Let There (Still) Be Light

"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me": Elton John

Today was early dismissal at the school I work at, followed by a workshop called "Handle With Care," where we learn how to handle our students with care should it be necessary. In other words, should a student decide to grab, scratch, spit, choke, or bite us, we now have literature and about 15 minutes of actual training so far to handle the situation. We actually don't have any "problem childs" in our school, the high school, but we are already preparing for next year when we will be getting more "challenging (aka violent) students. So for the next 6 months, we will periodically be learning and practicing our Handle With Care moves. Oh joy. Anyhow, at 2:45 p.m., 15 minutes early, I was able to execute THE Duck and Roll maneuver. If you don't know what a Duck and Roll maneuver is, go back and read it in one of my earlier blogs. Driving home, I was feeling good about the possibility of running during daylight. At home, I went to WTNH.com, as usual, and decided that since it was 35 degrees, and a "Feels Like" 35 degrees, that my normal cold weather gear would be worn. I also was discouraged that sunset was at 4:21 p.m. That meant since I planned on running the Linear Trail, I now had 45 minutes to get changed, drive the 3 miles to the trail, and run before the sun disappeared. I arrived at the trail at 3:50, leaving me just 30 minutes of light. My planned 5 mile run would have to be 4 miles instead. I decided to see if I could keep my streak of averaging less than an 8 minute mile pace intact. Off I went, and at blue #1, my time was 8:13. As usual, my first mile was (hopefully) going to be my worst. I was contemplating whether or not not stretching beforehand may have been a foolhardy decision. At about the mile and a half point, I suddenly felt loose and my pace felt strong. At blue #2, my time was 16:13, which means mile 2 was in eight minutes. I turned and headed back, and quickened my pace. At blue #3, my time was 24:13, which meant another 8 minute mile, but that I also needed to run a 7:46 or better last mile to have a sub 8 minute pace. I went into "Locomotive mode," where I breath short, quick breaths like a train whistle, pump my arms more, and try to increase my stride length. Feeling energetic the entire time, my 4th and final mile was run at a 7:33 pace, for a total time of 31:46 (7:56/M pace). It is my third consecutive run averaging better than an 8 minute per mile pace. Best of all, I was done before the sun had set.