Day Sixty Two - "The Treadmill of Life"

Life is short... running makes it seem longer.

Baron Hansen

You know your life is pretty darn good when you go to asleep and have a smile on your face and all is good in your world. Nothing “special” happened last night, which can be just perfect. It was a normal school weekday, but at dinner, the conversation was lively and it lasted well after the meal was over. We sat and conversed about our days, Grace’s upcoming play, Ellie’s encounter with a football to her head, Sarah and me meeting her at mile 13 on the marathon, Tiger Woods and his rights to privacy and just a bunch of little stuff that made us laugh. We try to have family dinner nights more often than not and I am glad that we do. Life does go by fast and it is these times in our lives that matter the most.
I woke at 3:12AM to the sound of rain knocking on the windows and dancing on the roof. There was a forecast for rain on Wednesday and the weathermen in Atlanta were actually right, for once. As I drifted back to sleep I knew that the track workout was scratched, but I would figure out the run when the alarm went off.
5:00AM, the radio woke me from a deep sleep. It took me a couple of minutes to get my bearings (which is unusual for me). The rain was heavier than before and I knew I needed to change up the outdoor garb for indoor treadmill clothing.
Downstairs I grab the running book to see if I could do the long run on the treadmill. This week was a 8 mile run at 6:54’s. Not what I really wanted to do on the treadmill, but it needed to get done.
Traveling to LTF the rain continued to come down in force. At times, the wind had intervened and pushed the rain sideways as it smacked up against the Jeep. A few moments of hydroplaning kept my attention on the road as I pulled into the lot at the gym.
I started the run on the Woodway Treadmills in the back of the gym. The first mile was a warm up at 8:13 then I settled into a 6:53 pace (6:54 is not an option on the TM). After the 2 mile I started to overheat in the dry, stagnant air. By the end of Mile 4 it was too hot to handle one more step. I jumped off the treadmill and headed for the center of the gym near the vents that were blowing air. I figured in the open area the air would circulate better and keep my core cooler than in the back.
I finished up the remaining 4 miles and went to stretch. I saw Ann Marie as I finished stretching and proceeded to do a few shoulder exercises. She had just completed Brian’s spin class and was starting the 5-1K’s on the treadmill. Ann Marie asked me what the pace needed to be and I calculated 6:40’s for the 1000’s. Before she started she asked me if that pace was right. I did the math in my head again and figured that pace to be more like 6:54’s. She was good with that pace and started to click off the first 1K. As Ann Marie motored along on the mill, I finished my shoulder exercises and talked to Chris and Brian for a few minutes.
The idée of life continues to intrigue me. The moments in life that you hold precious flash by in a blur while other things like a treadmill work tend to stop the movement of time. Events in your life like the growth of your children, which is a slow process move quickly, and quick or fast events, ergo, treadmill running at sub 7 pace go by very slow. You wonder how you would perceive your life if it was opposite?