This Is Why We Run

I made my train. I had to run the long three blocks from the 2/3 Subway Station on 125th to the Metro-North Station on 125th and Park Ave at something like 90% effort, but...  I did make it.

The problem was that the 1 Train was running express on the 2/3 tracks (which are normally express), and although I'm sure they made an announcement, I was listening to Ross Tucker talk with Andrew Brandt about this week's shakeups in the Cleveland Browns organization via podcast. No, the Browns  don't concern me in the slightest, but Ross Tucker is generally far more interesting than the subway announcements usually are, so it's usually a no-brainer. Key word: Usually.  Bottom line, I caught the first express train that came, closed my eyes, and the next thing I knew, we were at 103rd Street on the West Side. 

Oops. 

Got out, ran up and over to the other side of the tracks and caught the next 1 Train back to 96th Street.  Then I ran back up and over to the side I started on, saw yet another "express" 1 Train but managed to avoid getting on it, and eventually caught a 3 Train that was actually headed my way. *WHEW*

Only now I realized that I was gonna miss my train.  Dammit!

Fully ten minutes later, we arrived at 125th, and I looked down. My watch said 4:47. My train was scheduled for 4:50, and the stations are maybe a half-mile apart. By coincidence, I wore an old pair of New Balance 990s to the office his morning--I keep real shoes under my desk and change once I get in--and Metro-North tends to run about three minutes late. I took off at a dead run, backpack swinging like crazy.

I made it, obviously. I had to finish strong and push hard up the stairs to the platform in order to get to the doors before they closed, but who cares?  Getting home on time is well worth the effort, and anyway, this is why we train, is it not?  

All that running's got to pay off some time. Might as well be today.