4 AM Run

Yep, you read that right...4 am...I wasn't going to have time much other than today to do it and it had to be before job 1, and preferably out of the heat so I could have a good one...And one other thing I should state, I just kind of made those statements about the heat yesterday in semi-jest, to prove it can get above 50 here (met someone once that didn't believe that, that summer we had tropical heat index days) but I do not mind the heat, it's not great to run in, and I'm a bit slower in it, but I much prefer it to cold. I almost never run on the t-mill no matter how hot, but am always on it if it's much below freezing.

Last night I went and saw Devil Wears Prada with a friend…great movie!! I also had read the book and enjoyed both equally. I got home and was on the phone with a friend till about 10:30 and then had to read a bit (nightly routine) but when I went to go to sleep I was unable to get there…it was after 11:30 before I managed it, it’s probably because of the nap I took after work instead of running yesterday (slept for an hour instead of the 10-30 minutes I had planned) but when the alarm went off at 3:35, I only hit the snooze twice and then crawled out of bed, into the dark, (well I did turn on the light, but man it was dark outside still), I got dressed, set my GPS to pick up signal outside, got my MP3 player, Gatorade, water and 3 fruit bars since it was too late to think about breakfast. Plan for today was 15 miles. I decided I wasn’t going to go far from home as it just didn’t seem safe in the dark, so I set my Gatorade and water at the entrance to my association, (there are bushes there I sometimes put water under so I can grab on the way) and headed out. I could tell right away I was going to need food so I ate one of the fruit bars (I had stuff I get at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, really 100% fruit and pretty tasty) and went along at what felt like a nice clip, it was too dark to see the GPS for the first few miles unless I was at a street light at the right time. My neighborhood is hilly, which is good for Marine Corp from what I hear (at least for the beginning and end) so I took one of the hilliest routes for the start, I did lose signal often, I need to update the software on that thing (was trying to one day but it was having issues) but I made it through the first loop, and had some water and Gatorade. Second loop I took a little longer and got back to my water and Gatorade at 12 miles, which left just a nice quick little 3 miler to get home and be done, it’s kind of nice to think in those terms and by then the sun was up and there were more people out on the roads (I had seen a deer on my 2nd loop which was kind of neat) both running and driving, heading out to work I suppose. I had wanted to hit my long runs at a 9:10 or so pace, this one was an average of 9:18, but I did have one mile in there that was over 11 minutes when I took my first water and in frustration stopped a couple of times to try to get the signal again. Run felt great, I felt really refreshed and wide awake, that is until I got home and showered and then wanted to crawl back into bed. But overall the run was nice, it was a little cool this morning when I started, but very, very humid, so I was drenched almost right away. It’s weird cause last night it had rained and was actually quite cool after the rain (I was shivering in tank top and shorts) so I opened windows last night but closed them and back to A/C today as I know it’s going to be really bad today and through the weekend…although I’m going to be gone tomorrow night and might turn it off again!! (Have I mentioned how much I hate A/C and only turn it on if the humidity has me sweating when I’m sitting on the couch watching TV?).

So weekend…I’m working tonight at 6:30, so I’m going home to nap from 4:30 to 5:30, grab a quick bit and head to work. I’m there till 11:30 and then MIGHT meet some friends for a drink or something (doubt I’ll have any, but I might go out) and then tomorrow if I’m up for it, I’m going to be volunteering, but somehow I doubt I’ll be able to get out of bed that early, but in punishment I’m running a 6 mile tempo (that I missed yesterday) and doing some strength training, maybe running on the treadmill, then heading to a friends place, to be there anytime after 6 to go out for the town she lives in celebration, BBQ Days, basically it means beer garden and tent dance. Sunday I might be going to a friends if her hubby and youngest are feeling OK, as her hubby wants me to grill ribs (she doesn’t like ribs and I’ve bragged about mine so he wants to try them), we’ll see though. I might just want to veg and do nothing on Sunday!! Too many late nights this week though, that’s for sure. I took my lunch break to go nap in my car, that 15 minutes or so that I actually dozed sure seems to have helped. I was dying this AM!!