Oops, I Ran Through Shower Time

 It seems Texas weather pulled a fast one on us Texans again.  While I was running in 70* weather a few days ago, this greeted us today.  It isn't really all that cold, but the wind has a way of cutting to the bone and making it feel so much colder than even the wind chill claims.

I actually briefly thought about doing a run outside, heading due north into the wind, and then turning around and letting the wind blow me home.  Ultimately, heading to the gym and the treadmill won out.  It was time to mix things up with the hill function anyway.

I didn't get much sleep last night, an occurrence that's becoming all too frequent lately.  I really wasn't feeling all that inspired today, but I forced myself to go.  Lately my days at work have been so incredibly busy that running after a 12 hour shift of chaos hasn't really been an option.  Since I work 3 days a week, every day off has to have a run or I just don't get enough runs in.

When I started my workout, I started at a walking pace.  It's something I rarely do, but my legs were so cold that I was worried I'd hurt myself.  And since I was running for time rather than distance it felt amenable.

What I didn't expect was how utterly fantastic I felt.  I had planned on a 3-3.5 mile run using the hill program on the treadmill.  When 3 miles passed, and 3.5 miles approached I didn't want to stop.  I felt so, so good.  So I extended the workout to an hour, and let things roll.

As you can see, I went just a bit further than intended.  This is either the farthest I've ever run, or nearly so.  The crazy thing is that I felt like I could keep going indefinitely.  The stupid treadmills at my gym will only allow 1 hour workouts, after which you have to reprogram the thing all over to get started again.

It's probably a good thing though, because what I hadn't thought about was the fact that I had calculated out enough time to get my run in, return home, shower, and have time to go pick my son up from pre-K.  Except I ran straight through shower time.  So I ended up going directly from the gym to get my son.

You should have seen all the wrinkled noses and sideways glances I got from the Mommy Mafia.  Like I didn't already know that I was on the damp and smelly side of things.

I know that today's run was a reward for all the runs that I've struggled through, and bad days where I felt like I was dragging around a boat anchor.  We all get these amazing runs from time to time.  But I sincerely hope that maybe this is a sign of things to come as a result in my new direction in diet and attitude.  I mean I've had really great runs in the past, but I haven't ever run an extra 2.5 miles...

When was the last time you had a inexplicably fantastic run?