Best run of the year...so far

This past week was a bit chaotic with a two-day turn in the middle of the week to New York City for some work-related stuff. As always, it was great to be in the City. I stayed at a hotel that I totally did not like. Proof positive that a high room rate does not a great hotel make. I should have stuck with my first reservation and stayed at the little boutique place I like...oh well. I forgot to bring my running tights so that pretty much relegated me to the hotel gym and the treadmill on Thursday morning. As much as I hate the stupid treadmill, I'm glad I did it. Kept me relaxed for the day which I needed - it was one of those days. The trip home was crazy...I'm already trying to do mileage runs wherever I can so I flew to DC on the USAirways (still the worst airline in the USA bar none) Shuttle to catch my flight on Mother United back to ORD. That flight, the last one back to ORD, was delayed three, count 'em, three hours. YIKES! The agent in the Red Carpet Club was awesome. He offered to put me on American flight that was leaving in 40 minutes. As much as I don't like flying the Evil Empire, at least I was going to get home close to original time. Of course, AA managed to foul that up, with a forty minute wait for a gate when we landed at ORD. Thank you for that operational act of genius, AA.

So once I was back at home, I started planning for my weekend long run. It's warming up here in Chicagoland, with temps in the high thirties and some dalliances with the forties, so it looked like it would be nice today. So after a two-hour Church training meeting that started at the unpleasant hour of 7AM (side note - one of the best meetings I've attended in a long, long time), I was ready to run.

I planned a five-mile run and wound up doing just over seven miles. Maintained a pace of about 10:15 per mile the entire run. Now I know that's not a particularly impressive pace for the more skilled runners, but for me it was a milestone. I also have never felt better on a run. Perhaps it was some kind of endorphin rush or that "runner's high" but it was terrific. The more I ran, the better I felt. As I was running the trails in Herrick, with the cross-country skiers and the dopes on horseback (side note-apparently the colder temps make horses, um, dump a lot - it was like running a fresh poop mine field), I caught a vision of my first half-marathon coming up in May. It became very clear that I will be able to finish it. Without embarrassing myself, I might add. It was a peaceful feeling too. I just got very comfortable with the goal of running 13.1 miles. It was the best run of the year...so far.
13.1 here I come...