Yesterday morning as I sat in my SUV, trying to motivate myself to get out of it’s warmth and go run 14 miles, I procrastinated a little bit.  I’m going to share a text conversation I was having in those moments. Due to the nature of part of the conversation, some names may have been changed to protect the other party involved.  So, for the sake of anonymity, let’s call him, ummmm, Mick.

RRG: Soooo, I’m gonna need some details on this new girl at some point. 😉

Mick: Haha. In good time. 🙂

RRG: So mysterious.  C’mon, it’s just me…  Just kidding, but we need to catch up soon.  I’m off to run 14.  Laters…

Mick: Definitely!  Have a great run!

RRG: Thanks.  I am so not excited about this right now.

Mick: You’ll be excited about it after you PR at Vancouver.

RRG: Right on.

Alright Linds, let’s do this! Remember, it’s not about pace, it’s just about logging the miles.  Nice and easy.  14 miles.  Take ‘em one at a time.  Here we go…

Mick was right, getting up on a Saturday to go run 14 in the cold IS going to be worth it when I cross that finish line in Vancouver.  Which, by the way, Steve still has not given me the hotel info.  But yeah, that’s gonna be a fantastic weekend.  And I’m gonna rock it out on that course.

I probably shouldn’t have had that extra Blue Moon last night, but what are ya gonna do?  At least there was an orange slice in it.

Boy, people are really friendly in Forest Park today.  Everyone is so smiley.  Good Morning, happy chick. Did that guy just wink at me?!  I wonder why everyone is so…Oh, wait, I’m doing it again.  That thing I do, when I’m running and I have a big dorky smile on my face, cause I’m just happy to be running.  I’m a geek.  But whatevs…Hey there smiley people of Forest Park, it’s a good morning!  Chilly, but good.  The sky is blue, the sun is shining, and it’s so flipping cold I can’t feel my nose.  This wind has some serious bite to it.  I am soooo jealous of all my friends that are running races in warm weather this weekend.  Austin, Pasadena…yeah, St. Louis in February just isn’t quite cutting it today.

My achilles is acting up, I wonder what that’s about.  That’s one area I don’t usually have trouble with, so that’s kinda weird…

I am so not looking forward to meeting with the accountant later.  Can’t I just live in denial and not deal with the whole tax return nightmare? This whole thing has me completely freaking out.  I can’t think of anything I like less than taxes…

HEYHEY, Chick in the Michigan sweatshirt, WHAT UP?!  Did you see the way my Spartans gave your wolverines a beat down the other night?  Oh yeah, that was awesomeness.

I think that guy is wearing the red NB jacket we sell at that store.  Oooh, he’s cute.  And he’s smiling at me.  That’s right, cute boy, smile away.  How you doin’?

Yeah, Nicky Minaj…And to my core fans, keep reppin’ me, do it to the death of me, X in the box, cause ain’t nobody checkin’ me.

I like that girl’s tights, but Oh, Sister, the Pegasus is so not the shoe for you.  You really need a nice Structure Triax.  Ouch.

Awwww, good memories.  I remember running down this hill with Jess the night we did our impromptu Forest Park run.  That was a good time, especially since I didn’t kill us cutting across 3 lanes of 64/40 to exit at the last second, oops. Dang, I miiiiiiissssssss that girrrrrrrl.

Oooh, it’s the cute boy in red again.  Hi cute boy.

One loop around the park almost done.  Should I stop for water now?  Nah, I’m gonna knock out a little more of this, I feel pretty good.

Good old Steinberg skating rink.  I can’t believe I agreed to go ice skating tonight.  That’s gonna be interesting.  When was the last time I was on ice skates?  I think it was back in Chicago with Ally’s girl scout troop…so, 2008?!

Oh my, Lord, forgive me for saying this but that girl should NOT be wearing those pants.  Yikes.

Alrighty, time for a break.  Pomegranate sports beans, water, check the phone.  8 text messages!  What’s happening here?!  Scroll, scroll, scroll…I’ll respond to most of this later.  Quick Facebook check…I’m getting chilly, time to get back at it and finish these last 5.5 miles.

Oh, look at the really fast girl running with those boys up there.  I want to be like her…oh, wait, I KNOW her.  That’s Marxkors!  I really DO want to be like her (See blog post titled My Secret Girl Crush).  I know ALL those people…its Seth Fagan and Jake Goldsborough.  Umm, this isn’t facebook Linds, you probably don’t need to use their full names.

“Hey, are you guys gonna wait up for the slow girl?”

Seriously, did I not just say in a blog post on Monday, that Marxkors and I can randomly run into each other anywhere, but planning things just doesn’t work for us.

(I’m not one to slow people down, and I know my limitations, so I sent them on ahead after a little less than a mile.  But thanks for letting me hang with you guys for ¾ of a mile or so.  Seth later informed me that he could tell I was struggling to keep up when I was giving him one word answers to his questions. He’s right, I just don’t ever do that.)

And now back to my nice slow settled pace. ..

Yikes!  Why is that guy wearing a neon orange Jason style hockey mask?!  Speed up to get by him quickly.  It’s a good thing it’s the middle of the day, otherwise seeing that guy in Forest Park, especially if it was getting dark out, might be really creepy.

Oh, geez, Pegasus girl is back.  Ugh, it is seriously killing me to watch her run in those shoes.  This is one of those times I wish I had a business card from the store to hand over to her.

More than 14 miles done and there’s the car.  I’m at 14.81…I can’t stop here, I might as well just round it up and make it an even 15.

Funny, I’m going to finish this run listening to the same song that was playing when I started…

I’m gonna live like there’s no tomorrow, Love like I’m on borrowed time, It’s good to be alive…

Yep, it sure is.