Claire in the headlights

I haven't been posting as much lately because I finally started working again. Man, eight hours sure eats out of your free time! You'll forgive me, I hope, if this post is a little less... polished.

Yesterday I woke up at 5:30 so that I could take a run in the woods before work. I didn't fall asleep until almost midnight, but I figured that I could make up for it by relaxing at night since my workout would be out of the way. There were 2 problems with my plan: 1) there are no street lights in the woods, 2) even if there were, I would still not get home in time to shower, pack a lunch, and get to the train station. So instead I snuggled up next to the fireplace with a book and read for an hour (at 6:00 in the morning).

When I got home from work my feet were killing me from clopping around the office all day in low heels and with (p)leather straps digging in to my skin. I had that float-y feeling of exhaustion, and there was nothing I wanted more than to curl up with my book again. But I'm strong, I'm disciplined. I changed and hurried out for a run. (Cue: nod of awe-struck approval).

The sun had just set, so I scrapped the idea of the woods and decided to go for a loop that stayed on well-trafficked and well-lit streets with a few rolling hills. One thing that I had never thought of: streetlights are aimed at the street, not the sidewalk. On pretty residential roads where the sidewalk is set back from the road by a strip of fluffy grass with big, bushy trees lining the road, not a lot of light gets back to the sidewalk. Even worse, the light you do get is from oncoming cars doesn't help much either since it comes right into your eyes and blinds your view of the inky sidewalk. And people should trim their hedges more often My shins were aching a little bit, as they often do when I run on pavement, and the thought crossed my mind that I might be running too much lately. So here I am, lifting my knees high because I know that these sidewalks are not too well maintained and that tree roots tend to push them up in the most surprising of places…

It was a warm night, but not too warm and I was feeling energetic all of a sudden (alright, I just wanted to go home sooner since I was afraid of tripping in the dark), so I decided to pick it up. Normally the only thing I hate more than running is running faster, but this time I was inspired. I tucked my butt under (it's notorious for following 6 inches behind the rest of me - left) to look more like those fast people I saw in Kona last weekend (right). I felt a little twinge in my low abs, a place I'd always heard you were supposed to engage while running, but never quite figured out what they meant by it. Aaah, my stomach's supposed to work to get my BUTT out of the way! Two amazing things happened when I tucked my ass in: 1) my shins stopped hurting, and 2) I started to go faster! It's not like I was going faster with the same effort, because it sure was hard to keep my caboose under control, but it's like I'd cut a gear out of my repertoir. Then, I did something else that I'd heard that good runners do, I tried to limit my up-and-down motion, and I went EVEN FASTER! My body was working, but my lungs were cruising easy, and I was flying!

Because of the dark, I didn't dare sneak a look at my watch until I got home: 59:40! I'd run nearly a full mile more than I usually run in that time, WITH HILLS! I ran the loop in 5 minutes less than last week, even though I'd made it a little bit longer!