Enchanted Running

Yesterday I got out for a nice long run. On Sunday I was scheduled to do a long one but we were up the mountains and I had a bad case of the "I don't want tos." The weather was crazy--one minute sunny, one minute hailing. I didn't want to get caught in something, miss tme with the kids, or deal with the hills. So I did a nice short one (4).

I was luck and Molly babysat for me yesterday so I could do my running penance. I decided to head to the park and do loops. It's majorly hilly back there (not mountains hilly but definitely hilly). But it is shaded and it was 1:00 and I wanted shade. Off I went.

The first thing I noticed in the park were the animals out in full force. The park has a nice running trail (recently re-marked and now a loop is 1.77 miles). I've seen wildlife before but it's pretty rare. But yesterday it was as if I was a Disney princess and birds were landing on my arm. First, the chipmunks came out. These chipmunks had no fear and I found myself running around them because they just didn't budge. Then I spotted 3 beautiful deer. They leapt off the trail and into the woods and boy were they cool! I began wondering if some of Grace's princess juice had worn off on me.

And then a bunny came running out of nowhere and proceeded to run with me for a few yards. I told the bunny he must have me confused with my lightning fast husband and clearly I was the tortoise in this tale. All of these little diversions made the run pass by pretty quickly. Laps can be boring but on each lap there was something idfferent to ponder: animals, walkers, kids on bikes, cranky security guards tearing around on their golf carts. Between the laps and running over and back I did 10 in an 1:40. I felt my pace was pleasant and didn't want to push it on the hills. I was happy when I got home which, in turn, made me happier that I didn't end up hating the run. Just plain fun.

I've been a little concerned that I haven't been following the training schedule but then the other little voice in my head says "Who the hell cares?" It's not like I'm headed to China or something! But then when I think about it, I'm still getting in decent runs. Here's what last week looked like:
Sun 7/27: Off-Grace's Birthday Party
Monday: 8 in 1:20 on the TM
Tuesday: 4 in 45 on the TM
Wednesday: 4 in 45 on the TM
Thursday: 6 in 1:01 on the TM
Friday: off
Saturday (mountains): 4 in 45
Sunday: 4 in 45
Monday: 10

All in all that's not too shabby. I'm missing the tempo runs but they've always been my least favorite days. I'm kind of anxious to get the PDR done. I got this way before Broad Street too. Plenty of time for good running though!