Running unplugged

After my standard fragmented Sunday night of sleep (3 ish hours on the plane, and 4 more once I got to my hotel), I got up this morning to find the unthinkable had happened. My i-pod was dead. It had gotten turned on in my suitcase and the battery was drained. Since running around the concrete jungle near my hotel is pretty darn uninspiring, I rely heavily on a combination of music, NPR podcasts, and running podcasts to keep me going. I seriously considered retreating to the gym so I could at least watch TV, but I just couldn't bring myself to face an hour on the dreadmill. So I slipped on my headlamp and headed outside without my i-pod. And you know what? I had a great run! I was less jumpy about running in the dark, by myself, in a strange place. More importantly, I felt so much more in tune with my body. I switched my plan from a 60 minute moderate effort run, to a tobada workout to keep my mind engaged. I did a 15 min warm-up, and then 8 intervals of 20 seconds hard and 10 seconds easy, focusing on my cadence. I repeated this 4 times with 4 minutes of easy running between each block, and then cooled down. The hour flew by faster any run I've done recently. Sometimes, you just have to roll with the punches.