10 mile sprint.

My favorite day of the week is Saturday.  Not because I get to sleep in, or because I get to go have a leisurely coffee with a friend, and it's not because I get to be lazy and lay in sweat pants all day (which are the three things I dream of doing when I graduate).

Flow Chart to Life's Important Choices.

It's because it's distance run day with the West Coast Road Runners (the team I run with).  The morning starts bright and early with my obnoxious two alarms (which I set a half-hour early so I get to press sleep approximately 10 times.  I'm sure my roommate loves me.) Then throw on all of my running gear- which really isn't much at all since it's already 75 degrees outside. There's breakfast on the go followed by chugging as much water as I can without getting sick.

I'll have you know, I love to be early.  I hate being late for anything... but I've been finding lately that I somehow find "just one more thing" to do as I'm walking out the door.  Whether it's reorganizing my stack of medical textbooks, doing inventory of my "Shot bloks" supply, or today... cleaning the bathroom countertop... I'm finding many things are making me late.  I don't even like cleaning.

I drove to Carlsbad where the team was meeting... and saw them running off into the distance.  Dang it.  I searched for parking and hopped out of my car in a full sprint.  Approximately 0.81 miles later I caught up to the group.  At least I thought it was the group.  Turns out it wasn't.  I continued ahead; sure that I was close to catching up...

Route 101 in Carlsbad 

So... to cut my long winded story short, after a leisurely 3 mile "warm up" at 7:00 mile pace, I caught up. You can't even imagine my relief that I thought I would get to relax and run at a more relaxed pace.  Apparently my coach decided we would continue at a comfortable 7-7:30 pace.  Uphill.  In 80 degree heat with ridiculous humidity.  Fun, right?  The moral of the story?  Don't worry about a clean house.  Avoiding a 10 mile sprint is far more important.  :)  

The remaining part of the day was spent in a beautifully air-conditioned Starbucks.

My home away from home.

To reward myself for a full day of studying, I used my $2 treat receipt and enjoyed a fabulous Lime Cooler. Tip: Tell them to blend it with ice.  You'll momentarily escape to a Hawaiian beach.   

This blog post was not endorsed by Starbucks.  I wish it were- then maybe I'd actually have an income. :)