grousing and grumbling

just in case you think i cheerily hop out of bed each morning, naturally caffeinated and ready to run miles and miles with a smile on my face...i'm going to burst your bubble.

the real routine is something quite different.

my alarm rings, usually finding its way through my vivid early-morning dreams as a car alarm, a very loud telephone or something similarly annoying to the ear. i sluggishly reach up to my alarm clock, smack the snooze button and sleep for another blissful nine minutes. ~grumble~ i slide the alarm off and this is the danger zone. if i fall back asleep now...there is no alarm set and i will be very late. and so i talk myself out of bed...OKAY, GET UP NOW. i don't wanna. i'm tired...just a few more minutes. NO WAY. DO NOT CLOSE YOUR EYES AGAIN. UP, UP NOW. no.[pulls covers over head]YES.[kicks covers off]but it's gonna be hot out, and did i mention i'm tired and it's going to hurt and i'm going to get red-exercise face and run into someone i know. ITS NOT THAT HOT, YOU SLEPT OVER 8 HOURS, YOU'LL GET OVER IT, AND WHO CARES WHAT YOUR FACE LOOKS LIKE. YOU GOT RUNNING TO DO!

and if all rationale fails, i think about why i'm doing this in the first place and i'm no longer welded to the sheets.

that's pretty much how it went this morning, and once i was out there, as usual i was happy that i was. i pushed it a little today - my calf was still bothering me although not as much, and i decided to tough it out and go down to the brooklyn bridge and back. the miles put me over 50 in total since august 12th. crrrrrazy.

i hit a zone on the way back from the bridge. when you're running by yourself, there is only you and your thoughts. okay, maybe some music, but i don't have that going on yet. once you run a certain route a number of times, while there's always some changes, your brain tunes it all out and focuses inside. i'm not sure that i've ever spent of had this much time all on my own to think before. i'd like to think i'm a thoughtful person, but when you're running, it's more like the thoughts arrive, and there's less "i'm going to think about X". one topic gracefully leads to the next and it's just...kind of cool.

so today i'm in one of these zones and nearly get hit by a soccer ball that comes flying out of what i've named "the pen" - a smaller, fenced in soccer pitch right on the path. i grabbed the ball and tossed it back in and was rewarded with a round of cheers and thank yous from all the cute soccer boys. it gave the run a little kick and i made it back to the apartment grumble-free. the near-miss was well worth it.

happy labor day everyone.

today's mileage: 4.77
total mileage: 51.79