Pure bliss.

Today when I went for my run it was 35 degrees, windy, and raining. Not exactly prime conditions for a phenomenal run, right?
Wrong.

I don't know what the hell was going on today, but I felt AMAZING. And I apparently wasn't just feeling fast, I WAS fast, averaging 7:16 mile pace...yet hardly feeling like I was putting in an effort. I was splashing through puddles like a little kid and just laughing at the wind and rain blowing in my face. Sometimes, I think I just run better when I feel like a badass just for getting out there - I mean, I saw ONE other runner out the entire time, and it was a Badger guy. And something about my designated "Thursday" route is just wonderful - around the UBay fields and down the bike path along University...it seems short somehow, even though I measured out the run today and even underestimated it a little, and it turned out to be 7.75 miles. But it just flies when I'm running it for some reason. Maybe it's because Thursdays are always just insane, and just getting out there and cruising for like an hour in my own little world gets me through it. When I got back to the Nat I realized that there was a definite hot spot on my right big toe...I'd been running through ankle deep puddles of ice water so I really wasn't too concious of what was going on with my feet while I was running, but sure enough, a GIANT blood blister. Ouch. But you know what? Worth it.

I couldn't help but smile as I came cruising down the hill by the UBay fields, with "Baba O'Reilly" blasting through my headphones, water splashing everywhere, and my legs feeling like they could go, go, go forever. I don't have to win races, I don't need people to know my name, when it comes down to it, I love running because of days like this.