Early Morning and Late Evening

Wednesday morning, as I fed Sam at 5:45am, I listened to the rain falling. I was tempted to go back to bed, but knew what I really needed to do was get up and go out for a run. Although I had put Sam back to bed, I figured she would likely be up again soon, so decided I would just run a quick 3 miles to ensure I was back home before she awaoke. With slightly cooler temps and the falling rain, the deer flies were kept at bay, which was a nice change of pace, and I splashed through the puddles enjoying the early morning quiet. In the end, I could have run longer, as Sam ended up sleeping until 7:45 and I had to wake her up to take her to daycare!

Yesterday, I didn't quite manage the same feat, and stayed in bed in the morning, so I threw on my running clothes after I had put Sam to bed and was out the door at 7:00pm. One of the hardest things for me right now is getting my mid-week runs to be a bit longer as I attempt to up my mileage. The long run, no problem. It's just one day of the week and I can plan for it. The other days, I am scrambling to fit my runs in around my work, Ryan's travels to NH for work, and Sam's nursing and sleep schedule, which is erratic to say the least, so getting in the medium length runs is tough. The reality is that 5 miles is still a pretty short run in the scheme of marathon/ultra training, but it's better than 3, so 5 is what I set out to do last night.

Although it was still incredibly humid (when will it end?!), it was only in the low 70s, the skies were overcast and there was a nice breeze blowing as I headed out on the powerlines. I ran the Homeplace "loop," stopping once to pick a few of the first of this season's ripe blackberries along the lines. Yum! In another week or so, the now green and reddish berries will be ripe, and the brambles are simply laden with them this year, so I'll have to schedule in some time to get out and pick some of them to bring home to enjoy! The deer flies were out, but nothing like what Ryan was describing from his morning run at Bradbury, thank goodness! I ran the route pretty quickly (for me) as what I really wanted was to get home and sit down and eat dinner with Ryan. Despite the late hour, the run felt good.

After a night of little sleep - when I did finally get to bed I couldn't sleep, the result of the late run and dinner followed by racing around trying to do household chores before bedtime - I did not want to roll out of bed when the alarm went off at 5:00am. But I have to work today, and Ryan wanted to run this morning too, so it was early or nothing. There was a layer of low lying fog above the athletic fields, and the rising sun was casting an orange glow across it - beautiful! A Broad-winged Hawk sat quietly on the telephone wire, watching me run by. I was feeling a bit creaky and only managed 3 slow miles but was glad I had gotten up and out. The only way to get in the miles is to actually get out the door!