What voodoo magic is this brew??

It's empty in the valley of your heart
The sun, it rises slowly as you run
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left behind
- Sandy

I read somewhere awhile ago that if you've been running consistently for any amount of time, you've figured out how to make yourself poop. I was mystified by this. I've been running since I was about 10 years old and this skill as eluded me all these years. In fact, before half marathons I always took an Imodium (the night before and morning of) to ensure my run wouldn't be interrupted by the call of nature. And it generally works, except in my one fill marathon I still ended up waiting in the poop line for about 10 minutes. Very frustrating. So this morning I did an 8k trail run and decided to take a different approach. I drank a mocha on my way there, and within 30 minutes I had to go. I stopped at a gas station so I wouldn't have to deal with the mess of port-a-pottys. I arrived at the run with a bounce in my step and an eager gleam in my eye. Unprecedented. I even had to go again before the run, which resulted in a similar situation as last time I pooped in a port-a-potty before a race. Let's just say my shooting average could use some improvement. I pity the fool who went in after me. But I digress. I felt pretty damn good most of the run. It wasn't in the mountains as much as I hoped, and was really a trail through generally level desert. But it was beautiful and I got to watch the sunrise. And, I finished in exactly an hour, which was rather miraculous. I went into today without any goal except, of course, to finish. I figured 1:10 would be a very good time and more likely 1:15 or 1:20. So to finish in 60:48 was a wonderful surprise. I don't know why it took me so many years to be able to figure out how to choke down coffee and learn this little runners secret, but in glad I did. After the run I picked up and delivered valentines for my babies. What an awesome V-day it is!! Nothing better than spending time doing the things you love. Peace.