Midnight Run

I had originally planned to go for a run on Thursday or possibly even Friday before going in to work, but I hit the gym both Wednesday and Thursday nights after work and consequently didn't get to bed until very late both nights. As a result, I slept pretty late Thursday and Friday mornings. Working 2nd shift fits my "night owl" side to a tee, but sometimes it fits a little too well and I stay up later than I should, which causes me to sleep in later than I would like when I have things that I want to do before work. The end result is that I didn't get any runs in since I ran in the afternoon on my vacation day last Monday.

I usually go in to work early on Fridays so that I can leave early and get home at a decent hour after completing the hour and fifteen minute drive. I got home tonight around 10:40pm. I hit the Starbucks machine at work (mmm...free Starbucks) prior to leaving. So between drinking coffee and jamming to Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin on the drive, I was feeling pretty alert once I arrived home. After talking to Lisa for a bit and cleaning up my work stuff, I decided that I was going for a late-night run.

I left the house to run around 12:30am. I wore my Petzl headlamp and my iPod. I was going to run sans iPod to enjoy the quiet serenity of the nighttime, but I was in the mood to listen to music so I ended up wearing it. It was a very nice night for a run. I would guess that the temperature was in the upper 60s and there wasn't much humidity. The moon was just full on Tuesday or Wednesday night so it was still looming pretty large and bright in the sky, but it was partially obscured by clouds. I ran the same 4-mile out and back course that I ran on Monday afternoon. I felt fairly decent running tonight and was able to maintain a much quicker pace than I did on Monday. Amazing the difference that not running in the blazing sun can make. After I got back from running, I walked around the block to cool down before stretching. The night was so nice and so peaceful that I must admit that I really enjoyed just being outside tonight. The run was good too, but the most enjoyable part was just the tranquility and solitude of a pleasant summer night.

Now I only need to get one more run in this week to accomplish my first mini-goal of running three times this week. I will probably run on Sunday so that I'll have a day of rest. I will most likely be sore tomorrow so I want to give my body a little time to heal itself.

So far it has been a good week both personally and professionally. I had an interesting week at work also. I will report on some of those events in a separate post. It was really nothing major, but some of those small victories that you cherish as reassurance that you're doing an effective job.