A speedy seven

After all that talk yesterday about guilt (which was awesome btw, some great comments in that post, you guys rock!), I was so, so, so ready to run when I got out of work. The weather was gorgeous and I was anxious to get my legs moving after spending 90 mins in the car en route to work and another 9 hours on my butt at my desk all day (seriously, whose idea was it to get a desk job??).

As luck would have it, the commute gods were on my side last night. I breezed home in less than an hour which is totally unheard of for my commute. <—can I get an *arm pump*??

I met my husband at the door (who was beaming after finally getting to test out his teaching chops in gym class all day!), gave him a kiss and threw on my Lululemon run shorts and off we went (I *was* wearing a top too, don’t be alarmed). 

After a quick warm-up walk up the hill to our usual starting point, we agreed on taking the “pretty route” which is one of our favorite routes – it can be either 5 or 7 miles – and takes us by a golf course and over a bridge by the ocean (hence “pretty route”). In my head, I wanted to go the 7 mile route and figured Scott would be up for either. After our traditional quick “good luck kiss” – off we went.

The first couple of miles breezed right on by – my legs were almost buzzing with energy, I could practically feel them vibrating with excitement at being out and about in the fresh air (and not on the treadmill like they were on Tuesday for some interval work). Scott chattered away about his day, telling me how differently each group of students reacted during gym class. The 7th graders were quick to orchestrate a game of touch football; the 6th graders only wanted to jump rope, not alone but as a group of jump ropers (so interesting!); and the 4th graders wanted to play dodgeball (which quickly became kickball – after Mr. Sutera told them to pick another game that didn’t involve throwing things at each other…that game of kickball started out as let’s kick the ball at eachother…to which Mr. Sutera stepped in again to remind him what he’d just told them about dodgeball…haha).

While I listened to Scott (which was so fun, I just love the sound of glee and pure joy in his voice as he told me all about his day), I was also taking in the scenery and started to take note of our pace. As you all know by now, I don’t own a Garmin so I don’t know my pace per mile and all that jazz, I just go by how I feel (very unscientific and un-runner-like I know).

And what I felt today was speed. My legs were on their own wavelength, just humming right along. I mean, the rest of me was tired from the quicker pace, but overall, I let my legs do the leading, and I was just following along.

By the time we rounded the bend towards our final half mile, Scott told me to “kill it” so I pushed harder to get up the hill and back down the hill to our “finish line.” And honestly? Had it not gotten dark and my stomach wasn’t rumbling for dinner, I could have definitely kept running for another mile or even more. I felt *that* good.  My legs were so, so, so happy. I heart happy  legs! 

Other than this being an awesomely speedy seven (probably my best 7-miler ever as I tweeted out last night), I kind of have to admit – I liked running at night for a change of pace. I still think I’m definitely an AM runner at heart, but it was kind of neat to watch the night settle in.  I’m so used to running in the dark and watching the sky brighten slowly as morning arrives that running after work (while it’s still light) and watching the sky slowly darken as evening arrives was kind of a neat comparison. There was no sunset to be seen, but the sound of those crickets is one of the best sounds on earth – especially those crickets chirping in sync with our feet hitting that pavement.

This is runner’s bliss in my book, utterly and totally. ❤