The Run That Almost Wasn’t
Sometimes the best runs happen when you’re least expecting them. Driving home from work today, I wasn’t “feeling it”. The thought of getting out and pounding the pavement wasn’t a pleasant one, which for me is quite unusual to be honest.
Too late to bed last night, coupled with a busy day at work, skipped lunch and poor hydration throughout the day left me quite unprepared for a quality workout. However, as I approached the house, I made a deal with myself that I’d just run 2 miles - one easy mile out and one easy mile back. If I felt ok, I’d go a bit further. If not I’d just turn around.
The weather was really humid and the threat of a storm in the air, but I figured I’d be back in 15 minutes so it didn’t really matter. Still not really “feeling it”, I set off from the house and just tried to relax and enjoy being outside. As I said at the top of this post, sometimes the best runs happen when you least expect them. Tonight was one of those nights. Within the first half mile, I felt a hundred times better. The breeze felt good, the grass smelled fresh, my body wasn’t struggling as I’d expected and I was almost in “the zone” - so much so that I went right past the mile where I’d planned on turning for home.
One mile soon became two, two turned to three and three to four. From this point there was a choice. I could either turn around and make it an 8 mile run, or loop right around and be home in just over 9. Still feeling great, I chose the loop option and continued on my way. By now it was raining hard, the wind had picked up and I could hear thunder in the distance, but I was having too much fun to care. All too soon I was turning into my neighborhood, soaking wet but totally exhilarated. Just over 9 miles of fun - by no means fast, but that really doesn’t matter tonight…
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June 4th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Keep the bottle of water by your desk Steve! 9 miles leads to 10 eh, well done.
Almonds, pumpkin seeds and raisins are good to snack on during the day as well….all slow release energy foods. Happy running!
June 4th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
I have a rule for myself when it comes to working out. If I really don’t feel like it I only have to do 15 minutes. 99.9% of the times I end up doing a full work out simply because it feels good to work out. You just need to make a start…
June 4th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Amazing isn’t it? Works nearly every time..
June 5th, 2007 at 1:44 am
Hi Steve,
Like Sandra I do something similiar, to get myself out the door I tell myself that I’ll run for 10 minutes and if I still really don’t feel like it I’ll “bin” the workout. On top of that I usually try to convince myself that if I didn’t go out for a run, all I’d do is sit in front of the TV. Its usually enough to get me moving, and I’ve never “binned” a run yet.
Sounds like you had a good 9 miles today.
Dex.
June 5th, 2007 at 7:59 am
I was a smoker for 10 years and I quit about 5 months ago cold turkey, believe me since ,oh well about a month ago i could feel my extra energy I ran and ran. Yesterday I ran again for about 20 minutes slowly , outside on the beach, then after my girls called me up for a basketball game, and today i am exhausted !
Stumbled !
June 5th, 2007 at 8:02 am
Your digg thing does NOT work ! I digg it and it does not show 1 digg !
ill digg the digg place up hahaha.
June 5th, 2007 at 8:48 am
same happens with me…there are days i just have to drag myself to the gym, but once i’m there, i have to tear myself away to go back home…it’s fabulous!
June 5th, 2007 at 10:28 am
Isn’t that life for you? Wow.. I am so impressed you ran 9 miles. I would be comatose by then… good for you.
June 5th, 2007 at 10:34 am
A couple of people have said they’ve had problems with the Digg button - sorry about that!
Actually, after reviewing my stats, I’m only getting one or two visitors a week from Digg. Therefore I’ve made the decision to remove the clunky button from each of my posts and clean things up a little.
Thanks for all the feedback and comments!
–Steve
June 5th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
GO! Smell the flowers: I’m usually really good about snacking and drinking. I know what works for me, but yesterday just turned into one of those days…