The power of the run

This has not been the best of times. After a gloriously wonderful winter break full of fun and friends, we had a week of sickness and staying home. This week was supposed to be a return to the routine. We had plans on Monday with friends... it snowed. Then yesterday Chewie woke up with a horrible rash all over her back and chest. The Princess still went to preschool and Chewie & I still went food shopping, but that's hardly fun. We had plans to go have fun today, but Chewie's rash has spread to her face and legs and I just couldn't take her out in public. Even if she's not contagious, I know every mom would be staring and wondering. (Pretty sure it's just roseola.) So we stayed home again today.

I am not chipper.

I miss my friends. The girls and I are getting a wee bit tired of each other. We're getting snippy. Okay, I'm getting snippy and they're getting whiny and Chewie's crying at everything. I put them down for naptime at noon. NOON.

I got on the treadmill for my Wednesday intervals and thought about doing what I always do (3 or 4 fast quarters at 6.9 with a 1% incline with walking intervals in between) but I thought back to Sunday. This past Sunday I did not run 6 miles. It was raining, Chewie was still sick, Vader was installing faucets. So I went out with the idea of only doing 3.1. I started out a bit fast and thought I'd better slow down I'm not going to make it. I let that take over for a quarter mile up a tiny incline and then said What? Screw that! If I wasn't going the distance than I was going to go faster than normal. So I did. I didn't go race-pace for the whole thing, but I did okay. And at the end I really pushed it and wound up doing my last mile faster than the others. So today, I thought if I can go that fast on the road, why not now? Why? It's only a quarter mile. So I did. I upped my speed a bit and ran at 7.2 with a 1% incline. I did the quarters in just a tad over 2 minutes. The very last one I pushed it a bit and sped up to 7.5. The first break I ran very slow, but the rest I had to walk. I was okay with that though since I was really trying to push the running. One thing at a time.

And now, I am restored. Ready to face the girls (who have naturally woken up already since I put them down at noon, but the boy gets off the bus in 10 minutes so they're staying put). Ready to face the rest of the day. I've been frustrated that I'm not getting up at 5:30 and running like I want to, but maybe it's better for me to run in the middle of the day. Maybe it's better to do it when I need it most, and not when I think it would be most convenient.