Feelin' Good

A lot of things have already gone right this morning.

I felt like I got enough sleep, which made getting up relatively easy. Sure, it has hard to give up on the dream I was having about someone writing songs about snow plows, but I figured it'd be tough to get back there anyway. I stumbled around in the dark a bit, found all my various running artifacts, and got myself put together.

Really, I didn't fully wake up until I had reached my starting line, which, I've said before, is really the best way for me to do it. Get out there and start running before my body knows what's happening to it. It was also at this moment that I remembered that I wanted to bring the pup with me on today's run. Whoops. Well, maybe I'll have to try and take her out for both of my short runs next week. I'm sure she'll love that. I'll be lucky to get her out of her crate on Thursday.

The one little hiccup aside, I was feeling good heading down the hill. There's currently no trace of the headache that I've had for three days, and though my legs felt a bit heavy, I'm sure that's more from running a fast 10K yesterday than anything else. Actually, they eased up a bit midway through the run.

Another bonus on today's run was that it didn't include a real-life game of Angry Birds. Either they've moved the nest, or they're just not awake yet. I'm guessing it's the latter, but either way, I made it past their tree undisturbed, which is not to say that I wasn't jumpy. Every time I heard a bird call over my shoulder or a rustling of leaves, I felt my step pick up just a little bit. And that was for the whole run, not just past the tree. You never know to where they might have moved...

Most importantly, however, I was able to keep a nice, even pace through the whole run. Yes, it was a little slower than my goal marathon pace, but these short runs are supposed to be slow. At least, that's what Hal tells me. My second half was all of 9 seconds slower than my first half, which is unusual consistency for me. At one point, about 2.5 miles in, I started getting a killer stomach cramp, but I did not stop. I slowed myself down a bit until it was manageable, and then picked it back up. I did not walk a step this morning, which may not seem like a huge accomplishment in a 3-mile run, but it means a lot to me every time I finish a run without walking.

The best part about today, though, is that I've now got a 47-hour rest period before my next run. It's going to be a tough weekend, I'm afraid, what with a 6-mile pace run and then a half marathon on Sunday. Hopefully, I'll be able to get out the door early enough on both days to avoid having to battle the heat and my own lack of discipline. In fact, I'm feeling fairly optimistic about the whole thing right now.

And that, my friends, is my version of a runner's high.

Thursday's Run:
78 Degrees / Partly Cloudy
3.3 Miles
24 Minutes, 5 Seconds