110 minutes

Get the title? It's like a play on "127 Hours" except this was way less time and I didn't lose a limb by the end of it. 

First and foremost, I survived running for 110 minutes, and although my body may be pained tomorrow, my sense of humor is still in tact today. This is a win, in my book. 

My long run needed to happen today or tomorrow. Looking at the weather forecast, today looked far superior, so I thought I should be smart and go do it. Plus, I needed a focus today... something that would get me active and moving and give my brain some down time. 

I decided today's long run would have to take place somewhere other than my part of town. I am tired of looking at the field, the golf courses, and the road kill on the highway. So, Notre Dame seemed like a good choice. One, it's Thanksgiving break, so campus was mostly deserted. Two, I figured if I did indeed die, I was THAT much closer to God. Three, I was already out, and it seemed like a good idea to put on my running clothes and not allow myself to come home until I actually did the run. 

I parked at Saint Mary's and started through campus. I ran past Holy Cross (shout out to my room 19 roommates) and then ran down The Avenue toward ND. It was a BEAUTIFUL day for a run -- 55 degrees, wind, and sun. Perfection, especially for late November. 

I got onto ND's campus and decided to run the perimeter of the campus first. I did a lot of thinking today. Idle thoughts in no particular order:

-Yesterday, my Uncle Phil, an avid cyclist pointed out that bikers are smiling and happy at the end of their rides but runners always look like they want to keel over. Generally speaking, I find this to be true, so I tried to look cheerful as I scurried around campus. 

-Gee, the last time I was in the Library Lot, I was taking pudding shots out of Diane Healy's ziploc bag. Ahhhh, sweet memories. 
-There's the Backer! I really need to start doing more on this campus than just tailgaiting...

-I wonder if Aleve can be considered a food group. I totally think it's a food group. 

-Boy, I can't wait to get to the Grotto to get some water. I'm thirsty.
-I wonder if I went to Let's Spoon if I could get some yogurt AND water and then keep running without a stomach ache. 

-(Five minutes in) Crap, I totally should have gone to the bathroom before I started running. Good thing I don't have water. 

About halfway through my run, I went to the Grotto. For one, I wanted to drink some water there, but the wouldn't you know, the drinking fountains have been turned off for winter. No water for Angela. For two, I decided it would be a good idea to pray not to die during the second half of my run. For three, I had intentions to talk to God about, people. 

After I finished up at the Grotto, I started back the opposite direction for round two of the run. At this point, a nice British man and his gaggle of children asked me where the Grotto was. I took this as a good sign, meaning, I must not look like I'm going to vomit since someone willingly spoke to me. On my way back, it had cooled down a bit, and the sun was starting to set (after all, it was, like, 4:30 p.m.) so I was glad I had on my long sleeve running shirt purchased this morning at Kohl's. 

Surprisingly, the rest of the run went very smoothly. And as I neared my car again (my little Civic never looked so pretty!), I thought, I could keep going if I had to. Maybe that's just the fact that I don't have to do a run this long the ENTIRE MONTH OF DECEMBER talking, but it was a great feeling nonetheless. I survived. And I was even sort of smiling at the end of it. 

I'm not one to toot my own horn, but today feels fantastic. So just for tonight, I'm going to allow myself to feel like a rockstar... and eat an entire pizza.