Run, Sayra! Run! II

Okay. So yesterday I was all, oh I am ever so healthy! Look at me and my new lifestyle. I am a runner!

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Oh, I'm still running. I just cannot vouch for the healthy part. At least in my brain.

I am a rigid girl, apparently. I have a schedule and I must. stick. to it! (Sick, sick, sick! Control freak, control freak, control freak!)

You see, I was scheduled to run yesterday. I had a certain number of minutes that I needed to clock or I would be struck with lightning or gain 25 pounds overnight or some such self-talk mumbo jumbo.

There I was, happily getting dinner ready for my family--sticking things in the oven and rejoicing over the fact that my husband wasn't on the road and there was no baseball, so we would have a family meal. Then my beloved mentioned that it looked like rain to the west.

I admit it. I panicked.

I came home after running errands after work and was t-i-r-e-d. I hadn't slept very well and it was a busy day at school. So I sat on my behind and read and took a little nap thinking that I would run after supper. Then came the comment about the rain.

I immediately declared that I had eaten some Triscuits and cheese after school (probably waaaay more than a serving. Curse you, Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits!) and wasn't really all that hungry. But I needed to run. Because of, you know, the lightning and the 25 overnight pounds and the Schedule That Cannot Be Broken.

I put the dinner on the table, threw on my running clothes and my fabulous headband (I cannot tell you how much my husband hates the headband.) that leaves my hair sticking up 12 ways from Sundays, glanced at the weather on the television and said I'd be back in 30 minutes.

Did I mention that the perky weather girl was on the television chirping about the severe thunderstorms headed in our direction? You know, the kind of storms that they interrupt programming for? No? Well she was. Chirping. And I was out the door.

I cranked up the ipod, checked my watch, looked at the sky, and commenced to book my butt down the street.

The sky was black, the wind was whooshing, and the clouds were swirling but still I ran. I was okay, I justified, because there were still other nutbars people out riding bikes and mowing their lawns. In fact, I saw one lady jogmowing. Yes, she was running behind her pushmower. And you know what I thought? Not, "Hey Loony McLoonypants, you know that the grass will still be there when the storm passes and you can continue mowing later." Nope. Not me. I thought, "Well, now that looks like a good workout." Loony Bin!!

Still I ran.

I can beat this, I thought. In fact, it might just blow over. I continued on my route.

A man pulled his car out of his driveway in front of me. He was driving slowly beside me. I assumed he was trying to drive where I was running, but he just kept driving slowly. I glanced at him and he rolled his window down. I pulled out my ear bud. "You're not far from home are you?" he said with concern in his voice. I glanced at the toddler in the backseat who was smiling in an amused way at the crazy lady with the crazy headband hair. "Nope," I lied. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said and then he sped up and pulled away.

"I am a runner," I thought. "I'm not quitting for a little rain."

I kept running.

"Besides," I thought, "My son's 3rd grade teacher lives just down the road here. If I find myself in a bad spot, I know she will take pity on me and let me drip in her garage while I call my husband to come pick me up. But only as a last resort."

I have no idea what my other resorts might have been.

I continued on.

I got nearly to my turnaround point. Then there was a mighty roll of thunder and a crack of lightning.

Aaaaaannnd, I quickly decided that I could cut my run a few minutes short.

I turned around and headed towards home. I figured that while being turned to ash might indeed be a quick way to shed weight, it wasn't really conducive to a good family life. Or, well, life of any kind.

It started spitting rain as I was running and I ran through my recovery walking minutes. I ran all the way home. I made it just before the downpour and even had time to put Mary's bike away before the sky burst open.

You know what the kicker is? I noticed on my way back that my son's third grade teacher was one of those crazy people out mowing her yard in the same weather I was running in. (Love you, Jody!) You know what else? She's a runner. I'm thinking that running and crazy just might be related. Just sayin'.