One Minute, Please

Earlier this evening, I went for my second walk of the day.  The sidewalks of downtown were as clear as a summer's day.  Despite the cold, I was ready to move.  When the walk takes place before 6:00, I'm at the mercy of the parking meter, but I can use it as a timing mechanism so I'm able to time my walk.  I usually park in front of Kitchen Queen and off I go, heading west on Water St. until I turn up by the Delta walking all the way down Duckworth St. and eventually turning down by the TD building and back to my original starting point.  That has always taken twenty-one minutes.  I go around three times in the evening making one full hour of walking.  Tonight, I decided to step it up a notch.  As luck would have it, my MP3 player started with Love Inc.'s, "You're a Superstar".  Off I went with the song on repeat.  To keep up with the tune, I had to pick up the pace and when you do that for an extended period, you can really feel your legs.  I've never been able to break that 21-minute time, that is, until tonight.  To shave one minute off my time was incredible.  Sure, it was just one minute but what it took to get to that minute was powerful.  The smile on my face made me want to continue walking to just that song.  Wouldn't you know it, on the second time around, I did it in 19 minutes.  By that time, smoke could be noticed coming from my sneakers!  It was time to slow down on the third trip around.  That's what it is when you're committed.  You begin to set new records and then you begin to beat even those ones.  For me, it was quite an accomplishment.  As I'm writing this, I went to You Tube to listen to that song just a few more times.  I wonder was she thinking of me as she was belting out that tune!