"....Those who run seem to have all the fun...."
Hello everyone!
As most of you know, I work at Pasta Pomodoro in Noe Valley and if you're a regular there, you know Friday nights are extremely busy. For some reason, maybe in anticipation of my early Saturday morning runs, I just can not get to sleep after my shift on Fridays. This was the case last night. I got home around 11pm or so, watched tv for a half hour and then went to bed. After tossing and turning for a while, I saw the clock read 1 am. "Great," I thought, "I have to get up in like 5 1/2 hours..." So, i did what any logical person would do....I doped myself up on a bunch of Nyquil. I still haven't decided if that was a good idea.
6:45 am
"FREEDOM! FREEDOM! Got to give for what you take...." George Michael declared from my cell phone as the first of three alarms I've set. But this Saturday morning was different....Why is it dark? And why is my alarm going off? Just as frequently as my Friday night insomnia I get Saturday morning amnesia. Every Saturday it takes me a few beats to remember the commitment i've made and the sad realization dawns on me that i have get up and run 9 miles. The darkness brought to me by daylite savings time did not help. F*ckin' A. I shut George up and drifted back to dreamland.
6:50 am
"If I could turn back time, If I could find away, I'd take back those...." Cher was the second queen to tell me to get my ass out of bed. This time I listened and rolled off my bed, literally. When I hit the floor I was fully awake. So, I got dressed, ate my PB + J, strapped on my running shoes and waited for my ride.
It was a lot colder this morning than I anticipated and, although I was glad it wasn't sunny and warm, I wished it wasn't so damn cold. But soon enough my eight running partners and myself were off.
Its hard enough to motivate myself to get up and run these miles every Saturday, but as Pace Group Leader, I have to motivate 8 OTHER people as well, keep them on pace, make sure they are drinking water and eating at the right times and bring them safely to the finish line.
This has not been as much of a challenge as it was this morning. The group itself was fine and we were doing our best to stay close together and keep the correct pace. But then here rolls up Coach Marko on his bike, "Jaime, keep your group together, Jaime hows your pace? Jaime look at that group, that's what your group needs to look like." I was about to knock him over and give someone else the PGL title. But with some reassurance from my grou I got over it and we managed to complete the run successfully.
There is a certain peace you feel when you're up earlier than most of your peers and you're running through beautiful Golden Gate park. The park is still pretty quiet. The only people around are other runners and the occasional tai-chi group and your left with the rythm of your breathing, the beating of you feet and your thoughts. That is one of the best feelings i've ever experienced.
Now, I didn't experence that this morning, but it is pretty nice. No, this morning i was with my awesome running group. We sing, we talk and basically try to make a spectacle of ourselves. Its great. It makes me glad i'm doing this again.
Since my email last Saturday I've raised $425 which is so so awesome. But it's no where near the amount i need to raise. I'm required to raise $1,800 by the end of April. Again, the money goes to Bay Area organizations that help people living with HIV/AIDS.
Please donate:
Thank you so much.
Peace.
Jaime San Felippo
Runner 7386