Ultimate Goal: Temple Run running

G playing Temple Run...shortly after I
took this he let me know that rage was
coursing through his veins and he wasn't
going to bed until he got a million points
without any powerups...just play and you'll
understand.

Although my euphoria from the previous workout had been long forgotten and the process of getting myself ready and running was not easy, I did run again on Tuesday...at the gym. I mean come on, a run is a run. Plus, it was speedwork and thus, conducive to the treadmill. It helped to drag my husband along with and to know that someone was miserable along with me. While I was chugging through the 1 mile slow, 3 miles fast, 1 mile slow I kept wishing that running was as easy as it is for the little guy on Temple Run. It's a game on your phone to which Graham and I are legitimately addicted. I highly recommend you install it if you haven't played it before. You're an Indiana Jones looking guy and you run through these temples avoiding obstacles and collecting points. The longer you can stay alive and running, the higher your score and the faster little Indie runs. I couldn't stop thinking about the game - as more time passes he gets faster. 

What if it was like that for me? What if the longer I ran, the faster I went and the more gold (energy) I collected? Sometimes you see people running who look like they're the Temple Runner come to life. They stride smoothly and strongly at an impressive clip and I can only imagine that the longer they run, the faster their gait. It's easy to write them off as some lucky a-hole who scored majorly in the genetic lottery and came out part gazelle. But if I'm only slightly more mature, it's actually kind of inspiring to see really good runners. I've seen the same guy at Queeny Park in Saint Louis (an awesome park with tons of trails) three times now. We seem to be running comparable distances though his bouts look much less labored than mine. The first time I saw him, he was powering up hills on what Graham's family has dubbed the "roller coaster" section of Queeny. I convinced myself that he was just starting his run and had fresh legs. The second time I saw him twice and he was about 4 minutes from lapping me as I did two big loops. I couldn't pose much of an argument that time. The third time I saw him I was stretching post run as he cruised by me to complete yet another loop. He gave me a big smile and said "what a great day for a run!" as he glided by. You can't not like the guy. He was rocking it and from the looks of things, he did so frequently. What a cool thing. That kind of dedication to and mastery of running is not something I have right now, but maybe someday. In the meantime, I'll endeavor to be less of a hater and try to emulate that kind of effort. Hell, in 13 weeks or so, maybe I'll even be a little closer to Temple Run running.

Oh and over the course of me writing this blog, my 28 year old husband played countless games of Temple Run, threw at least three tantrums (one of which included him literally slamming his balled up fists into the bed), declared he would play "one more game" at least three times and then finally stopped in a major huff with lots of dramatic sighing and fussing. After all the antics, he picked up the book he is currently reading "The Grand Design" by Stephen Hawking and quietly settled down to read before bed. The man is complex.