Trying to Fit it all in..

Our move last year sure did change my whole running plan. Initially, I thought that I'd be able to just meet my friends "whenever" to run because we moved only about twelve miles from our old house. And, initially, that scheme worked out fine, until I got so tired I could barely think in the evenings. I was getting up somewhere between 4:30 and 4:45 in order to run with my friends. Eventually the lack of sleep caught up with me and I got very sick with bronchitis.

So, I figured I'd run on my own in my neighborhood. That worked out okay until I scared myself with the newspaper delivery man. I thought that his patterns seemed a little strange, etc, etc, etc. So, I quit running by myself. Then I decided that I was brave enough to give it another go, and somewhere soon after that, this man popped up on a cul-de-sac out of nowhere. I got VERY scared that day and quit, once again, running by myself.

Move ahead to the summer and the early morning sunlight, I began, yet again, to run alone. And, I'm still feeling okay about running by myself...However, I'm encountering some obstacles. One, it's very dark again this early in the am. I haven't had the best track record of running in the dark by myself, as I have mentioned. And, two, this marathon plan calls for some pretty long runs in the middle of the week, anywhere between seven and eight miles. Because I've switched jobs this year, I can no longer use the shower that was in my office; which means I can't meet my friends on the day they do their long run. And, the indoor pool isn't open yet, so I can't shower at the pool after meeting my running friends, either. So, I'm going to be stuck (hopefully, just this week...) running eight miles, by myself. Or, I guess I could just not shower on the first day of school and just get dressed there? : )

It's funny that with the job change, I have experienced the most stress in trying to figure out how I'm going to run in the mornings. It's one of my top priorities, though...