It's worth it

My friend e-mailed this week to see if I wanted to run at 7:00 on Saturday morning. That's 7am on a cold November Saturday. Think, "Kids are not going to school, I would not otherwise have to be out of bed by 7 in the morning." I had visions of cold ears, runny nose, and of getting out of my cozy warm bed much earlier than I preferred.

I e-mailed back and suggested coffee - it sounded so much better for an early Saturday morning outing.

She e-mailed again and said I shouldn't tempt her and that she would pick me up at 7:00.

Last night was a bear. We have rodents of unusual size (ROUS's - what movie is that from?!) in the small attic above our bedroom, and I think they were having a picnic on Jeff's mouse bait last night. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there was some rodent band playing country music for all the square dancing rodents of the neighborhood. My only consolation is that they will eventually die and never come back if they continue to picnic on the bait in the attic above my bed.

Then at 4:20ish I was summoned by one of the boys who needed attention. This summons was actually a bigger deal than most middle of the night summons, and I wasn't back to bed for about 30 minutes. If you do the math, that puts me back to bed at 5:00ish, just one hour before I needed to wake up for the aforementioned early morning run. Thankfully, the rodent band had wrapped up and gone home for the night and the dancers were keeping it to a dull roar - so I was able to sleep for an hour.

The alarm at 6:00 has rarely been more uninviting than it was this morning. I was tempted to get out of bed only long enough to text my friend and say, "Rough night, see you next time." But the truth is I was awake and I knew it would be good for me. Good to connect with this friend and good to get exercise. So I only hit the snooze twice and then dragged myself out of bed and into my frigid bathroom to change into running gear. This was not my favorite part of the day.

When I was 12, I could go run a mile without any warm up or stretching. The coach made us stretch, but it never made much sense to me. Young muscles are so forgiving. 38 year old muscles, I'm learning, are not quite as forgiving. If I'm not going to be sore for the 24 hours following a run, I must stretch out first. This morning was no exception. I took my devotional book to my angled stretching board (for my calves) and read as I loosened up. By the time I was done with 15 minutes of reading and stretching, I actually was beginning to feel positive about this early morning outing.

My friend arrived just after 7 and we were off. We put on our gloves, started the mileage watch and took off. We avoided one flooded path, waded through another, and ran about 3 miles - all the while talking through one of life's mysteries. You'll be happy to know that we solved it. It was a good morning's work.

As I hopped out of her car and headed into the house to face whatever I might find there, I discovered I was glad I had gone. I felt great and had truly enjoyed all aspect of the adventure (though my shoes are still laying in front of the heater to dry out.) Though it had not seemed very inviting, it was worth it.

Wonder what else we avoid, procrastinate, or escape from that would truly be worth it if we just did it?