when the sun comes up

Since I've decided this blog can be about pretty much anything I want now, I decided today I'm going to talk about running.  I realize that most of you probably hate running.  I hated running too.  Then I loved it, and now I'm kind of starting to hate it again.  I have a good reason for this.  

I started running in January.  I loved feeling the freezing cold wind on my face, and then running guard enough the I didn't even notice the cold anymore, all bundled up in leggings and a hoodie.  I starting at 0 miles, literally walking half the time I was out there, until I built all the way up to a 13.1 mile half marathon on an 80 degree day in May.  Training for that was time consuming and kind of intense, so I vowed to give myself a little break from the rigidity of it and scale it back to a few 3-5 mile runs per week.  That was nice, but I got bored, and I realized that having the goal of the race was what was keeping me hooked on running, so last week I decided to sign up for the St. Jude's Marathon on December 1st - yes I realize I'm either stupid or crazy, but I think I like running so much because every new mile addition makes me feel like superwoman, so I figured I'd go big or go home.  I also have to tell everybody and their brother that I'm running it, so there's no going back, because I have to raise $500 to be allowed to run.  If you'd like to donate to an amazing cause, my page is HERE.  If only 50 people donate $10 I'd be there.  

But back to why I've started to hate it again - my favorite time of day to run was always lunch.  I'd rather grab a quick bite after a run and use my lunch break to hit the pavement and break up the day, than wake up a the crack of dawn.  I like to get up, get around, have a good breakfast, and drink lots of water before I get out there and that was really working out for me in the winter and spring.  However, we are currently in the middle of the hottest summer on record in St. Louis, and we're slated to hit 105 degrees by about 1 pm today, so daytime running isn't really an option.  If you don't get up before 7am to get out there you're looking at at least an 85 degree run (if not significantly hotter), and that's just miserable.  You're dying of thirst, sweaty all over, and just generally worn out a lot faster.  It's a little demoralizing if you were flying through 10 milers a month ago.  But the alternative to getting really sweaty is just quitting, and that seems silly.  It's going to get hot in the summertime every year of my life, & I may as well make peace with it.  I'm thinking of it as "heat training."  So I'm trying to get going with my inner morning person, start going to bed a little earlier at least 4-5 nights a week, and remember the above.  "It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."  Not going to lie - right now I kind of feel like I'm neither...maybe more like a rhinoceros, but hopefully with a little hard work and consistency I'll be a gazelle by race day.