The Impasse

This morning I went on a long run.  I ran about 6.6 miles.  I didn't have my watch, so I wasn't sure how far I ran at the time.  The first part of my route I've run several times before, so I knew where my first 3 miles were.  My goal was to run for an hour, but I ended up running a little more.  Lately I have been stuck in a run rut.  I have been running 2.5-3.5 miles for several weeks and just couldn't get passed that 3.5 mile mark.  I think last week I finally ran about 4, but I struggled through it and had to walk halfway through.
Today I struggled for the first two miles.  I really just wanted to turn around and go back home, but I purposely set out to run away from home for about a half hour so that I would be forced to run (or at the very least walk) back.  After two miles I stopped to catch my breath and figure out what I would do about this:

At the top right of the pic is a bridge.  I quickly decided I would not be running on the bridge.  It is a two lane bridge, but two cars barely fit and there is no shoulder, not to mention it is at least a quarter of a mile in length.  I decided I did not want to play chicken with oncoming traffic.  Then I thought about running through this, if you can tell there's a road/trail on the other side of the "ditch" (aka waterless canal).  I decided against this option as well.  The grass is high and we have cacti and rattlesnakes, among other dangerous critters around these parts.  I decided to turn around and run a different route.  

After stopping briefly to contemplate crossing this bridge, I began to run again and struggled to jog the third mile.  Then something awesome happened~I got a second wind!  I was able to run the second half+ smoothly and easily and without thoughts of wanting to just get home.  It was a great feeling. I really was able to just enjoy the beautiful morning, soak up the sun to try to get rid of this bad boy:

If you look closely you can see the remnants of the RAD tattoo I had
when I ran with the grad school girls in early February!

I actually wasn't ready to stop when I did, but I had to get back to the boys.  The sitter asked that they be picked up by 9:30 am so that she could have time to get ready for church.  It was 9:15 when I got home and I had time for a quick rinse before picking them up.  I'm really looking forward to this week and the following week and having a little extra time to run.  My Spring Break technically starts Thursday 12:15 pm.  I actually can't wait for my Spring Break to be over because Caiden comes that Friday for 16 days =)