I Didn’t Really Want To Go

But I’m so glad I did!

Dave and I got a late start on our 11-mile run today. Through painful trial and error, we’ve learned that the optimal time for me to run — to avoid grumpiness and anxiety that I rudely inflict on poor Dave — is anytime before 11:00 a.m. After that, my energy gets all weird because it’s close to lunchtime, and I start bitching about how “this stupid run is going to take the whole damn day!” So we usually try to get out the door by at least 9:00 a.m. to avoid me turning into a she-devil in running shoes.

But when the alarm went off this morning at 9:30, Dave looked so peaceful sleeping, I didn’t want to wake him. And once I Am CrossFit begins, there’s no mercy. Workout days start at 6:00 a.m. five days a week for all of January and February.

It was 1:00 p.m. ’til we finally got out the door today, and while I had been properly fed and watered, I didn’t really want to run. I just couldn’t get excited about two hours of left-right-left-right. But AIDS Ride rules were in effect, and I tried not to complain.

It took me a full hour out there on the trail to get over the notion of “running to be done” and to give myself over to just being in the run. Once I did that, it was great! I picked up my pace, sang along to my iPod, and just had a grand ol’ time. The temperature was perfect. The dogs were adorable. The new iPod wireless earphones headband thingy Dave got me for Christmas made me all “look ma, no hands!” I loved almost every second of that second hour. Whew!

These are the Shuffle earphone thingers from Arriva. Highly recommended. Work underneath hats, no wires, easy access to Shuffle buttons. AWESOME!

Based on my other favorite new running tool, I should be doing around 11-minute miles on our long runs… which means my goal time for today was 2:01. I finished in 2:03, but that included about 15 minutes of miscellaneous screwing around mid-run, stuff like bathroom breaks and PowerGel stops and checking in with Dave. If I correct for that, I ran the 11 miles in 1:15… 9.81 minutes per mile. Neat!

I was exhilarated when I crossed the Mopac pedestrian bridge at the end of the 11 miles. In fact, I was totally frexcited! (Which you know means I had a sweet little cry there at the end. Anyway else out there feel emotional at the end of a really challenging workout? Or am I just a freak? Share in the comments…)