Run 21

The past few days, I've been car-less, which hasn't been so fantastic. My car broke down about a week ago and it should be all fixed (hopefully) by this afternoon. While it hasn't been the end of days or anything, it's meant that I've had to walk the 2 miles home from work everyday which also means that I haven't felt like running a whole lot when I get back. Yesterday, I decided that with two weeks left, I really had no choice but to run, so I ran the last mile home in my work clothes (box cutter and all) and then changed and went back out and ran the 3.25 mile loop.

Not so long ago, I dreaded running after work. It wasn't that I didn't want work to be over, I just didn't want to run after working an 8 hour day. Things have changed a lot in the last few months though, and now, I find myself constantly looking out the window and wishing I was running. This went on for the entire day yesterday, so when I finally started running, it felt like a spring had been winding inside me the entire day. I took off down the street a lot faster than I had meant to and almost tripped over the uneven pavement a few times. I was still in my work clothes and I could feel my box cutter smacking against me with every step, but I had been waiting too long for this to stop. By the time I reached home, I had worn myself out and hardly felt like running again. Still, I realized that a mile wasn't going to do a whole lot for me and my training, so I changed into my running clothes and went back outside.

The weather had warmed considerably, but it still felt good to be out and running after being at work all day. I could feel my legs protesting after being asked to exercise again in such a short time, but I felt surprisingly good. After cresting the first big hill, I went into a steady tank mode and never really drifted into the torpedo or T-Rex zones, which was a good thing. I think the important thing was getting back out there, not pushing myself too hard. I'm saving a bigger run for Thursday.

It's now 2 weeks until we leave for the race. As far as the progress I'm making goes, I think I am light years beyond where I was last year, but I still feel there's a little ways to go. I feel like if the race was today, I would be ok (which is a really great feeling), but I still want to improve and make sure that I kill my end of the race when the time finally comes. I think Thursday is going to be a really good test of where I'm really at. Let's see how it goes.