Baby, I'm a Firework!

Cliff notes: 

I ran a mile!

I wore my iPod!

It was good! OK, it was so far beyond good, it's not funny. 

Longer version, if you have time: 

I set out this afternoon with the intent of walking five miles. My knee felt OK, I ate part of a cinnamon roll at breakfast to make the longer miles necessary and it was too windy to ride my bike. 

I don't normally wear music because I traverse a 55 mph road and it's just not safe. But today I decided to stay off that road and thought I might need an extra boost. I just wasn't feeling it, if you know what I mean. 

Walking my quarter-mile warm-up, I still wasn't feeling it. The sun was trying to come out, but not there yet. I was thinking about where I was a year ago ... and how far away I was from it. I could feel that old  "poor me" creeping in as I thought about the 6-, 8- and 10-mile runs I was doing a mere 52 weeks earlier.  I start crying. Bawling, really. It's just all falling out of me. 

And then Katy Perry jumped in. 

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag

Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?

(I want to start again ...)

Do you ever feel already buried deep six feet under?
Scream but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there's still a chance for you
'Cause there's a spark in you?

(There IS a spark in me. Look, my feet are moving faster in time with the music ....)

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause, baby, you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

(Laughing? Really? Now I'm laughing? I look like a firework in this neon yellow shirt. Think I could run?) 

You don't have to feel like a wasted space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

(Is my "hurricane" over? Is there a rainbow? Ironic how the sun comes out just now.)

Maybe you reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it's time you'll know

And I run. I run for one glorious mile. Up a little hill, down the same hill. I'm not winded. I'm also not fast. In fact, a slower mile may have never been run. But I ran. 

The music keeps coming. 

Every song is pushing me on. I decide to turn this into a long walk just as, "I'm Sexy and I Know It" pops in my ears. 

Now I'm smiling. The sun is shining. The wind is blowing. I'm inventing unbelievably fantastic choreography that goes with this:

 

Ah girl look at that body

Look at that body

Look at that body
I work out!

When I walk in the spot, this is what I see
Everybody stops and they staring at me,
I got passion in my pants,
And I ain't afraid to show it (show it, show it, show it)
I'm sexy and I know it...
I'm sexy and I know it
... and all is right with the world. Eight and a half miles. Finally.

(I bet my neighbors were wondering what sort of apoplectic fit that crazy walking woman was having.)