Today's run reminded me that I don't have to be a complete mountain snob all the time. Don't get me wrong, mountain running is by far the best running, but todays run was a blast and a nice little change of pace. Variety is good. I woke up feeling really crappy this morning. Totally unmotivated to do anything at all...it was weird. So I hung out and watched movies with the kids all morning while Nan was at her workout, and I managed to muster the energy to do a session of Ab Ripper X. It was a rainy morning and I felt like the weather. Then I decided a barefoot run in the rain was in order. And that did the trick nicely. I couldn't help but feel better the minute I started splashing down the street through the puddles. And with every step and every puddle splash I just kept feeling better...until a couple miles later I found myself charging up the steepest road I could find by my house. Then I came back down, about a half mile, and couldn't resist charging up the hill again. I love running up hills. Finished off with a loop around the neighborhood feeling fantastic physically and mentally. Running is great medicine. And I really like the barefoot variety at times...it feels so smooth, easy, natural and fun. Pushing hard up the hills felt great, and at 2 or 3 different points in the run I was just cruising down half mile stretches of cool wet grass in 6 - 6:30 pace, which was also very fun. Ran 7.5 miles in 1:01 - 8:11 pace - 853 Feet ascent - there were 2 pretty decent 200 foot hill climbs included. It was a pretty easy pace the whole time except I pushed the pace on the uphills.
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