Sometimes, All You Need is a Little Bit*

This morning, my 5 a.m. alarm sounded way too early, which was surprising, considering I actually got into bed at just after 9, and I turned off the lights and put down this month's issue of Outside magazine by 9:30. Still...I barely crawled out of bed by 6:45, which meant my plan of 4-5 miles (approx. 48 minutes) of tempo run were foiled. I contemplated skipping the run, but something in me was not having it--it's like my Asics** were calling me, begging me to to take them out for a run. So, I got ready and headed out the door for what I had planned on as a hard, 30-minute tempo run.

Well...I got a bit ahead of myself, and as I ran hard towards Browne's Addition, I realized that my pace would absolutely not be maintained for the full 30, so I turned my run into an unstructured interval run. I pushed the pace hard for as long as I could sustain it, and then slowed it up (to a walk at some points), and repeated until I was back home. The reward: the sense of accomplishment that you feel after a completed run, about 300 calories burned, a bit more speed work (which I need), and leftover blueberry-oatmeal pancakes with Adams Crunchy Peanut Butter and a blackberry fruit spread.

*As I wrote the title of this post, all I could think about was the 50 Cent song, but I couldn't bring my self to write "Lil Bit."

**I currently rotate two pairs of shoes (well, 3, but more on that later) for running. The Asics are the Gel Kayano 14's, acquired at Runners Soul. These are by far my best looking running shoes--with a bronze/platinum metallic pattern. Whatever it takes to get you on the trail.