Procrastination Rewarded

This weekend my running partner Anne was out of town.  I had a 12 miler on the books for my long run and had every intention of getting up Saturday morning to run it.  I even set my alarm for 6:15 so I could make it to the 7:00AM group run.  I found out Friday that most people in the Saturday group run were only doing 5 miles which meant I was going to be out there much longer than anyone else, boo!

Saturday morning the alarm went off and there was some kind of odd pull that was keeping me stuck in bed.  It was so warm under all the covers and my iPhone was showing an outside temp of 27 degrees.  That just didn't sound appealing so I decided to stay in bed.  The hourly forecast showed that the temps would warm once the sun was up and I kept telling myself that I could always go run later.  Sadly, I just never got the motivation...I hardly ate anything so I kept thinking that I wasn't fueled properly to go out and run 12 miles.  My ear was really bothering me and hurt quite a bit so that had me concerned about running in the cold and possibly getting an ear infection.  You name it...I explored it as a reason for why I shouldn't run!

Saturday evening I met up with a friend and co-worker who I had told that I was going to run on Saturday.  She picked on me for skipping the run and I promised that I would run on Sunday! Lori is notorious for picking on me when I don't hold to my running schedule! This morning came and the temps were warmer than yesterday.  I had a little time challenge in getting up and moving so I didn't make it to the 6:30AM start for the group run.  I got started around 7:00AM and figured that I would just need to take a picture of my Garmin when I finished to have proof for Lori that I had run!

The weather when I started was around 44 degrees and the sun was quickly rising.  I had dressed in capris and a long sleeve shirt that has a fleecy inside texture.  The fleece felt great for the first few miles but I could tell that in the sunnier sections of my route it was going to be too warm for me.  I eventually ended up taking the long sleeve off and just wearing my short sleeve around mile 6.5. 

I had picked an out-an-back route that would give me some easy hills and access to bathrooms since my tummy was a little upset.  I settled into a pace after using the first couple miles for warm-up.  I was avoiding looking at my Garmin because I didn't want to worry about my pace.  Running alone can sometimes be a mental challenge for me in that I will psych myself out and lose confidence in myself.  I wanted to just focus on running and not worry about times or splits. 

I took Pineapple Roctane Gu around mile 4 and 7.5...during my second stop for Gu I looked down the street and noticed Lori running along.  She passed me and just kept chugging along.  I yelled after her and discovered that our routes were going to converge for the next 2 miles so I followed along behind her.  I yelled up to her that this was saving me the trouble of having to email her a photo as proof that I had run! She chuckled on that one!

I finished up the run with 11.8 miles in 2 hours even.  The last little bit was pretty tough...later when I reviewed my splits I saw that I had been picking up the pace over the final 4 miles which is why it felt so much harder.  I really missed having my running partner there to keep me company but I was able to remind myself that I can rise up to the challenge when I believe in myself and turn off my brain and just run.  I really do need the reminder to just "Shut Up and Run" sometimes! The weather was so much nicer today and it truly felt like I was rewarded with an awesome run for my procrastination of the day before!