Evil things. Feather pillows and cyclists.

This morning my pillow magnetized to my skull and we got in a fight. Mostly over how long could I logically stay in bed and still get my five miles in. My pillow wanted to be my friend and help me through this difficult patch in my life. He wanted me to join a support group to get over this "running thing." He even offered to help me explain to all of you why missing just one run won't hurt. But, pillows don't have thumbs and thus don't get a vote or have any power to keep me in bed. The only thing that keeps me horizontal in the morning is me. Who keeps me from the run? I do.

So I arose and began my run. Chat seemed to be more interested in sniffing the pavement for dead squirrels and watching the hills for loose deer. Alas his wants went unfulfilled as there were none of the bambies or smashed rodentia. Usually the first mile is the wake up mile and the in between miles are something that grind on you a bit and the ending mile you want to go as fast as you can so that you can beat the clock. Merciless being that it is. Marching onward without a thought for your well being. This morning I figured out something. You might call this an epiphany - but then that might spark people to make pilgrimages to my house and I only have one restroom. So let us call it a spark of enlightenment.

All seconds and minutes measure how fast you are going. The ones in the middle, end, and beginning all compound into one large number that is either good or bad depending on how hard you worked. The goal is to work hard all the way through the run and not to let up for the uphills or the downhills. If you are consistently working at it you will be faster and it will be far more fulfilling than before. Working consistently and methodically through each step of the run is what will get you to the end. Not letting up on the hills - pushing yourself is what gets you to the end faster. If I want to go faster - then I have to be more consistent. I can't take the first mile leisurely up the hill - I have to do it as fast as I want the last mile to be.

This binds to life. If you want to be the best possible person you want to be you have to have iron and steel in your soul to be consistent and compete in the race we call life. After all - in the battle against fat - be it the fat of the body or fat caused by inconsistency in life - the deciding moment is when you begin to run instead of walk and run instead of fainting.