Thursday, September 8, 2011

In the dark of night

The sky was black, the air was cool. Rain fell from the sky in a steady fashion – too hard for it to be drizzling and too lightly to be called pouring.

As Mark and I bathed Miles, I waffled as to whether I should go out into the night for my run once the lil man was in bed. I had let other circumstances (sleep and shower) win out over a run twice that morning but it could be dangerous. It could be scary.

Or … it could be awesome.

So after rocking Miles to sleep to the lullabies of Kanye West, I threw on my capris, Brooks Nightlife half-zip and white cap and took Denali out for our scheduled 3-miler using a 5:1 interval. Even though I chose a route along busy, well-lit streets, I realized quickly that following my planned interval would be difficult. I had two options: constantly turn on the back light to the Garmin or go by feel, using landmarks as needed.

So I chose the third option: To run. Run until I couldn’t any more, walk to catch my breath and run some more.

A funny thing happened when I took off the limits of my arbitrarily planned schedule: I didn’t have to stop and walk. I might have had to slow down – either to catch my breath or to maintain my footing on wet ground – but I didn’t have to stop. It was as if my mind, body and spirit connected, remembering what it used to be like to run. Really run. It was incredibly freeing. And gratifying. I felt like I found myself again.

Of course, after I rounded home grinning with pride, I nearly found my dinner again. Let’s just say I won’t be fueling up for a long run with a Cuban sandwich (homemade) with extra jalapenos any time soon. Or a 3-mile run at a 10-minute/mile pace, for that matter.

Have you had a good run/workout lately?

8 comments:

  1. I know how you feel, sometimes that hardest part of running is getting out the door. I had an awesome tempo run this morning! Probably the fastest training run I've had yet. Got me pumped for my 10k this weekend!

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  2. WAY TO GO CHICA!!! WOW - you never cease to amaze me. Yesterday you were stress eating and today you're out kicking butt with a rocking awesome run!!! Yeah - you're awesome!

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  3. Congrats, that sounds like an awesome run!

    I don't know how you do it, cause all I ever wanna do after my BB goes to sleep is lie like a sloth.

    Go you!

    Oh, I also had a good run yesterday, but not so much today :(

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  4. That sounds so wonderful. Isn't it nice when everything clicks into place? I haven't been able to get myself out for a run due to the 110 temps my city has been experiencing. It's supposed to cool tomorrow, please cross your fingers for me! And I fell flat on my face doing yoga yesterday. I won't be trying crane pose again for a bit.

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  5. i haven't had any real workouts to brag about since i'm still recovering from having a baby. but i did finally decide to start walking since he is about a month old and i'm feeling good. i have enjoyed reading your blog for it helps me see where i will be very very soon. you are doing a great job getting back into running and are inspirational. keep up the good work.

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  6. That's awesome that you had an amazing run! I love when that happens and it just feels so good. It always makes me grin ear to ear for the rest of day :)

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  7. Go you!! I think you made the right choice to just run.

    I had a good run yesterday. I certainly needed it with the moving hell we have been going through. I wasn't even going to go but I made myself and it was worth it. Running is the best!!

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