I was sore...I ran anyway...It was beautiful!

I was really sore when I woke up this morning. I suppose it could have been because of the 11 slow miles and 100 pushups I did yesterday. Maybe. I got up and went for a run anyway.

My creaky bones protested when I stepped out the door. Their protests were blown away by the water cannons of habit. I'm going to run if it kills me.

I started out with a plan to run a couple of miles on the loop close to the house. It's a great route because every mile gives me the chance to bail out if I want to. I ran up Larimer to Holly and turned west as usual. I was feeling okay by that time and decided that I didn't need to go back by the house. I would survive. I kept going past Lawrence, my usual turning point for the one-mile loop and ran on to where Holly hits Oak.

Turning south on Oak my first inclination was to run back to School Street and head east back to the house. Once again, I changed my mind when I got there. I ran through the intersection and continued on south.

I ran on Oak past several more intersections and somewhere near the police station encountered a gentleman who was out checking his lawn. I greeting him with a cheery, "Good morning! How are you?" He said he was fine and added, "It looks like you're doing good!" I realized when he said it that it was true. I was doing good. I felt great and I was running smoothly.

Bolstered by the energy that came from that interaction, I rounded the corner at Sixth and headed east. I ran down the hill past the parks and continued on to Howard where I turned north and ran up that stupid little hill. I'd been watching my pace gradually increase over the course of my run and it dropped a bit as I marched upward and onward. It picked up again after I crested and the slope wasn't quite as steep.

My final quarter mile or so was awesome. I might have been grinning from ear to ear as I floated along. I remembered looking at people's recovery workouts when I was first running and being amazed at people who could run the pace I was running. I couldn't imagine that being restful.

Today, 8:45 pace was as relaxing and enjoyable as a day on the beach. Today, I loved running. I will do it again. (garmin data)