Day 19 already? I gotta' stop messing around!!!

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Okay...my run. If I told you how long it took me you'd say it could hardly be called a run...my jog, then ? Barely that, even. At any rate, I like to share my cerebration ...my cognitive reasoning, I mean, not my party :)... as I figure how far to jog. The weather was nearly perfect. And I had the time. I decided I could do three miles today, then really kick it up the last mile or so (meaning: or LESS) and tell you guys how hard I ran that last bit. :) Then I thought, I really should do four miles, though. Forget the faster stuff. I can save that for intervals on the treadmill, when I am not worried about making it home! So four miles it was. But as I headed across the overpass I realized I needed to continue on to the boys' school. Five miles.

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I want this part to be clear. I wanted to run four miles. I wasn't looking forward to it, I didn't want the actual run. I just wanted to be able to tell you that I had finished four miles, when three was sufficient. I wanted to tell you I had made it across the overpass and back. I really really really sincerely did not want to go beyond the overpass. I wanted to stick with four miles, if indeed I had to go that far. And I only wanted to do the four so I could write about it here and give myself a congratulatory pat on the back...Is this very clear? I did not WANT to do five. Which led me to the decision to go to the school. Five miles.

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So I am thinking, if any of you have something you know you should do, but you just don't WANT to do, feel free to e-mail me and tell me about it, after you do it anyway. I promise to give you the appropriate kudos! Sometimes that little bit of cheer is all you need to get up and do it. Everyone needs to be told how great they did... whether you are doing it yourself (which I apparently am quite content to do!) or someone else is doing it for you.(which I am happy to do as well, for YOU!)

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My knees didn't rebel until nearly the end of the run and it wasn't a true rebellion. They were willing to continue. They just griped the tiniest bit. I will add however that every muscle and tendon associated in any way with them (which is every muscle and tendon I have, if you think about it!)- all of them asked me very kindly to please please PLEASE stop at 5 miles. Don't try 6. See, I was thinking that I was so tired I couldn't possibly do 6. Which led me to begin thinking of COURSE I can do 6. I can probably do 8, I just don't want to. How far CAN I go? How can I ever say I CAN'T? Honestly, I hope I never have to learn how far it is that I actually CAN'T run before I drop!! And here's the quote..."Anything unattempted remains impossible." Good one, huh?

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The hardest part of the run for me is the next to the last quarter mile. The first mile is head-hard. I have to convince myself to get through it. And the overpass is insane-killer-hard. But I have not recognized its authority over me. As I head up its nasty little slope I tell it repeatedly "I do not recognize your authority to whup me." (That word looks odd there, but I looked it up. That's the southern variation of whip, and definitely the one I want. In case you are northern :) And the final quarter mile I love...because I can see my house, and because I go full steam as fast as I absolutely can, which feels wonderful. Briefly. And now that I think about, it's probably more like a tenth of a mile, also making it the best quarter mile ever!! But that next to the last quarter mile...ugh. It's kind of uphill. And not shady, and the only thing interesting there is a bamboo forest growing in a ditch (?) that I kind of love... so here on this next to the last quarter mile my whole body said PLEASE don't try six. And you know, sometimes you gotta' let the little guy win, right? So, considering my muscles and tendons and various other pieces "the little guy" and my brain the leader, I gave in to their request. And I can tell you right now all my muscles and tendons and various other pieces are laughing in a painful achey sort of way at, not with, my brain and whether it is at all in charge.