Forcing It

I have not slept well for two nights now, waking every single hour.  I had originally planned for my short run this morning.  But, after dropping the boys all off at school, I didn’t think I could do it.  The weather was dang freezing – well, not actually freezing, but pretty close.  Yet, I had to turn down the heater on the way to the trails because it was putting me to sleep.  I made the entire twenty minute drive, parked and still considered turning around, driving back home and taking a long nap.  I knew I would hear it from hubby if I did that.  You see, he suspects I’m sleeping badly because I haven’t been running as much as I usually do.  Friday, in fact, was the last day I ran.  Saturday I worked.  Sunday I hiked with my sons.  Monday, I napped and did chores before going to work in the evening.

I seriously considered sleeping in my truck parked about a quarter mile from the trail head this morning.  Ludicrous?  Absolutely.   The ONLY thing that got me out there was this:  I didn’t want to sleep with the truck running, and it was so darn cold, that I wouldn’t be able to sleep without the heater blasting.  And so I exited the truck, and went for a run to The Top of the World in Laguna Beach to get warm.  Simply to get warm.

I tell no lie – it was the top of Cholla Trail that beckoned me. It said, “Run up me and you will be warm!”

And Cholla did not lie either.  I definitely warmed up running Cholla Trail.  And I had a magnificent run the entire 6.5 miles. I felt strong for the first time in a long, long time.  I was able to increase my speed here and there. And I recovered instantly upon conquering a hill.  I haven’t needed to force a run in a while, which is probably why I forgot that a lot of the time, forced runs end up being the best runs.