It’s been a whirlwind week since I last posted.  Last Thursday, I had to knock out my last long run before the Chicago Marathon.  Why run 20 miles on a Thursday, you ask.  Well, because I needed to get it done before a crazy busy weekend full of fun activities.

So, Thursday afternoon, I finished up at work around 2pm, did some long run prep and headed out into the hottest part of the entire week to conquer 20 miles.  I ran from the back door of the store and headed out through the flats of Chesterfield, just to keep things simple.  I ran to the Spirit of St. Louis Airport, and back to the store, with a couple of detours, to make it moderately interesting.  I knocked out 11 miles with ease, swung by the store again to use the potty and a quick water bottle refill.  Back out on the levee for 3 more, then back into the store for some sports beans.  And back out into Chesterfield valley with a final stretch up Baxter to meet Nick who was running from home to meet me for a couple miles before social run started.  As I suspected he was on what we affectionately refer to as “Nick time”, ie-he was late.  I kept running, getting farther and farther from the store.  Typically not a big deal, but I had to be back to lead social run.  After reaching the top of a hill and still no sign of Nick, I gave up and turned around.  A few minutes later, I checked over my shoulder and caught a glimpse of him in a full sprint trying to catch me.  I waited.  He caught me.  Then he had to catch his breath.  I was out of fluids.  We were about 2 miles from the store and I needed to be there.  Soon.  So we started back down the hill to the valley, we were cruising.  That last mile was faster than my race pace and considerably faster than the pace I’d been holding for the first 18.  We hit the back door of Fleet Feet at exactly 20.5 miles.  Nothing like hearing your Garmin announce 20 miles and have to keep running really, really fast.  I was tired.  Even my ipod was tired, since it started shorting out.

But, no time to cool down.  The social runners were starting to gather.  At 6:30, I sent the runners off toward the levee, while Steve and I brought up the rear.  I only managed a very slow 1.25 out, and then the return trip.  I topped off at 23 miles.  Then, put on some dry clothes and went for pizza with the crew.

The social run crew. This is how we celebrate a good run!

I was planning to sleep well Thursday night.  Then I was going to get up and leisurely get ready to meet Farrell and the rest of the bridesmaids at the spa to get ready for her wedding weekend.  Unfortunately, the discomfort I had woken up with on Thursday, turned to excruciating pain on my whole left side by Friday morning.  I knew an early trip to the doctor was in order.  Come to find out, I ran that whole 23 miles while my body was trying to fight off a kidney infection.  My body gave a valiant effort, but ultimately, the infection won.  I got some antibiotics and sucked it up to get through the Friday festivities of BBQ, rehearsal and Cubs/Cards game.

Celebrating Linds and Ryan, and all the adventure ahead of them! (I’m still going to call her Farrell, even if its not her last name anymore!)

I got back to the hotel around midnight and crashed!  By Saturday morning, I was a new woman, and I was ready to party!  Which is exactly what I did.  I spent Saturday celebrating Lindsey and Ryan’s wedding.  I couldn’t be happier for them, I was honored to stand with them on their day and I can’t wait to see what adventures await them in their life together.

#Bestbridesmaidsever

On Sunday, I spent a beautiful afternoon at the winery with friends celebrating my birthday.  The celebration continued at the biker bar in Defiance.  My memory got a little fuzzy at that point, so I don’t know what time it was exactly when I was sleeping comfortably in my bed.  I slept for a long, long time.  With the exception of a trip to the kitchen for water somewhere in the middle of the night, I pretty much stayed in bed until about 10am on Monday.  I allowed myself the excuse not to run that I was still recovering from a23 mile run + kidney infection. I made it to work on time Monday afternoon in good spirits.  And Monday night I was at it again since Katrina bought me a birthday drink at midnight to celebrate that I am officially 29…again.

I was planning to run Tuesday morning, but I had some unforeseen things come up and by the time I finished up with some stuff at the kids’ school, it was time for my birthday massage.  The therapist informed me afterward that my glutes were a mess.  Yeah, like I hadn’t noticed.  Then I was off to lunch with Steve before my mom got to town and we picked up the kids for my G-rated birthday party.

Overall, it was a good weekend.  And a great birthday.  Last night I got an email from Teri with a great quote, “Let the rest of your days be the best of your days”.  Which is exactly how I intend to live, from here on out.

I finally got out for a run this morning after dropping the kids at school.  I got my Garmin set, hit play on my ipod and was ready to go.  After that massage yesterday, my muscles were loose and I felt like I was flying.  Except for just one thing.  Remember that short in my ipod?  Almost as soon as I started running, I realized that I could only hear the instrumental music, no lyrics.  I got occasional backup singers.  But the lead singer was nowhere to be found.  Well, shoot.  What do I do with that?  I guess I need some new earbuds.  I decided to keep it playing and see what happened.

I quickly realized, it was a little like karaoke.  I knew all the words to the songs.  Or most of them anyway.  And the ones I didn’t know, I made them up.  (My apologies to anyone on the path along 109 who happened to catch an earful of my out-of-breath attempt at singing)  At one point, I even heard a song that Cole and I sang at Charlie’s one night when a bunch of Fleet Feet-ers went out to visit Eric at one of his last rounds as karaoke DJ.  Man I miss those nights!

It occurred to me, each day is sort of like singing karaoke.  We’ve got people in the background that can help enhance each day, singing backup if you will.  And we get to fill in the words however they go.  Even with a general guide to follow, we can still mess up.  And then we can laugh at ourselves, take a deep breath and get back on track.  Sometimes we sound really good, other times not so much.

Most importantly, we get to choose the type of music that sets the tone of each day.  I was stuck in something that sounded like a dirge for a really long time, then my life resembled something more like angry chick music (Alanis Morissette, anyone?) But now I prefer upbeat songs that tell a good story.

Coincidentally, the last song playing when I got to the end of my run, was the song that Silas asked me to sing to him last night when I put him to bed.  It’s a song we have sung to each other often over the past couple years, and it’s somewhat reflective of my birthday wish to make the rest of my days the best of my days.

…when we struggle and it all goes wrong, only you can make it right, so I say…I’m learning to be the light.

I hope the song my soul sings each day always reflects happiness, positivity and joy.  I have a lot to celebrate going into this next year of my life.  I just completed a year of tremendous progress and I am continuing to grow on a daily basis.  I’m proud of the person I’ve become and who I continue to evolve into.  I’ve accomplished a lot and I know that I can conquer anything in my path.  I’m only getting better with age because I’m learning to be the light.

Here’s to the year ahead!

Mile 22 of 23 on Thursday. One of the reasons I love to run.