These are the runs that make other runs AMAZING

Maybe it was the turkey the night before, or maybe my shoe was tied too tight, or maybe my calf was strained and THAT is what cause my left foot to be numb for half of my run this morning. Ugh. Either way I tell ya, it wouldn't keep me down!

Okay, let me backtrack. I got up surprisingly alert for 5am this morning and after taking Peanut out for a pee break I got ready to go for my first morning run in over a week-hubby's home-yay! I grabbed his running jacket for its additional reflective highlights, set my phone to play a podrunner tune at 180bpm and headed out into the frosty air.

My legs were stiff, more than I really expected after taking a luxurious 2 days off this weekend to rest and rehab my hamstring a bit. So I kept it conservative, really conservative and went off sloooow for the first couple of miles. Once I got to the top of Briarwood I was feeling looser so I picked up the pace as I carefully trotted downhill in the dark. At about the same time my left foot became a bit numb, then totally numb after another mile. Running on a numb foot feels strange but in the dark it can also be a recipe for a twisted ankle so I stopped and adjusted my laces. That seemed to do the trick for another mile then my foot went numb again. This time I walked it out longer than before and noticed my calf became more strained as the blood seemed to rush back into my foot. WEIRD. Maybe it was that P90X Plyometrics session I did Saturday?? I was able to find some kind of happy medium just as I came to my favorite section of road, just to be almost hit by a sleepy driver too anxious to pull out onto an adjoining street (so much for those additional reflective strips on hubby's coat!)-thankfully I was paying attention and scooted around the startled driver. I checked my watch and found I was a good 7 minutes off my regular slow morning run pace. Ah well, I guess this run was my "slow 10k" on my training plan for the week. I gutted it out and got it done. It wasn't pretty, it took what felt like forever and I still have no solid answer as to why my foot decided today it wanted to run numb, but these are the runs that make other runs amazing.