I was running yesterday…
Wait. Let me explain. I don’t run. Well, I do… but it is very new to me, and this is how it happened. Everyone in my family is training for something… Jane for a full marathon and Half Ironman, Audrey for a 1/2 marathon, Audrey’s husband Matt for a Half Ironman, Keith for his second Half Ironman, my daughter-in-law Nicole for a full marathon and her second Half Ironman, Adam for something to-be-announced, and my daughter-in-law Aimee for a 1/2 marathon.
Phew!
So… I thought maybe I should be getting into a better structured exercise program to accomplish my goal of finishing a sprint triathlon. I actually began training last February for a July sprint triathlon, but the flu in late March knocked me down for the count. This year, I began anew. When I laced up my running shoes a couple of weeks ago, I headed outside and ran about 1/2 mile. Soon I was running a mile. Then I began to run 2 miles. And so on. I don’t have totally cool running gear… but I do have an iPod that Jane gave me LAST Christmas (2007) for my sprint triathlon training. I never took it out of the box… until last Friday. Jane set it up for me and Barry and Jane uploaded lots of songs onto it. I had some say in the song selection, but I told them to mix it up and bit and toss in some unexpected surprise tunes…
… and this brings me back to running yesterday.
I was running along the streets of my little town with my iPod safely tucked into my pocket and tunes dancing through my head. I couldn’t believe the difference in running with music as opposed to, well… listening to my shoes, the cars, the wind. I was sailing along. Almost floating. At one point I looked at my watch and realized that I had been running for 40 minutes. Fast. And I had more energy than ever. Barry was walking the same route that I was running, and I kept looping back to say hello. Barry is so proud of me for taking on this goal and his smile was so happy, so big. Barry is incredibly proud of each of us… and even though he cannot run anymore due to a hip replacement, he is always there with a smile, a high-five, a giant hug and kiss.
So there I was, sailing along, thinking how much I love my husband… and my iPod began this kind of orchestrated prelude and then… the lyrics… “I could stay awake just to hear you breathing/Watch you smile while you are sleeping/While you are far away and dreaming…” Yes, Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing. I have always thought of Barry when I hear this song… how when we first began dating, I never wanted him to leave. He is that presence. That wonder. That love. And after all these years, these decades, I feel exactly the same. I don’t want to close my eyes. I don’t want to fall asleep. ‘Cuz I don’t want to miss a thing.
I love this feeling.
One pair of running shoes. Aerosmith. One song. One man. I think I’m gonna kick some proverbial ass at my first sprint triathlon!
What song does this for you!?
Sharon,
I just loved this post. I love to run too (unfortunately it is not possible to do so where I live now as it is 3 degrees outside!). More importantly I love the man in my life the same way you love yours. The words you used and the love behind them when speaking of your husband just warmed my heart. I know just how you feel. Thank you for sharing your sentiment and the feelings of love you have. You are a beautiful soul.
Elizabeth
I loved this post Sharon! You and Barry are such an inspiring love story. It’s so wonderful to hear about a couple who are still madly in love, despite all that life hands you.
I love your blog!
When I’m walking from the subway station to home songs in my iPod will boost me to walk so fast that sometimes I feel like I’m flying. It’s awesome. I don’t particularly know what songs.. but fast ones.
Aside from wanting a song to have this effect on me… I can’t wait to find someone to have that effect on me! That couples like you and Barry exist is a source of joy to everybody who gets to meet you both. Thank you for that!
What a wonderful post, Sharon. 🙂 I have always thought that songs are one of the most powerful ways to bring back memories and take you right back to some moment, years ago, as if you were actually there again. I get that feeling with a lot of songs – but, as for Pete, “our song” (in that sense) will always be Wonderful Tonight. And congratulations on your training! You (and the rest of your family!) have so much to be proud of. I’m impressed!
I need a coach…will you be mine? Really, I need someone to crack that whip so I can get back on my program…..I admire you so much. I have always hated running, but I do love walking. I love that Aerosmith song! I have a very diverse collection of songs on my ipod that I walk to. I love love love Celtic Women & Neil Diamond, Credence Clearwater & Three Dog Night…Oh yeah and Clay Aiken! LOL……I’m wierd, right?
Honey…what can I say.
I can’t help it if I love you.
When we first started going out together in the mid-seventies, we listened to Bob Dylan a lot. The Dylan song that connected the two of us at first was probably;
“Something there is about you” Do you remember that?
Something there is about you that strikes a match in me
Is it the way your body moves or is it the way your hair blows free?
Hanging out on Friday evenings in our fourth floor walk-up in Providence. Walking around the city at night and on weekends.
Very special moments for me.
I love You.
Oh, Sharon! I love the way you love your man! By far, you are the sweetest couple I’ve ever known!
This is silly but Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” always makes me think of my husband because when we were getting married, we asked his sister to sing at our wedding. She asked if we’d picked a song and he said (he’s NEVER serious, by the way!), “We were thinking Pour Some Sugar on Me!” For just a few seconds, she was unsure what to say because she thought he was serious. We all still laugh about that and J. and I always say that’s our love song 🙂
Sharon,
God bless you for your fortitude! I have walked miles for many years (began in 1991 when recovering from cancer and decided to develop a healthy lifestyle). I attempted several times to run. All I wanted to do was ONE MILE! Could not do it. No strength, no stamina. I’ve worked out at gyms, gone it a little at a time, but not success.
But I still walk, and I love my i-pod too (my favorite toy EVER), and I love my husband, also of 32 years, so deeply, too.
I love this posting, it says so much about you and your life and your love and your freedom of spirit.
….maybe I’ll try again….