Relaxing Sunday Run…

~ Live & Learn

Sunflower6am.  And I’m off out the door.  I’m running.

Beautiful morning.  66° F.  So slight a breeze.  Sun’s up.  Birds in symphony.  God couldn’t have designed it better.

Mental Check: all clear.  No mist, fog or clouds.  All pistons firing.

iTunes set on shuffle.  10,000+ songs rattling around.

(When did I collect so many songs, and the real question is why?  Packrat.  And here I am annoyed and  banging on the forward button…missing the button…fat fingers…Apple’s too small screen…sweat dripping all over the iPhone…banging again…trying to cycle through the nastys to get to the gems…can’t break my stride…now sweat burning my eyes because I’m looking down to get to the right song…must be the hair gel from last night…chemicals likely peeling off my cornea…all because I can’t bear to throw anything away…or better yet, because I’m too lazy to make a playlist for running…ok…there…Santana…good beat…now pick up the pace…look up…get back in stride.  Why do you get so annoyed with the little things?  Now laughing at myself. Be happy you can run you idiot…)

Last week, my highly proficient, super-attentive (and free-is-good) blogging coach Todd Lohenry, recommended that I try an app called Endomondo on my iPhone.  The app can be set for walking, running, cycling, hiking, etc.  It has GPS built-in so it can tell you how far you’ve run and your pace.  It tells you how many calories you’ve burned.  You can compare your results to prior work-outs.  And your Coach comes on at each mile and tells you whether you are ahead or behind your last work-out. Wow!  Easy-to-use. Well designed.  And it downloads your results the moment you hit Stop. All VERY cool.  But I digress.  Back to the story.

I rub the hair gel out of my eyes.  Corneas seem to be intact.

1 mile out.  Mr. Endomondo comes on to tell me that I’m 23 seconds behind my pace from yesterday’s run.  (My God.  Can you believe this?  I’m 23 seconds behind. I lost time trying to find a stupid song.  Stress levels popping.  I up the pace.  Endomondo doesn’t come on for another .95 miles.  I’ll show him)

iTunes shuffles to Jewel.  OMG.  I have to delete her from my library.  Out comes the iPhone.  I’m banging on the forward button.  Lock on Chris Botti.  NO. Then on Bonnie Raitt.  NO. NO. Then on Norah Jones. NO. NO. NO. NO.  I bang on forward again and finally get to The Stones.  OK… (I’m sure I’ve lost pace trying to find a song.  I must fix this before my next run. Feel eyes burning again. Chemical bath oozing deeper into the socket. I can’t remember sweating this much when I was younger.  Could it be yet another middle-age thing?)

2 miles out.  Mr. Endomondo tells me I’m 12 seconds behind.  (I smile. Ha!  No messing around this morning.  Didn’t tell Mr. Endomondo that I watched the Olympic Trials yesterday – giving me an extra kick of inspiration.)

3 miles out.  Mr. Endomondo tells me I’m 8 seconds ahead of yesterday’s pace.  (OK, momentum is now shifting.  I fumble around to find AC-DC on a playlist.  No more shuffling or fumbling around.  AC-DC is going to bring me home the last 2.5 miles.)

4 miles out.  Mr. Endomondo tells me that I’m 45 seconds ahead. AC-DCs Back in Black comes on.  Tide has turned.  I’m surging.  Endorphin’s poppin’.

‘Cause I’m back
Yes, I’m back
Well, I’m back
Yes, I’m back
Well, I’m back, back
(Well) I’m back in black
Yes, I’m back in black

5 miles out.  Mr. Endomondo tells me that I’m 65 seconds ahead. (I think I’ve broken Endomondo’s spirit.  He didn’t seem to have the same confident tone with this time check.  Teach you to go messing with me)

Finish @ 5.5 miles.  1:25 minutes ahead of pace set yesterday.  (Endomondo’s not doing any more talking.)

I slump on our front porch.

Now that was sooooo relaxing.

I need a nap.

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17 thoughts on “Relaxing Sunday Run…”

  1. I’m laughing out loud! I knew there was a reason to leave the iPod behind……I don’t need any distractions. Good job!

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    1. Laughing too. I failed to mention I had my Garmin GPS watch on as well in case Mr. Endomondo failed to work. Thanks goodness there weren’t any bolts of lightening – I would have gone up in flames like a Roman Candle.

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  5. I think it’s terrific that you could capture what was going on in your head while running, trying out a new app (which if it doesn’t kill you, sounds great), banging on your iPod in an effort to find the right rhythm (I do that while I’m on a stationery bike at the gym – emphasis on the word ‘stationery’), AND you didn’t trip over your feet. Once again, I am bowed by your multi-talented self…:-) Make the play list, please?

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  6. Laughing! So very familiar! I keep skipping over all the same songs to get to the same
    “good” ones. And I agree – Chris Botti doesn’t cut it when you’re out running.

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      1. Ha! Like I could speak for all piano teachers – but you must know by now that I’ll try 🙂
        For starters – anything by The PianoGuys – a very recent addition to my playlist. Pink Martini, a couple of Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir songs, some Adam Rapa (Ode to Joy every time – fast forward over the slowish new-agey piano intro), some upbeat Michael Kaeshammer (do you know of him? jazz pianist) and a goodly number of miscellaneous jazz tunes. Oh yes, and some Bach with that chugga-chugga motoric rhythm. No Stones or anything with an annoying distorted electric guitar.
        But all this is just me. Every Single Time I Run. I really should delete everything else.

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      2. Wow, that’s an eclectic list. Haven’t heard of any of them…And not sure I associate Bach with a “chugga-chugga motoric rhythm. I’m going to have to listen much more deeply. I’m clearly missing something big. 🙂

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