Congratulations are in order..........................................

Thanks to the public school system that has effectively managed to get at least one day a month off, the young woman that works for me could not work her day job, as her daughter was having one of those days (off) and she didn't have child care for her. So what you ask?

One of the (few) perks of working for me is that she brings her daughter with her. Bonus for me, she could come during the day (and if you haven't put it all together yet, she did just that yesterday) so I could go out and do my long run without running out of daylight. Getting this out of the way means I get my entire Saturday to myself.

Officially one day ahead of schedule, I ran ten miles yesterday. A few of the roads had drifts and ice on them, but for the most were pretty clear, and layered like I was I didn't get cold, even though it took me two hours to complete the distance. As I have said before, I just don't like the feeling of being all gasping and chest heavingly out of breath. I would much rather go a little longer. Heck, when you are running close to two hours, what difference does eight or ten minutes make?

How do I pass the time out there running you ask? First off, thank goodness and praise God for my Ipod. With all the hours of music I have on there, I rarely hear the same song twice. With the music for background noise, I just kind of let my mind wander. My first thoughts are always of how good it feels to be free of responsibility for a bit and be alone to focus on me. Then I look forward to the two mile mark, knowing that when I get there my muscles will be warmed up and I will have found my rhythm and pace. Often within the first ten minutes I will be passed by an idiot that refuses to give me any part of the road (just as I refuse to get off the shoulder into the ankle deep snow this time of year. I am not running in wet shoes when it is below freezing outside), so I entertain myself with thoughts of something tragic happening to him (and it is almost always a him) for being such a jerk until someone else passes me that has impeccable roadside manners and either slows way down and gets over, or stops and waits for the on-coming traffic to clear before preceding cautiously past me. At that point I switch my thoughts to visualizing an awards ceremony for most courteous driver. Of course you know that the rude/jerk drivers are court ordered to attend these ceremonies as punishment for their actions.

As I run past houses, I imagine the people that live inside, give them occupations, relationships, activities. I feel the most sad for the doctors (in my mind), as they are never home to enjoy their nice houses and families. Yesterday, as I was passing one house, a little old lady pulled out WITHOUT LOOKING and had I not been watching would have ran me over. This little event gave me a good two miles of thoughts while I spent the lawsuit money, which cleaned up our little bit of debt, gave us a nice little nest egg and the ability to save the bulk of our income, because unlike some people that get a windfall, if I were ever to do so I would continue to work. At least, that is, until I had a net worth of five million dollars. That is the amount that I have decided (my) Mister and I could comfortably live off the interest of. Let's just say, that while we are working on it with great diligence, we are not there yet (with lots of emphasis on the word YET).

By this time in my run, I am usually to a point where I could take a short-cut and go home sooner than originally planned. This is where I have that little argument with myself about who would know (I'm certainly not going to admit to cheating now am I)? I would know, and that is the most important thing, to be true to myself. Then, what about that time that I ate that extra brownie? Who found out about that? But, yes, I did feel horrible and like I totally let myself down. And this goes on until I just yell (usually out loud) "JUST SHUT UP AND GET IT OVER WITH" as I pass the short-cut corner, turning my attention back to whatever song is currently playing. And I always feel good for having kept my word to myself.

Especially on these long runs, some of my thinking time is taken up with deciding whether or not I can finish the run without having to pee on the side of the road. Even running on country roads as I do, timing is everything when it comes to this. "There are no houses right here, and usually little traffic, if I don't go now I will have to go another ___ until I find these same conditions. Can I hold it? I think so... Maybe not..." This time of year there is also the consideration of having to get all the layers down and up (do I try and pee with my gloves on, hold them in my teeth, find a dry spot on the road to lay them on, tuck them under my arm), in a timely fashion while keeping everything dry. And there is also that little thing I mentioned earlier about not being able to get that far off the road without getting my shoes soaked. BUT WHEN YOU GOTTA GO, YOU GOTTA GO! Enough about that isn't it?

Yes! I could have simply posted that I ran ten miles yesterday in two hours and left it at that, but wasn't it much more fun getting a glimpse into my crazy whacked out mind? I thought so too.