Starbucks Girl Lost 100 Pounds

One of my habits is making the block long walk on a regular, almost obsessive basis, down to the local Starbucks coffee shop. I agree with Sensationally Red and others that there is no downside to caffeine in moderation but I just drink too darned much coffee. It isn't that I like the coffee so much that keeps me trekking back and forth to Starbucks. The reason I go down there so often is that I live alone and I get lonely. There's always a smile and a "hey Sam" down there because I'm one of the regulars and I'm sure they laugh behind my back about "the old runner who comes in here all the time" but I don't really care about that. Years ago I'm sure the comments about me were on the order of "oh shit, here he comes and he's drunk, quick let's get the hell out of here because there's going to be trouble." So, even though I still have my issues, I know I'm improving my health and have enhanced the peace of mind of those who know me.

My plan this evening was to write a note about the fabulous 9 mile run this morning in a cool breeze, low humidity and sunny lakefront. The reality is for whatever reason I struggled with the run from start to finish. I knew through the early miles that something wasn't right and I don't have a clue what was wrong. I was talking to someone else in my group about it and they offered up the tired old phrase "some runs are like that." Welp, guess they're right. I got through it, kept pace and all, but it wasn't the run I wanted. Poor me.

I've been a bit pissed all day about the crappy run but my last trip to Starbucks for the evening pulled me out of my funk. The tall pretty girl looked a bit tired or down so I asked her how she was and she kind of frowned and mumbled something like same old crap or whatever. Now that I'm old I've gotten used too and accepted the fact that young people many times feel they can confide their true feelings to me, and in reality they can do that without fear of judgment. I don't know why that is, it just is, sort of like the crappy run...it was just that way, no particular reason.

She knows I run for a living so she said she might be tired because she usually runs 3 or 4 miles on her own but today she ran 6-1/2 with a friend. Could be she was just tired.

But then the sky opened up and with a big beautiful smile she told me she lost 100 pounds by running and with better eating habits. "I used to be a big girl," she said. I looked at her big smile that had been absent a few seconds ago and I offered up something really bright like "holy crap, that's just wonderful" or something like that, then my eyes teared up and so did hers but we both had a big smile on our faces and I told her I started working out and running about 15 years ago, not because I was overweight but because I was underweight, had almost no muscle tone left anywhere and despised myself.

I walked home with my tall coffee and also dragged home a moca frappucino for the doorman. The frap had a big load of calories in it, the Starbucks girl said, and it wouldn't be good for me to drink. Well, that's true but once in awhile I do splurge and the doorman is in his early 30s and plays pretty aggressive hoops on an almost daily basis...so he'll be okay.

So my habitual trips to Starbucks are usually a waste of time and money but tonight's journey was pretty eventful for me. In a few short minutes I could see the humor in my situation and my irritation at a so-called bad run and I understood again that there are no bad runs, some are just better than others.