Early Monday Morning Run

It is 8am and I have been up for 4 hours!  I am tired. 

I am not a morning person.  I am a true lover of the snooze button.  It is much easier for me to get up when the sun is already up but when it is still dark outside...it is just plain hard I tell ya. 

Last night I didn't get to bed until 10:30-11ish and I should have definitely went to bed earlier knowing what time I was getting up.  Oh well...I was getting things ready for the week, writing out directions for the boyfriend of where he was going to be running Miss H around, bloggin' etc etc.  I woke up on my own at 4am wondering what time it was and was bummed that my alarm was going to be going off in 30 minutes.  I tried to go back to sleep and of course I did about 5 minutes before my alarm went off. 

Hit the snooze button the first time, went back to sleep for 15 minutes, got into a too good of a sleep and must have hit the snooze a 2nd time and I woke up in a panic at 4:58am realizing Kristina would be at my house in 2 minutes if she wasn't already.  Thankfully I slept in my sports bra and tshirt and just had to pee and throw on a pair of shorts and my socks and shoes and get out the door. 

At 5:03am we were off to run.  It was dark out, barely a glimpse of the sun rising at all and it was quiet out.  No one out yet and barely any lights on in any of the homes except for a small dim in a few bedrooms/kitchens.  In this moment I told myself....you are truly nuts...but look at you, up doing something that no one else is doing right now. 

First mile we ran pretty fast but towards the end I was getting tired.  We turned around to finish the last mile and I trailed just behind Kristina.  In these moments I truly appreciate having someone to run with because seeing her in front of me, keeps me going.  We are on a time crunch in the morning when we run, gotta be back by 5:25 so Kristina can get home and in the shower with enough time to drop her daughter off at Grandma's and get to work on time.  So needless to say, we had no time to screw around.  The 2nd mile was hard, but I kept my pace pretty well.  I kept focusing on my arms and making sure I was moving them.  Kept telling myself....your feet will follow your arms so keep them moving! 

Something else that I'm trying to work on is thinking about something else while I run besides just making sure my feet are still moving.  This morning on the 2nd mile I found myself praying.  Praying for God to help me keep going and to keep up with Kristina.  Thanking Him for helping me get as far as I have in just 3 1/2 months.  Praying that he continue to protect my daughter while I'm away from her and to help me be the best mom I can be for her.  Next thing I know we are turning back onto my street and stopping in my drive way.  How I finished that 2nd mile at the pace we went I have no clue.  We were finished at 5:24....so 2 miles in 21 minutes.  That's 10.5 minutes/mile.  That is the fastest that I think I've ever run that.  Pretty cool.  Not bad at all considering how humid it was that early in the morning. 

Kristina left and I went inside and grabbed a protein bar and some water and sat on the floor watching the news and stretching. 

Look at those muscles!  I am "blessed" with massive calves from my mom's side of the family and they are becoming more and more defined the more I run. 

Even though it wasn't fun getting up that early this morning, I enjoyed being up by myself with just Toby for an hour before Miss H woke up.  Gave me some quiet time before the craziness of the day starts, and this day is definitely going to be crazy.  Miss H's fall soccer starts tonight from 6-7pm and I also have a meeting from 7-9pm. 

Here's to starting off Monday and the week strong! 

Sarah

PS...I forgot to weigh myself this morning before I left for my run.  Was bummed because I was curious what I had lost over the weekend but I couldn't tell.  Hopefully I remember tomorrow!