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Rom-com Run

January 29, 2019 (Night)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
After taking a day off, I found myself almost free of aches and pains this evening, probably because my run was mostly uphill. Okay, I know that's geometrically, geographically, and geologically impossible unless you happen to be running around an M.C. Escher painting (http://web.sbu.edu/theology/bychkov/escher_stairs.html) or you end your run at the top of a giant slide, but it just kinda felt that way, okay? I think running downhills aggravates my back-of-the-knee and hamstring tweaks, so I chose run uphill more aggressively and downhill more gingerly, and that seemed to work out pretty well.

I'm generally not a big fan of romantic comedies (with certain, very important exceptions*), and the Romcoms I do like tend to be more on the "com" end of the spectrum and less on the "Rom" end. Thus, when I saw that this week's This American Life episode was all about real-life RomCom moments, I almost decided to skip it entirely and go to another podcast. But then I remembered I'd committed myself to listen to every single T.A.M. episode from the past year--maybe all 16 seasons, I dunno--and so figured I'd give it a try. The first story...gosh, that got me. The second one, meh. But the third one, oh... I must admit, I have don't know if I've ever had my heart so positively melt in the middle of a run that I just had to stop and get ahold of myself. There I was in the middle of a state highway on a lonely mountain in the middle of the night half jumping up and down, half covering my face while squealing with delight, half doubled over with the weight of emotions I don't really have words for but are definitely on the happy/overjoyed/overwhelmed category. Luckily, the story was called "the run" and running plays a central part in the story so that got me running again. In case, if you listen to podcasts or even if you don't I recommend it. Even if you're not a Romcom person.

*Exceptions: When Harry Met Sally, Keeping the Faith, Love Actually.