Finally Some Time to Run

My life has been crazy lately.  The last two days, I was working almost nonstop.  Any free time I had was devoted to sleeping.  I didn't get a run in.  That made this a cutback week by default.

I didn't have time to run this afternoon, but luckily I was able to get out there at night.  I wasn't crazy about that because it is below freezing out.  Winter has sure arrived early over the past week.  The good thing is that it wasn't windy.

I'm hoping to run the Turkey Trot 5k in Bethlehem tomorrow, so I needed an easy 5 miler tonight.  I just wanted to be able to run again and enjoy it.  I was going to drive to the Nor-Bath Trail, but then I figured that I might as well run the neighborhoods around my house.

Since I wasn't running hard, I wore quite a bit.  I had on tights and a ColdGear top.  I wore my fleece vest over it.  I also had on a headband and gloves.  I do plan on wearing significantly less for tomorrow's race.

I started off at the end of the driveway.  I ran over to the elementary school and then into the other neighborhood.  I haven't run the long loop in awhile, so I planned on that.  It is about 4 miles.  I could add on after that.

The only thing I don't like about the cold is that my eyes water at first.  I felt great early on though.  The legs were sure grateful for the two days of rest.  They felt sharp.

I didn't pay much attention to my watch at all.  I didn't care about the pace.  Quite a few times, I was running slowly and I still told myself to slow down.  It was a nice and peaceful and relaxing run.

At one point, I ran past two cars with lights on.  I then ended up running past two teenage girls going toward the cars.  I caught them off guard.  A short while later, a guy was walking and I barely saw him.  I can't believe how little people wear in the dark.

This was a good run to just enjoy it and think.  I don't do that often enough anyway.  There were some Christmas lights around, but not much else was going on.  It was good to get to mile 3.

When I got near the end of the neighborhood, I decided to head to a long loop.  I was near mile 4 and that loop would get me close to mile 5.  I opted instead for a shorter loop and that actually worked out perfect.

I crossed the road and ran right past the Blue Eagle 5k finish line.  I finished the run at the bottom of the black path.  It was exactly what I was looking for in this run.  Just some solid and enjoyable mileage.

As I said, I'm probably racing tomorrow.  I might run in the afternoon/night too.  I need to get some more mileage in.  Next week should be a big week.

5 miles - 42:08 (8:26 pace)