Kujo

Running. It's essentially a swear word to me.
Regardless, I forced myself out on the country roads when I went home this weekend for a surprise mothers day visit. I dilly dallied Sunday morning and waited for prime tanning time (which I've declared to be between 11am and 2pm). So I waddled down my driveway onto the little dead end street which apparently is a hill. I was trying to decide between the three mile loop and the almost five mile loop. A-top the 'hill' I thought "uhh three mile loop-- duh." However, to get to both loops you go down a SUPER steep hill. By the bottom I was like "oh... I'm okay, I can do the almost-five." Wrong sauce. The hills are ridiculous. Regardless of the route, there are hills everywhere and they are so steep and so long. I am not one to swear like a sailor but I find myself cursing each hill the ENTIRE time it takes me to shuffle up it and even for a while after. So here I go on this just about five mile loop-- once atop the first hill I seriously considered turning back. Then I realized that I'd hate myself if I did, so I pushed on. How dramatic am I-- it's not like I was a pioneer on the Oregon Trail that just lost an oxen to the harsh weather conditions while I wasted away from Dysentery.. but it kinda felt like it... I turned to a gravel road which is my favorite part of that run because it's at a super slight downhill for most of it.. So there I am trotting along like an escapee from fat camp, rocking out to some angsty Kelly Clarkson... and all of the sudden out of the corner of my eye I see a LARGE dog LUNGING AT ME. Only after I saw it did I hear it barking viciously. Funny, I thought. This dog has no leash... this dog has no owner apologizing frantically for the its ferocious antics... NOT FUNNY. Panicked, I pushed its nose away and breathlessly said "Hi Puppy..." and booked it down the road. You're lame, self-- you couldn't out run this dog to save your life. Surrender now. Fortunately I gave that little self depreciating voice the mental middle finger and kept going until I couldn't hear Kujo barking anymore. So I escaped without rabies, but it scared the living day lights out of me! The rest of the run was terrible, as the adrenaline quickly stopped flowing and I still had a sickly huge hill to climb. I would be lying if I denied a walk break or two.
When I woke up before dawn this morning to get back to Seattle before my call shift (I caved on calling in.. such a wuss), I could barely get out of bed-- not due to exhaustion and the wee hour of the morning-- due to ridiculously sore legs. It's sad really. There was a time that I'd rejoice in the lactic acid and think "awesome that means I'm working hard," but now I think "EFF that hurts!" I have no intention of doing that loop again in the near future to get better at it.. I have little intention of running outside really. So it seems all for naught. HOW DO I GET OUTTA THIS FUNK!? Seriously, it seems way more mental than anything and you'd think that would be the easiest to fix because it's your mind, you have complete control-- but let me tell you it is far from easy. Don't get me wrong, my lack of cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength is no help either.. but seriouslyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I'm soo irritated.