Little Miss Runner Pants

okay yeah thats not bliss.

but running? bliss.

and i completely forgot.

yesterday Tall Blonde emailed me to ask if i wanted to go to the saturday morning run...

uhhmmmmm.... o...kay. omg i dont want to do this i havent gotten up this early in forever omg i dont want to go.

yeah. yeah, i'll be there. 7am? uh-huh noooooooo sounds good!

and so for the first time, in a long time, like almost 3 months of a long time, i uttered those 8 little words that prompts the groan and the eye-roll from every one of my friends....

"nope. i can't. i have to run tomorrow"

and just like that..... i'm back.

back to pasta fridays with 9:30pm bed times. back to vaseline and body-glide. deodorant in strange places, fruit smoothies and peanut butter, waking up without needing to snooze, and dark car rides to trails and parks.

i'm back. and from the moment i woke up this morning, realizing i was, indeed, into it all over again....

i can't wipe the damn smile offa my face!

i arrived, as mentioned, a good half hour early. i sat in the dark and watched the runners out for a 6am run as they found their way to the waterstop, and ran off again.... i got reacquainted with my garmin, and i thought to myself... man i've missed this!

eventually more and more cars began to pull into the lot. i got out. stretched, and made my way over... i haven't seen this group since San Francisco, so i was greeted with a "where have YOU been" and "glad your back".

and that was it. that was all there needed to be. it was 7am. it was time to run. and so we did.....

right off the bat, i was running solo. i recognized everyone there, and knew my pace didn't match up... but that was fine. its always fine. running is something i still just love to do on my own. and so.... i ran.

and i ran and i ran. the breathing thing was back to normal, as was my pace... i didn't have to think about what i was doing.. i just did it. i knew the turns in the trail, the hills, the bridges... and at every big turn, every opening in the woods, i smiled. i couldn't help myself. it was as if the whole of saturday morning was saying to me "welcome back.... so glad you came". and it was all i could do not to respond aloud, with a "yeah... me too".

i finished the run glowing. just completely glowing. i'd forgotten what getting up so early to run with all the other TNT'ers, in the dark, on a saturday morning... i'd forgotten what it did to me. why i loved it so much, and this morning... wow. this morning was just such an amazing reminder.

6 miles. 6 easy miles....

i wasn't pushing myself to go fast, i wasn't worried about my time... i was just enjoying the run.

and what happened? i PR'd is what happened. i PR'd by almost 10minutes.

crazy right? but kinda perfect crazy?!

yeah. thats what i thought too!
----------
stats:

6 miles/ 1:05:54

11:13
11:19
10:56
10:50
10:54
10:38

(hehe! i'm so fast!)