Feelin' Good

I did my 55 minute loop today and on the outbound leg was feeling a bit beat up and in sort of a whiney mood. For some reason as I turned, I decided to suck it up and try to get the legs turning quicker.

I don't know if that kind of thinking changed things, but very shortly, a bug flew into my left eye. I could see it, but couldn't find it to get it out. I poked, prodded, and pulled eyelashes as I ran. After a few hundred yards, I saw a woman walking and a man a bit ahead of her. I debated stopping and asking her to look at my eye to see if the bug was still in it. I decided against it.

I don't know if the bug helped change my mood, but as I passed the guy, he shouted something like, "You're running well!" I gave him a wave and kept grinding it out, now pumped by his cheering. As I was running, I heard the tick, tick, tick of crisp footstrikes on the pavement. Suddenly, it was one of those golden moments that happen all too rarely.

I finished up the loop still feeling strong. I went to a mirror and saw what looked like either a very small ladybug (or part of a larger one) a few millimeters from the lower lash of my left eye. I had completed the 55 minute loop in 54 minutes - I've done it faster, but just 8 days after a marathon says I'm really on the road back.