The Cinderella Effect

Once Upon A Time . . . I attended a wedding dressed as Little Red Riding Hood along with my wife, who came as The Big Bad Wolf.  One of my college roommates was having his wedding on Halloween and asked that everyone dress in costume as literary figures.  The Groom was Julius Cesar from Shakespeare with his groomsmen dressed as Centurions. The Bride was Titania from A Midsummer Night's Dream with fairies for bridesmaid.  Everyone had their costumes approved before the wedding, so that there was a good mix of characters in attendance such as  the Phantom, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and a Samurai Warrior, who performed the services.  It was very memorable wedding, and everyone seemed to think that I pulled off Little Red Riding Hood really well.  The bride was especially pleased that I had gone all out and embraced the spirit of the occasion. 

 But, no matter how well I pulled off Little Red Riding Hood at that wedding, I seem to be connected to another fairy tale figure in my running life, Cinderella.  My semblance to Cinderella isn't because of my on going quest to find shoes that will accommodate my size 15EE foot but because all of my runs after a certain hour turn into major pumpkins!   Over the last year, I have run almost exclusively in the mornings.  Occasionally, one of these morning runs will turn into a real slug-fest, but on average, the morning hours are a good time for me to run.  I've also been known to step out for a lunch time run on occasion, and those runs seem to be pretty good.  However, over the last few months, I began running a bit more later in the day in an attempt to take advantage of a very mild spring.  Over these evening run I have come to realize that when I run after 5 O'clock, my running fairy tale turns from the bright sun shinny Disney version to the dark and sinister fairy tales of the Brother's Grimm.  I had a fant-abulously cheerful 5 miler on Tuesday that was as cheerful as The Seven Dwarfs marching through the forest singing Hi Ho . . . But, Yesterday's after work 6 miler was felt like the Troll from Billy Goats Gruff (my favorite fairy tale when I was a kid) was trying to stop at every turn.  The odd thing is that this Cinderella Effect doesn't seem to apply to afternoon gym workouts.  Luckily, the solution to this problem is so clear that any child could point it out, get up early and run in the morning when life is still a Grand Ball.