blood red sky

i loved the sky this morning

gracie screaming me awake twenty minutes till six

starting the run just before daybreak

and there it hovered

over the horizon

over the trees

over the mountains

large, ominous

a deep blood red sky

shooting rays of crimson horizontally

into me

extending my shadow

ten paces down the scarlet tinted road

. . . though not all was beautiful this morning. i don't really feel pain in any specific part of my body, just a general fatigue, everywhere. though mostly in my right leg. it could be from the added mileage, the increase of speed, the less sleep, the messed up schedule, the different meals this past week (either take out or cooked by others--though i'm staying true to my diet), or it is a combination of all of these things.

the first half mile was not pretty. i knew it was going to take a lot of will for this one even as i sped up before starting my watch. throbbing everywhere. quads, i.t. band, gluets, hamstrings. everywhere and yet nowhere, just all together miserable.

i did get into a pleasant rhythm for the middle section of the hour run at my easy pace (which has dropped down to 6:54's). the end was a little bit of a push. it was mostly uphill. but i kept right on pace and actually ran a little bit longer than the hour.

i still had six strides to do which equals another 20 minutes or so of running. i sprint for .1 mile, which takes 22 seconds, a slight uphill, and then round the block at my easy pace which takes just under three minutes. i was thinking of a billion excuses not to run these strides and save them for tomorrow. things like i need to use the bathroom, i'm too tired, i'll be less tired tomorrow, high school students will be walking to school on this route and i'll see them over and over and over again, i have a hat and gloves i'll be much too hot.

it took a huge chunk of effort to pass over the street i live on instead of turn on it to my home. it took an equal effort to start that first stride. that first one is always so hard. i've been running for an hour at a consistent pace and now i'm sprinting, fast, focused, loose, pushing towards that stop sign. fortunately once that one was under the belt the rest came fast and easy.

in this training, for this goal, i cannot, i must not delay my workouts for other days. i cannot get into this pattern or my dream will never be realized. stay on that path.