A Matter Of Perspective

Precisely at the time I was supposed to get out of bed, there was thunder. Quite a bit of it, too. I figured my outdoor running plans were thwarted until I saw the radar ... quick storm passing almost as quickly as it came. That meant I could dawdle getting ready and be able to go outside: SCORE!!

Okay, check this out, though ... during last night's forecast, where quick showers were predicted, it was also predicted that the humidity would drop. I'm no meteorologist, but that didn't add up to me. High temperatures + Quick storm = Drop in humidity? Hahahahahahaha! Yeah ... I don't think so. And, I was right. PC#2 and I stepped foot outside only to immediately have to cut through the atmosphere! It was one of those ... But, we put on our smiles and got ourselves going!

Yay!! Outside run!! Do you know that PC#2 opted to run 5
miles outside with me rather than inside on the treadmill for
her actual schedule of 3 miles? Yeah, I rock that much. Er, I
mean, yeah, the treadmill sucks that much.

I didn't bring Elly along as I didn't completely trust the very dark clouds that loomed. I wasn't too worried about getting wet myself (especially as humid as it was; that would have felt good!), but a wet dog? Yeah, we can do without that smell.

My WOD came upon us early ...

... which is also when PC#2 got her education in WOD = Workout Of the Day vs. her mom's version, Weed Of the Day. It was yet another opportunity to share with her just how cool I am.

By the way, I love those particular weeds. You see 'em everywhere, and they always seem to be right there living on the edge like they jumped out of the way of oncoming mowers. Or like the grass barfed up something pretty. Either way, they're cool.

Okay, so right after our first mile, I told PC#2 that the hill upon which we were about to embark was the most difficult hill of the route. I wasn't saying it was going to be difficult, I was saying it was the most difficult spot of the entire route. (I will say it is a hill I was very proud to conquer a couple of years ago because it's pretty long.) She looked ahead at it and said -- I kid you not -- "That little hill?" Yeah, there I was having flashbacks to how awesome it was to totally run it, and she's all that little thing ? Okay, okay ... in some respects, she has a point because it's not the worst one we've done together. But, still ... ouch, ego!

Up up up we went! I admit I was totally on PC#2's side here because it was long but pretty easy. I also admit I was totally wrong in my report to her about it being the worst part of the route because just on the other side of it was another hill that I kind-of-sort-of-maybe forgot was there. And, it hurts because the incline is sharp. Fortunately, the sidewalk on it was too narrow to run side by side, so I wasn't right next to her panting my can off just getting up it. Yeah, I was totally playing the, "Oh, yeah, I knew this was here" card while waiting for it to finish and to get PC#2's assessment. If she didn't think it was difficult, I wasn't going to say anything. When the pain of it passed, though, she requested a quick walk break. And, so, we did.

You know the other great thing about these walk breaks is that PC#2 doesn't even know that she's providing for me the exact kind of running I wanted to do this summer. I wanted to keep the miles up with the pace down a bit, and I wanted to walk now and then. Walk breaks totally rock!! You're still moving, you're rejuvenating, and you are likely not losing any time if that matters to you. In fact, you're probably gaining it by nurturing your body instead of your ego (it's like I've struggled with this ...). For all of the things I've noted I see PC#2 getting out of running, I'm getting awesome stuff from her, too!

It was right around our walk break that I saw this:

I've never seen a Queen Anne's Lace folded in on itself like that, and I was fascinated. Of course, no sooner did I take a picture than I saw a bunch of them right down the way. sigh. I also saw this, though, and it was fabulous because it looked like a big, huge snowflake:

We picked it back again and had a pretty uneventful rest of our run. It rained for just a bit (felt awesome!), we found no money (drat!) and survived the last mostly-up-hill half mile together!

Thursday's another run! We're back to Thursdays being much shorter days, and I'm all about it! See you after the morning run!