How was it? Awesome of course. When is a milkshake NOT awesome?

4:48 am

I am fumbling around in my laundry basket. There are at least five pairs of running shorts in here... why can't I find just one?

Because... it's 4:48 in the morning and really - a growing lady like myself should be sleeping right now. I usually avoid this situation altogether by laying out my running clothes the night before but last night I was on strike.

When I get in the car I just blast my eardrums into awakening - drive past the even-crazier-than-me cyclists - and pull into the church parking lot where we meet for Miner's Run. The loud music suddenly seems way out of place as my headlights swing around to light up a number of headstones in the cemetery. I quickly turn it down and turn off the car... slightly uncomfortable for no good reason. Waiting for the rest of the group, I think about how when I was younger, I used to hold my breath when I passed a cemetery. I only did it because my sister told me to. I never really understood the concept and then one day someone told me it was terribly disrespectful of the dead. So I stopped doing it.

Meg and Spada met me early and we made our way down to the rubberized track. I knew it was going to be a struggle when the loops around the dark track started to feel like work less than ten minutes in. We looped back around and picked up the rest of the crew to head down Sardis - and right about then, I knew I was in trouble.

I ended up in a very engaging conversation that took a good amount of energy both mental and physical. Completely rehashed last night's book club discussion of C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity with a fellow lover of his work. As taxing as this was and I didn't feel like I should be pushing it hard like that... the conversation was so good that I do not take it back for a moment. Spada and I eventually broke off from the group to head back and with the unfortunate weight of time pressing down hard - we continued a non-recovery pace to the car.

((Meanwhile)) Spada's been doing a little book exchange with Paul Mainwaring - another incredible athlete in the area - and they have been switching at Miner's Run. So Spada has two books in his hands when we start the run, thinking he's going to run into Paul along the way. Paul apparently didn't show today and Spada ends up leaving the books where we will come back later - about two miles in. On our way back he dashes over to grab his two books, "Hey, you're in the book club, but I've got the books!" I really can NOT imagine running with two big books in my hand. ((He's a champ.))

For the last six miles or so I could feel my energy levels dropping to the floor... I was starving. Last night was book club night which means two things:

1) an incredible night of thought-provoking discourse on humanity and its twisted tangle with christianity

and

2) dinner by the boy

I had rushed over to dinner around 6:30 so we could eat and drive uptown without being late. (I hate being late. No really... I absolutely despise it). Roasted brussel sprouts (with a sprinkle of nutmeg, making it a little different than usual) were just being pulled out of the oven as a skillet of lamb cheesesteak sizzled on the stove. The buns for the cheesesteak were toasted with melted Roaring 40s bleu cheese and filled with the lamb, bell peppers, and myriad of spices. The bleu has a special place in our hearts - we first encountered it on our trip to Gary Danko's restaurant in San Francisco. It completed the cheesesteak so perfectly without overpowering it. Incredible. For being such a stinky, potent little cheese - I was very surprised. Unfortunately... we were in a hurry and I felt like I shouldn't take seconds. On my run this morning, I realized I reallllllly should have. If not for the calories, just to savor the flavor.

Oh well. The four (or five) rice krispy treats I had late at book club probably didn't help the situation.