Slow Ride

It's great when pieces of a puzzle can come together.

My wonderful and beautiful wife Cindy had surgery yesterday, and a growth was removed. Everything went well, the tumor was benign and by 1:00 she was resting in her hospital bed. We passed the time talking about how well the surgery went, and all the things we were going to do this summer. Traveling to San Diego, Palm Springs, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, "the cabin", Bodie (ghost town), Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Arnold, etc. To have a growth removed in a hospital and actualy call it a good day is a very good thing. Now, I don't know if these are the exact sentiments of Cindy, seeing as she is the one operated on, but I would like to think she would at least partially agree.

This morning I didn't get up until 6:00 and I was feeling quite sluggish. Moving around slowly I got the newpaper and had a snack with my coffee. Since visiting hours aren't until 10:00, I knew I needed to get in a run no matter how sluggish I was feeling. Jogging out the driveway my legs were tired and stiff, moving slowly up the streets to get to the aqueduct. As I jogged along my mind was flooded with all the positive things to be thankful for... the successful surgery, all the travel plans, a day off of work :-), the sunrise, getting to see Cindy in a few hours, etc. Again, it's amazing when things start to come together. Running has done that for me, not only have I lost some weight, but I eat more healthy, think more positively, and make fewer excuses. Back to the run... just as great things are merging together in my mind it happened; "Slow Ride", by Foghat comes on my IPOD playing in my ears. My legs were energized, my mind was running on all cylinders, and all was right in the world. By the time I got to the top of Bunny Hill I had a new P.R. at 29:10 beating my best time by about 20 seconds.

Life's a big puzzle, and I hope I never feel like all the pieces come together otherwise slow or fast it wouldn't be much of a RIDE.