Butterfly Kisses...

The Universe has a funny way of mentally and physically playing with you before a big race. I had a couple tests thrown my way tonight before my run.

The first was my heart rate monitor. The one that was just replaced a couple of months ago because it wasn't giving me proper readings. Well this one was giving me proper readings, but unfortunately now I can't see them. The display has vanished. At first it was just one line that was gone on the digital display. I could live with that even if it meant I couldn't quite tell if I had burned 616 calories or 818 calories...

Sometime between Sunday and tonight the entire face disappeared! 'POOF!' Just like that! Perhaps it was magic? I tried saying 'Ala-kazaam!' and tapping it, but alas, the display didn't reappear. Huh. I'm how many days away from my A race and I have no heart rate monitor. They take minimum 3 weeks to be replaced. My race plan is based on my heart rate. I am breathing now. Deep breaths. I will not panic, I will not panic! I WILL figure something out... Still taking deep breaths...

For the run tonight, I put on my very sweet Ironman 25th Anniversary Timex watch that the parental unit bought for me after IMC last year and I headed out the door. I got a few steps from my house when ZING! I had a pain shoot through my low back upper arse. What the...? Do not panic, do not panic! BREATHE! Okay, now think calmly, you are fine. Just keep running. Your hip is not bugging you, it will be fine on race day. DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE MARATHON! So I didn't. Instead, I thought to myself 'Jack be nimble, Jack be nimble'.

You see, Jack is my nickname, and whenever I use that line from the nursery rhyme I'm almost always more nimble. Of course, I'm sure it helps that I'm also a ninja princess. :)

It took a while but me backside seemed to loosen up a bit. I swear, sometimes it's just phantom pre-race pains! I did feel it every now and then on the run, but it wasn't enough to make me stop, which is a good thing. Mental note, more stretching!

There were a lot of little squiggly worms out trotting back and forth over the pathway. Okay, perhaps trotting would not be an appropriate word. Uhm, slithering quickly? Well, whatever they were doing, there were a lot of them out there! I was having to side step the little suckers as I didn't want to step on them. It was rather tricky in some areas where the appeared to be congregating. I think that's because of the steady stream of water washing them down the hill....poor wee worms.

Overall the run felt pretty good. I just kept at an comfortable pace and enjoyed being outside because I was being smothered with kisses by Mother Nature that were in the form of liquid sunshine. I decided each drop was a wee kiss. Some were little butterfly kisses and others were of the wet sloppy variety. It all depended how many of them were falling from the sky.

While I was running through all this liquid sunshine a song popped into my head - The Who's 'Love Reign O'er Me'. Ooooh how I love that song, especially Pearl Jam's version. And oh how I love Eddie Vedder! It was Eddie's version that was going through my noggin' as I ran.

Only love
Can bring the rain
That makes you yearn
To the sky

Only love
Can bring the rain
That falls like tears
From all high

Love
Reign o'er me
Rain on me
Rain on me

Heavy sigh...what a beautiful song. Anyways, that's how I decided to look at the liquid sunshine tonight, as Mother Nature showering me with love. It was either that or be grumpy about the fact that our sunshine is still in liquid form. I choose not to be grumpy!

Peace out my friends.