Smarty Pants

Day 48 of 130
Ks covered:315
Ks to go: 787
General mood: pretty good
Running highlight: Finished my long run
Equipment status: Muddy
Body status: Still going
Weight: 145.5 lbs

Stephen Hawking, watch your back.

We’ve all heard that running makes you smarter and I’m proof positive it’s true.

This morning, 315K into my new life as a “serious” runner I was stunned to find a Wall Street Journal next to my toilet instead of my US Weekly. What’s more? Last night I found the contestants on Jeopardy hot.

All the signs are here – thanks to running, I am approaching genius territory. But, to be sure, I tested the theory. Forget stretching, the instant I came back from my 25K long run this morning I wrote the “reading comprehension” section of the American SAT test.

Some background – I went to a brand-name U.S. university but got in for my uncommon good looks, NOT my brilliant SAT score. I don’t remember my actual mark on the exam, but I do know it was record-breakingly low. As in,  Becky-Gardiner- English-Major-journalist-did-better-on-the-Math-then-the-English, low. As in, didn’t-meet-a-single-person-at-the-university-with-a-lower-mark-not-even-someone-on-the-football-team, low.

Today,  I scored 21 out of 25 on reading comprehension.  This my friends, is wicked awesome — As a double-blind, I made my three-year-old sit the same test. She scored a big fat ZERO. Man, is she stupid.

What’s changed between now and my life as a 17-year old? The only thing that comes to mind is my running. To push me over the edge as far as Genius’ go, I’ve thought of a few more ways running can increase my brain power — On my next long run, my husband will sit on an all-terrain-cooler drinking Creemore and quizzing me with flash cards, I will store my sneakers with the socks already in them, and I will sing all the songs on my running mixes in Latin (Note to self, learn Latin). Hate to brag, but just these IDEAS are Mensa-like.

Okay, so Einstein wasn’t Kenyan, but maybe those guys are too smart to sit around thinking physics… they ARE physics.Yes, by the time my sub-4:20 marathon is over, I’ll be so smart… I’ll probably realize I shouldn’t have started. Or maybe I’ll just be tired.

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