On the road, into darkness

After three weeks away, I have put my running shoes back on. I haven't decided what the next event/training deadline will be, but I knew I needed to get moving again. I'm feeling lazy, fat, sloth-like. Apparently watching the Tour de France on tv doesn't qualify as training.

I'm planning on running three days a week for the foreseeable future, and have put some planned distances on the calendar. My run on Sunday was a shake out to see how I felt, and it went well enough. When I start up again after a break, it is always hard to imagine I ran 26 miles just a few weeks before.

I met a friend for drinks, dinner and discourse after work yesterday. We hadn't chatted in quite a while and the hours and stories flew by. I didn't make it home until sometime after 9:00, and I still had 3 miles to put in. Yesterday's run was the first one on the calendar, so I didn't want to skip it.

I didn't give myself time to think about it (talk myself out of it) and put my running gear on as soon as I walked in the door. The sun had set and I would be running in twilight and coming home in the dark. I put on my reflective Xinglet which lights up the night when hit by headlights. With the temperatures in the 80's and 90's recently, it made sense to run after sundown, though it was still a warm run.

Though our running group's name is "Team Drunken Promise", I had never gone for a run after having a few drinks. The morning after - yes, during - no. Not the best experience to be running in the heat with a few drinks in the belly. It would have been easy (smart) to cut it short, but I held on. Once something is on the calendar, I make every effort to make it happen. If I only had this sort of discipline in all the other areas of my life.

As I heard another runner say recently, "I'm now 3 miles closer to the finish line."