Thirty Days of Running, Hacking, and Other Things

Good evening, everyone!  It is now 20:42 on Sunday night, the 4th of September, 2011 and a gorgeous one at that. Fall is finally here! Sweatshirt weather is just around the corner, and what I consider the most comfortable season to be outside. Summer can be fun, but the muggy heat in Minnesota can be a bit too much to handle.  An air conditioned house or a day on the beach are the only option for respite worthy of mention.  It doesn't stop runners, though, despite the sweat inducing humidity.  Our runs migrate from mid-afternoon to early morning, which mine most certainly did.

I think the most important factor to this shift in schedule was priority and time.  I had finally made running itself a priority, and had given it the attention it deserved. If I waited until mid-afternoon, I wasn't guaranteed the time off from work. Production issues, high priority demands, time-dependent reports -- all quite necessary and important -- simply edged out any free time I might like to use.  I could never "get out early" enough to fit a workout in before heading home, even if I did show up at 07:00 in the morning.  There was always something more important.

Evenings were for family, for cooking and playing the Wii (or at least sitting on the couch) with my boys. This is always followed up with my fatherly duties of putting the children to bed, which I tend to drag out.  With no other distractions, I get to play with Connor and Ryan a bit.  I don't ever want to give up that time.

Late evening quickly approaches, with time going to cleaning the kitchen and finally settling down for private time. The last thing I want to do is head out for a run. Night running can be relaxing, but I'm usually already tired. So, the morning run has been getting a lot more attention lately, and I think the shift is a good one. Until the temperature dips down into the single digits, I'll probably stick with it.

After thirty days (thirty one now - 9/5), I have to say that I'm definitely enjoying this runstreaking! I love seeing that weekly bargraph on Dailymile.com fully populated. I've experienced some sore arches along the way, and my left tensor facia latae and illotibial band have made their discomfort known. With yoga and 'off' days of a single mile, I've been able to keep injury at bay.

I'm pretty excited about this upcoming weekend, where I'll be taking on the Moose Mountain Marathon. 26.2 miles along the Superior Hiking Trail, some of the gnarliest elevation changes and tree roots around. I'm stoked! My New Balance MT101's are itching to get back out on the trail for some serious work! Wish me luck!