I mostly enjoy my job but I am on vacation this week…off, out of the office, gone fishing. Reminiscent of the good parts of unemployment, I can sleep late, linger over coffee and facebook and watch Ellen on TV. Vacation also offers me an opportunity to refocus on running.
Many times on this blog I have voiced my difficulties with running in heat. I count my success by how late in the season I can run before putting away my running shoes. This year I actually suffered through August without completely throwing in the towel. Good girl I thought, you made it through the worst of summer. But my success was short lived. September arrived with back to back to back above 90-degree days. Every evening the weatherman ticked off another sweltering day. When the long, hot, dry month finally shriveled away, we were one “above 90-degree day” short of the all time record and my running shoes were in the closet. I had lost my motivation, my mojo, I quit caring about the run.
Then a wonderful thing happened, the weather changed, fall arrived and I started thinking about running again. I laced up my running shoes and hit the road last week, it felt good. This week, so far, has been great! Yep, that vacation thing again. I linger over coffee and facebook, then head out. Running like this is comfortable, relaxed and fun. It has been and will continue to be a bit of a rebuilding process. Next week, when I return to work, I am going to have to find the discipline to slip out of bed in the cold, dark hours of the early morning instead of turning off the alarm for more sleep. But I have hope and I have goals again.
With the onset of cool weather, I also pulled out my bicycle. I have only been on the bike a couple of times this year and last week proved a bit uncomfortable for my rump. While I favor running, I am better on the bicycle, faster, more confident. I am trying to decide whether to abandon my 18 year old Trek 1400 for something shiny and new. The answer should be easy but the investment is big and if I am not going to ride regularly, then the money is wasted…
