Wednesday, October 5, 2016

WWU - I LOVE RUNNING!!!

It's amazing what a change in weather can do for my attitude toward running.  And my attitude toward my ability to run.  Months - seriously, it's been nearly six months since we had a cool, less humid run - of slogging through high humidity and high heat just beats me down and not only do I forget that I even could run without a struggle, I begin to believe that I suck at running.

And then?  A day like Saturday comes along.  The first coolish morning in what seems like forever.  It was 63 degrees.  Humidity was only 83%.  The air was filled with excitement from all of our Renegades...we weren't cold, but we weren't sweating just standing around before our run, either.  We all set off - Jeff was going for 8 miles, while the rest of us were looking at 5 or 6.2.  Julia and I started running, doing intervals, and the miles just flew by.  It was magical.  We ran 6.2 miles - a 10K - and I fell in love with running again.

Just to put it into perspective, the last time I ran 5 miles was 8 weeks ago - and it was a rough run.  Saturday's run was perfect from start to finish.  For me to jump from 4 miles to over 6 and feel so good has given me my running confidence back.  I didn't care how fast I was, I just was so happy to cover that distance and not feel like I was going to die.  I loved seeing this on my Garmin:
Well HELLO 6.2, so nice to see you!!! 

Jeff ended up running 8.3 miles and said he felt fantastic!  You can tell we're both doing pretty good afterward - not dripping with sweat, nor am I beet red in the face:
 
Love this shot with the sunrise behind us. 
Karen was glowingly golden afterward - the sun was hitting her perfectly.  It was amazing how much better everyone looked and felt than in recent months.
 
Even the hot air balloons were out that morning!  Everyone was enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

We went to Blue Baker, where our baker, who had been there since 10:00 pm the night before, was still working hard...Blue Baker opened up a new location in the south part of our town, but all the bread still comes from the original location, so he's been busy.  We watched some bread bowls go into the oven, and a little later, he took them out and showed us:
Sourdough and Kalamata olive, baked with pride.

We remarked on how amazing the freshly-baked bread smelled, and then a little later, our baker offered us a loaf of ciabatta bread, warm from the oven:
Hot bread, melted butter...we were all in heaven!

Thanks to all the treats that morning, Jeff and I weren't hungry again until later in the evening.  What sounded good to me was potato soup in a bread bowl, so we went to Blue Baker again...it was fun to know that I watched the bread bowl that I was eating out of being baked that very morning!  We drove home to a beautiful sunset:
 
Autumn finally arrived in south Texas - ahhhh!

It was such a wonderful day, and I'm so much more optimistic about running than I was a week ago.  Logically, I know the weather affects my running, but we're mired in the heat and humidity for so long that I begin to think it's normal to slog through every run.  It was nice to be reminded that I actually really do love running.

14 comments:

  1. Such a happy post! Love it from the first till the last word. So happy for you you had great weather and a great run.

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  2. What always astonishes me when the heat and humidity drops, is that not only does the run feel better, pacing is faster. Every. single. time. I look at my Garmin and think, "I didn't think I was running that fast." LOL!

    So happy that your running confidence has been restored! Keep this in mind if the temps and humidity happen to go up again.

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    1. Funny you should say that...today's run was 72 degrees, 100% humidity, and foggy - gross. But at least I had a taste of good running weather and hopefully it will return soon. :)

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  3. I can tell the cooler weather is making a difference in my runs as well. I am not looking forward to cold weather though. I just want to say "no thank you" to that!

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  4. I love that you and I wrote about this same thing...isn't it amazing how a great run can change your perspective on everything? Gosh, it's been a long time...

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  5. What a difference the weather can make! :) The ciabatta bread looks like heaven! :)

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  6. Amen, Sista. It's pretty humbling what us southerners go through from April to September! That first cool run makes it all worth it. It's why I adore our winter running. That bread sounds/looks heavenly!

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  7. You never realize how much weather affects you until the perfect conditions come along. You sound so happy in this post!

    That bread looks divine, too. Nothing like fresh bread from the oven with buttah!

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  8. Ciabatta bread--yumm. You guys are so lucky to have a baker befriend you!

    Boy, its great to hear how good you feel about your running. Having lived in Texas, I can still feel that heat and humidity. I don't know how you made it through those past 6 months, actually heading out your door and continuing with your exercise. Congrats for your perseverance and hallelujah for your great day!

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  9. I'm with you - finally starting to cool down in N Texas (although we are back approaching 90 for a few days). That ciabatta looks amazing!

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  10. It is amazing to me how a change in the weather can improve EVERYONE'S mood. That first cool day of fall is the best!!

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  11. Running with friends is the best. I had an effortless one yesterday - good weather and good company. Today is warmer and I am solo. No expectations.

    Glad you had a good one and hope you have many more.

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  12. YAY! Isn't it great to have that run that reminds you it was just the horrible summer and not you?! I hope you have many more runs like this and the future. And more bread, of course :)

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