Race against sunlight

It was one of those days when you had the best of intentions to get the run early -- whether it be before work, at lunch, or the small window of time between the end of your shift and the end of everyone elses -- because there are other fun commitments (ie: bar) that could take up a good chunk of the evening. That's called planning.

Well, I didn't run before work (in fact, had trouble getting out of bed); not during lunch (had an impromptu committee meeting that went longer than it should have); and not in the small window (something always holds you back 10 minutes).
But there was still enough time to do a core strength class, just not a proper 3-miler before appointed meeting time with friends.

Limited myself to one pint of Smithwicks. And a plate of sweet potato fries. Yay for carbs!

Yes, we've seen me do this before, and probably far too often. Go to bar, then go run. Why do I do this? Truth is, it's hard for me to give up social events. I'm already half-dreading the summer -- not only because heat and running don't really mix -- but because that is prime merrymaking time with friends. I don't think I'm any less focused about running, because so far -- three days into official training time -- I've stuck to the scheduled mileage and done so without complaints. This story might change in Week 4 when the Long Run is 9 miles/14.5K -- the longest distance I'll have ever run in one go. Or so is the plan.

I got home and prepared to race the rapidly disappearing sunlight. The treadmill would've been too depressing. I started slow, thank you beer and fries, but convinced myself that I picked up the pace quite well for the latter two-thirds. Completed my 3 miles in about 32 minutes, including walking breaks and stop lights, which, based on memory and no actual hard data (I don't usually record time), ended up a good run for me.

Maybe beer and fries are the right fuel.