Ok calm down. There is no need to be alarmed, no need for a raised level of concern. My Yellow Alert is a good thing. Yellow was the Aura around my Long Run today. Let me explain!
The first thing you have to know is that Yellow is my favorite color. To me, Yellow is like the rays of the Sun down here on the earth. Yellow is Happiness. Yellow Makes me Feel Good! Yesterday when Peter and I stopped at Whole Foods in Princeton, one of the first things I bought was 3 bunches of cut Daffodils. They were closed tight blooms and Oh Sister, they were comin’ home with me! I have them in a small scalloped crystal vase on our kitchen table. Like magic, overnight the blooms opened into the most gorgeous trumpets! It is as if my kitchen is lit up with Sunshine. The happiness in the house is palpable for me. Yellow brightens up my life, it lifts my spirits, and who knew……it lifted me physically down the street on my long run today. Here’s what happened.
I stepped out of the house this morning for a 10 mile long run. The FIRST time I ever attempted to run that far. E.V.E.R. I’ve done a 9 mile long run. But distances beyond that, well……this is the New Frontier! But that’s OK. I’m following Marathon Brian’s Best Advice Ever. “Be excited about it Diane. You’ve never done it before, and that’s something to look forward to”. Hurumpf. How do ya like that? Marathon Brian is right. It’s true, and it works. With excitement and an iPod full of awesome music, I walked out the front door and headed down my street. 10 miles — HERE I COME!
After my 5 minute warm up — I started to run. And almost immediately, the song, YELLOW started on my iPod. Oh God, it’s one of my all time favorite Coldplay songs. Haven’t heard it? Oh, check it out. To me, it’s just a perfect song, and with Chris Martin singing in my ears, I made a turn around a bend and the Whole Street Was Lit in Yellow. The normally in obvious green bushes that line the fence that marks the beginning of our housing development were lit up — Ahhh, it’s THAT time of year — the forsythia is in bloom and the world outside has been set ablaze with sunshine!
Oh sweet — it doesn’t get much better than this. 10 miles of Yellow Joy.
Yeah, that’s what it was. The color carried me the whole way, and my mood was like a blender full of excitement, spring, and Yellow sunshine. Any residue of worry or fear I had about the long run ahead of me…..faded away as I soaked in the forsythia on fire in front of me. I travelled all the normal sidewalks, and made all the expected turns on my route – but the world was all different today. My world was in Technicolor and my mood was elevated right along with it. My eyes were trained now, to look out for any other Yellow out there on the road. It became a game that kept me busy, alert, distracted, and Happy. I spotted everything I could with any touch of Yellow. East Brunswick’s Yellow recycling cans, nobs on fire hydrants, plastic slides and kids toys, Yellow houses, daffodils, plastic tubing around the phone lines, Yellow cars (YES, they exist), pedestrian crossing signs, little ducks on a lady’s lawn, ….and when all else failed — New Jersey’s license plates are a sorta beige-Yellow combination! SCORE!
When I was tired, and boy did I get tired…..I would promise myself that I would run to the next spot of Yellow. And then to the next, and the next….and so on. Yellow became my motivational tool today, and it didn’t disappoint. Today was a P.E.R.F.E.C.T. spring day, and I loved being out there. I finished my 10 mile long run in 2 hours, which was a 12:00 pace. So, I know now that my Half Marathon time will be around the 2:36 I was expecting. SWEET! Confidence is Building Like a Sail —- and I’m Learning to Fly!
The other cool thing about today’s run is that I already KNOW that I can do this. I can finish the Half Marathon. It’s not a Doubt anymore. It’s a Fact. A Known. Not an Unknown. And I’m going to KEEP reminding myself of that, so it will chip away and wear down any bits of worry or fear that try to creep in over the next 4 weeks. Get outta here Fear. Hit the road Worry. There’s no place for you here anymore. I WANT to run on race day with Joy and Excitement. THEY will be my new companions now!
I WANT to run as a WINNER in my Race of 1. On Half Marathon Day, I WANT to run in Yellow! I’ve got 4 weeks to find myself the perfect Yellow T-Shirt! It’s a Plan, a Really Really Satisfying Plan!
Ciao for now……..Diane