Sometimes it's music, sometimes it's not

Well, it's Monday, the official "start" day for fall marathon training.

This morning I had a hard time turning off the snooze button on my alarm, there was no desire to get up and even less to get up to run (5 1/2 hrs of sleep just isn't enough).  But, there was this silly little voice inside me that reminded me today was day one of training, and just like a little kid in a candy store, I got excited and jumped to my feet.  That's the dorky side of me, it's the little things that get me excited.... a new pair of running socks, a new flavor of GU, new shoe inserts, a new training schedule, a new song on my iPod.... it always seems to do the trick, get me out the door.  Not too many people "get it", but that's okay.  

This morning I decided to run on east campus, something different.  The first 1.5 mile lap around proved to be tough, I knew it would be.  I was still trying to wake up, get accustomed to the humidity, and find a good song to pump me up.  There simply wasn't a song good enough to get me going, I kept flipping through songs, hoping for just one.  First lap was done, not fast, but got it done.  After grabbing a quick drink, I forced myself to complete the second lap so I could cross off day one as a success (another dorky thing to do).   As I got back onto the trail, I noticed this guy coming towards me, he seemed to be going at a good clip.  I started jogging slowly until he caught up, then just as he blew past me, I picked up the pace and kept in line behind him.  Around the first corner we went, I glanced at my watch, 7:25 pace, perfect!  This is what I needed, not a song but a person.  Nevermind the fact that he kept turning sideways to sort of see who was behind him, maybe it was my shadow that scared him, he was bald and my ponytail makes for a funny shadow.  Around the second corner, up the hill, down the straight away, so smooth.  I kept pace with him for the 1.5 miles as we kept at 7:20-7:25, staying close behind him but not too close that his sweat would land on me.  It's exactly what I needed, a pacer (I thought about thanking him for letting me breath heavily behind him, but then I'm sure he felt thankful enough when I was no longer behind him).

So, I can cross today off the calendar, it's a done deal.  Back on schedule, back to eating well, back to training.