The Flag Test

I was planning to get up & do my usual Thursday morning run.  I teach pilates at 6 a.m. so this run requires me to get up (usually at 4 a.m.) & be hitting the pavement no later 5 a.m.  Yikes, I know.  But I can do this.  I WANT to do this.  I've been battling some extra tiredness so I slept like a rock and it was a little hard to get up when the alarm went off.  There is a reason I put my alarm across the room of my bed.  It forces me to at least get out of bed, asses the situation and then decided if I will go back to bed.

I had two things to assess on this particular morning.  A) my tiredness.  I don't know what my problem has been the last two weeks.  It doesn't matter if I get 6 or 10 hours of sleep...I'm TIRED!!!!  I have been pushing through and sticking with a new sense of just get out there & get it done. So I moved to my second assessment B) the weather.  I knew a winter storm was blowing in, but didn't know what, if anything, had accumulated from it.  From my first look out the window I could see that there was barely any snow on the ground at all.  Not that I mind any snow or cold temperatures.  I've ran in both.  Yeah, it can be less than delightful, but isn't that the purpose of layers?!?!  However, there is one thing I can not stand.....WIND!  As my eyes gazed out the window I could see what little snow there was, was blowing around quite forcefully.  I even rubbed my eyes and opened the window to make sure my mind wasn't given into false reasons to bail out of a run.  So I crawled back in bed & slept quite peacefully for another hour and half.

Just to confirm my suspicions I did what I call the flag test on the way to the Y.  I live on the west edge of town and on my drive I pass by two places that always have their flags out.  The first I pass is the fire station, the second is the Y itself.  I always gauge the wind by how their flags are flying.  So yes, to reassure myself and confirm that I was within good reason to skip my morning run both flags were whipping around and sticking straight out.  I can certainly be a glutton for punishment & run in all sorts of crazy weather, but the wind in my breaking point.

I think it was good anyway as I have realized through out the day that my back is sore & stiff.  Probably because I have been  beefing up my workouts to help prepare for my triathlon in 2 weeks.  I think I needed this day off and I settled for a long hot soak in the bathtub.  I need to keep my body healthy to be able to continue with such training.  Perhaps I could have run and still been ok.  Perhaps not.  It's not the end of the world either way.  I'll pick back up running tomorrow.  Depending on the flag test, I will either venture outside or rough it out on the treadmill.