Commuting Luck

Today was another rainy morning.  Thunder and lightning while we were at boot camp,  some rain on the drive there and home.  But the radar on the news made it look like it would be a mess all morning.  As usual, they overhyped it.  I think the local NBC station is based in Fort Worth.  I probably should switch to watching ABC for weather since it's based a couple miles from my house and about a million times more accurate than Fort Worth's weather. 

Anyway, I had breakfast and watched the news, trying to figure out what to do.  Today, I was lucky to have options. 

I have plans for the social run tonight.  Since we had a holiday on Monday, I drove to work yesterday and brought all my stuff for the week, as usual (clothes and lunches). 

Then last night I walked (and ran!) with my co-worker.  We did 35 minutes on the treadmill and she went 1.84 miles -- including two minutes of running/jogging at the very end!  She said it was the first time she'd run in more years than she could count.  I was so proud of her!  Now just to figure out how to get her to do something similar on her own a couple days a week.  Because once a week is better than nothing, but not even close to what her doctor wants her to do. 

After our walk, I took a leisurely jog home and left my car at the office so it would be there to drive to the social run tonight.  Most weeks, I am going to aim to run to the social run, and then have my husband meet me there afterward for dinner and to give me a ride home.  But since this is my first week of doing the social run in a while, I thought it would be best to drive.

So anyway, that left me at home this morning with no car, and a radar screen full of rain.  But luckily, I had options -- my husband was still home and said he'd drive me to work if I wanted.  And my neighbors were around and they said they could give me a lift.  But in reality, a little rain isn't going to kill me.  It looked like there was a break in the green on the radar over Dallas, so I did it.  And I was dry almost the entire run.

Not bad.  I like these small victories.  Days when I don't have to run to work, and I don't particularly want to run to work, but I do anyway.  Hopefully these miles are going to add up and lead me to a stronger training season in May. 

Right now, my commuting miles are mostly "junk miles."  Not particularly fast or hilly, no real worries about pace or heartrate.  Just running to get the miles in.  Getting my body used to more miles.  Next week, speed training with my coach officially begins, so that will be focused on getting my body used to picking up the pace more.  Then in May, I'll combine the two.  I'll pump up the distance, but at a faster pace.  And then I'm going to get that elusive 11 minute PR in Berlin.  It just has to work!