Mmm… not the case. I was walking towards the gym doors and I saw a dime on the floor. I picked it up, looked over at my dad and said with enthusiasm “I found a dime! That must be luckier than a penny!” … I spoke too soon.
I get to the gym and stretch out my legs that were feeling achy from the last two days of working out. All of the treadmills are in use. So, I’m stretching and waiting for the woman who decided to wear a dress shirt with jogging pants to get off her machine. I mean, she is walking while reading a magazine on a treadmill- in a dress shirt. And- she wasn’t the first to leave a machine. Go figure!
I jumped on the available treadmill and was getting ready for my run. And my ear bud cord is tangled yet again. So, I’m taking out the knots while doing a leisurely stroll and thinking to myself “I should really invest in some Lady Gaga Heartbeats in-ear headphones! They are tangle free and have an amazing sound. Well, so I’ve heard…”
I was so lost in my thoughts and trying to figure out my tangled mess when I knocked my ipod off the shelf in front of me. Get ready for the embarrassing moment –> My turquoise ipod falls onto the turning strip and heads straight for the floor behind me. Then I hear, “Excuse me! Your ipod!” coming from the bicycles beside me. I look over and smile and say with a little laugh “Oh, thanks!” In my head I’m saying “Yes lady, I know… I hit it!” I turn around to get off the treadmill to pick it up and I am still attached to the machine by the “safety string”. Good Jesus. Well, it snaps off of my shirt and I look up to see my dad’s “What are you doing?!” face on and yes, that lady is still watching me. Awesome. This is going to be a great run.
So, I shake it off and put my game face on because that is what life is about. Moving on. I put on my playlist titled “Running On Sunshine” and started my run with a little Live Like We’re Dying by Kris Allen. I love this tune. (It was originally done by The Script. Check them out too- they are great!) It’s catchy and it inspires. It didn’t make the pain in my legs go away but- it was a good one. I saw a music video this morning and decided it would be a good playlist song. If We Ever Meet Again by Timbaland feat Katy Perry. This was a thinker song. I started thinking about the people that come and go in your life. And when you haven’t seen someone in a long time and they randomly appear back in your life- what is that conversation going to be like? And then my mind went to my left knee that started to buckle. I didn’t think I was going to make it much farther on this run. And then BAM! My new favourite song from the Cadillac SRX commercial came on! I get so excited everytime it comes on TV and I finally found it today: 1901 by Phoenix. So, I ran harder. It just makes me so happy to hear that song! I hit 3K somewhere around this point and I did not want to go on. I was dunzo. I’m Running by Misstress Barbara feat Sam Roberts started playing and I was semi feeling this run again. Once you start hearing lyrics like “I’m running until this world becomes a better place” and “I’m running and I’m breathless but I must go on.” How can you stop? It may sound cheesy but deep down you know you want to hear these inspirational words while running. I did take a one minute walking break so I could rehydrate at this point. I was parched. Then the song that inspired the title of my playlist came on Halo/Walking on Sunshine by The Cast of Glee and there is no chance of me walking through this song. I can hardly sit still when it comes on! So, what did I do? I sprinted like I’ve never sprinted before! I was running on sunshine and it felt good! What came next was a great song off of the In The Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2 album. It’s an original beauty! I chose the song Seconds by Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars. It was such a great choice and I have never put it on any of my running playlists for some strange reason- until now, of course. I was talking with my dad after this run and he had this song on his playlist too- weird, right?! He is another inspiration through this run. My dad can out run me any day- I’m sure of it. He still plays soccer twice a week and works out almost everyday. Have him run on a treadmill next to you and you won’t want to stop because you don’t want an over fifty man beating you. And then a little re-vamped Use Your Love by Katy Perry appeared. I love running to Katy! I ran it out. Not as hard as I was going before because my shoulder started to cramp but- she helped! Thanks, Katy! You can always count on Sex On Fire by Kings of Leon to get you through! I was on fire. I ran my fastest pace of my run to this jam. Kings of Leon manages to make it onto a lot of my playlists. I can’t get enough of them! Someone tell me why they didn’t even get nominated for best rock album at the Grammy’s this year? Ridiculous. I was so pumped up at this point and it just continued when one of my all-time favourite songs played next Bang A Gong (Get it On) by T Rex. And then I remembered that Billy Elliot The Musical was coming to Toronto and I got really excited about that! Needless to say, my speed did not slow down- it sped up. But I told myself I would sprint my hardest and at the end of the song I would be done for the day. Nope. Didn’t happen. The fun continued when Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship feat Leighton Meester started up. I was a hot mess. My body started to ache again but I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to reach at least 10K during this run. I ended up slowing down my pace and ended my run at the end of this song. It was a good thing I did because I could feel my muscles starting to tighten up.Whoops! So I did a cool down and stretch to Today Was A Fairytale by Taylor Swift. I heart her. Especially when her pump up’s before a concert involves running around backstage rapping and yelling phrases like “What up gangsta?!” Yep, we are so alike. I finished it off with Need You Now by Lady Antebellum. Mainly because I keep seeing one of my friends FB status change to references about how she is constantly listening to them. This one’s for you, Ali!
So, I finished my run without making the distance I wanted, with aching muscles, and some really great speedy moments! I’m ok with that. I’m even more ok with the fact that I reached 31.21 km in 3 consecutive days! I think I will give myself a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off from running tomorrow and just do some strength training!
P.S. Remember when I talked about that find a dime more luck than a penny? I originally sat down and wrote my post right after my run. I was just about to click ‘publish post’ when I manged to press a bunch of buttons at the same time and deleted my entire post that I just wrote. There was no way of getting it back. Auto save had already saved my accident which only left two letters on the screen ‘”mb“… Amazing. I was not a happy girl. So, I walked away and watched The Marriage Ref with this week’s celebrity panel- the hilarious Ricky Gervais, the talented Madonna (who I would love to see live one day), and the inappropriate Larry David. I was laughing so hard that I forgot about being ticked off at technology and came back to write it all again.
My idol Audrey Hepburn said it best:
“I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It’s probably the most important thing in a person.”
It’s my favourite thing to do too, Audrey! Just laugh it off friends!
Stats of the run:
Distance: 8.18 km
Pace: 4:22 min/km
Calories: 354
Distance: 8.18 km
Pace: 4:22 min/km
Calories: 354
Siobhan McCarthy.ca