Dragons

Last night, I made an announcement that I would be sleeping in until 10:00am this morning!   We had nothing planned until later in the afternoon (I thought), and it's Saturday.  Unfortunately, my internal clock didn't cooperate.  By 7:00am, I was wide awake, and the lists started running through my head.  There was no way I was getting back to sleep.  Finally, at 8:00, I gave in, put on my running shoes and went to my new favorite place to run...

...which also happens to be the site of the half marathon next January that I'm working toward.

It was a gorgeous day.  Aside from the fact that I was totally under dressed for 42 degree weather, I loved it!  And after about 15 minutes, I could no longer feel my hands, so it didn't matter if they were cold or not.  


So here's the thing about me...I'm notoriously quick to give up.  If something hurts, if it's too hard, if I don't think I can do it, I quit...and almost always it's too soon.  This morning I wanted to quit as soon as I stepped out of the car.  In fact, when I opened the garage door, I thought I might just try that sleeping thing one more time instead of staying outside.  But, instead of going back to bed, or getting back in my car, or cutting my 3.1 miles short somewhere, I stuck with it today.  Everything hurt at first...I don't love that.  My calves were screaming during just the first 2 minutes.  

But here's what I learned...if you stick with a hard thing long enough, it stops being hard.  (OK that may not apply to everything...but it applies to a lot of things.)  I kept going even though my hands were cold.  I kept going even though my legs felt like they were on fire.  I kept going even though the wind was blowing so hard in my face that I didn't actually think I was moving for awhile.  I kept going after 30 minutes when my feet started getting that tingly, falling asleep feeling that they always get.  And guess what!  I didn't die.  I finished 3.16 miles in under an hour.  And every mile was faster than the one before it.  (Yep, I know there were only three, but faster is better than slower.)  

So, it was a good start to the day.  I felt great.  I was ready for the day early, which was a great thing because that free morning turned out to not be quite as free as we all thought.  And then it sort of went downhill from there...a handful of disappointments and frustrations, way too much to do, and not enough stuff checked off all those lists in my head.  But I lived through those 3.1 miles and that was like one more tiny little dragon slayed.  And a tiny dragon is still a dragon.  On Monday morning, I'll get up and try to get another one.  I think those guys are starting to get a little nervous.