[Chele]

<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">I woke up tired this morning and new today’s run was going to be difficult. Hitting the snooze button, rolling back over, and falling asleep seemed like the better plan. However, although my coach was out of town for Thanksgiving, I could hear his voice saying, “Go run!” No guilt trip was ever needed by him. A simple “It’s up to you” was enough to shame me out of laziness. Since I sure as hell didn’t want that to be my next thought that came to mind, I kicked off the covers, got out of bed, and turned on the coffee. MUST HAVE THE COFFEE!</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">After sipping some coffee and unenthusiastically getting ready, I headed out the door, garmin in hand, determined to be a roaring muscle car by the time I reached the park. As I drove down the highway, I went to turn on my garmin so it could grab the satellite signal, and the battery was dead! I didn’t have my watch with me either and there wasn’t enough time for me to turn around to get my watch, so I opted to switch days and run 4 “easy” instead.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">When I got to the park, I grabbed my MP3 players and began my not so “easy” run. A foggy mist filled the air adding a loveliness to the surroundings, but all I could think of was how much this run was sucking and how it probably worked out better that I wasn’t trying to do a speed workout.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">I went slow and kept it that way, trying to accept that it was ok to do this, trying not to dwell on the misery of the situation. Finally mile 2, the halfway point, came and I could either loop back or take another course. For some reason my “spidey senses” told me to take the other course and it helped for the sheer sake of breaking up the monotony and saving my sanity.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">At mile 3, I allowed myself a small walk break to regroup physically and mentally. I was upset as it had been a long time since I had a run that felt this bad. Runs like that are always discouraging and I was thankful to not have my garmin there to ridicule my pace and further discourage me.</span></span><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">FINALLY, my prayer was answered and the run was over. I didn’t feel good about it being over. I didn’t feel good about making it through. I simply wrote my miles down and closed the book on that run. Speed workout or rest tomorrow? I’m still undecided.</span></span><br><br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size:medium;">Edited to add…I have opted to rest today.</span></span>