Through The Night

What a difference a full night's sleep can make.

For the first time in a few weeks, I actually managed to get into bed before 11:00pm last night, and I must say, it was terrific. What made it even better was that nothing interrupted my sleep. I slept soundly all night long, and woke up about 7 minutes before my alarm went off. It was an all-natural snooze.

With a fiery enthusiasm born of well rested-ness, I popped out of bed and got myself suited up for a morning run. I had a quick flash of inspiration, and decided to take the pup with me as well, since this would be my easiest run of the week. I went back into the bedroom and got the dog, who in my brief absence had occupied my place in the bed against our new house rules. She looked sufficiently guilty, though, so I didn't feel the need to punish her. In fact, I told her that she was being rewarded with some quality "dad" time. She didn't look convinced.

Perhaps that was because it was 78 degrees and humid already. Who knows? The important thing was that we were going for a run, and we were going to like it.

And we did. It was one of my slowest runs of the season, but I really didn't mind. You see, I had a speed session yesterday, I've got hills planned for tomorrow, and today, all I wanted to do was get in my miles, and it was nice to have some company, even if she wasn't over enthusiastic. When we got home, she spent a good deal of time cooling herself on the concrete floors, but within a couple hours, she was popping up again, ready for the next workout.

What made today's run particularly interesting to me was that it wasn't particularly interesting at all. It was slow, but steady. It was hot, but not unbearable. Five miles is a pretty short run for me, but definitely enough to break a sweat. Overall, the entire experience felt very, well, normal. And I love that. I didn't feel like I had to run today, but rather that it was just a part of my routine. It was just what I do. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel different as I fight the ever-increasing hills to the west of our apartment building, but today, I really felt like a runner.

And all I had to do was sleep through the night.

Tuesday's Run:
78 Degrees / Overcast
5.05 Miles
42 Minutes, 3 Seconds