Leave Me Alone, I Ran Nine Miles Today

This week, thanks to marathon training, I ran a total of 21 miles.  It’s been a long time since I’ve done that many miles, and I’m quite happy with myself.  The long run this morning was kind of tough (I had to walk a little bit, I admit), but I got it done.  Because my Forerunner is mean and has decided not to semi-accurately track my runs, I have to make an educated guess as to my mileage, and I’m pretty sure I’m running more than is necessary, but that’s okay, I suppose.  As long as I don’t push it, these aren’t extra junk miles (I hope).

IP, evil man that he is, had breakfast and lots of Diet Coke waiting for me when I was done.  As I was finishing my run, I was telling myself that I needed water and Diet Coke–when I got to his place, there was a glass of sweet, cold Diet Coke waiting for me.  Is he the perfect boyfriend, or what?  I mean, he feeds my Coke addiction unquestioningly.  Amazing.

Now I’m sitting at home, trying to get off the bed, clean my apartment, and work on a report I’m developing for my job.  It’s really not working.  I’m still plenty tired, would like to nap for a while, and just generally have no motivation beyond typing a few words.  Knowing me, though, I’ll get up soon and get things done.  The one thing I don’t think I’ll be doing today?  Going to Target and getting some things for my vacation that begins a week from today.  So very lazy and surly.  I just don’t want to get on the train and go a couple of stops, you know?  Lazy.

The thing is, it’s a relatively nice day to be outside.  I began my run around 8am, and was delighted to not feel as if I were breathing through a wet towel.  There was a gentle breeze, the sun was shining nicely without melting my skin, and the birds were chirping.  Well, perhaps they were, but I don’t really recall it.  What I do recall is saying to myself “Moderate, moderate your goddamn pace, stop going at your regular pace, dummy.”  I paid for that later (because of the heat and business travel, I’ve been away from the hills of the DC area–not huge, but bigger than the ones Michigan had to offer).  Like I said, walking was a necessity at one point (or two), but I did finish.  And I could actually walk outside right now without feeling the least bit of guilt, but that would require movement on my part.  Movement away from this bed and my music.

I believe I should let my legs recover, no?  After all, they were just re-introduced to the mondo hill I live on, running-wise, and deserve a rest.  They are recovering and reconstructing themselves into stronger legs as we speak.  They’re already halfway there (have I mentioned how great my legs look this summer?  Well, they look great), I should let them get all the way there.  No need to hike up to the Metro station when all they need is rest.

And that’s how I’ll justify it.  Yeah, that’s it.