After weeks of slogging through miles (and not many of them either), this morning finally felt good. Not easy, but not unpleasant. And I spent much more time ignoring my watch than cursing it. Allergy season always seems to sneak up on me right when I think my running should be improving with the nicer weather. All told, this winter wasn’t especially trying, and I spent a lot less time fighting the elements than wishing for more of them (yes, I realize I may be in the minority here, but damn it, I wanted to play with my winter toys!). While a year ago I eventually caved and joined a gym because there were too many days that it was too dark and the streets were too icy to get out there, this winter I’m not sure I ever skipped a run simply because of the outdoor conditions.
So when spring rolled around early, so did the pollen. The weird part is that I tend to feel allergy season in my chest before I start itching and sneezing, so there are always a few runs that leave me wondering if I’ve somehow contracted mono or walking pneumonia or spontaneous pneumothorax or some other lung-busting energy sucker, or if I’ve just simply managed to lose an exponential amount of fitness seemingly overnight.
But today! Today finally doesn’t have a pollen warning on the weather alerts, and rather than let myself play the “I’ll run later – no really, I swear I will” game that I always seem to lose, I got myself out the door and into the cool air and threw down 9 of the best miles I’ve run in weeks. The lakes were pretty (though a bit low – come on, rain!), the trees are all in bloom (how is it that every year I manage to forget how incredibly beautiful flowers are?), and it felt good to be moving. I am hoping I’ll find a similar sweet spot in working on my thesis….
inmotion 