Da do run run

I think that my body has lost its ability to sleep in. That is what getting up at 5:30 to go to the gym in the morning has done to me. This morning I didn't set my alarm since my husband doesn't have to work until the afternoon, knowing that I could hit W6D3 a little later than usual (yes, that is the first day you run 25 minutes straight - we will be coming back to that in a moment.) And yet, at 5:45, I woke up, my mind and body perked like a dog that  hears an intriguing sound in the distance. But the only sound I heard was that of my body telling me "Get up! We overslept!" I laid in bed, grumbling, for about 5 minutes before deciding that I wasn't going back to sleep anyways, so I might as well get up and face down the dreaded run.

And that is what I did. 25 minutes straight. It wasn't great. It wasn't the hardest thing I have ever done either. I put a towel over the timer of the treadmill, because watching that thing is definitely one of Dante's levels of hell, and I tried to concentrate on the episode of House that was playing and just kept my feet moving. My calves wanted to stop first. Then my quads registered their complaint. And the my hamstrings joined the choir of groaning. In my head, a continuous loop of "just keep going" was playing, synced up with my concentrated breathing. I refused to look at the time, even when I took the towel to wipe the rivulets of sweat glistening sheen from my face and neck.

Finally I reached a point where I had a rhythm going to my step - I had found a gait of sorts. Things were a bit smoother, and my legs were a bit quieter. I figured I must be about halfway through. The episode of House ended, and I allowed myself a peek at the time. I had hit 20 minutes. This was good and bad. I was thrilled to be almost finished. However, it took me almost the entire length of my run to finally hit my stride. Is that normal? It can't be! And if it is, this running thing is for horses and criminals.

At any rate, I finished the run, and for that I am grateful. I attempted to do my leg stuff with the weight machines, but was quickly informed by those appendages that they had done all the work that they intended to do today. So I collected my things and came home, sweaty and tired, glad its over for today, but still with a feeling of accomplishment.