A No-Run Weekend

The sun glowed brightly in the gap between the horizon and the fog line.

This weekend was the one weekend of the season where nothing was scheduled: no 5:00 AM alarm, no coached run for miles, no mentor-led run for time, no water stops to set up and no trail permits to remember to pack in my bag. Our coach gave us a YOYO (you’re on your own) limit: no more than 1:30 for half marathoners, and gave us the rare permission to do even less than that.

A group of us had agreed to meet in Livermore to run through the vineyards, but the day before, it hit me: I had zero inclination to run. None. Nada. Zilch.

Instead, I pumped up my bike tires and headed out at the first light of day, not quite realizing that the first light comes so late these days. I’m a pretty paranoid on-street rider, so the amount of light that I can run with on the sidewalk is dramatically different than the amount of light I’m comfortable with in traffic. I was ready to go at 6:00, but didn’t leave the house until 6:40, when I headed towards Livermore to rendezvous with the team mid-run.

I logged close to 16 miles in the morning, up and down the hills of the vineyards. I met up with the team, then sent a text home to my now-awake family to let them know that I was cruising along and doing fine. I could have easily made it home, but instead opted to meet a very excited Tiny Kitchen Assistant for breakfast at the nice vineyard Starbucks.

Next weekend will be back to the grind: 10 miles on Saturday, followed by a 5k race for the kiddo’s birthday on Sunday. “Let him set the pace,” said his pediatrician. Evidently she doesn’t know how fast he is when left untethered, and how dead my legs will be on Sunday morning.

How many miles did you log this weekend? Any races on your calendar?

Tags: bike, cross-training, race, running, sunrise, training

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