The surprise run

On Tuesday morning I woke up early. An hour and a half early. Ugh. I didn't mean to, but I did. Needless to say, my sleep pattern is all screwed up right now. Anyhow, I figured that since I was already up that I might as well go for a run. It was actually nice out, as opposed to the three previous days of monsoon-like rain. I quietly gathered my gear without disturbing the sleeping husband, got dressed, and headed out the door.

I'd actually scrapped my run the night before as my husband had just returned from a 5-day bachelor party in Las Vegas. I wanted to spend the time with him. I missed him while he was gone! I had planned to run on Monday morning, but couldn't convince myself to go out in the pouring rain.

The run I had scrapped was a 5K recovery run. I have a habit of running these too hard, of going overboard and generally not listening to my cranky muscles and tendons. So I figured Tuesday morning was a good time to run that recovery run and actually mean it.

That run was a great run. I was in the zone, happy as a clam, had zero pain or crankiness, and actually followed my prescribed 7 min/km pace. I still get the warm fuzzies thinking about that run!

There were several small victories on this run: I didn't stop to walk at all (I never used to, but since coming back from injury, I've needed to) and the hills seemed easy (always my weak point). I felt so good at the end! It was really gratifying to realize that the training, hard work and hours that I'm putting into my running is actually starting to pay off.

It's added motivation to continue to follow my training plan and not to get sucked into doing too much too soon.

Completely and utterly addicted

I'm an addict.

A running addict.

Phew! That feels good to get that off my chest. I've realized that I've hit the point where I don't want to go without running. I don't want to miss a workout and I'm loving every run. Yes, even the tough ones that I have to push through. I am so inspired by my re-found motivation after it disappeared in July.

I love it so much that I want to run longer and further each time I head out the door. I want to run more often. It's taking quite a bit of willpower to reign myself in! What's also encouraging is the fact that my speedwork is paying off. My perceived effort on my long runs is the same, but my average pace is 10 seconds faster per kilometre. My moderate perceived exertion is turning in much faster times, too!

I love running (yes, even in the winter!) and I love that my efforts are paying off. Now to just hold back a bit and not over-do it.