STR8 UP WITH A TWIST

I woke up this morning with a bit of an upset tummy which doesn't set well with running. What to do? I gave it a little while to settle down and then took The Calvinator for his morning stroll.

On our stroll, I saw Neighbor Mike & Jack. You may recall that Jack *hearts* Calvin. Neighbor Mike is a good egg. Talking with Neighbor Mike is always a nice way to start the day. Most of our conversations take place at 6something in the morning when we're both 1/2 asleep and both have bed head.

I made my way over to the park and some man gave me a Go To Hell Look because he thought I was giving up my parking spot when actually I was just getting there. You see, I leave my running shoes in the back of The Cal Mobile and don't put them on until I get there. Then I have to put Body Glide on my thunder thighs so that I don't get chafing. Then I have to make sure that I take precautions not to get bloody nipples. And then get the iPod nano.

So I'm not even paying attention to what is happening around me and this guy is waiting for my spot. When I finally realize that is hovering over me with his Toyota FJ Cruiser (blue with a white top), I wave him on and then I get the dirty look. I have to remind myself that the day started off with talking to a good egg so I can't let him get to me.

(Oh. And speaking of not paying attention to what is going on around me. I forgot to tell you something.

Thursday I was preoccupied with how to handle a frustrating situation. I went to LeFittes and had a good workout. Sitting in the steam room and sauna always seems to relax me so I did that too. So I'm leaving LeFittes and it is dark and I'm parked on the side of the building. I get to The Cal Mobile and out of nowhere a man pops up next to me and wants some money or something.

I say something because he scared the beejeezus outta me and I didn't hear what he was saying. I jumped in the car, slammed the door, locked it and sped outta there. It's a good thing I wasn't packing heat. I did drive around looking for the security guard and ended up driving back to the front desk and telling them what happened.

So be careful out there. Seriously.)

Anywho, prior to my run I ran into another good egg, RichardP. I congratulated him on winning his age group in the HMSA 25K last week. He was running a gazillion miles this morning. Good for him. :-)

He is trying to increase his speed so that he can be an invited runner for the marathon in January. Uh, you'll never see my name on the invited runner list so at least I can SAY that I know an invited runner.

I couldn't decide if I should run 9 or 10 miles this morning. Mile 8 was tough. I lost my concentration. At around 8.5 I decided to top it out at 9.5 miles. Well, that was the plan but somehow I missed my 1/4 mile marker to turn around after I finished 9 miles. When I realized what happened I knew that I was somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 so I turned around. So I'm guessing I did 9.75 miles or so this morning.

The morning brought me another good egg. Just as I was heading toward The Cal Mobile I saw G. She is in from St. Louis. She was at the park with Gidget. Chatted with her for a bit. I was a bit wet with sweat so we bid adieu and made tentative plans for brunch on Sunday.

So it was a morning filled with good eggs. A nice way to start the day.

PS I did have to take a long nap this afternoon. I ain't as young as I used to be. :-)