Momentum: Losing, Finding, and Gaining

I'm a ponderer. An over-thinker, probably.  This week, I'm considering momentum. Too much, I'm sure.

I seem to have lost momentum in many areas of my life. Blogging being the most obvious (to any of you that happen by the ol' COTR).

I've also lost momentum in my running. While we have been enjoying a mild winter here in the 'burbs, the last few weeks have been fits and starts of running for me. The week between Christmas and New Year's was AWESOME -- perfect weather and my running partner and I could both run a little later than usual, so we logged in a consistent 5 miles every day for that week.

Then... weather, migraines, and life got in the way. I was logging about one run a week for the last 3. Most of this week I kept a migraine, it rained all week. Blah!

Then... I remembered: The Freeze Your Thorns Off 5k! Oh, yeah! How could I forget?

Misplaced comma alert. It's actually January 28, 2012. But who would notice?

 Adam  -- unquestionably the funniest running blogger out there -- hosted a virtual 5k today/ this weekend-ish. As you can see by the guidelines, the rules are fairly loose for a virtual 5k. I signed up, knowing that I would likely be out running anyway -- then my running partner and I signed up for the 10k portion Cowtown Marathon race series.

Today we planned to meet quite early (I had a 9 a.m. meeting) and knock out 5 miles to prepare for our race.

Walking to meet her, I was definitely freezing my thorns off -- it was only 42* (we've run MUCH colder) but the stupid wind was about 15 mph. I waited and waited and waited and WAITED -- very unlike my very prompt running partner. I did get to snap this awesome pic while waiting (and many more).

 I waited 10 minutes and took off running. Also unlike me (still forgetting about the virtual 5k). I usually go home and go back to bed when my running partner doesn't show. Yes, I am THAT committed.

Here's the deal: BEST! RUN! EVER!! Okay, I don't know if it was the best run ever, but it's the best 5 miles I have run in at least the last 18 months. Besides eating well this week (I'm discovering different ways to eat quinoa! Go me!) I think the "Tabata" workouts I have thrown in the last two weeks have really helped (sprint intervals workouts explained here).

Halfway through! Freezing my thorns off!

Today was a great day to get out and run -- and find some momentum again. So glad I went.