Run Vegan Run

I had a great run today. It was easy, breezy (for real), and I felt strong even though I was running into the wind half of the time.

My ipod has become a regular attachment during because it can be a great way to lose myself in thought or a rhythm and think less about an ache or how hard that hill is to run. However, sometimes I turn it off especially when I'm running along trails so I can hear the birds, or in today's case hear the river.

Compared to last week's long run where I spent the whole time struggling, stopping and starting, and feeling completely unmotivated, this week's run was a pleasure even with the hills. I thought about why this might be, and considered that maybe much of it depends on my mental preparation. I'm not kidding. For 2 days I've been thinking about Sunday's long run, looking forward to having the day off, and hoping to have a little break in the rain to make the running a little easier. Last night I thought about what I was eating and how it might affect my run, and I had the same thoughts this morning when I ate a light breakfast. I went out without a plan in direction, but knowing that I wanted to run for at least an hour and a half so I could break it into three 30 minute runs. I really think it made a difference. I had mentally prepared myself to be out there for a certain amount of time, and with no pressure on where to go.

I use to go for a run with a certain route mapped out so I would know exactly what distance I had covered, but I've stopped doing that for about a year now, and I find it's so much easier to go out and just run with a time goal in mind.

I ran for an hour and 20 minutes.  At the bottom of the hill I decided I'd walk the rest of the way. I didn't want to end my run by struggling for 12 minutes running uphill. It's steep climb on the lower part of the hill, and my legs just didn't have enough. Walking up the hill is a great way to cool down though.

When I reached our turn off I saw a deer dart across the road. The traffic slowed and crept passed. Then another deer trotted across the road to join the first one. They stood on the side of the road and munched a little. I called db so he could come out and see them. He seems to always miss the deer sightings. By the time he reached me, the deer had just gone down into the woods. There's a creek and a trail that cuts alongside the road, and leads to our street. We went into the trail and saw their tracks, and headed alongside the creek. There they were on the other side of the creek watching us, and they had probably been watching us for a while before we even saw them.

I ran home and grabbed the camera. 

We could only see one by the time I got back. The second one had moved further into the brush.  The light behind this deer is coming from the road above. So they were still fairly close to the road, but if you were walking along the road, you would never know they were there.