Carpenters - Top of the World

2-18-12  Today was my 9 mile run.  This is the absolute farthest I have ever run (in one day).  I wasn't 100% sure I'd make it, but I also have complete dedication to this so I was pretty sure that I would do it, regardless of how hard.  Wow, so glad I am done. 

I wanted to take a route that got me outside of my normal boundaries so I had decided that I should run towards downtown Powell and through a neighborhood that I totally love over in Powell.  Bennett Parkway is a street that runs though the middle of a fairly upscale neighborhood.  There are no homes with driveways on Bennett Parkway, at all!  The entire street has white picket fences on both sides and has a running path.  There is a park in the neighborhood and everything is connected.  My route was planned to go through this neighborhood and the connected park, Adventure Park (more bout that later).

I screwed up one tiny little factor when mapping my route.  There is about 3/10 of a mile on Powell Road where there is no running path and no shoulder on the road and a steep drop off, about 1 inch from where the edge of the road edge is.  I really had to slow down here.  I was afraid I'd turn my ankle and go down the hill, that was how steep the drop off was.  I drive this road every day but when you are in a car, not on foot, you don't notice these things.  I took it easy and finished this part of the run, which was about 4 miles in.  I remember this because I got a text from Kai at this point and I thought, I have to wait until I am on stable footing to even look at my phone.

So.... Kai wanted to know when my run was.  Ah, I so glad to be able to say, I m half way done ,  as opposed to saying "it is later".  You have to get this shit out of the way!

I was pretty apprehensive about a 9 mile run, but as I got going, it felt right.  I knew I could do it.  And I knew I could enjoy it.  I have come to appreciate the planning of where you want to go.  It is important to have some meaning or some connection with the route.  I am pretty sure if I went in circles around my neighborhood, that wouldn't work.  Today, I felt like going a 9 mile distance, meant crossing the boundaries of my side of town, across to the other side of Powell, Ohio.  It worked, I finished 9 miles today.

I ran part of my run through Adventure Park.  This is a park near my home where Carson had played his "coach pitch" baseball games.  I don't think I have seen tether ball in 40 years, but this park has several tether ball poles.   We had a tether ball pole in our backyard and I just loved playing that.  The best was to just keep hitting the ball over and over as it wound around the pole and the rope got shorter and shorter.  I miss that.  They also have these poles that are like a rimless, no backdrop, basketball hoops.  They are really cool, wish I knew the name of them.

I got very tired as I finished mile 8.  I had been listening to David Bowie for most of the run.  When I was in high school and had problems with my blood sugar, Mom had taken me to a 5 hour glucose tolerance test.  She was, and still is such a good Mom.  She took me from Dr. Bookmeyer's office straight to the record store to buy David Bowie's "Hunky Dory" album.  Changes was my favorite song.  So I listened to all of that music most of my run.  But at mile 8, I was feeling pretty slow.  I wanted to walk, not run.  I needed a boost.  What better thing to pick you up off your feet and give you some huge OOOmphh than Karen Carpenter!!!  I could have, just as easily, pick the Lonely Goatherd ( thanks Chris John) but Karen was meant to be today.  I started with "I'm on the Top of the World" and then listened to her for the next mile until I got home.

My parents came to visit for the weekend.  My friend Patti came for dinner on Saturday.  We were going to have the 'boys' (Royce, Bob, Matthew & Carson) sit at the kitchen table and the girls (Patti, Pam and Ann) sit at the kitchen counter.  Sounded like a good plan but the boys had another idea.  Matthew and Carson wanted to sit with their Grandmother, how sweet!  Here they are. Patti and I sat with the men.