Since I started training for the RnR Seattle half marathon, I’ve been spending a lot more time pounding the pavement around my neighborhood.  It’s funny how once you have a route you start to get used to it, we’ve living in our house for just over a year, and we always walk pretty much the same route with Judge or when we’re taking a stroll together.  Last night I had an “easy” 3 on my training schedule and I didn’t feel like doing any hills.   This is pretty much impossible because we basically live on top of the neighborhood hill, all streets lead to the waterfront areas.  I did 6 miles on Saturday and was still feeling it, and mostly, I was being lazy since it was like 80 degrees out.

I headed out from my house and my legs felt like bricks, I got down the street from the house and suddenly I felt a presence behind me, turning around, I realized Judge, had hurdled the fence apparently and wanted to join me.  I turned around and locked him back inside the fence, and then headed out again.

Half mile from the house, I started doubting myself, thoughts entering my head in millisecond rounds:
– What was I thinking, agreeing to this?
– I hate running.
– My calves are cramping.
– I can barely run 3 miles, what makes me think I can run 13?!
– I wonder if this will ever be easy.
– What is easy running?
– What should I eat for dinner?
– Have I earned my dinner yet?
– What should I bake this weekend?

I headed further from the house in a different direction then normal, at 12 mins in, I thought, oh jeez, I’ve probably only gone like a mile.

Closer to the end of my loop, I got toward the house, I realized I wasn’t even near the 3 miles mark so went the other direction.  I passed my favorite froyo place and genuinely considered stopping (not complaining, but it was quite unseasonably warm yesterday).  I thought about how I could just tell them I’d be back to pay later and leave my house key, but then I thought, how would I get into the house.  By that point, I was past the froyo place and rounding the corner back into our neighborhood.  I looked at my watch and calculated that I had probably finally hit 2.5 miles and tried to turn the speed up.  My legs felt like they were bodies tied to cinder blocks being tossed into a river.   I started to wonder what runners high felt like, definitely the opposite of what I was feeling.  I finally finished and I had done 3 in 30 minutes –  10:08 miles, which is slower then I did my 6 on Saturday, but still good.   R and I talked about how there will be days like that, where even though my legs feel heavy, I’ll surprise myself.

I had planned on going to yoga this morning but stayed up too late recipe testing grapefruit muffins.  But rest is just as important as exercise…right?

Make today wonderful!

xx

-h