Perfect 10

So, my morning got off to a slow start today. I lolly-gagged around for longer than usual before I got to my yoga. I had to force myself to do pilates (Because, um, I really kind of hate it. But I make myself do it twice - okay, sometimes just once - a week for reasons that I can't seem to remember, although at one time I did have reasons.). And then it was time to run.

I applied sunscreen. Pulled up my hair. Put on my knee brace. And grabbed my ipod, which a) had reset itself somehow, after I had left it on shuffle fora week and it was up over 1200 songs, which is a record for me and I was oddly proud, so I was a bit bummed, and b) had absolutely no power! How did that happen? Now I was super bummed. I guess I could have hunted up my old "walkman" but that would have taken some time, and it was already late enough. So I figured I'd go it old school and just simply run.

My plan as I closed the door was six miles. (I'd been covering that much at least once a week for a bit now and was hoping to add a few more miles to that this week.) So I headed down the road with nothing but my keys. It was an odd feeling. I can't remember the last time I ran without music. But it was kind of nice, too. I could hear the gravel crunching satisfactorily under my feet. I could hear the birds talking in the trees. I could hear the train coming in the distance. (Okay, so I can hear that with the ipod, too.) I let my mind wander, (which can be a scary thing to do) and for no apparent reason it wandered to Disney songs. And, really, I don't particularly like Disney songs. I'm totally more of a Muppet girl. But no. My brain was on Disney songs. (Even though I didn't really want to feel the love tonight OR kiss the girl.) That lead to quoting Lilo and Stitch, which was a far better use of brain power. ("Do you KNOW what tuna is? IT'S FISH!" or "She looks like she could use some lovin'." I love Lilo and Stitch. They're a Disney exception.) And then I was back where I started. And I still felt pretty good, so I decided to add on a two mile loop. I mean, I wanted to try to add some mileage this week, right? Why bank on feeling good again on Thursday. Carpe Diem. Thankfully those two miles were Disney-free. (Although I did figure out that U2 will be in Chicago in about 60 days. Which led me to wonder how my Adam can get away with wearing this odd one-piece sleeveless jumpsuit on stage and not look like a total moron, because anyone else on earth could so not pull that off. But I digress.) And when I got back to my starting point, I still felt pretty okay, so I thought, why not just do two more. So I did.

That means I RAN 10 MILES TODAY! It was totally slow. In fact, when I got home I could not believe how late it was. But I didn't care. It hadn't felt that long when I was running, even without the ipod. My form was good. My knee wasn't twinging. My stride, um, existed. And I didn't feel too bad. Sure, it wasn't like the "old days" but, all things considered, it was pretty good!

So now it's the middle of the afternoon and I'm just "starting my day." But I don't care. Because I ran 10 miles today.

Yea!