I'm a Rule-Follower Down Deep in my Bones

I was all ready for my run yesterday. Well, all ready except I couldn't find my iPod. I had the headphones and the charger but that little white Shuffle was nowhere to be seen. That is where the magic of Couch to 5K comes from. So, because of this, (cue dramatic music) I didn't follow the Couch to 5K program yesterday. My husband said he was taking the kids for a walk. After a reasonable amount of time, they came home - but not really. They hadn't even left yet. They had been cleaning dog poop up out of the backyard and my man was just coming in to tell me they were just now heading out. That's when the free-spirited idea struck me: no music to tell me when to walk, no kids that would need assistance, no poop in the back yard...no need to drive to a track. I had everything I needed at home! I decided to just run around my yard. Wouldn't that be fantastic if I could do that successfully?! I could get my runs in any time! I checked the clock before I went outside so I would be sure I got a decent amount of time in and headed out. Now, you might think it would be a no-brainer that if the kids and husband had gone on a walk right after cleaning up after the dog, that they probably took the dog too. After all, walks usually include the dog. I was still surprised to see the gate open. I panicked a bit and then realized I might be the no-brainer. But the missing dog excited me because that opened the yard WAY up. Because I didn't have the program telling me what to do, I forgot there was such thing as a warm-up and I started running. It was really liking it and thinking about how many ups there were to running in my own yard. As I was running next to the trail where the dog had worn the grass down to nubs, I realized that if I did it often enough, I wouldn't have to mow the lawn either. Could this get any better?! And then, my rule-following bones said that "Yes, indeed, it could." The terrain of my yard isn't exactly flat and my knee and ankle could tell -- and were telling me that it just wasn't working out. Having been in and out of physical therapy throughout my high school years, I realized it was because of the slant so I turned around and ran the other direction to even out the wear on my joints. Then, the 11 year old neighbor came out and asked "What are you doing?" And I, feeling self-conscious anyway, responded in the voice of an 8th grade boy that got caught in the middle of doing something that he knows is the nerdiest thing he could be doing and is trying to pretend it's not but knows that he and everyone else knows that it is. I said "Runnin'." That was enough to make her back down. Then I started to feel guilty because I was supposed to be following the program and not jumping ahead. I was having a good 15 minute run straight, no walking intervals every 90 seconds. And, honestly it was a little more than my body was ready for and this morning, my knee still is reminding me that I'm a rule-follower and that I know why. It just makes more sense. That is why there are rules - to keep the universe olderly and functioning properly. It's true what they say: small mistakes can snowball into big mistakes. Why didn't I just keep my things neat and in order so I could find my iPod when I needed it? It just makes more sense.