It’s 4:26 am. Hump Day.
The scale works, with its condescending blink-blink-blink.
Down B*tch. Down.
It flashes Up.
Up 8 lbs since the last running post over a month ago.
Wow.
I turn to the morning papers. Headline: Burger King has reached out to McDonald’s with a 1-day cease-fire offer to combine the Whopper with the Big Mac to create the McWhopper. Wow.
I shift uncomfortably on the couch.
Don’t care? Don’t want to? Too hot?
Where’s the disgust? The fury?
Riding Apathy Road here.
Wow.
I turn back to the morning blog post readings.
John O’Donohue in “Before The Beginning” explains:
Unknown to us, there are moments
When crevices we cannot see open
For time to come alive with beginning.
And, I Begin.
A beautiful morning.
62° F. Wind WNW at 8 mph.
It’s Zwicky’s ‘end of summer’ where the ‘heart talks to itself, a thin stream braiding over a lip of rock’.
It’s still, but for the breeze at my back, and my breath.
The sky sparkles with the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper and the North Star.
Nature softens.
But, the interlude is brief.
The body heaves itself around the track.
Oxygen is thin.
Groins groan.
Legs are anvils.
Lift them up and down. Almost home.
And on queue, as I round the corner on the home stretch, a long uphill climb, the Gremlin in my music player randomly fires-up Todd Rundgren’s “Bang the Drums all Day“:
I don’t want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day…
I bang on that thing ’til I got blisters on my hand
And I say: PERFECT.
Miles: 5.25 miles
Time Check: Nap Time.
Notes:
- Image: Thank you Eclecticity Light.
- O’Donohue Quote: Thank you Make Believe Boutique. Zwicky quote: Thank you Whiskey River.
- Related Posts: Running Series
Inspiration can come from the weirdest places. And the things that usually inspire can leave us smacking our lips with cynical attitude. I’ve just decided it’s magic that makes us get up and out.
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Magic, perhaps. Or a big stone, that’s been kicked, and gravity forces it down the hill.
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Joseph Campbell asserts that once the hero commits to his quest, whether consciously or unconsciously, then magical helpers arrive to point the way.
~ Katrina Kenison, Magical Journey, An Apprenticeship in Contentment
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Magical Helpers. Like the McWhopper.
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Laughing. Exactly.
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Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! I felt your pain! But what a good feeling when it’s over (a bit like when you stop hitting your head on the wall). LOL
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Exactly. The body feels sore but great at finish….
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Extra credit for referencing one of my fave songs David! Happy running!
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Great! Thanks Debra
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yep, the universe sets up your obstacle course and sends you on your way –
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It certainly does. And those soft tailwind gusts. Amazing.
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McWhopper? NOOOO!!! Please say it ain’t so!
Those 3 lines by John O’Dononue? Oh how I envy having thought of that…lovely and perfect.
You and your 5.25 miles? Awesome. You beat the tug.
Nap? even more awesome.
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Oh, the nap was SO awesome!
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Also and interesting image…at the starting line of the day…going forward or is something going to shadow a person and hold them back all day… A person has a choice…great that you where out in front and finished with 5 and 1/4 miles a good start to gliding through your day….
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Not sure I was gliding anywhere the rest of the day but on the couch!
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Sometimes, the motivation is hard to arrive, but you have to admit..once you’ve completed the effort, you always feel better for it. Just do it ! (Sorry, Nike ). But, then again..wouldn’t we all rather just bang that drum all day? ☺
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Yes. Yes. Yes!
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It just takes one step to walk a thousand miles ha! Well done, you did it, and you can do it again. I am motivated to exercise by how I feel after. I always feel good and am glad I made the effort, even if it requires a nap. zzzzzzzz
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Yes. It’s just getting started that can be challenging! 🙂
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I’ve disappeared in that time crevice, at times, and time opens back to the time I ran into with and through the pain of 5 miles and more. And then I napped loud and hard. I loved that. Now my time is creviced back to walks, naps take too much time, and McWhoppers are for a time long past.
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Pamela, you just play at a higher plane. Good for you. 🙂
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Oh, how I try!!
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See, you can do it. Now you just need to change the schedule from once a month to once a week, and then…you know what’s on the schedule gets done, right? Enjoyed running along.
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That’s it Helen. That’s it. Should be no problem with this solution. It’s no wonder that you achieved fame in the world of international consultancy. Where were you 10-15 years ago when I really needed you. It would have saved me so much suffering!
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Laughing. Here we are trying to change the subject. My assessment is that you had your stuff pretty much all figured out by that time.
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I have a lot to figure out.
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Had to follow you again…you dropped me off somewhere along the route, I guess 🙂
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I never would have done THAT!
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So need a ‘love’ button. Keep bang in’ the drum pal – you excel in both rhythm and pace. And napping.
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Awwwww, thank you Mimi. Appreciate the kind words.
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Nature softens…yes. get out there with that, my friend.
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Yes Vicki. And to make it stick.
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So glad you played hooky after a good run. Nothing like a nap and a bang on the drum!
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Smiling. Thanks Carolann. Oh, to Bang on that Drum.
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