Snap

I ran last night around the neighborhood. What (you might ask)? Hey Big Guy, didn’t you just explain yesterday how you bonked out so badly at Haw Ridge? Well, yes, I did, but I think that the two, maybe two-and-a-half hour long nap I took yesterday afternoon helped tremendously. And I didn’t really spend the evening planning on running. It was really a last-minute decision.

It was about 10 pm last night when I looked out to see what the weather was like. It was raining lightly; enough that it would keep me from running with the dogs, but not enough to keep me from running. It was a quick little “I used to run all the time in this kind of weather” thought that started the ball rolling, and before I knew it I was tying the laces on my running shoes and putting on my rain shell.

But what made me really decide to do it? A couple of things, I guess. First was the realization that I had bonked so badly because I am somewhat out of shape and need to correct that. Compelling, I suppose, but I could have waited a day, right? Except that I knew a little something about today. Sure, I knew I had a meeting downtown after work, though a little planning might have made that work in my favor if I'd taken running gear with me. No, what I knew about was the weather forecast.

We here in East Tennessee were blessed with a wonderful holiday weekend, from a climatological perspective. While regions of the West and North were being battered by bad, really bad weather, we had warm temperatures and only mostly cloudy skies (despite predictions for a weekend full of rain). And even though it did start raining on Monday afternoon, it never rained really hard. But a cold snap was coming, and my left shoulder joint confirmed the forecast for me. I'd rather run in light rain and temps in the mid-to-upper 50's than run in the dry with temps in the low 30's any day of the week.

So running last night was my best option, no matter how slow I might end up going after the harsh lesson of Haw Ridge. But you know what? I felt good. Really. I don’t mean to say that I set any records, but all things considered I felt really, really good.

So from now on I’m going to plan two, maybe two-and-a-half hour long naps into my exercise schedule.