distance: 2.5 miles indoors, .5 outdoors
total program distance: 48.5 miles
pain level: minimal aches

Hmmm. Yeah. Change of plans: I HATE TREADMILLS. Oh god do I hate treadmills. I got on, did a walk warm-up for three minutes and then a very light jog for another three. I felt okay at that point, but after I sped up things fell completely apart. I could feel that my form was terrible but each time I tried to adjust I either came close to sliding right off or overcompensated and bumped the front handle bar thingy. It was warm and humid in the gym so I was sweating and thirsty, and of course I had to slow down to drink water (if I can't tweak my form while running, can you IMAGINE the disfigurement that would result if I tried to take a drink?). My shins were hurting and my arms felt all awkward and in the way, and to top it off I'd grabbed a inferior hair elastic so my ponytail was sliding further and further down my head and little bits of hair were escaping and sticking to my neck and cheeks. I was supposed to do 3 miles but I made it to 2.5 and said to myself "you know what? you're miserable. stop doing this." So I did. I did a walking cool down and went home. I tried really hard not to beat myself up over it – I told myself to focus on having a really good run on Wednesday (outdoors of course, I guess I'll be investing in some more running pants).

…But wait! There is a happy coda to the story. I played bridge last night at my friend H's house. She lives about 2 miles from me, so I walked over to stretch out my legs and get a bit more exercise. Well, we had a magnificent time as always. By the last hand no one could remember what was trump and there were several empty wine bottles strewn about. I might have had one glass of wine more than was strictly necessary, but I was feeling great. We wrapped up around 10 and I headed home. It was cold and late, so I thought, "why not catch the bus?" I called to find out when it was coming and found out I had five minutes to make it the .6 miles to the bus stop. For a second I thought "You'll never get there…might as well start walkin' home, kid." Then the puissant, bitchy, capable part of me spoke up and said "Get your butt moving soldier! You owe me half a mile, dammit!" So I started running, in my tired old converse sneakers and jeans, my completely unsupportive underwire bra bouncing around, my tote bag clutched to my chest. I thought that I'd feel pain or discomfort in my legs but no. Running through these quiet, dark streets, seeing and hearing my breath, smelling the wet leaves – somehow it was wonderful. (I'm sure part of this was the wine's gift to me.) Sure I looked goofy, but I caught that bus and thus got an extra 15 minutes of sleep. So I'd say that my running day yesterday was glorious.