The Kindness of Strangers

A nice thing happened Thursday on my two-mile run. I started at my usual place, and plodding pace, 6:45 a.m.-ish, and as I was struggling to get into my grooove (do I even have a groove?), a young gentleman was running toward me, (in the other lane), um, kinda fast. Like 6-min. mile pace fast. I smiled at him, because I am trying to get in the habit of smiling (in lieu of my usual concentrated scowling while running), and people, do you know what this fast young male did? He gave me the thumbs up, and then he said "good job!"

It made my day.

Saturday
I just finished my 3.5 mile long run:
39.03.
Except I'm calling it 3.6 miles because there was no 1/2 mile marker where I was and because here are the numbers:
Mile One: 10:59 (slight downhill)
Mile Two: 11:18 (big-ass up and then downhilll)
Mile Three: 11:03 (slight uphill, big-ass uphill then downhill, then slight uphill--ya gettin' all this??)
Mile .5 or .6: 5:42 (guessing mileage, based on time)

So it was either a 10.50 min pace if I went 3.6 miles or 11:09 min. pace if I went 3.5 miles. Like it matters. (Sigh. It does seem to matter.) Just for comparison, I went back and looked at my log for July 20, 2005, and found this: 4 miles
46:40 (11:40/mile). Some progress has been made.

But, that's not all! Because last night, I went to a rockin' out party with my pace group (remember them?). We had a potluck reunion at the home of one of our members. I didn't know what to expect: we hadn't all seen each other since the marathon, and I don't believe we'd ever seen each other dressed, showered, and all purtied up. It was awesome. We had a great dinner, in front of a roaring fire, shared all our photos, and marathon day stories, and reminiscences of training, and then everyone went around and told their story of why they decided to do a marathon. I told them mine, plus talked about the day of my emancipation from the running partner who had become a thorn in my side. They cheered.

But, that's not all! Our host had the most amazing gadget, called a magic mike, which turns your TV into a karaoke machine. Oh god, I thought, not karaoke! That's so last year. Four hours, several glasses of wine, and a sore throat later, I am so in love with that crazy game! We laughed our asses off—seeing our pace group leader sing "Cheeseburger in Paradise" or our hostess and host sing "I'm a Libbyan on a Jet Plane" or me doing bad harmony on "California Dreamin.'" Are you bad at parties? This thing is guaranteed to turn your party into the success you always dreamed of!

So, I got home at 2 a.m. which, if you know me, is waaaaay past my bedtime. I had not laughed so hard in 20 years, (and I laugh a lot).

And then, um, it was morning. And 3.5 miles awaited, after which I had an appointment at 11. Well, the 3.5 miles wasn't happening. My head was foggy. My throat still sore. But french toast? That was so happening. A lovely morning of french toast, then off to my appointment (which I may or may not share about--but it was good), then finally to work at 1:30, which was now the Time to Decide Whether to Run or Not Run.

The Key of course, is not thinking, as it is in so much of life. At work, I just let brain take over. Change clothes, grab keycard, and out I went. Sunny, fall, crisp, gorgeous day. And week #2 of training for my 10K is finís.