Friday, November 16, 2007

Long overdue

Today I ran for the first time in over two weeks. I think that's the longest I've gone without a run since March. I expected it to hurt, but it really didn't. It felt good.

Meg and I went to Meadowbrook today to get some miles in before dark. We ran one full loop, then 0.85 down one side of the loop and back, for a total of about 3.5 miles. The highlight came at the end. To finish the run, we ran east back past our cars to the trail head, where we'd agreed to finish the run. When we got there, we turned around to face a magnificent sunset. The sky was streaked with color, the darkest of which was a deep red grapefruit color stretching some distance up from the horizon. Upon turning to the west we both wondered aloud at the sky. It was really something.

And the weather--it is pushing Thanksgiving. It was in the mid-40s when we started the run, probably cooling off a degree or two while we were out. The wind was mild through the day, but had picked up some by the time we met. For the first time, I felt like I really needed pants and a long sleeved shirt. My new running pants made their debut! I don't think they're quite like the spandex tights that everyone wears, but I like them. It was certainly better than wearing shorts! I also wore my new long sleeved shirt, the one that made its debut on the choose-your-own-adventure run. I was cold when we started and never did get hot exactly, but it was manageable. Soon, though, I'm sure I'll campaign to move indoors until the spring thaw. For now, I was just grateful for the run, and the time to catch up with Meg!