Eat Drink Run Woman

I’m not much of a religious person. I grew up Unitarian (which I consider an agnostic’s religion), but since our church was about 45 miles away, we didn’t make it that often. I’ve never read the Bible cover to cover; I think I skimmed the child’s version I received one year, and I had to read portions in the 7th grade when we did an analysis of Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea.” In fact, I’m somewhat embarrassed to say my primary source of information about the story of Jesus is from the movie/soundtrack of “Jesus Christ Superstar”!!! (Blasphemous, I’m sure).

I haven’t listened to the soundtrack in ages, but I remember how much I enjoyed the music. I received an iTunes gift certificate for my birthday, so I decided to download the album. I figured it would be the perfect music for yesterday’s run (it was Sunday, after all).

Although I’m in taper mode, I still planned on doing 14-16 miles. Since my last few routes have been rather flat, I purposely picked a route with a few hills. Unfortunately I’d be running it solo, as my darling came down with a bit of a cold.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the weather; on Saturday it was raining pretty hard, but fortunately the skies looked clear when I woke up. I was then thrilled to see blue sky as I headed out the door. My route immediately took me up a hill, but the overture to JCS kept me going. I’m sure I started belting out some of the tunes, but I didn’t care!

As I wound my way down through Golden Gardens an elderly gentleman (80? 90?) was making his way up the path. I said hello and then saw he was offering me a peppermint candy from a bag. Now, I know what Mommy says about accepting candy from a stranger, but he seemed very trustworthy. I gladly accepted a piece and wished him a Happy New Year (by then I was ready for a little sugar stimulant).

Seeing the bright blue sky against the snowy Olympics was simply breath-taking; it was one of those fabulous moments when you feel so good to be alive. I felt good, I felt strong.

JCS serenaded me to the halfway point, then I switched over to my 80s/disco party mix (what a combo!). I headed toward the south end of Lake Union, grateful for the slight downhill (although I knew I’d have to go back up on the other end). At a little over mile 10 I called my darling to let him know I was okay, plus I stopped to chow down on a Clif Bar. By now my quads were starting to talk to me; I knew the mental game was about to begin.

At the north end of Lake Union I headed west on the Burke-Gilman. At mile 13.5 I gave myself a pat on the back: I had just reached the 150-mile mark for the month! I suppose I could have stopped then — it’s an impressive milestone, after all — but once again I decided that attitude ain’t getting me to Boston. So I slogged up the mile-long Stone Way and pushed myself toward home. I wasn’t sure what the final mileage would be; I knew it would be over 15.5 miles. I figured if I got to my doorstep and Garmin read 15.75 then I’d be done. But if it read 15.85 or over, then I’d run around the block for an even 16. Imagine my surprise when I looked at Garmin at the end of my block (before I even hit home) and it read 15.97. Score! I stopped it at 16 and decided to walk the rest of the way.

As a joke I called my darling again, saying I needed to be picked up. He asked where I was, and when I stated an address just three doors down from us, at first it didn’t register. But then he got it, and he came out in his jammies to give me a big hug.

It was indeed a tough run, but SOOO worth it!