To Run or Not To Run

I am working this weekend. I had a lot of reasons NOT to run earlier tonight...I'm still trying to shake this cold, I had a dog at home that hadn't peed in 10 hours, I had at least 4 hours of documentaion work on the computer that needed to be done before bed, I hadn't eaten since breakfast, It was dark out, It was only 38 degrees out and I only had light weight running clothes with me because I had hoped to get a lunch break run in while it was still warm out, I had a particularly rough day at work, I was on call and had to stay in cell phone range and near the car... A few months ago any ONE of those things would have been enough to make me say, "F#$* the run, I'm going home." But something has changed in me. I WANT to run. This is more like the old me. I am so glad to have the desire to run back.

The only one of those things that could count as a genuine excuse is the dog needing to be let out but I thought there was a good chance one of my kids had stopped by during the day to let him out. I parked in the middle of Mountain Rd and ran to the Newfield end and back and then to the Parsonsfield end and back (to keep within 15-20 minutes of the car in case I got called to see a patient). I have driven past Mountain Road several times while visiting clients and I have been intrigued by it's name and by the way the map shows it connecting the middle of nowhere to the middle of nowhere else. I was happy to finally get to run on it. It lived up to it's name, there were a lot of long steep ups and downs. I ran very easy and just did a relaxed jog on the uphills. There was a good long muddy two mile stretch in the middle section where I parked my car and the rest was somewhat paved. I only saw one vehicle the whole run. I believe my run was right around 8 miles. It was the only enjoyable part of my entire day today! I'm so glad I fit it in.

I still have not gotten my 5K pace workout in this week, but the week's not over til tomorrow and you can bet I will have it done by tomorrow evening! Despite feeling that I have been slacking off terribly with my sick days, when I get my workout in tomorrow I will have done all my planned workouts for the week. (I like to think I am not obsessive, just dedicated. Don't you think that sounds less extreme?)

I STILL have at least 4 hours of computer documentation ahead of me tonight, but my head is clear from my beautiful evening run and it should go smoothly.