower on that thing—whether it’s my general distaste or the track’s lack of interesting terrain—so I really had to push it for the first five minutes to get myself motivated. But once I was warmed up, I kept a pretty healthy pace and tried to squeeze in the greatest quality run I could within the limited time period. I ran 4.18 miles in about 32 minutes.
Not only did I keep it short because… I had to, but I had my sights set on taking a jog around my old neighborhood on Sunday morning. Oh the sidewalks and beautiful grid layout! As I type, however, I can still hear the wind blowing and snowballs falling from the sky.
One of the strangest things about my long, scary drive was that I left my house in clear, no-snow weather and arrived at my mom’s where it wasn’t quite snowing either. So, when I told everyone I was so late because of the bloody blizzard outside, they all thought I was completely crazy!
Every time I drive to Euclid, I note the spot that is 26.2 miles from my house. It has been fun gauging my view of the distance over the past couple of years. In fact, it was nearly two years ago that I decided to triathlon-train and target the Ironman. And I remember the first time I measured that distance and thought, “no flippin’ way!” But my response has truly grown and matured with my running—it now ranges from “so, that’s a little far” to “someday, maybe…” to “it’s not too far.”
Today I thought, “man, I wish I had just run this far…” The freeway seemed a bit more like a swimming pool than a thoroughfare by the time I hit it (conveniently before an plows had touched it), so I may have just been better off running!
2 comments:
When you take it one mile at a time running 26.2 isn't so bad. I know you'll get there! How are you feeling about the 10 miler? Do you have a time goal?
Anyway, I am still in denial that we have 900 ft of snow out there. I am running on the treadmill today and avoiding windows. Please keep on the jet stream for me. No more sloppy slushy runs for this year, especially next Monday, please!!!!
I do the same gauging of distances but, in my case, I do it with 13.1 miles instead of 26.2. It IS interesting to notice how your perception changes over time.
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