This is going to be a different kind of post. Statistics are on my Garmin link. Plan was one warm up mile, 1.5 miles at 10k pace, .5 mile recovery, 1.5 miles at 10k pace, .5 recovery, 1 cool down mile. That's the only necessary information.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/293094892
3:47am
I woke up and was kind of uncomfortable. I never sleep all the way through the night anymore. Hazards of age I guess. Seems like I have to stumble to the bathroom at least once every night. I got my bearings and looked at the clock on the DVR. 3:47. It was cold last night and I had no intention of getting out of my warm spot under the covers and went back to sleep.
~5:00am
This time I had to get up and use the bathroom. I took a quick peek out the window of our bedroom to see if it was raining. We were supposed to get rain last night and this morning. It looked wet but not raining from what I could see in the dark. At this point, I start contemplating time based scenarios in my head. I have a conference call at 8am. The run will take about 55 minutes and an extra 5 minutes or so of quick stretching before going inside. I need to mix a cup of Endurox and drink that. I would like to have a muffin because I'll be hungry. How much time will all of that take? I don't know give it 20 minutes. I have to take a shower and would like to do that before the call so I can go to work after the call and be on time. My boss canceled our 8:30 meeting so I don't have to leave the house until after the conference call. What's my drop dead start time for the run? I must be out the door by 6:15ish. It's around 5am now. How much time do I need to get ready before the run. Typically, about 30 minutes to take off. What was Jeff's plan again today? Ok, get up by 5:45 and no later than 6:00 or this is off until tonight. I don't want to run in the evening. Get your head right. How do my legs feel by the way? I rode the trainer yesterday and haven't done that in awhile. Legs feel a little heavy but I should be ok. ZZZZZZ!
~5:45am
My wife's alarm on her phone goes off. Thank god, I was out cold. Why is her alarm going off so early? She hits the snooze. It's still before 6am and I run through my timeline again and convince myself that I am still ok. This time I check the weather on my phone and read my email to make sure our servers behaved last night. All good but it's cold. It's in the low 40s with wind chills at 37 degrees. Son of a Bitch, the winter that will not end. Trying to decide what to wear. Too cold for shorts and I decide tights, a tech shirt, another warmer layer, gloves and a skull cap. Its dark and the hat will work great with my new headlamp.
~6:00am
Wife's alarm goes off again and she gets up. I decide that I better get moving too or it isn't going to happen this morning. I'm thinking she is staying up so I turn on the light and gather my stuff. She grunts at me about the light being on. I turn it off and get dressed in the living room. Forgot my Garmin and go back in to get it. I'm awake now. Decide on two water bottles in my fuel belt and a Honey Stinger gel. Grab my iPod and get it going. My headphones are almost toast. I realize today there is a sweet spot on the volume slide on the headphones that makes both sides work. Yes, good call. Do I remember the plan? Yes. Good to go.
~6:20am
This is cutting it a little close. My head is full of time management word problems. Shut up brain and go run. I open the garage door and the chill hits immediately. I am reminded instantaneously that I hate cold weather. Turn the light on my headlamp on. Cool, never really used this for a whole run before. Turning back and punching in the code to close the garage door is symbolically the point of no return. The door is closed, I am committed to whatever happens. Damn the weather. I take off down the alley.
Run
It is pitch dark and the cloud cover makes it darker. It's an eerie morning. The light coming off my head lamp is visible all the way to the ground. The air is so thick, you can physically see the light through the thin veil of fog. As I run, a light rain is falling. The rain looks almost like snow the way it floats through the light coming off my head. Very cool looking and somewhat mesmerizing. Wish I could get a picture of that somehow. For about a half a mile, I argue with myself whether it could possibly be cold enough that it is snow. I lose interest in my internal argument. The other cool thing is the vapor coming from my breathing. You can see every exhale in the light as well. I wonder how long this will last. At some point, I have to begin focusing on the plan for today. My focus isn't great. When I gear up my watch is on the outside of my orange Columbia running jacket. I can't always feel the reminder go off as each mile is eclipsed. I missed the one mile mark even though I know exactly where it is since I run the route all the time. At 1.3 miles I decide to pick up the pace and just run a nice 10k pace until I get to at least 4.5 and then decide what to do. I can't remember if the route I'm on is going to get me six miles. Do I go through the park or go around to the trail by the middle school? Figure it out later. I cut up Parkway and decide to run on the street. It's smoother and a better surface. Surely the cars will see me with this 90 lumen beam coming off my noggin. The road is plenty wide but some of the cars have little to no respect for me. I'm close to the curb and can jump out of the way, if I need to. I start getting worried if I will have enough distance and start a battle in my head about distance management again. How is my pace? Oh no, I am running a little slow. Pick it up. Stay steady. After the section of Parkway without a sidewalk, I cut across the street and run the sidewalk. This head lamp kicks ass. I can see great. I get to the CARC and the sun starts coming up. I can start to see pretty good and turn off the head lamp. How's my pace? Not bad. Keep going. Looks like I'm a little less than 9 minute pace for the run. My legs aren't great today but not terrible either. When Jeff gave me the plan, he said run at 10k pace, how does he always know what I can do. I guarantee I couldn't dial up another gear today. His plan is uncanny in it's accuracy. I am always amazed and think about how cool that is for awhile that Jeff can give me great plans without laying an eyeball on me. I turn right at Denton Tap and the cars are stacked up back to 121. Sucks to be you. Look at my watch and realize cutting through the park will put me right on 6 miles. Perfect timing. I know the distances for just about every step through that park. I should hit 5 miles at the first light pole on the softball field behind the CARC. I run pretty hard for that marker and am trying to decide whether I can walk a few steps after hitting the cool down mile. Nope, I started too late so I better keep running. I have to get home. At this point, I am in a great groove and the last mile should be a cruise. No hills to speak of and just get home. I hit the light pole at the softball field and am definitely good. Can't remember what I was thinking. Must have been daydreaming about something but the path through the woods came up fast. I remember the Coots are back at the pond and the ducks are still practicing their migratory formations. Maybe I was preoccupied with that. I don't know. As I get the wooded part of the trail, I wonder about the Coyotes. I have encountered them around the trail but the sun is up and I never see them during the day. There are not many people out because of the weather. Who the hell would know if some rogue Coyote were to tear into me? This quickens my pace some through the woods. Turn the corner off the trail and head for home. I'm about two minutes out. 6 mile buzz on my Garmin goes off as I turn onto my street. Nice work timing that out Lance. Your the man. As soon as I get to my house, I shut the Garmin down and turn the mode to watch. It's about 7:25. I should still be good. I went out the garage so I need to go back in the garage. It's too wet to walk around the yard. I walk to the end of the street and stretch. It takes a few minutes and then I walk down the alley and open the garage.
After the Run
Check my watch and time is getting away from me. It's after 7:30 and I have to mix up my Endurox or it will be too late. I get the Endurox done and take my arthritis meds. I forgot to take them before I left. No one is home. Patty and Lance left to go to a doctor's appointment. I walk back to our bathroom and start the shower. I get out of the shower at 7:57 and dial in to the call. Beautiful, I'm home free. This is a morning in the life of me getting my morning run in from a different kind of perspective.
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