Two Pizza Guys and a pair of Walrus pants

Today was full of realizations.

First, a very serious realization as I watched a documentary before the run called "Restepo." It is about some army guys stationed in the same region of Afghanistan that Jamie was stationed in a few years before as a Marine. There were many thoughts racing through my head as I absorbed this movie, but in an attempt to keep this posting light and upbeat (and hilarious as always), I will just say that I intend to give every single Marine a HUGE high five as I run the marathon. And I'd really like to give a large number of hugs too, because those are pretty much life's jelly beans. 'Cause that's the least I can do.

Second, a not so serious realization that I have a video camera on my new ipod, E.T.! No big deal. Naturally, I decided to bust this baby out a couple times on my run since I was solo. And let me say, this was the best decision I ever made. Please, behold the artistry:





A big shout out to E.T. for his crystal clear picture and sound. Really didn't miss a beat. Such glorious detail.

Third, energy gels are really gross but oh-so-magical. They're too sweet and too salty but once that viscous goo hits your tongue, something in you screams "wooooooooop-ah!" Now, I've only just begun to dabble in the goo-pool, but I'm finding that results are typically quite good after consumption. They give you the energy you need without taking up room in your stomach. I was actually pondering the complexity of said gels when I came to my fourth and most ridiculous, but not final, realization...

I lost my car key. Somewhere between Peppermint Lane (there was going to be a whole series of videos in which I name the place where I am running based on some stupid and meaningless observation. It was gunna be great.) and goo number three, my key slipped right out of my water-bottle-hand-purse. This was difficult to face because I was actually really enjoying this run, for the first time in weeks, and I still had at least five to seven miles to go. It was rainy and chilly, and the road was muddy and very quiet. I chose a route between Boulder and Longmont on dirt roads where it's relatively flat. And the plan was to stop at my car twice during the run to adjust clothing as necessary for the weather and to fill up my water bottle and goo supply. So, for the first time ever, I carried my key with me and enabled the security system on the Flying-Tomato (i.e. I manually locked all the doors and rolled up the windows, also manually). So I decided to retrace my steps in hopes of running across the key. Of course, conditions were perfect for a teeney little key to get run over by a car and squished right into the mud. I was facing west, growing painfully aware of imminent darkness, and therefore, increased invisibility of the key and also of me. I didn't bring a light with me or any reflective gear and my jacket is a lovely but useless shade of eggplant. My cell phone was in my car. Now I begin running through my options :

1. Miraculously find the key and run back to Flying Tomato with no harm done
2. Pull over some rando and hope that they will allow me to use a phone
3. Knock on a rando's front door and remove muddy shoes before asking for a phone
4. Run back to the car and break the window with my bare knuckles

I chose option 2. And I chose the car carefully, being ever-so aware of my vunerability. A car with a pizza delivery sign on top (not sure which pizza place) was driving towards me and I thought "boo-yah!" I waved my hands and pizza guy #1 pulled over and allowed me to use his iphone or gnome or giga-pet or whatever it was. And I dialed Jamie's number (I'm freakishly good with memorizing numbers) because he has my spare key and I had emailed my route to him before I left, so that if something happened, he'd have helpful information. He didn't answer so I left a message describing the remainder of my route and where my car was parked. And I continued to run, now being motivated by a very familiar feeling; fear of the dark.

I finally reached the road on which I was parked, frantically looking for Jamie's car. Nothing. And I begin to reassess my situation. I'm out of water, got a belly full of goo and nothing else, and hardly any clothes on. I could knock on doors and ask for a ride, but I'm a relatively small woman in a remote part of town and though the chances are slim that something terrible would actually happen, I wasn't sure I wanted to risk it. Needless to say, I was beginning to panic a bit. But I kept telling myself to keep cool because everything's going to be fine. And low-and-behold, I see the headlights of the Silver Shredder (Jamie's civic), lighting my path to safety.

The last realization was quite simple really. The universe was sending me a message. And I got it loud and clear because in the face of danger, you often have no choice but to leave your fate in the hands of unseen forces. So I did what I knew I had to do when I got home. I called the first pizza place that came into mind and I ordered a large veggie supreme. With garlic breadsticks. After a night like that, what a girl really needs is to snuggle into her favorite walrus p.j. pants that she's literally had since she was 12, and her favorite Shorty's sweatswirt and stuff her face with pizza while participating in night three or four of a Godfather Movie Marathon.