I have already mentioned once or twice that I am a creature of habit. I love me my routines. Just about the only thing I love more than my routines is my cup of coffee (umm, which is a routine!) So, imagine a day without my morning routines and without my coffee in which I attempted to run – ACK! Yes, I discovered yesterday that hell on earth is a run without coffee.
No sooner did I reclaim my house from the screaming boys, when who should arrive but my in-laws. Big Boy graduated from 6th grade on Tuesday morning, so MIL and FIL darkened my doorstep about mid-day on Monday (which also threw off my scheduled swim – I still got in the pool, just much later than anticipated. This got the visit off to an inauspicious start.)
My house is exactly the right size for four people. Luckily, there are four of us in my family. Unluckily, having no guest room means that visitors sleep on our pull-out sofa sleeper in the family room. Also unluckily, our family room is a “great room” with the kitchen. Where we keep the coffee pot. So, most unluckily of all, when I get up for a 5:30 am run and I don’t wish to disturb overnight guests, I don’t get to drink my morning coffee. At this point, we’ve gone from “unlucky” straight to “tragic.”
But, being a girl who doesn’t waver from the plan, I obviously had to run, coffee or no. So off I went, uncaffeinated, for an easy two-miler. I chose the hard-packed dirt trail near my house because I thought the uneven footing would be a nice distraction from my plight. It definitely was; no sooner did my feet hit the path than I could feel the rush of the very best routine of them all – a run. Aaahhhhhhh.
I promised myself I could run easy, but I’ll be honest – I don’t think I could have run any faster, either. My coffee-less body just didn’t have its normal get-up-n-go. I briefly entertained thoughts of going 4 miles, but less than a half mile in I realized I was going to be happy to finish up 2 miles without any walking.
Final stats for the morning: 2.08 miles @ 8:25/mile. *whew* The next time we have visitors, I’m seriously considering moving the coffee pot into our bathroom!
Funny post! The coffee pot in the bathroom is a great idea. Maybe buy a second small one for that purpose!
Ha, ha, or, set it up in your bedroom (like at a hotel). If only you had maid service to clean the pot and wash the dirty coffee cups 🙂
So sorry about the missed coffee opportunity! I can totally appreciate needing the routine.
hehe, coffee pot in the bedroom- great idea! if that was the case, i would never get out of bed 🙂