Thanks, D.

Thanks for making me go to my run tonight, D. I didn't want to. I tried every possible excuse as to why I could skip the workout. But you wouldn't let me bail. You said I'd thank you later.

I had a great swim this morning, and then a pretty good day at work... until after lunch, when I decided that taking shelter under my desk would be a perfectly plausible way to spend the afternoon. Let's just say the shore looked really far away today and I was having trouble finding any footing.

This is when I got a "mom talk" from D that basically demanded I go to the specialty run. So I went, and low and behold, I started feeling better. Maurice was coaching which was a change, and I really enjoyed the way he mixed things up. Easy warmup, drills around the track, then down to Possum Trot for hill repeats. Half ironman people were to do 4-5 sets of hill repeats, 1 clockwise + 1 counterclockwise = 1 set. Not sure if it was the cooler temperature or what, but I felt fantastic. I was focusing on form and never felt overly tired. 5 sets - finished strong - and honestly I could have kept going. (What a difference a week makes!)

On the way to the hill start, Kevin asked me why I'm so hard on myself. (Clearly he doesn't know me that well! How else can I be?!) I commented that perhaps it's because I surround myself with amazing athletes. Three of my closest friends are winning 2nd at 25+ mile trail runs with little training, running consecutive 100+ mile weeks and constantly placing top 3 age group. And lest I forget my long lost training partner, who is now entirely too fast for me and wins everything. Or what about someone I once thought somewhat equal in ability, but goes and pulls off an amazing ironman like it's nothing!

I decided to draw inspiration from these friends tonight, and forget being hard on myself. For at least tonight's run, it worked. And I feel 100% better than I did a few hours ago.

So, dang it D... You were right. Thanks.