Settle Down

What did, like, our great-grandmothers do to derive strength without girl-empowerment pop songs? I don't run with headphones anymore but I had a clear loop of No Doubt's "Settle Down" in mind the whole 18 miles. Get, get, get...in line and set-tle down. Ima rough and tough. Ima rough and tough. And nothing's gonna knock this girl down. (Don't get me started. I'm trying to get a hold on this.) Then I was trying to remember that my halfway time was 1:54 so I pictured Gwen Stefani, like, gesturing 1-5-4 in her cutie-gangster style. All I'm saying is that I had some crazy stuff in my head during this 18 mile run but it was really fun. No one has been luckier with training weather than us here in Chicago. Weekend mornings have been perfect. I ran into my buddy Tim on Mile 1, which was a treat and made that mile fly by. Then I found myself in the middle of a race at the zoo where the loudspeakers were blasting Brown-Eyed Girl (just for me, naturally). Then I felt the spray from Buckingham Fountain all the way across Lake Shore Drive which I found surprising. The lake looked beautiful. Boats out. A multiple myeloma walk between North and Fullerton. Nice people walking to honor people they loved who lost their lives. Made me grateful. And I just felt pretty good the whole way. I decided at Montrose I had to finish under 3:50 so I gunned it (which doesn't mean much for me). Made it with 3 seconds to spare.