Progress on my Pissed-Off-9-Miler

I ran my ass off today. And it felt great. I stewed in the pain of budding blisters on my feet, pleased with my being a masochist in the making. I gave the middle finger to the metatarsal pads that required some adjustment and I ran harder in an act of defiance against my stupid new hydration belt that bounced loosely on my hips; it is clearly one, perhaps two sizes larger than I need.

It annoyed me that I was equipped with so many gadgets (see 'My Gadgets' in the sidebar) -- a sign of my paying deference to the advice of Runner's World articles or else, just a sign of my American consumerism at it's best.

But if you haven't already guessed, everything annoyed me today. Because sometimes, when moments in life have you back on your heels, you tend to be a bit irritable, emotional even. So for a cynic like me, a 'bad' day on the sliding scale must be a really, really bad day.

But after today's run, I'm beginning to think that my 'bad' days translate in to 'very good' running days.

Mile 1 - 9:05
Mile 2 - 8:50
Mile 3 - 8:41
Mile 4 - 8:58
Mile 5 - 9:11
Mile 6 - 9:03
Mile 7 - 9:13
Mile 8 - 9:22
Mile 9 - 9:30
TOTAL: 9.08 miles | 9:06 avg pace | 1:22:48

Considering that I was running 11:00 minute mile long runs just two weeks ago and really needing that day of recovery, today was fast. The crazy part? I felt fresh at the end of my run.

Not only was I able to stretch out my legs, it occurred to me that these days, running is the one thing that I can consistently count on to quell my negative space. After almost 4 months of consistent running, it's great to see/feel the progress.

Thank god for my Pissed-Off-9-Miler.