Last February, this sweet little gal asked me, all innocent like, "Gee, would you like to run a half- marathon with me in April?"
It sounded like she was inviting me to a card-making party. Or a Girls Night Out involving chocolate and Jane Austin. It sounded potentially fun and certainly easy.
Still I had reservations, "I dunno, will it be hard?"
She batted her big blue eyes and smiled, "Oh no. I did one before and it only took me like a week to train." She was holding an infant carseat at her hip. It contained her baby who has has been known to eat my necklaces when I hold her. Sweet Little Gal claimed, "I'm going to do it, and I'm not even in shape this time."
"Uhhhhhhhhh. . . do I get a t-shirt?"
She was all nods and smiles.
I agreed.
Later at home I asked Mr. Right, "How long is a half marathon exactly?"
"A little more than 13 miles."
"WHAT?!" I have never, ever claimed to be smart.
Nevertheless I was in and by March Sweet Little Gal and I were cursing each others names and secretly telling our husbands, "If it weren't for her I could quit this disaster waiting to happen."
Now it is April.
We are in the final lap so to speak.
Run day. Walk day. Crawl day. "I am stupid" t-shirt wearing day. Whatever you want to name it, it is 'round the bend.
So here is where you, my dear sweet blog readers, come in.
Because the joints in my legs behave so terribly it's going to take me a looooong time to run my 13 miles.
I'm not so much aiming for a good time as I am aiming to finish.
Sweet Little Gal will leave me in the dust.
I just want to make it home for dinner.
And because of all that time I'll be spending sweating it out, I ask everyone who reads this to contribute a few of their favorite upbeat songs which I can download, trackdown, or otherwise pilfer from the community and load onto my Ipod.
A lot of time needs a lot of songs.
Oh yes, I'm serious.
As I'm running to the beat and wiping salty sweat from my brow I want to look at my Ipod where I'll read, "Good Day - The Click Five (The Princess)".
And I will think of how The Princess likes that song.
See?
60's, 70's, 90's, current. (Notice how I skipped the 80's? Sorry Mr. Right, no Oingo Boingo.)
Pass 'em on and I'll load 'em up.
Then, in a very sentimental and lazy way, you can be with Sweet Little Gal and me as we run,
walk,
or crawl,
our way to the finish line.