If You Twist and Turn Away…

One of the things I love about weekends, Modern Philosophers, is that I don’t have to set an alarm, and can get up out of bed whenever the mood hits.

Of course, I still have to answer my little black cat alarm.  Banky gets very cranky if I don’t get up when he demands his breakfast.  After many failed attempts at getting him to hush, I always end up getting up, feeding him, and going back to bed.

That was the drill again on this last morning of May.  When I lumbered down the stairs, still three-quarters asleep, I noticed my legs were extremely achy.  That did not bode well for the morning’s run, but I figured I’d deal with that in a couple of hours.

Thankfully, my exhausted body was able to travel back to Dream Land.  Unfortunately, when I awakened this time, I was still very sore.  Since I am the second coming of Forrest Gump recently, though, I ignored the pain and went for a 4 mile run.

It was a gorgeous morning, and I got to wear one of my shorter Running Togas.  This will do wonders for getting this Modern Philosopher a little sun.  Maine Winters do horrible things to a man’s skin tone, and when I wear a plain white toga, I almost vanish right into it since my skin is so pale.

This was one of those mornings when I had to rely heavily on my music to get me through the 4 miles.  If I allowed myself to think about the pain I was feeling, there was a good chance common sense would take over and force me to head back immediately to The House on the Hill without passing Go or collecting all my sweat points.

With the music cranked, however, I was able to get lost in the words.  I even managed to sing along from time to time when I finally had my breathing under control.  As always, Foo Fighter’s “Walk” was a big time pace picker upper.  That song rocks and makes me want to be a faster runner.  Maybe it’s the irony of the title that gets to me.  Maybe it’s Dave Grohl belting out the words like a drill sergeant.

I made it back to The House on the Hill in a very respectable 40:47.  It was my 18th run of the month, and I still have a ways to go, but I have definitely made great strides (almost 60 miles’ worth!) since the first of May.

As I stretched in the driveway, the sun was pounding down on me pretty hard, and the sweat was rolling off me like there was some wild party it wanted to get to desperately.  There didn’t seem to be an ounce of energy left in my body.

Then, U2’s “Bad” began to play on my MP3 player.  When those familiar opening chords tickled my ears, my body dug into some unknown power reserve.  Suddenly, there was pep in my step and I found my voice.

I sang along with Bono as I finished my stretches, I sang with him as I stood up on the porch and soaked up my gorgeous surroundings, and I sang even louder and danced a little when I went inside the house.

It’s an awesome song and the perfect way to complete my morning’s adventure.  I thought I’d share a video of U2 doing the song live to see if it inspires you as well…

What songs inspire you when you’re exercising, Modern Philosophers?