"You Go, Little Girl!"

This cold weather is torture, and I've been off of my game lately because of it!  Who wants to get up super early & run when it's going to be in the 40s?!  Not me!  In fact, I bailed (again) on the Tradition group with whom I normally run on Tuesdays & Thursdays.  My thinking was that I'd run...but just later in the day when it was warmer (at least in the 60s).  The problem with this is that as the day goes on, my motivation to do anything active just diminishes more & more.  By about 3:30pm, I don't really feel like doing anything, but with my race exactly one month away, now's not the time to skip any training days; it was time to man-up, get dressed, and get out there to run!  

I wasn't feeling any of it and just kept telling myself that if I got to at least 6 miles, that would be good enough (since that's what I'd do at the very minimum if I ran in the morning in Tradition).  It's pretty sad that I had to bargain with myself just to get to 6 miles, but here's where you never know what'll happen on a run!  I was over in the next neighborhood running down one of the streets toward a cul-de-sac, and I passed a lady who had parked her SUV on the side of the road and started unloading bags.  When I came back around past her, she was still unloading bags, but as I ran by, she asked "how far are you going?"  Since I wasn't up for stopping to chat, I kept running & said "maybe 10 miles."  Oh my gosh!  She was so genuinely excited about that!  "You go, little girl!" was what she said with so much enthusiasm (and, honestly, no snarky-ness)!  That one single comment totally turned my run around!

I'm not sure what it was, but after telling this complete stranger that I was going to do 10 miles and seeing her reaction, I felt like a whole new person.  How could I not do 10 miles?!  What started off as a less-than-great run had changed.  I was suddenly motivated to not just keep going, but to kick some ass!  I ran hard the next few miles.  In fact, my final mile (before stopping to walk & then do a final "cool down" mile) was at a 7:03 pace!  Seriously, how cool is that?  I'd love to be able to find this lady and thank her for what she did today!