ORN: Around 5K in something like 33 minutes. I ran around the neighborhood of my church whilst Wifey and Little One were engaged with Vacation Bible School [VBS].
The running life is fraught with obstacles. I'm not talking about the huge obstacles life throws in our way -- losing one's legs in Iraq, a diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's Disease, or suchlike. The average runner encounters 10,000 smaller obstacles that conspire to keep her off the road. Take last night for an example.
Wifey and Little One were going to go to VBS. I have nothing to do with this, so I was going to go to the gym and run around their indoor track. I figured it would be about 4 degrees cooler inside than outside. I changed clothes in the locker room at the gym and was ready to walk out the door when my phone rang.
"I left the music in the car," Wifey pleaded from the room full of children waiting to sing Jesus rah-rah songs. "Can you bring it to me? It's in the front seat of the car."
It turns out that the music was not in the car. My mind's eye saw the photocopies sitting on the counter in our kitchen. I drove home, grabbed the papers, drove to church, and saved the day.
Now what?
I could have easily driven back to the gym, though now I would have been pressed for time. I could have hung out in the church's nice library and skimmed the history books. I've been meaning to read 1776, and their copy just happened to be in. Instead I ran. I didn't have a course or a plan, but I started trotting southward down Browns Lane anyway. I thought I would turn when I felt like turning and return to church when I felt like returning.
It was 80° and humid, and I was having a tough time. I wasn't running fast, but I was breathing hard. Sweat was flowing off me. At one point, my heart went fluttery. I have an arrhythmia, so that freaked me out a little bit. The flutter passed as quickly as it came, and still I ran. After about 15 minutes, I decided to start wandering back toward church. I finished my run after about 33 minutes. I have no idea of my precise distance; it felt like five kilometers.
I stretched in the parking lot in an out of the way spot in front of church, heedless of the people going in and out to attend a memorial service. I got a few strange looks. I probably looked like I was going to pass out. I went inside and filled and refilled a Styrofoam cup with water in one of the church's coffee rooms. Sweat coursed off me like a gooey fountain. I must have been a sight in my split running shorts and soaked technical shirt.
I could have been self-conscious about it all -- dressed as I was and sweating profusely. I even saw our senior minister and his wife. But I wasn't embarrassed. I am a runner. This is what I do. Life gives me 10,000 opportunities a day to not run, an endless stream of excuses. I encounter these obstacles and sometimes they get me. Last night, I leaped over them.
Today is another day.
Technorati Tags: running, motivation
The running life is fraught with obstacles. I'm not talking about the huge obstacles life throws in our way -- losing one's legs in Iraq, a diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's Disease, or suchlike. The average runner encounters 10,000 smaller obstacles that conspire to keep her off the road. Take last night for an example.
Wifey and Little One were going to go to VBS. I have nothing to do with this, so I was going to go to the gym and run around their indoor track. I figured it would be about 4 degrees cooler inside than outside. I changed clothes in the locker room at the gym and was ready to walk out the door when my phone rang.
"I left the music in the car," Wifey pleaded from the room full of children waiting to sing Jesus rah-rah songs. "Can you bring it to me? It's in the front seat of the car."
It turns out that the music was not in the car. My mind's eye saw the photocopies sitting on the counter in our kitchen. I drove home, grabbed the papers, drove to church, and saved the day.
Now what?
I could have easily driven back to the gym, though now I would have been pressed for time. I could have hung out in the church's nice library and skimmed the history books. I've been meaning to read 1776, and their copy just happened to be in. Instead I ran. I didn't have a course or a plan, but I started trotting southward down Browns Lane anyway. I thought I would turn when I felt like turning and return to church when I felt like returning.
It was 80° and humid, and I was having a tough time. I wasn't running fast, but I was breathing hard. Sweat was flowing off me. At one point, my heart went fluttery. I have an arrhythmia, so that freaked me out a little bit. The flutter passed as quickly as it came, and still I ran. After about 15 minutes, I decided to start wandering back toward church. I finished my run after about 33 minutes. I have no idea of my precise distance; it felt like five kilometers.
I stretched in the parking lot in an out of the way spot in front of church, heedless of the people going in and out to attend a memorial service. I got a few strange looks. I probably looked like I was going to pass out. I went inside and filled and refilled a Styrofoam cup with water in one of the church's coffee rooms. Sweat coursed off me like a gooey fountain. I must have been a sight in my split running shorts and soaked technical shirt.
I could have been self-conscious about it all -- dressed as I was and sweating profusely. I even saw our senior minister and his wife. But I wasn't embarrassed. I am a runner. This is what I do. Life gives me 10,000 opportunities a day to not run, an endless stream of excuses. I encounter these obstacles and sometimes they get me. Last night, I leaped over them.
Today is another day.
Technorati Tags: running, motivation
Welcome to the club ;)
ReplyDeleteNah seriously, I'm pleased for you. I still haven't learned the secret handshake though.