Running, running, always running

I hate it. And I love it.

When I'm not doing it my shoes look up at me like a sad puppy who wants to go out. Or I'm reading running blogs: "Wow, she ran a 2 hour half marathon! Good for her!" Or reading running magazines: "Do men always run shirtless like on runner's world covers?" Or looking up race results: "I can't believe she can run a 67 min 15K, and to think I sat right next to her at the running club potluck!" "And HER! she runs by my house doing a 20 minute mile shuffle and she just beat my best 5K race time!"

When I do have to go run, when it's one of those short weekday runs which are suppose to just put miles down and shake off the hard ones, I practically feel sick at the thought. 9 miles: bring it on. But what? 3 miles? Easy? But I'm tired. And my outside left lower legs feels a little tight. It's kind of a tearing sensation. Where did I put my HMO card? And the ever troubling right outer foot is complaining that it would like to take me down for another 2 weeks if I even put weight on it. Everything just says "really, shouldn't you just take a nap instead?"

Today was one of those days. The day after the rest day after the long run. Those days suck. It seems everything has tightened, my breathing seems off, my legs are heavy having not fully rebounded from Sunday's glycogen exhausted state. Worst of all worlds.

We would normally run around the lake for a flat and easy 3 miler but motivation was low so we headed to the hills to run one of our favorite trails. This always gets us going and after the pavement pounding of 9 miles a couple of days ago the trail surface was perfect. As usual, we felt better when we finished than when we started.

So the question is: why are we so flat? Why aren't the days rest cutting it? Lack of carbs? But we live on pasta and rice. Lack of protein? Maybe, but not really. Dehydration? Well you know you are supposed to drink like 64 oz a day. Does a cup of coffee count towards that? Ha. Tomorrow I start my new well hydrated life.

Tomorrow is our day after the sucky day after the rest day after the long run. That usually goes better. I hope so. But now, I need to sleep.