Grinder Runs

This morning I was doing what comes natural to fat men everywhere. Trying to justify staying in bed because it was nice. My wife was asleep, I was asleep. My fat white cat was asleep. It could have stayed that way but no. No, in the back of my mind I looked at the clock and the clock is not merciful at all. The longer I stay in bed the longer it takes for me to get out and run. Longer it takes for me to put on my shoes. Procrastination of the highest degree takes hold and then you start to dream of going down to the breakfast buffet and drinking a gallon of maple syrup just because you can.

The minutes that you waste now beat on you every step of the run later. I have found this out. In the winter training portion of life it is all good to wait a few minutes because it may warm up from negative 32 below to actually a livable temperature. In the winter your body goes into shock when you step out the door and the temp is not quite San Diego.

In the summer it is a totally different thing. What happens is that if you wait a minute it does in fact get warmer and warmer. It is a little known fact that death waits for us all if we run too late in the day. There is a reason that birds and squirrels hide out in the middle of the day. It is because it is too hot to actually live.

Today is what I would consider a "grinder run." Let me explain what that means to me. A grinder run is one of those runs that has to be done and has to be completed or you will die later on a longer run. All runs count and all are accounted for in the muscle memory. A grinder run is one of those runs that you don't really want to do. But in the end you do anyway because the consequences are steep.

You run because it matters, you run because you need it, you run because your psyche needs to be cleansed, you run because you have addicted yourself to the slapping, ticking, marching, and deliberative addition of numerals that mean something and only mean something to you. Your fat needs the run. Just ask it.