The church of long runs

Today when I woke up it was 35 degrees and raining like hell. My alarm went off and I seriously stared at my watch wondering why the hell I was awake and what I had to do at 8:30 in the morning. Oh wait...run...obviously. And somehow, despite the fact that I was at some random party the night before and got almost no sleep (especially with daylight savings time), it turned out to be a GREAT run. 13.3 miles in 1:43...7:45 pace...and I felt fabulous the entire time. Brittany, Claire and I ran a route that I really liked, down Williamson Street and along Lake Monona past a bunch of cool houses and parks into Monona. I don't know what it is, but I LOVE running in the rain. On a day like today when most normal people would refuse to go outside (or, like some of the guys from the club, run 12 miles in a parking garage...I'm not kidding. Runners are so weird :)) I adore being out on the roads soaking wet and thinking about how much of a badass I am for running in this weather. Plus there is just something calming to me about rain...it lulls me into a rhythm that I think I sometimes lack on my long runs because I'm running slower than usual, and half the time have basically thrown myself out of bed and onto the road. But mostly I think its about feeling badass, and thinking about all of the people who aren't out there right now, and how I'm one 13 miler better than any of them.

Long runs are also nice because you have a long time to just kind of think...or if you're me, you have random pieces of random songs floating around in your head (today's selections were "Eidelweiss" and some Guster song that I don't even remember what it was now...why? haha). Of course you talk with the people you're running with, but at a certain point you're just getting tired and everyone is just kind of existing in their own little spheres, but the fact that there's more than one of you just makes you feel better about what you're doing. I was thinking today for some reason about how people more religious than me go to church on Sundays, but me, I attend the church of long runs. If religion is supposed to be about looking inside yourself for a deeper meaning and purpose, I can't see any better way to do that then to spend almost 2 hours pushing your body and being able to spend that time contemplating whatever you choose.

To be continued...because I am exhausted and work at 6:30 am...