Ecstasy and Everest

Last night, as I sat down to dinner with "Coach" Nash, I caught a glimpse of the couple seated behind him. Smiles were plastered to their faces as they laughed, talked and drank.  Seeing their faces brought a smile to mine.

"Ahh," I exclaimed.

Nash gave me a funny look. We were talking about the North Carolina vs Indiana game. What would cause me to get so excited? (Not that basketball isn't exciting.)

"Nash, I know the couple behind you! It's my friends Wes and Laura!"

"Well, go say hi," he demanded. "It's fine. I know what it's like to see your friends. Go."

"Oh no, no. I'll say hi later." I looked down on my phone and had a text from Wes asking if I was the girl sitting across from him. "Okay, I'll be right back!"

I literally leaped the 4 feet between my table and theirs. "Hi, hi, hi!!! Oh my goodness! You're back from Texas and I'm finally seeing you! This is so great!"

To make a long story short, after dinner with Nash, I went to Wes' friends house for a birthday port with the lovely couple. Many subjects were discussed, but one that stood out to me was the topic of ecstasy and how the drug creates a deep depression in those who choose to keep its company.

"I don't get why people keep doing it if it makes them so depressed," I inputted.

"Because when they are doing it, they are SO happy. When it wears off, they want that happiness again. It's addicting," explained Laura.

Ohhhh... a mountaintop high. The peak of extreme happiness. Society judges those with alcohol and drug addictions. We claim not to understand what they are going through. I come from a family with a history of addiction. I won't divulge, but I can tell you my mom had an addiction to coffee, my father to being a wonderful man and my sister used to be totally addicted to cheetah print and butterflies. Cute, Ash. Those aren't real addictions. Okay, maybe not. Well, the coffee one totally was. That's not my point. So what is your point, Shlee?

I have my own addictions. One of those addictions is to being active. I can't say that I am the best at any sport, that's why I like doing gnarly things that impress other people, like running for 7 hours straight then going straight into work. That may also be the reason that less than 48 hours after my race, I met up with Mike for an 8-mile trail run. It was really pretty easy. And the weather was unbeatable. We started before the sun broke through the darkness but ended surrounded by a brilliant morning light. I love to trail run. There is nothing about it I don't love. I refuse to run with music because it takes away from the experience of running. Running is an experience. It's not a chore. It's not a workout. It's a grand adventure to love and live and cherish. I cherish running, especially when that running is on trails. I burned almost 1,000 calories, then went to teach three cycle classes in a row... finishing with a total burn of 2400 calories for Tuesday. Not too bad.

Music I listen to on my way to run, not during.

Yay for getting back to running!

Today was another day of only two cycle classes, a workout with Austin and Pure Awesomeness. I was supposed to run 5 easy miles today. When I woke up at 4:30AM, the sky was perfect. People had said it was going to rain, but when I left the gym at 7AM and it was still clear, I thought there was no way it would rain. So when Joe texted me and said I could leave the store at 3:30 today instead of 6PM due to the rain, I was quite confused (though very grateful). There is no way it will rain, I thought. I thought wrong.

Two hours later, the clouds turned gray and a cool mist flew through the cool November air. Hmmm shorts probably weren't the best choice... Work was busy and I was excited to get off and run in the rain, but by the time Nash returned to take my place, the mist had turned into a forest of liquid falling from the clouds. I will buy some groceries, have lunch, watch Unbreakable then go on a run. Perfect rainy day, right?

As I turned on my computer to watch the film, Joshua Skyped me. YAY! It was so great just to talk and see his apartment in Australia and hear about his backpacking trip. At one point, it hit me that I was actually seeing Josh's face after over 6 months and a huge grin spread across my wide face. "What are you doing," he asked. "Are you playing with the screen? Is that why you're laughing?"

"I'm not laughing," I lied.

"Yes, you are," he called my bluff. "What are you smiling about?"

Then it turned into this huge ordeal with me laughing uncontrollably and feeling like a dork... which he verified that I was. But I never admitted why I was smiling... until now, that is. When you get to talk to the person who knows you best, there is no way not to smile. Even when we facebook, I smile. It's the same when I get a text from Tucker, a call from Sophie, a random request from Dana or a hug from Nani. There is no way not to smile when these things happen. Especially because when I talk to Josh, I talk about things I love, like training. And running hard. And being a bad A (is for Ashlee).

Sidetracked. Sorry.

So I finished my conversation with Josh and it was already dark out. So much for a run. But I had promised Austin I would be his partner in the challenge at work today, so I walked over to the gym and got my butt kicked hard. 800 calories burned in one hour? Not bad for a circuit class.

It was time to teach Pure Awesomeness, so I walked home and Yomi and I drove in the rain to the next gym. It was a great class. Lots of people, ACDC playing in the background, weight lifting, plyometrics... I might have broken a sweat... Eh.. might have.

So that is my addiction. My ecstasy. My Everest high. If I lost my ability to be active... gosh, I don't even know what I would do. Now I understand why people get addicted to being happy.

Here's a video of addiction gone wrong:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MTn1v5TGK_w

If I didn't love being active, I never would have won first in my age group. So it's a good thing, right?