To Run or Not to Run

According to the sacred text that is my RNR USA Half Marathon Training Plan, Friday is the day of rest. But when I was leaving work on Thursday evening and Kate said that she wanted to squeeze a workout in the next day, I blurted out that we should play tennis before I could think twice about it. She accepted, gladly, and I would have to say Sionara to my rest day this week.

Our courts.

Still, I didn't think tennis would be so bad. It doesn't involve constant running and it wasn't going to be too hard a workout. I had ten miles on the schedule for Saturday so I needed to preserve my muscles for that intimidating feat.

We brought our clothes and suited up for Tennis Tfriday at lunchtime. We were heading out and Kate checked her phone, only to discover that she had an internal meeting in less than 20 minutes. Which was about enough time to walk to the courts and back. So we postponed our "match" and I sat at my desk, self-consciously, for an hour and a half in what I am calling a wardrobe mullet. Business on the top, sweat party on the bottom.

We left at two and played for about 45 minutes. And by "play", I mean that we hit the ball back and forth wildly yelling "balls so [insert adjective here]" after nearly every hit. We aren't exactly pros so there is a lot of sprinting involved in this type of playing. By the end, I could actually feel the affect of all the sprints in my quads and I got nervous about feeling sore for the next day.

But then, "the next day" became a very hot topic of conversation. Snow was in the forecast and running might be out of the question. I found out that Nikki's running group, which meets every Saturday morning, had postponed their run to Sunday and this was discouraging. It started snowing around 11:30 on Friday night and Josh and I went outside to marvel at its beauty. I have always loved snow but, for the first time, I was actually annoyed by it for potentially inhibiting my sweat session. I refused to give up hope for my 10 mile Saturday.

Photo by Josh Bassett Photography

I woke up in the morning to Josh returning from a quick walk to CVS. I asked how the conditions were and he told me it was icy and that I shouldn't run. I ate breakfast and continued to contemplate the situation. I felt lazy and worthless and I couldn't spend the whole day on the couch. Around noon, i was feeling tired and I knew that it was now or never. I put on my asics and made Josh go out front with me to assess the situation.

I sampled a section of the sidewalk by our building and it seemed suitable for a few running steps. But Josh was adamantly opposed. He didn't understand why I had to risk getting injured when it would be so easy to wait only one day. He told me that he'd be fine with me running if I did it wearing a bike helmet. It's cute that he worries about me but I am also my own person and I make my own decisions. Still, he had a point.

So I weighed the pros and cons:

• PRO: I wanted to get it over with before my Saturday dinner plans that would involve drinking.
• PRO: Running on Sunday morning would prevent me from playing Frisbee.
• PRO: It was too pretty outside not to spend a good chunk of time in the snow.
• PRO/CON: I would not be able to/feel pressure to run very fast.
• CON: I would put myself in greater risk of injury.
• CON: I could use the snow as a perfect excuse for laziness.
• CON: I would get a rest day between tennis and my long run.
• CON: I could let my foot wound recover for one more day.

I stopped contemplating and made a decision....