"We are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction." ~Douglas MacArthur
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There are times when I absolutely love my life. . .and then there are times when I look up to the sky and ask "Really?? Seriously, this is my life???" Those times are typically when I've said for the umpteenth time, "Stop sitting on your brother!" or "Put! On! Your! Shoes!" or my favorite "We do this every morning, people! Brush your teeth!"
Oh, the pleasure and pain of motherhood. Add to that my attempts to work full time, build a fitness business, and continue my weight-loss journey and what you have is a recipe for a comedic drama with musical numbers sprinkled in the mix.
Saturday morning at 4:36am my eyes pop open and I immediately squeeze them shut willing myself to go back to sleep until 5:00am. As 4:59 rolls by I sigh and roll out of bed to sip from the glass of water at my bedside. Today my group is on schedule to complete six miles along the course for the Women's Half Marathon. "Time to burn the donuts," I mumble under my breath. From there I make the mad dash to load the cooler with water and Gatorade, check the hourly temperature forecast, throw on my duds (had to test my new running tank), threw some clothes in a backpack for the boys, made us all toast (sandwich rounds) with peanut butter and banana slices, double-checked my route map and directions, then loaded everything up in the car. I dropped the boys off at my friend's house and proceeded to the starting point for the route.
It was such a beautiful morning. . .and I wanted to be at home in my bed. No one from my crew was joining me so I almost high tailed it back to my neighborhood with the promise of doing it later, but I knew as soon as I said it that something would happen and it wouldn't get done. Decision made. I then took my car key off the ring to clip onto my hydration belt, grabbed a bottle of water and my iPod--only to discover that my iPod was DEAD. What the what??!! Six miles without tunes? No way, Jose! Then I remembered that I still had my old faithful Sony MP3 player in my purse so we were back in business. And that's when I realized I needed a restroom. Seriously?? For ten whole seconds I contemplated just chalking this up as a sign from God that I wasn't meant to run. Then I quit trying to pin it on God and got out of the car. I figured I'd hit up a bathroom somewhere along my route if it got too bad. This nutso thinking is how you know you're a runner!
As I hit the pavement I was struck again by how gorgeous it was. My route started on the backside of Centennial Park, near the HCA building, and went along 31st into the Vanderbilt area all the way to Belmont University (3 miles) where I would then turn around and reverse the route. This route looked very different back in September 2010 with volunteers, racers, and bystanders cheering on us racers--and people standing in line at the port-a-pottys. I couldn't help but wonder if the other women I saw running and walking along the route were also training for the WHM. That thought made me feel a sense of belonging, like we were kindred. .. until the ponytail swingers passed me. I had to fight the urge to speed up. Instead I returned my focus to my pace, my form, my foot strike, my breathing. . .
Before I knew it I was at Belmont Blvd, in front of Belmont University. I looked askance at my watch because I couldn't believe that I finished the first three miles in 37 minutes. Who? Me? I was feeling pretty proud of myself as I turned around. At one point I came to a street without a sign (Fairfax??) but instinctively knew which direction to take. I patted myself on the back for having such a great sense of direction. As I jogged up Natchez Trace I let my mind wander and started thinking about paying off my car note and planning another cruise vacation. . .then I looked up and realized that I had no clue where I was. Auntie Em!
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I stood at the corner of Natchez Trace & Blakemore staring at my route directions--minus the bleeping map because I had given it to my Menaces to play treasure hunt--trying to figure out if anything around me looked familiar. It didn't. I vaguely recalled that 31st turned into Blakemore at some point so I picked a direction and went for it. Five minutes down the road nothing looked familiar so I trekked back to the corner of Natchez & Blakemore. Plan B: Natchez Trace leads to Centennial Park so I started up Natchez. I passed by ball fields that I swear I had never seen before. Oh, Toto!
Ten minutes later I came to the corner of Natchez Trace & West End, across the street from Centennial Park. Part of me wanted to just cut through the park and call it a day, but the other part of me, the nutcase, trekked west for five blocks to get back on my route at 31st. I read the street sign and chuckled: it said 31st -->, Blakemore <--. (sigh, really??)
After getting lost and adding some distance I finished in 1:30 and I felt great. I even sprinted from the Centennial Park sign to my car as if it were the finish line. LOL! I was smiling so hard and it felt so good to open up the speed. A glorious ending to a very hilarious morning. Gotta love my life :)
