Silver lining

Finally. I got to run with Amy. I was starting to think that it wasn't going to happen ever, ever again. Amy baited me with an email saying that if I met her to run early Sunday morning, I would get to hear about her six-or-seven-glasses-of-wine-on-an-empty-stomach exploits. Who could refuse?

So we met... Lloyd Hall... hot and humid.... the billboard on 76W said it was 80 degrees and 85% humidity, and that was at quarter after seven in the A.M. As you might know (if you've been a faithful blog follower), I've been seeking the shelter of the climate controlled gym because, yes, I am that precious.

The first two miles were rough for me. I was glad to have Amy regaling me with her stories because I wasn't much in the mood to hold up my end of a conversation. Everything felt heavy... my arms, my legs, the air. It was going to be a long loop. Around mile four, Amy started feeling it too and, in fact, said that she was feeling nauseous. While I felt bad for Amy's nausea, I was glad to not be the only one not having such a fun time on the run. We decided to stop for a sip of water somewhere between the 4.25 and 4.5 markers. It wasn't until marker 6.25 that we picked up the pace again to run.

Now usually, I am not happy about stopping to walk. I feel like I 'failed' in some way. And I concede that I had some of those feelings today. But first of all, it was so much nicer to walk and doing so allowed me to actually have a conversation with my friend. Of course, we discussed relationships, new, old, and those that are actively unfolding. I also got to tell her all about the delicious dinner Seebo and I shared at a BYO downtown. I went into detail about the entree I had that was so out of this world, I can safely say it was in the top five of all dishes I've had in my entire life. Possibly even in the top three. Yes, it was that good. But this is a running blog..... so......

We decided after about two miles of walking and chatting, that we were feeling good enough to resume our run. Shortly after we did so, a soft and very welcome rain began to fall. While it was difficult getting the wheels to turn again, once we regained our cadence, the run felt pretty darn good. Our last mile was under a nine minute pace. Overall, I'd say we did about 6.6 in 58 minutes.