Αγάπη μου, είσαι στην καρδιά μου για πάντα.

I did the Tough Mudder yesterday. With this guy:

Okay, so, we only ran together for about 3 minutes before he owned me.

And I am so sunburnt! Like, annoying sports bra with odd cut-out in the back sunburnt. Ugh. And sore. And torn apart in the kneeses and forearms. It feels awesome. I flew up the stairs all day so far. The music throughout yesterday was awesome, but probably my favorite was the bagpipes that played for the fallen police lieutenant by his squad. They ran, and they were probably the best of the emotions involved. Short anecdote: After going through a few onstacles alongside the men in red t-shirts for their fallen partner (there were probably 50+), heaving either as well-sculpted men or large guys just trying to get by, finally, alone, I was alongside a pair. We were carrying logs up the ski slope, and I said, "I think it's really wonderful, what you guys are doing out here," and one turned to look at me and said, "You know, it's so hard today. I haven't stopped thinking about him for a minute yet."

There were a lot of very memorable incidents, but I'd like to note that the day fully restored my confidence in running as the all-time best sport ever. It's emotional, it's mental, it develops confidence and sense of achievement, but most of all, the fundamentals have always supported comradery. And this run, which was all about being tough and doing tough things and proving yourself, really shifted when we got there, and became all about toughing it together. People were already encouraging each other up the first hill, already going back for teammates. As I crawled through the snow with strangers on either side of me, I picked up exhausted handfuls and sprinkled them on their backs, rubbed their arms with the melting ice. And they did it back. Men heaved me over 12ft walls and after I established myself as one of the most badass women in the first water obstacle, I WENT BACK TO HELP A HUGE BLACK MAN. Teamwork. It's gorgeous. Oh and this guy caught me from sliding all the way down a mud hill-- minimal blood lost.

In other news, I'm baking bread. Oh wait, no I'm not, I don't have ingredients.

lolmgawd

When I worked at a minigolf place, one of my duties was, if I noticed groundhogs, to sprinkle the area with powdered grape drink mix. My boss, Jess, said they didn't like it. I wonder if that true, or if he just wanted to get rid of that powdered drink mix and thought it would be funny to watch.

Finally, some music. I'm not including any Philharmonic, but I'd just like to say that Philharmonic is one of the most beautiful words ever. Also, try being from Philadelphia and typing Philharmonic without a typo.