Ummm, did that guy have a gun?!?

I am noticing that this year's Thanksgiving holiday has put a sudden, screetching halt to all running blog, twitter, dailymile, etc.... activity.  It is as if the running community, as a whole, knows that they have run their asses off for the past 50 weeks of the year and are entitled to a smidge of glutony...RIGHT???? Let's see, I just polished off the last of the stuffing, turkey is gone, too. As I take inventory the fridge, I see a small bag of sweet potatoes and perhaps a small serving of peas.....ick! The oven has a ham slowly cooking - I really have gotten used to leftovers and think that what my life desperately needs next is a few days of scalloped potatoes and ham. 

My husband has all but pushed me out the door the past few days, telling me that it is just about time that I start running off some of that chocolate-pecan pie. The very last thing I respond to is forceful attempts to get me back in the running routine. "Don't tell ME what to do" - right? (love you, hon :)  )

So, after realizing that I am committed to running a half-marathon on the 1st of the year in Albany, New York, (gulp) I decided that it was just about time to get out there and see if my legs had more that 3.2 miles in them.  (I am so glad that there are people out there who have expressed an interest in running this race with me, because if I were doing it solo, I don't know that I would find the motivation to get out there and train for the darn thing.) I loaded up the ipod and headed out into the GLORIOUS day that western New York has been blessed with today! I finally felt like a runner, again. No stress, no pain, no burning desire to walk, .... ahhhhhhhh.  I love the way running makes me feel. So, I ended up running about 7.5 miles. The only event worthy of note was the somewhat uncomfortable feeling I felt as I turned the corner of a rural road and came nearly face-to-face with a man walking down the street with a rifle slung over his shoulder. WHAT?????? I'm not in Nigeria (reference to Minken, here) - what is up with that? I just kept running, right past his gun-slinging ass. Creepy, RIGHT?  Well, it is deer season here, so I will just chalk it up to that.  I shall live to see another running day, phew. (he did look creepy, though).

As I hit the hard last two miles (seems like the last two mile are always hard) my ipod, set on shuffle, came to this song - I wouldn't classify it as a power song, but it brought a fantastic smile to my face, as it holds such great memories for me. I ran light and happy for the last two miles, and lost myself in many memories of 20 years ago.

Today, I am in love with running and the feeling I have when I am done. I love the idea of being a runner. I love that people look at me while I am running and think "what the hell is she thinking?"  I love it -----at least for today.