Surprise Of The Day

I ran 3 miles at Wood's Fitness this morning in just about 40 minutes and it came as quite a surprise. I hadn't slept well and the previous night I had to take Ibuprofen for my aching legs. In the evening they had begun to feel like I had a tight rubber band a around my calves and the feeling was akin to feeling the blood being cut off to my lower legs. The medicine worked quickly but I still faced another dilema.

My schedule called for me to take today off as a recovery day and then run 3 miles on Saturday. This was nearly impossible. The gym opened late on Saturday and the roads were completely impassable and dangerous to run in the dark due to the deep snow and ice. I was trying to decide....do I run today on tired, aching legs and take tomorrow off? Or do I take today off as scheduled and chance a run on ice in the dark? That was actually an easy decision because I wasn't going to run on ice in the dark. Should I take two days off? This was all going through my head at 4:30 am and I finally made up my mind. I jumped out of bed and went to the gym. I figured if I had to walk the damn three miles I would walk, but I didn't want to miss my workout.

I started my easy jog to warm up and was surprised to find that my legs didn't ache or even feel tired. I wasn't springy but I felt light and strong. I powered through the three miles well, at times hitting 6 mph for short bursts but mostly just keeping a steady pace. I surprised myself. I guess you never know how your body really feels until you ask it to do something for you. Today I asked...... and to my relief, it said OK.