Nothing in between me and the rain*

I know I've been slacking on the whole posting thing, but don't worry, I've been pretty much slacking in ALL aspects of life.  Woohoo! 

I have been so tired lately, that all I want to do is sleep.  I haven't really been running, knitting, or really, anything else other than sitting on my couch or sleeping.  Hmm...with my exhaustion and weird new eating habits, I suppose I can understand why someone would think I was knocked up and I suppose I should forgive the annoying questions (They're still REALLY annoying...so STOP ASKING!).

However, today, I decided, I was sick of the whole being tired attitude.  Because seriously, I know if I just go out there and run, I tend to have A LOT more energy.  It's just this vicious cycle of not having the energy to run, and not having the energy to run because I'm not out there running.  Makes sense no?  (Shut it...it does).

Last week, when I was in Richmond I went back to my old park (the only thing that's not people related that I actually miss from there), and ran the trails.  Oh, how I miss trail running.  I miss the narrow paths with the obstacles, and the being careful not to fall in the lake, and the hills, and crazy terrain changes.  Running on the sidewalk is just so tame in comparison.  

Unfortunately, there aren't really any true trails around here, but there is the Perkiomen Trail which is basically a 40ish mile path (actually...longer because it connects to other paths) that runs near me (but I can only access it during daylight...so not an option during the week until it stays lighter a little longer).  While it's not a true trail, it's at least NOT a sidewalk and allows me to run under trees and away from cars.  So...the "trail" it is.

I am actually in training right now for a race, and the past two weeks of not running?  Yeah, that was supposed to be me building my base mileage.  Ha...Fail!  

So, this weekend was my first 4 mile run I had scheduled.  If I expect to be able to run this stupid race I'm training for, I had better actually, you know, TRAIN.  Yeah, I totally couldn't wait to get out there and attempt to run 4 miles after having run about 4 miles total in the past two weeks, but it's my fault for being a slacker. 

Lucky for me, it was raining.  I run SO MUCH BETTER in the rain than in any other weather.  So, I put together a new running playlist and layered up in my water weather clothing and headed out on the trail.  I get about a 1/4 mile down the trail, and see signs that the trail is closed in this direction until April 1.  Fantastic.   

So I turn back and run the other direction on the trail, which was actually really cool because it was gravel the entire time in that direction unlike the way I had intended to run which is paved for a while.  Gravel is always more fun than paved, and I'm so excited to realize that this is the way I should normally run.    

Thanks to the rain making me feel awesome, I did my 4 miles with basically no problems.  Um...being slow isn't a problem is it?  I was MUCH slower than I wanted to be, but I also ran VERY conservatively the first half b/c I was more concerned with getting the miles in, rather than worrying about how fast I got them done.  

I was SOAKED by the time I got back to my car (my clothes just couldn't repel anymore water after about 2 miles into the run), but I feel so much better and I'm so glad I went for the run.  I really needed it.  

I'm ALMOST ready for the week to start tomorrow :-)  

*Florence & the Machine