Due both to my faithful training partner being out of the country and my dwindling motivation, I had to call in several serious reinforcements for this morning’s 9-miler. Eminem (of course) brought a training posse, some his contemporaries others his predecessors. I usually deliberately set up my running playlists- warm up, building, power, tapering, cool down tunes- but after a couple of listens I can quickly anticipate which song comes next. When I’m running any significant distance, I welcome just about any distraction to keep me from becoming bored or focusing on my discomforts. Selecting shuffle on my iPod transformed a tedious, played out song list in to a series of musical surprises!

I set out my front door a little later in the morning than I had planned, but barely noticed the swelling heat outside. I was too busy making bets with myself about what song would come next. I ran from my house to a different multi-use path which I followed in to the next town. I wove my way through various neighborhoods encountering only several packs of well-behaved cyclists and a few placid walkers. It was really lovely, scampering along with my crooning pals in the July sun, sweat dripping off my brow. When my Garmin registered 4.5 miles, I turned back towards home feeling strong. I love step-back weeks!

I continued on my way, humming along (and maybe at times, singing out loud) with my iPod until I glanced down to check my pace and found that the GPS was blank. Huh? What the …? Oh yeah. I guess you have to charge these things occasionally. No biggie! At least the power lasted through my turn-around, otherwise I’d be lost mileage-wise. La la la la la…
Nothing could break my stride, or mood. I was an unfaltering training machine, sipping from a pink water bottle as I floated along the pavement. But then, at the height of my elation, a minor technical snafu- the trip back up the multi-use path. Oh yeah. I forgot (or blocked out) that part. Oops. I crawled up the path, cyclists whizzing past in the opposite direction, and was actually really happy- happy that my Garmin had died and I couldn’t read my pace. I’m guessing I was “running” a 15-minute mile. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I was treated with a big stretch of downhill after the path, and arrived home on an endorphin high. I felt so invincible that I spent the rest of the day shuffling furniture between two rooms in my house. I had no recovery to speak of, but my 10-year old daughter’s excitement over switching bedrooms almost made up for that. We’ll see what my body says tomorrow…