A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to 4 Miles......

This may be fall in the category of "you had to be there" or it was "better in person" but I"ll do my best to describe today's fun times during my run:

1. Started the run with Run DMC's "It's Tricky." This is the song that is scorched in my mind as my brother's -- Chris. So, when it started -- I started to smile and laugh out loud. Forgetting that I had my music blasting at full volume -- note to self: full volume is necessary; you have no ability to think of anything else when the music is so loud it fries your brain and numbs your senses to feel any pain or any other emotion other than loud music......I digress -- so, forgetting the volume -- I"m sure the people around me thought that I was more than a little insane when I said -- and probably yelled -- this one's for you Chris.

2. Usually, on short runs -- I notice the things immediately in front of me, rather than wander beyond 10 feet. Today, I decided to notice shirts people were wearing. Found some great ones -- these were my top three today:

A. A running shirt that said: Run. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Seems like all I do these days. So, I liked it. Very Fitting.

B. A pack of fast as crap runners running toward me on the trail. Maybe 15 girls in the pack. All cut, all young, all fast as shit. First thought -- depressing. Second though -- damn they are fast. Third thought -- there is a shit load of them. Fourth thought -- damn they are young -- high school. Fifth thought -- Oh, they are the UT Cross Country Team...hmm, am I that old that I think college girls are high school girls...eek. Then, out of the corner of my eye -- I see it. A really killer t-shirt -- maybe I notice it because she is the only one in the pack of hard-bodied, pre-having-birth-of-twin bodies to be wearing a shirt. It says: KICK ASSphalt. Hmm -- bout sums it up. I'll be kicking 26.2 miles of it in two weeks from today! Very Fitting once again!

C. Now -- the best shirt of the run. It was at the end, I had just finished. Walking back to my car. Let me set the visual. Little man in stature; big man in belly. Maybe a taller danny devito with more hair and tortoise shell glasses. Earnestly walking around the trail.......When I say big belly -- it's exactly that -- a big belly. Clearly, they guy eats his fair share of pasta.....Clearly, he needs to be walking the pasta off......Then I see his shirt: huge letters. White shirt, black letters -- kind of like those old Wham shirts from the 80's or those ACA Joe shirts from the 80's [I am fully aware that I have just dated myself, massively -- but you get the picture]. It says: Fat Ass. I almost choked on my gum [yes, I run with gum, sorry sally -- keeps the pace]. I laughed so hard. I had to go up to him and tell him that I loved the shirt. His explanation: "I love it, too. I wear it because you gotta have a sense of humor out here. Too many of these folks take this exercise stuff too seriously. I hate it [exercising] but obviously have to do it. Might as well has some fun with it." He owns the t-shirt kiosk in Barton Creek Mall -- he told me the other shirts he wears on the trail -- I cannot repeat them on this public forum. He wears them to get comments and break up the monotony of the trail. I had a great laugh and I think he did, too.

Two weeks from today! Let's rock it!