Fitness Friday (I KNOW!)

So, remember how it's been WEEKS since I posted a Fitness Friday blog?  Yeah.  It's because I've been ASHAMED, people!  I haven't been completely lazy, but I've gotten about as close to doing nothing as possible.  I could blame the heat.  I could be REALLY lame and blame my period (ewwww! run away, boys!).  But I won't.  I've run a few times...walked the pup a few times...but I've been spending a LOT of time doing awesome things like coloring at coffee shops and getting my picture taken and sleeping.

Healthy LIVING, right? RIGHT.

ANYWHO.

I haven't been exactly active (exercise-wise, anyway) this week, either, but I did want to talk about a major accomplishment I felt yesterday.

As you may or may not know if you aren't living in Texas right now, yesterday ended a 40 day streak of days with temperatures at or above 100 degrees. Yes, it feels like the bowels of HELL.  I ran on Monday afternoon at the indoor track in the gym (which is boring) just because it's too hot to be outside after about 9am. Well, I packed my gym bag yesterday expecting to go run indoors again after work, because I was DYING to run again this week(I know...WHO HAVE I BECOME??).

However, around 1pm, something strange happened.  It got very cloudy outside...and dark...and the wind picked up...

Out of sheer curiosity, I logged on to weather.gov and saw that the current temperature was SEVENTY NINE DEGREES.  I immediately changed into my running clothes, grabbed my iPhone and took off outside. 

There were sprinkles of rain on my face!!  It was WINDY and the gusts were COOL!  Seriously, I was running with a giant smile on my face because it felt so great outside! Everyone I passed walking on campus smiled at me, people seemed to have a spring in their step....we so badly needed that brief reprieve from the heat! I couldn't help thinking about the way Phoebe runs on "Friends."

My iPod was rocking with me:

I stopped towards the end of my run to snap a picture of the clouds, just for evidence in case it doesn't happen again for months:

When I got back to my office, I checked my iMapMyRun app to save my workout and saw that I ran my best time per mile EVER.  Yes, I'm still slow, compared to most "real runners," but just some data for you...
I checked my past workouts and saw that on June 2nd I completed a 2.25 mile run at a pace of 16:26 per mile.  Yesterday I completed a 2.25 mile run at a pace of 13:06 per mile.

Boom. I was a happy girl.

Of course, after the rain passed, the clouds also disappeared and the temperature rose back up to a nasty and humid 97 degrees...but no matter, because I had jumped at the opportunity to get outside and feel a cool breeze on my face and feel strong and fast(er) and HAPPY!

HAPPY FRIDAY, FRIENDS!

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” — Vivian Greene