Penance

So...I had a really odd workout last night...no other word for it, really. I wouldn't call it bad. It was just .... different.


I felt really good all day yesterday (apart from being exhausted, I mean, which is a chronic ailment these days).  My hip felt almost normal...not quite there yet, but definitely on it's way, thanks to the Mother of All Ice Packs, and some industrial-strength Ibuprofen. So I was really expecting another awesome run. 


I had already made up my mind that I was going to take it a bit easier than I did on my last two runs, but that I was still going to push it.  But with Sheila not running with me, it would be harder to stay motivated, I knew, so I didn't want to set the bar too high and myself up for failure at the same time. It's called hedging your bets, folks...and it works for me. ;)  At least it did last night.

Since I was alone, I decided to run at the high school track.  It was nice and level, and much closer to home, so it wouldn't take as long to get there when I was done.  I started off well enough...my pace was great, and so was my stamina.  But the sun was fierce. And unrelenting.  There was a nice breeze, but not a cloud in the sky to cast any shade whatsoever, and the heat just sapped me.  By the second mile, I knew I didn't have much left to give, so I stopped it, just as it hit 2 miles.

I'm really glad I did, because considering how bad I felt, and how little energy I had, my 13:35 pace was pretty freaking awesome.   In retrospect, though, I wish I'd just run the loop on station like we've been doing all week.  There's an incline, but there's also a decline, and at least there's also a lot of shade, which would have made it easier on me in the long run.

Regardless...I was now faced with a dilemma.  What to do...throw in the towel after only two miles, and lose the rest of that great burn I was so looking forward to?  Or walk a while?  As penance for not making it the entire three miles of my run, I decided to walk.

There was a small patch of shade where the building next door was casting a shadow across the track in one spot, so I decided to see if I could just walk a circle in the shady spot.  I did that for a while....like a gazillion times...and my app finally updated to tell me I'd walked a quarter of a mile. Balls. And my burn was only 38 calories....are you freaking kidding me??

I had to get out of there, so I paused my workout and headed to the car.  My first choice was to head to Sycamore Shoals and walk on the shady path by the Watauga river where it was cool...but they're having their annual outdoor reenactment over there, so I knew it would be packed.  The Tweetsie would be just as hot, so that was out, too... but maybe it would be cool enough downtown.  Our little main street has storefronts with large overhangs that block the sun pretty well, and cast long shadows in the evenings.  If you run along the sidewalks there, you can easily go several blocks in the shade, and then make a loop.  Of course, one side is a little shadier than the other, but that's ok. 

With a plan in mind, I headed over the few blocks to the downtown area, but once I actually got out and started walking, inspiration struck in the form of a little walking trail I'd forgotten about that runs along the other river in town...the Doe. It starts at the covered bridge, and winds along the river, under the main drag and through a small neighborhood where it dead ends after about a mile.  I'd like it to go farther, but it's still a nice loop, and comes in handy during times like these.  So I wound up going the entire loop, and by the time I wound back up the little main street and closed the circuit, I had done another 3 miles, bringing my count to 5 for the evening, and a whopping 733 calorie burn. To celebrate, I headed across the street to Taco John's to relieve them of a taco salad for my dinner, and headed home, a happy camper.

Plans are going to get interrupted. Life happens, and we can't always predict how things are going to go.  All we can do is plan as best we can, and then plan to have a backup plan in case we need it.  My workout last night was not pretty...not in the least.  But it worked for me, and I managed to accomplish my goal.  Really, in the long run, that's all that counts.  It's not how well we do it...but that we do it that counts.  All these little changes I'm making add up.  The key to weight loss...to health gain...is not self-control.  That's the biggest lie out there.  You don't need self-control to get healthy, people.  What you DO need is consistency. Doing little things each and every day.  Those tiny changes add up over time.  I promise, they do.