Just Do It.

This morning was like any other morning, except that my alarm went off 15 minutes earlier than normal. The alarm clock enforcer, also known as my cat, Jaxx, was quick to jump up by my face and remind me with his tiny, indignant squeals that this meant it was time to be awake. I sat up, and it became clear that something wasn't right. Upon further inspection, it appeared that one of my toes had swelled up inexplicably overnight. And it hurt. A lot.

I stumbled around the apartment and found some breakfast. I ate it and squinted angrily at the screen of my phone. As it does every day, the time that I tell myself I am going to leave for my run quickly approached. I grumbled, alone, on the couch. I looked at my weather app to try and give me another reason to skip this one, but it said 31 degrees - feels like 31 degrees. 30 degrees warmer than my last run. No excuses.

I groggily pulled some tights out of the closet. Socks out of the dryer. A running top off of the drying rack. My other cat, Pepper, looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to sit back down so that he could curl up on my lap. Instead, I put on my running shoes.

As soon as I got outside, it was a whole different world. The sky was still white, whiter than the two-day-old blanket of snow on the ground. The ice had melted. The breeze was calm.

I don't think I have ever written about an everyday run. Training for a marathon means a lot of mornings spent making a choice: do I give into my petty doubts and grumbles? Or do I suck it up and know that I'll thank myself later?

So I ran. I watched the sky turn from white to peach to blue. I stopped to pick slush out of my socks. Twice. A minivan honked at me. I thanked the people who stopped for me at crosswalks. I cursed the hills, still covered in inches of muck, for making me work twice as hard. And yet, I felt a sense of peace. Some days, it's not about the finish line, or even the starting line. It's about getting to work. And I tell you, if the Boston Marathon takes place in 2 inches of slush this year, I will be ready to take on every Kenyan.

Tomorrow, we take on Heartbreak for the first time. Let's get to work.