I really don’t like this time of year. I enjoy the holiday spirit this time of year brings. But it also brings with it darkness and cold. I don’t like when it is dark and cold. It makes me feel lazy, tired, and depressed. 

I try not to use that as an excuse to not work out and I usually do get my workouts done regardless. But with work lately I haven’t been home in time to get in a run during daylight hours. And I haven’t been working from home where I could go for a lunch run. 

So I took some time off of work to get my Dopey Challenge long run done during the day so I could participate in the holiday activities with the kids during the weekend.  

I was planning on doing 18 miles, but with my late start, I had to drop it down to 13. I was on the road just before 2:00 and returned just before 5:00. 

I hadn’t had the chance to run all week because I had food poisoning over the weekend. It took me a while to feel normal again. I did work out with weights on Wednesday; so I was running on legs that hadn’t run in over a week. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Not running was making me crabby, however. 

I ran using my 30/30 intervals and picked a  newer route to help pass the time. I was able to maintain a consistent pace per mile and got home a little after sunset. Even though I didn’t go as far as I would have liked, I am happy that I got the miles under my feet and a half marathon distance at minimum to count towards my Dopey Challenge training. 

It also helped my mood to get some time out on the road. It also eases my mind to know I can get the distance done.