Back to tonight. Since living on Orcas Island my running has gone down hill and I have, embarrassing as it is for me to admit, gained closed to 35 pounds this past year. I have nothing to blame for this except for myself and the commute to and from Friday Harbor which takes close to 3 or 4 hours out of my day. Our day, as Samantha commutes as well. And the stuff that I put in my mouth, I suppose that could have an effect too. Through the winter when we were both leaving and coming home in the dark - and I mean dark as we live at the far end of a long, gravel road - I found it extremely hard to get any running in. My lunch times are committed so before and after work are my options.
Again, back to tonight. In my need to drop this weight of mine and feel better physically, I once again started my running program. Simple goal: run for 35 minutes every day. Not that I need to run non-stop, I run till I get tired and then turn off my stop-watch, walk till I recover and then back to running. The 35 minutes are Combined Time of Running (CTOR) or Total Time Ran (TTR). My simple plan is just to go out and run my 35 TTR six days a week and see what goes. Sounds simple, right? The only thing is actually getting my now big butt out the door and put one step in front of the other in a quick fashion.
OK, back to tonight. I leave work with this huge commitment to run tonight, but upon arriving at the ferry dock we find that the ferry was running late - again. I think we finally arrived home around 7:00 and my determination was waning, some. I quickly entered the house, went straight to our bedroom and changed my clothes into my running outfit. I have learned that if I let my butt hit the couch or the bed or any of the chairs the battle is over and I don't go and run. I need to just "Do It" as Nike would say. After dressing I again quickly exited the house, only to sit down once to put on my running shoes and head down the "Mother of all hills", which is our drive way, and run for 20 minutes and then turn around and head for home, only to walk some up the "Mother of all hills". I hate that hill. It is steep, ugly and has switch backs for heavens sake. Total TTR: 38:24. Total calories burned: 500. Number of times I cursed the Mother of all hills: 32.
I was pleased with my effort and happy to get out with the late afternoon sun and smell the various smells of August. I had a nice run and I didn't die, which is always a good thing. Tomorrow will be a repeat, maybe a loop around the lower lake which is down the hill from where we live and yes I have to run up and down the "Mother of all hills".
