Today I woke up at 8:45 and the sun was shining - excellent, hopefully it's not too hot. Then, I woke up at 10-something. I don't know the precise time because I almost stroked out when I saw how late it was. So I got up, and went outside, and it wasn't too hot. Checked the weather online, and it seemed safe to run - 80s, low chance of rain for most of the day. By the time I actually got ready for my run, it was 11, and I was worried about church traffic, as I run past approximately 72 churches on any given route I take. Yesterday I was supposed to Run 20, Walk 5, and my next run is Tuesday and it's a Run 20 (no walk). Since I haven't devoted a lot of worry to the ending walk time, I'm going for a Run 20, and whatever else it takes to get back to my house.
I didn't get started the precise second my time started, because I was trying to reset the mp3 to random, and I was fumbly. The story of my run. When I started, my knees felt really stiff. Usually that works itself out quickly, so off I went. I got winded while still on the same block as our house, not a good sign.
I headed toward the churches, which were eerily quiet. Maybe everyone's out running, listening to Nirvana on a Sunday morning? Maybe I slept through Sunday and it's actually Monday? I had a bit more water than I normally do before a run, because I didn't get enough yesterday and it was so late when I woke up, I was terribly thirsty. Probably a good thing, because it felt much hotter than the Google said. Luckily, I apparently didn't get my hair in a secure pony tail and it was falling down. Despite the fact I whacked off several inches of it before vacation, I still have thick, long hair, that I don't need stuck to my face while I'm running. But since I insist on carrying stuff in my hands, my only options were to stop to put it back up or leave it down. Down it went.
I was on the main road and some hillbilly in a giant dirty pickup, undoubtedly with a pair of balls dangling off the back of it, stopped beside me and honked. Generally, when honking occurs, I don't even look. It's either not directed at me, or it is, and either way, I don't intend to acknowledge it. But this guy was right next to me. I had earphones and sunglasses on and I never stopped running. He yelled and asked if I knew where some street was. I did not, so I made a face of non-recognition, kinda shook my head, and kept going. I pictured him being annoyed with my non verbal response, bordering on ignoring him. Then I became annoyed - who asks someone who is running, with headphones on, for directions? Well, I suppose seeing that I am clearly an awesome runner, I should know every street in town. Then I became mildly concerned he would be circling around looking for the street, and I thought I should stay on the main road today, just in case he was as big of a creeper as he seemed.
Unfortunately, the main road was full of traffic and creepers today. When I got to the end, I went down the block to the street I've been running lately. It seems like it is a much more significant long uphill than the main road, but I tell myself it's gotta be in my head, and I've been doing pretty well with it lately. I tried looking around at the houses today. My legs were so tired. I tried breathing into them. I started thinking about the fact I was adding two minutes to my previous run. At the 15th minute, I started walking. I kept telling myself to run, but I was completely winded and exhausted. I tried counting sidewalk squares. I got to something like 50 (about 100 steps), and I ran again. I think I ran about a block, then I walked half a block. Ran half a block. Had to stop for traffic to get back on my street. I was mad, and I was going home. I was walking down my block when I realized there was less than a minute to go and I wanted to round out the 20 at my house. So I ran about another half a block to have the alarm go off right at my house. Turns out, I'm not walking 5.
I'm highly disappointed. I essentially ran 15 mins, and there was no way I'd be able to track how far I "just ran" today. I've had almost a full month without failing a day...this sucks. When I got inside our gate, I put my hands on my knees and stayed that way until the feeling of blacking out passed. If nothing else, at least I beat the storm clouds back, which I was definitely keeping an eye on while running.
I sat down and mapped my route and times and it turns out I have a new best race predictor time. I thought I was running SO slow today. And I walked a good chunk. What?! Well, Tuesday brings a chance for redemption. And a chance to run in a hurricane, or tropical depression, or whatever it's called once it's crossed half the country and is still dumping buckets of rain.
Weather: 77 (or 82, depending where you look - I think 82 was correct), Partly Cloudy, Breezy at 5 mph, 80% Humidity, Feels Like 86
Time: 11am; Run 20
Distance: 2.61K (1.62m)
Elevation: +57.1/-57.1/net 0 ft
5K/10K: 40:22/1:25:20
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