Morning Light

Well, I never quite got around to that 11 mile run. Hmph. I really hate it when that happens. I suppose I could have gone yesterday morning, but by the time 5:00 am rolled around, which is when I was supposed to get up and get ready to run, I had been up pretty much every hour from 9:00 pm on. Sam had a very rough night, despite or perhaps because she was so exhausted. This is her first week in the "big kid" room at daycare - she and all her little buddies have now been split up between three rooms, and are mixed in with the 4 year olds. She is very excited about her new room, but I think she has just gotten a bit too overstimulated and exhausted this week because of it. On Wednesday night before bed, she said to me, "Mama, I am so tired because of all my running around in my big kid room at daycare." You'd think this would mean she would sleep well, but apparently not. In any event, none of us slept well on Wednesday night.

Well, at least she comes by it honestly - last night I was exhausted myself (see prior paragraph) and went up to bed at 9:00. Did I sleep? Nope. I twisted and turned, and woke up and was uncomfortable all night long. I had already decided to skip the 11 miles - what I really need is a good 16 miler this weekend, and doing 11 miles so close to that is in all reality just too much for me at this point. But I knew I needed to at least get some sort of run in this morning! I chose to get up early in the hopes of getting my run in before Sam woke up, although of course, that didn't work out and she and Ryan were up around 6:00 :-) I suppose that was just inevitable but oh well!

I waited until I could see a bit of light in the sky, and headed out right around 5:30am. There was plenty of light out in the open, but it certainly was still dark in the woods as I made my way over to Highland Green Road on the Mt. Ararat trails! I knew no one would be out on the golf course, so the plan was to get in 6 miles on the cart paths. I was feeling pretty exhausted from two nights of little sleep, but it was a gorgeous morning to be out. As I ran along, the sky got brighter, the rising sun casting a beautiful golden light on the white fluffy clouds up above. The paths were lined with goldenrod and late summer asters. It was quite except for a few crickets chirping. Mist rose from the little ponds, and as I ran along the marshy area between holes 8 and 9, the water was so flat I could see a perfect reflection of the blue sky and clouds in the surface. I was definitely dragging a bit in the final mile, but overall, felt pretty strong. I think I might finally be seeing some progress in my running - or perhaps it is just the cooler and crisper air - but regardless, it is nice to be feeling good while running again. The only downer is that I just have not quite managed to get in the miles I would like this week. Oh well. I still have September and October, right?! :-)