Music to my....Feet????

Yesterday was my long run/walk day and I intended to type up this post right after coming home from the excursion while all my thoughts were still fresh in my head, but alas, the day got so busy that I didn't have time to work the post up until now. So here's the recap with a little background first.

Those of you who know me well know that I am a musical girl. That's not to say I'm a musically gifted or talented girl, just that I adore music. It speaks to me. It inspires and moves me. It courses through me. I love to sing outloud though I will admit I am probably off-tune more than I'm on. But that really isn't the purpose for me. I just love music. Probably even more than the music, I love lyrics. Again, if you know me well you know that I'm a word person, too. I love to read and write and edit. I love the written and spoken word. Put a melody behind some stirring words and I'm in heaven! Truthfully, the lyrics of a song are more important to me than the actual tune. If the song has a great sound but the words don't mean much to me then I don't really care that much about it. But give a ho-hum melody some sensational lyrics, something that speaks to me, and it's my new favorite song.

All that leads into my run yesterday. In order for me to jog/walk around a track for upwards of two hours, round and round the track I go, I have GOT to have some music in my ears. I couldn't imagine going long-distance without it. It's the distraction I need to keep me from giving up too soon.

I began yesterday's walk with the intention of completing 7 miles as I did last week, or possibly going for 8 if I felt I still had the energy left for that one additional mile. So I set out walking. I walked the first mile quickly to warm-up. Then I jogged the next two miles. Then I alternated jogging with walking for another four miles. For the last mile I speed walked to the finish for a total of 8 miles. And throughout those miles it was the music that filled my head and the thoughts that the music stirred up that kept my feet going.

Isn't it wonderful how the perfect song can come on at just the right time to spur you on? Eight miles is the longest I've ever gone and there were times I thought I might call it quits and head home. But I didn't.

Bon Jovi came on around mile 3, at which point I was still running, to the tune of "Runaway." Again, if you know much of anything about me you know I love Bon Jovi!! I grinned to myself thinking I was a little runaway at that moment.

A song that used to play in the daycare I worked at back in 2000 while I was an OSU student and Morgan was a toddler came on some time later. It was a beautiful song about "every time you smile, each time you look my way, with every little kiss you steal my heart away." I loved the music so much I bought the cd and this particular song found its way to my mp3 player. It brought back memories of my little girl and how much I adored her then and how much more I adore her now.

I had come to point in the run where I was getting really hot and cursing the Georgia heat and humidity when a Disney song came on, reminding me what I'm training for in the first place. And the song was perfect--from the movie Mulan, it was a song about making you strong and fit to fight. It's one of my favorite Disney songs. The chorus part of it sings, "We must be swift as the coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire, mysterious as the
dark side of the moon." It pushed me to go further and be stronger than I had felt like being in the moments before the song came on.

At about mile 6 1/2 Kiss began playing "Beth." Just hearing my little girl's name being sung put a smile on my face and I began thinking of the example I'm trying to set for my children. I want the to be proud of their Momma, and I want them to grow into strong, confident, healthy and most of all, happy young women.

I think it was in mile 7 when I heard Hooked on a Feeling and the line in there about "keep it up girl." I focused on those words and told myself I absolutely could keep it up. I was going to finish what I started today. I refused to quit early at this point.

It was the final mile, though, where I really battled and needed the most help from my music to take my mind into another place. At mile 7 1/2 I got a dreaded side stitch and tried harder to control my breathing to get rid of it. I heard shots being fired from a nearby range and knew James was probably on that exact range firing his rifle with his guys as that's what they've been doing this week. Playing on my mp3 at the very moment I was hearing the range shots was Billy Dean's You Don't Count the Cost and the lyrics about a soldier fighting for his home. I burst with pride from all that my husband has endured over these past several years of war, and all that he sacrifices along with thousands of other soldiers, so that we can be free. I never forget, though, that freedom isn't free. But as the song says, "you don't count the cost."

My eight miles ended with me feeling an enormous sense of pride and a gratitude to God that I'm healthy and able-bodied enough to do what I'd just done. My time on the track was done just as Billy Dean's song was finishing, having reminded us all that "if you ever doubt it just think about the Cross, because when it comes to love you don't count the cost."

Final report, eight miles in 1 hour, 43 minutes. Completed with the help of a lot of music, thoughts of those I love, and pride to be who and what I am in America.