Yesterday was a balmy 32 degrees (compared to today’s 7 (-17 with windchill factored in) it IS balmy!), seemed like a great time to go run.. Especially since I had missed my planned race.
See that last line? I hadn’t read that.. And when I checked on friday, I saw the “CAPACITY HAS BEEN REACHED” part.. sigh. That’s ok.. I can run on my own!
While I do like the song (although it may have been a decade or two since I have listened to ANYTHING by Iron Maiden), I actually can’t say I have ever felt lonely while running… I suspect the person who wrote it, was NOT a runner… I’ve always enjoyed the solitude… Heck, take a look at races with thousands of people in them, the majority of the runners are still running “alone” as the are focused on what they are doing.
Ah, but I have been side tracked.. My run. As I started, my legs wanted to return to my under-8 minute a mile pace from the previous week’s run. Unfortunately, my lungs (and more importantly, the traffic lights) did not want to cooperate. (For the record, I’m a stand and glare at the light runner) It is all ok though, because the run felt pretty good, despite the breathing not going as planned. I had enough time to get a few miles in before my wife and I had to leave for our Valentines’ Day dinner.
A Nice four miles that ended at my son’s school. His musical practice ended at just the right time for me to run in and sign him out, and have my wife give us a ride home!
Well, that was the plan.. In reality, I went in, and waited 20 minutes as rehearsal ran late (holy first world problem batman!). I guess I should have run home! It all worked out though, and my wife got to hang out in the car playing “Clash of Clans.”
I was not able to keep the sub-8 times throughout the run. I guess I just couldn’t focus breathe well enough. 
That first mile went really well, but I arrived (just after the first mile) at a light that had JUST changed… lots of waiting and glaring.
For the last month, I had been listening to an audio book (Firefight, by Brandon Sanderson) while I ran – but I finally finished it. I went with music yesterday, and I wasn’t able to focus as well. I also set up the playlist wrong, which might have been part of it.
With all the first world problems things that I had wrong yesterday, I am quite pleased with the run, and I enjoyed it.. With today’s temperatures?
I think I will go play in the water instead of on the road.
I run, because I am a runner. Having realized that I have always "been a runner" - even when I went years with out running, I am learning how it has integrated itself in all aspects of my life. When I started running in highschool, my perspective on life changed. Funny that I didn't realize how much it had affected it until just recently.
Once and Future Runner 
Can’t say I’ve ever been an Iron Maiden fan but the song made me smile. Heck, I’m still listening to it! Have to agree with you about the loneliness thing. i really like just being myself when I run whether alone or with someone else. Its all good and good for you getting out in this weather! I ran last sunday for the first time in 2015 and it felt great! But until the weather goes back to the balmy forties I’ll be doing corefusion and yoga until then. 🙂