So, it finally happened. Running and I are officially “on” again.
Drill Weekend again, and most of the guys in the unit were amazed at the whole marathon thing. I’ve got to note again that I’m a Navy reservist, where there’s still a decent component who believe that 3 miles a year is a completely sufficient amount to run. Not many, but a few.
Kind of a chilly day – sunny, mid 30’s and windy most of the day. But, somehow I was itching to run. Probably left over endorphins from Friday. Whatever. I was itchin’ to run, and couldn’t wait till the end of the day and the hour of mandatory PT. The other marathon guy wasn’t drilling, so I asked around to see if there were any other takers for a quick trip around the perimeter. No dice. Ah, well, their loss.
What can I say? The run was amazing. The birds sang, the breeze blew (breeze, not wind), and the sun beat down on my ears. Or, would have beat down on my ears if I’d forgotten my cheapo fleece headband from Old Navy, which purposely isn’t the same color as my cheapo fleece gloves from Old Navy. ‘Cause that’d be gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that..
“Shuffle” on the Nano worked wonders again. The Charlie Brown Christmas Album got a couple of songs played while I was on the perimeter path. Nothing quite like the Vince Guiraldi Trio playing while running through the woods on a brisk day. I half expected to see Snoopy and Woodstock playing hockey in a frozen puddle. Light heart, light feet.
Finished the perimeter loop (which, depressingly, Gmaps tells me is only about 3.5 miles) with a little bit too much time left in the PT period to head straight to the showers (for which I likely would have gotten a pass, since the assumption would have been I was heading off somewhere to watch Army/Navy), so I decided to challenge “Hospital Hill” again.
Hospital Hill won. Or, to keep the positive spin, I decided to continue in my “easy” vibe, and walk/ran up the hill about 50/50. On the way down, though, light feet struck again – Felt good, finished strong. Yippie.
Great time at work. Interesting possibilities opening up there at my part-time job. Good times with the family after work, and quality time with the wife after the boys were in bed. Light hearts.
Oh, and I got the flu shot this morning. I’m sure I’m going to feel like crap on Sunday morning. But, I’ve got peace that there’s at least one disease that my beautiful little vectors can’t pass on to me now.
Good will towards man, y’all.
I can’t wait for this feeling again. Interesting that you included the hill as part of such a good run. Must have been Snoopy. I am sneezing up a storm this morning so plan to double up on my vitamin C. Arrgghh.
The notion of having to keep up a running routine in hardy winter weather is a mental challenge. Good for you to overcome it. Must be that marathon mentality working for you.
I just started running again this weekend as well. Of course, I had twice the rest that you did since you ran a second marathon after Mystic Places. I did an easy 8+ miler yesterday in the wind, and this morning I did a 5+ miler in the snow. It was a bit slick the last half mile or so, but otherwise was fine. Kinda sore from yesterday, but I’ll take it.
Charlie Brown Christmas Album is one of my fav’s but I didn’t think about putting it into my MP3 player….thanks
good job! birds sang, breeze blew … the angels didn’t quite weep?
Just getting out the door can be tough. Once you are running though, it all comes back.