Quiet Calm Mornings

Thursdays are my favorite. Marathon training gave me tempo runs on Thursday mornings, starting at 6 miles a pop, all the way up to 10 miles. When I first looked at the training (Hansons Marathon Method) I was just a little super daunted by the thought of a ten mile run during the week. The way our day works, I needed to be finished before most people were hitting the snooze button. How, on earth, would I EVER get enough sleep?

The weeks went by and the miles went up and suddenly, Thursday mornings? I was running 8, 9, 10 miles and was finished by 6:45AM. It was both a bit grueling and exhilarating. I love getting out of my house, in the quiet morning, running on the streets by myself. Well, mostly by myself. Here and there I'd pass another intrepid soul or pair of souls getting it done.

Thursday was also the sixth day in a row every week of running--another part of the program that seriously freaked me out. SIX DAYS IN A ROW?! I'd never done that before. The first Thursday found me a little tired, but not completely defeated. And every week after that Thursdays got a little easier and stronger. And again, suddenly, I was running six days in a row, loving it and feeling great. I would be lying if I said I didn't also equally love my full day off on Fridays. But that's not the point.

I'm back to my pre-marathon running schedule, in which my longest streak is three days in a row, Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday. Last Thursday morning my legs were heavy and tired. Today was better, but still a little tired. It was cool and getting bright, a little humid. I had it in my head I was going to run eight, but at about two I realized that wasn't going to happen. I pulled out seven, and that was that. It was so lovely to be out in the morning, listening to music, enjoying the sun rising earlier and dodging cars in the street.

Run happy.