Blog Post

The weather was not cooperating nicely at all. 31 degrees and sleeting heavily. I had good excuses not to run. The roads were not in good shape, schools were closed, smart people were staying inside and running on treadmills. Coach would understand. I headed out. drove slowly to the preserve and veeery reluctantly got out of the car. I decided, "don't think, just do". My thoughts were filled with reasons not to go. I made sure I had everything I would need to be safe, warm, dry and went. Hit the first uphill and was greeted with icy dirt road making climbing difficult. The main preserve road was slicked over from the few vehicles that packed down the 3-4" snow and the sleet that had now been falling for some time. I groaned at the thought of 18 more miles of this. I stopped. Thought about how the road conditions on the highway were probably getting worse and what if I couldn't drive home? (I know full well that all I have to do is go slow and my car does fine on darn near any condition). I had good excuses to go back to the car I thought. Decision time I thought. Ok, all thoughts taken into account. Now what do I DO? I go.  I got off the main road and headed down a trail I explored a few days back. Now see? The softer untraveled fire road made for good footing, running in 3" pristine snow...only tracks were deer, elk, coyote, and mine from the other day. My legs were not spunky and often felt sluggish and tired. I worked my zones to the best of my ability and made it to 10 miles. I was so glad I didn't miss out. It took 10 miles, but my mind was coming around. At about 18 miles the sleet let up to a fine mist and all of a sudden, this big guy was right in front of me! I wasn't sure what to do...I had scared his girliefriends across the trail and he was looking at where they headed and at me. I wasn't sure I should risk crossing his path, so I turned back on to another trail. But man what I would have missed if I had not gone out today.  It is what we DO when we have those thoughts. It can be so hard to recognize there is a choice that thoughts don't have to determine anything.