Solo run

Tonight was supposed to be a combined run/bike workout, but it rained most of the day and the roads were slick -- darkness and wet roads are not a good combination for a bike workout, so that was out of the question. I was left with several choices:

• Do a trainer workout and skip the run.
• Go to the gym and run on the treadmill.
• Run outside.

The first option was a problem -- I don't have the trainer. I use one of the team trainers and right now one of the varsity team members have it (he and I share it) and he's at training camp. He lives two houses away from me, so I could have just called his mother and asked her if she knew where it was, but I didn't feel like bothering her and to be honest, I didn't feel like riding on the trainer in my stuffy house. In addition, skipping the run didn't really seem like a good idea -- I've gotten in lots of bike mileage lately but not nearly enough running. I didn't have time to do both the trainer and a run (and it would have meant a change of clothes in the middle -- there's no way I could have gone outside in the cold after riding inside -- my clothes would have been soaked!).

The gym... I thought about this one for a long time. It's not cold and wet, true, but... BORING. And it's also packed in the evening. The idea of running on the treadmill in the very stuffy gym and having to smell all the sweaty men working out around me just was not all that appealing. Wonder why...

So that left the third option. I debated waiting until the morning and doing my workout then. I could run outside or at the gym, depending on the weather. I really had no intention of going out. But then my husband mentioned that it was nice out -- no more rain, not too cold. And I started thinking about the fresh air. And the new earphones that I bought so that I could listen to my mp3 player in both ears. And how guilty I'd feel if I skipped my run (and how easy it would be not to do the run tomorrow morning). So I pulled myself off the couch and at 9:30 p.m. I headed out the door.

I wasn't sorry for a minute. I don't do solo runs too often and I don't remember the last time I ran to music. I'm sure everyone who passed me thought I was nuts (actually, this is a small place and most people know me and know that I'm nuts!), because I was lip singing like crazy. I ran slowly and did a short 5.5 km. I could have done more and by the end I even wanted to do more, but I'm going easy on my legs after a month of not nearly enough running -- plus, I have a race on Saturday. I can even say that I enjoyed myself. And now there's no guilt!

I've come to the conclusion that the runs that I do when I really don't feel like running are almost always the most enjoyable ones. That's a good reason to keep getting out there!