Birthday Runs Rock

YAHOO!!! It's 12-12 which around here means it's my birthday!! Yeah!!!! I do so love my birthday!! There were years where there was no chance you'd hear me say, "To start off my birthday, I'd like to go for a run." No way!! But, those days are long gone, and a run was just how I wanted it to start ... after the moans and groans of actually having to get out of bed!

It's a short-run day, so I considered running for 43 minutes it being my 43rd birthday. However, that is a 4-mile run, and I wasn't interested in any birthday barf from Elly, so we stuck to 3! (Next year, though, the plan is 12 miles ... 12 miles on 12-12-12 ... awesome! Oh, but if weather prevents it, I'm not ... hear me, not! ... running it on the treadmill. I will, instead, figure out where to run for 44 minutes and call it good!).

Back to this year ... Here's the crew before we began:

I do so love you, running pal ...

(Want to see something funny? It's not just people who get caught with their eyes shut in a picture:)

HA! Cracked me up!

ANYWAY ... this is the same place I began and ended my very first-ever birthday run 3 years ago. It was my 40th birthday, and I'd been running for almost four months at that point. The route was difficult, and I struggled, but I was determined to run that day. And, I did. I was happy, and I was tired. So was Elly!

Here we are three years later cruising along in the same area. It's become so routine that instead of using all of my mental energy encouraging myself, I now spend at least the first mile saying my daily prayers. Today's focused on being thankful for my health, for my family and what they bring to me and to this world, for the wonderful friends I have, and for the happiness that surrounds me and is inside of me. I so enjoy taking that time in the beginning of a run to have a concentrated chat with God. On birthdays, it's all the more fabulous.

So, there I was reflecting on the things that really matter in my world, and I'd just said to myself (literally), "There's no way a penny is going to be found today ... you just thought about what was really important," when BAM. Penny right at my feet! I'm pretty sure the people in the car dealership across the street heard me proclaim, "Are you kidding me?!"

Then, post-run, I rewarded myself with an ice cold Diet Coke (yum!) and not only found a penny getting out of my car, but I also found one on the way back to it. Happy Birthday to ME!

It's almost surreal to say that this was a perfect way to begin my day, but it was! I will think about how perfect it was as I partake in my very yummy chocolate birthday cake tonight while watching last night's finale of The Amazing Race. Yet another theme -- I don't race, but my run did feel amazing! Enjoy your day, and I'll see you on Rest Day!