Streaming consciousness

Beginning a little before 5 p.m. Monday afternoon....

Why the heck did I plan to go running after work? It's going to rain. It's probably going to freakin' snow. I am so done running in stormy weather. First Friday, then yesterday afternoon, now today, probably. Assuming I actually go. I really don't want to go. I don't think my legs have recovered from yesterday's run yet. My ankle hurts. My calf hurts. I'm too tired to run. How do people run after work anyway? I don't want to run. I hate running, I really do. I'll just get my running clothes out. I'll get my long running pants from the dryer, they'll be better than capris. It's not really cold out but it's so damp, I need my cozy Thermopolis pants. Yeah, that's nice. I'll put on my orange Lucy running shirt. I love my orange Lucy running shirt, it's my favorite. I like my orange Lucy shell jacket too, but I love the shirt more. I'm so into orange. Who would have thought that the pink-loving girl would go orange? I like yellow a lot too, but more for street clothes than running clothes. Yellow and orange, those are spring colors, I'm supposed to be a summer. At least I was in the late seventies. The orange shirt makes me feel a little better, maybe I'll live through this run after all. I'll just put on my Garmin and my other gear. Don't forget the cap, I'll definitely need that in case it rains. I wonder if I could put the hood of my jacket over my cap if it rains? I'll turn on the oven to preheat before I leave. I'll do 5K and then stop back and put the roast in the oven. 5K, 3.1 miles, that's nothing. Anybody can run 5K. Out the door, start the Garmin, gosh I'm slow. It doesn't matter, it's a recovery run. It's misting a little, not really raining though. Not too bad yet, except for my tired legs. There's a mile, two more before my stop at home. I'm still warming up, maybe feeling a little better. Just round the block there, almost home. 5K down. Go to the bathroom, throw the roast in the oven, set the timer, gotta be back before it goes off in 70 minutes. That should be easy, I'm certainly not going seven more miles. How far should I go? At least 5K more. Or four miles, or five. I'll go to 41st and turn around. Then it will be downhill all the way home. It's not raining at all any more, it's really not so bad out here. My legs don't hurt anymore. I should go a little past 41st so I can be sure to get up to seven or eight miles. I'll turn around at that next intersection. Downhill now, I'm feeling pretty good. Still slow compared to other days, but at least I'm running sub-10's. I want to do five miles so my total at home will be 8.1. Think I'll go home and check the roast then go to Starbucks for a coffee refill. Need to run around the block before I stop. Roast temperature still low, lots of time to spare. Need to get my empty Starbucks cup out of my car. I am running to Starbucks carrying a paper cup. I must look like a freak. Good thing it is empty, I would never be able to run and carry a cup of coffee. Obviously, no one could. Don't know what Dean Karnazes was talking about. He must put his coffee in a water bottle. I'll just run around the Starbucks parking lot to bump my mileage up to 8.61. Or 8.65. Okay, I'm done. It never rained at all. I don't hurt anymore. I'm really glad I went after all. I love running.