runs upon a time....

Once upon a time:

I might have considered myself a runner

I could run a whole mile w/o stopping

Heck, on a good day I could run 3 miles.

Even more on a GREAT day!

I had designated "running days"

"my.running.day" was a common part of my vocabulary.

"i cant do that tonight, its my running day"

"its my running day, remember? so you are in charge of dinner"

"I have to go home and grab my running clothes, I forget them, and today is my ru...."

You get the point...

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I would change into my running clothes at work, and go strait to running at the park.

On sundays I would run whenever, just depending on what I had going on.

My dog would watch me and I could see her wheels turning.

He anxious little puppy eyes, and waggly (yes its a word, I checked. Ok not really, but who's keeping track) tail, knew I was going for a "walk"

and that little girls LOVES WALKS!!

She didnt know any better.

I would have to expain to her

"no baby, you cant come with me. you see, momma's going for a run, three miles is just too much for a little 7 pound chihuahua. You need to stay here and lay in your bed, and someday soon momma will take you for your own little walk. but for now, momma is a runner and I gotta go running. I run real fast baby, and I run a long ways for a long time. Thats just what runners do. You dont see runners out there with little chihuahuas, baby. You want mamma to be a good runner, dont you? See, I knew you would understand"

And for a few months, thats the way it was.

I did have to take a couple weeks off because of horrible shin splints. (only real runners get shin splints, thats just something I say to make myself feel better)

Then summer came.

And instead of staying a runner, I became something else.

A wannabe.

100 degrees is just too hot for this wannabe.

80 degrees might even be too hot.

Then summer left, and alright now I am just plain lazy!

Now 3 or 4 times a week:

I strap on my running shoes, because they are just so dang cute.

I wear whatever I have on.

I dont put on my special socks.

Or my special spandex under shorts.

I dont take my iPod, because its dead, and I have failed to charge it.

Charging it would involved bringing it inside from my car.

I take my phone, and I text message people, and try not to trip over a curb.

I take my wonderful fantastic little dog with me, because afterall, and evening stroll around the block is not too much for her.

I end up carrying a small plastic bag of her fresh doo doo about 1/2 way in to the walk.

Sometimes I wear my Bloomsday finisher T-shirt, and I think about how it felt to run.

The cool weather is here, and I'm still not running.

I have a million and one excuses.

And they are all just that, excuses.

I think I'm getting there though, closer to being a runner again.