It wasn't supposed to be that easy...

After a long day of travel on Sunday and getting home at 10:30pm, then getting back into the swing of a 5:30am wake-up call and teaching middle schoolers, plus the weird pain in my left foot hanging around, I set out for a longer run when I got home from work yesterday. I really wasn't wasn't sure how it would go...

I was tired, my foot still hurt a bit, and I knew it would start to get dark by the end of my run. I took small water bottle, ate two shot blocks, and headed out the door. In shorts and a long sleeved T with a tank underneath, I thought I'd be fine. I guess my body wasn't used to the chilly wind after being in the caribbean for a bunch of days, because I never quite warmed up well. Half a mile in, I rolled my left ankle. Bad. Whoa. Can I continue? Yep, seems I can. Huh. Maybe rolling the ankle dispersed the weird pain in that foot -- or just masked it with the pain in the ankle. Cripes, maybe I'll only do 10 instead of the 12 I'd mapped out.

A mile in, I start to run smoothly. I notice how clear and crisp it is outside today. I notice how easily I'm running, and I force myself to slow down a little. I don't really look at my watch, but I know I'm running a little faster than this run should be done. I'm comfortable, though, so I don't worry about it much.

By 3 or 4 miles in, I'm really enjoying the run. It's all coming together, I'm floating along, and with the exception of still feeling cold and wishing I had a warmer top (or at least gloves) I'm feeling good.

By mile 5 I'm starting to hit the hilly part of the route I mapped out. This is part of the running store loop. I know my daylight is disappearing, and I'm concerned about getting out of this back part of town -- it's hilly and not well-lit -- before dark. I keep moving along. I still feel really good. How can this be? I'm tired. My foot's hurt. Right?

I climb up those hills, feeling the power in my legs and remembering how those hills helped me run well on the hills at MCM. I soak it in. It's getting dark, but I'm climbing the last hill and making my way back into town. I still have about 4 miles to go, but I can do those on the sidewalks, so it's ok that the sun has set. My legs are still moving, and I'm almost giggling as I realize how good I'm feeling. Don't jinx it! You aren't home yet!

As I make my way around the park, I start taking inventory and storing notes about this run in my mind. You can run well, even after a long day of work. You can run well, even after a few days off. You can run well, even when you think you won't.

I finish the last few miles in the pitch dark. Dangerous, because I don't have reflective stuff on (it got darker quicker than I planned!). Dangerous, because I can't really see what's under all those leaves that are covering the path and I've already rolled my ankle once today. Satisfying, because I have covered so many miles that I started in the daylight and I'm still running now, in the dark.

When I finish the last mile, mile 12, with two loops around my development, I realize I really could keep going. I don't want to stop, but I know I should. I soak in the good feelings this run brought. I'm thankful for this run.

I felt invigorated. I felt accomplished. I felt lucky to have had this run. It wasn't supposed to be that easy...