Sun Worship

I have a cold and am not feeling so hot. But I still slogged through my 23 miler yesterday. I woke up feeling pretty crummy but wanted to get my run over with so I got out of bed and headed towards Deb's, where we were meeting. I picked up breakfast stuff for our foodfest (what's a group run without a post-run feast?) and noticed that it was clear, the Swan range was prominent and there was a perfect sunrise. It *looked* like Spring -- I'm not sure why or how but it just did. Of course, it was in the 20s so not really Spring temperatures.

The run started ok, I felt a little weary but more or less okay. Deb and Ruth wanted to run 8 so they turned around early and I, hopefully not rudely, discouraged Tom from keeping me company. I wasn't sure how much I would need to slog and didn't want to have to worry about slowing someone else down, so I put my iPod in and went on along. (Leanne was pretty far ahead). Before I knew it the sun had come out and completely warmed the road, my hands, my face, my breath and above all, my spirits. I ran back to Deb's with more speed than I've mustered in a good long time. Although I was still stuffed up, I felt great. My legs just wanted to turn over as fast as they could. I made it back to breakfast (that was additional motivation) pretty quickly without feeling exhausted. It's amazing how much my mind affects how I feel. There was nothing physical about the sun's appearance (other than the warmth). But it quickened my pace by about 2 minutes per mile.

I finished up the week with 65 miles (10 miles T,W,R and 23 S and 12 Sun) while Sonja finished with 43 (same T,W,R and 13 on Saturday).