I am really going to try not to talk much about school or work in this blog - it's about running. But, of course, running has to be worked around those two things.
I am currently working on a law school project: the write-on competition to try to make law review. We have 11 days to complete it and it is, in a word, annoying. We are all so burnt out from our first year of school that having to read 300 pages and then write in a legal style we have not before learned is, well, tiring.
I am trying to make the best of it by studying in inspiring locations. Yesterday I spent the day in the law library at my mom's office in the St. Louis County Courthouse. It worked. I was inspired. I got a lot done.
My plan today was to do the same thing. By the end of the day yesterday I was really tired, so I knew that today's run (yesterday was an "off" day for my running) would need to come before going to "work." (I don't have a car.) Mom leaves for work at about a quarter to 8, I had 8 miles to run...as such, I was up and out the door right around 5:30am.
This is NOT typical of me. There have been a few times in my life when I have worked out in the morning...but they are rare and it is always a struggle. That said, every time I have been able to get myself up to do it I have LOVED it. I love exercising that early. It feels great and it makes the whole day that follows feel great.
I checked the temperature and it said 43. Stupidly, I assumed that it actually meant that it was 43 degrees where I would be running. Since Duluth is on Lake Superior, and we live close to the lake, it is often MUCH cooler (like, as much as 20 degrees!) where we live compared to where weather.com is measuring. I put on shorts and a long sleeve and headed on out.
I knew about a quarter of a mile in that I was going to freeze, but I was already pressed for time to I just kept at it. By the end of this run, my hands were completely numb. SO COLD! I could barely put my key in the lock to get back into my house!
Today was 8 miles. Coach W. said to start off nice and easy and to pick it up a wee bit every two miles. Not necessarily to pick up the pace, just to pick up the effort. She said nothing about needing any hills, so I decided to do the bulk of this one on the track. I had such a great time there the other day I wanted to go back.
I took a route that gave me about a mile and half to get there...and then I just plugged along. About part way through, the football team came out for practice (National Champs!) so I had a little bit of company, but other than that it was just me out there. The run was GREAT...this whole thing where I don't look at my pace and just run by feel is really interesting and relaxing. What I thought was a slight change in effort ended up being pretty significant and my final mile was almost 3 minutes faster than my first. Yet the pace of the final miles didn't feel crazy fast. It just felt steady and strong. Nice.
OK, off to play pretend lawyer at the court house!
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