Running Love Affair Continues

For the past two mornings, I have had the best intentions to wake early and knock out three miles before work. It seemed so easy in my mind. I'd wake, drink some water, wash down an allergy pill, and hit the road.

In reality, however, it proved much more difficult. My alarm would go off and I'd have a conversation with myself about how I really should sleep some more. I convinced myself that I'd have time either during the day or in the evening to run, so why get out of bed?

Well, as you have probably guessed, there was no time to run on Monday or Tuesday. This morning, after passing up the 5am wake for the third morning in a row, I knew I had to run somehow.

So - I managed to carve a teeny window in between appointments today. I had about 35 minutes to get in and out of the gym. I dashed in, quickly changed, and hit the treadmill. I really wanted to do 3 miles, so that meant I needed to run 9 minute miles because the clock was ticking. At about the same time as hitting the treadmill, I realized I'd forgotten Ibuprofen. My legs had been feeling much better, but I was still taking a couple prior to runs just in case I needed it.

After running for a few minutes, I began to notice that I was not miserable. I had positioned a fan to the side of my treadmill, so I was relatively cool. I was running on the gym's new gigantic treadmill that sits more than a foot off the ground, thus absorbing shock and offering a trail-like running experience. All of this - AND - I had zero leg pain - WITHOUT any ibuprofen.

I was reasonably distracted, too, with CNN on the TV in front of me. I watched coverage of Ted Kennedy, Hillary v. Obama, China's earthquake, the Charles Manson compound dig, and other top stories. Before I knew it, I was beginning to feel pretty good. I glanced down at the time and distance and I'd already run two miles at a 9 minute mile pace. I couldn't believe it. The first two miles out of the way - I felt great - and the third was a breeze.

I don't want to speak too soon, but dare I say the worst of my running pain is behind me? I tell you what - I am very encouraged by Today's run. I'm looking extremely forward to running tomorrow. I will try to allow a larger block of time for it, however, seeing as how I would much prefer the outdoors. Hopefully I have excellent reports for the remainder of the week!