After a week of blissful respite, things are getting busy again - both personally and professionally. Probably won't have much breathing room until the week before Christmas when, after many years of not doing so, I have actually opted to take time off around the holiday. I'm sure I'll drive my kids crazy by being home all day.

I wasn't planning on running this morning after taking a PowerFlex class the day before yesterday (after having ran that morning as well). My muscles were a little achy and I didn't think I had it in me. Because of the injury, I've come into the habit of "testing" my ability to run. I know within the first couple minutes if my body isn't up to the task. This "testing" is different from the "eight-minute rule", a process by which my body would (and sometimes still does) rotate various aches and pains through different body parts to see if it can make me stop running. If I was (or am) still running after eight minutes, my body gives up and allows me to run hassle-free.

Anyway, I was wrong wrong wrong. Not only did I have it in me, I ran fairly strong.

I slogged (slow + jog = slog) for the first 15 minutes, but the next half hour was made up of 80% zone running (the best!) and 20% distracted but bearable running. It helps that I was listening to Duran Duran's Rio, which helps me imagine I'm cruising down a quaint European road overlooking the ocean in an early 60's Karmann Ghia convertible.


Song of the Day: Hold Back the Rain – Duran Duran

This is my favorite running song off of Rio, followed by Last Chance on the Stairway, followed by Hungry Like the Wolf. During my non-running moments, I prefer the more haunting dreamy songs like The Chauffer and Lonely in Your Nightmare. I'm still ga-ga over these guys and I'm keeping my vinyl versions of Rio, Seven and the Ragged Tiger and Arena, although I'm pretty sure I will never handle a phonograph again during the remainder of my life. Broken.