A Better Houston Experience

I just returned from business in Houston last night. Before I left, I looked at my work schedule and my running schedule, and I knew that I would have to run in Houston at least one day. There was some trepidation following my previous run in Houston, but armed with my Garmin, I felt a little better about things this time.

As we pulled into the hotel, I was glad to see runners circling the complex--and a little envious. (Do you feel envy when you see runners running and you're not?) My hotel was in the middle of a group of restaurants, shops, bars and clubs. I estimated the perimeter of the complex to be around a mile.

Monday morning came and went--no running; this, due in most part to a late night with colleagues Sunday night. "That's OK," I thought, "I ran Sunday morning." But I knew that I did not want another day to pass without getting out. I started getting that antsy feeling, and I even contemplated an evening run on Monday, but the evening was already full; not to mention, I absolutely required a nap.

Tuesday morning, my plan was to get up and join my colleagues for breakfast. The alarm was set for 7:30--I wasn't sure how I was going to squeeze a run in. But apparently, my body was aware of my dilemma, and I woke up without an alarm at 6:30. I took advantage of the opportunity, threw on some shorts, and I was out the door.

My Garmin was having some trouble finding satellites. I knew it was going to be a challenging run when I was having to wipe the humidity off the face of it in order to watch the continuum go from left to right. But I remembered my decision following the OKC marathon to embrace humid mornings, so I chose to view this as an opportunity.

The run was awesome. Just a short 2+ mile circle around my hotel complex and the shops in the vicinity (my estimate was pretty close). It was a perfect time to get away for a while and clear my head. Nearly had my kneecaps knocked out from under me by not one but two cars that were not obeying stop signs, but aside from those moments, it was a perfect run, and I started really recapturing the drive and motivation needed to get me through the next months of training.

I'll start getting back to a regular running schedule as this week ends and next week begins. No serious speed or distance work, but I will move away from my beloved two-mile runs into 5K's and 4-milers for a couple of weeks. I think I heard that marathon training starts back on June 6, and my 26-day recovery ends on Friday, May 22. I will definitely be ready to start back into serious training, but the break has been nice.

5-5-09
Distance: 2.11
Time: 18:07
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:34