Nothin'

On this Rest Day, the cat decided it was fabulous to sit on a stuffed turtle:

"I do because I can."

I, on the other hand, have nothing today. Zero. So, I'll leave it at seeing you after the morning run!

Manic Monday

Wow, what a Monday.

When I'm out running, I am a big believer in keeping my distance -- from cars, from pedestrians, from other runners, from dogs especially when I have Elly. My favorite soccer coach taught us, "Create space!" It was a great method for success on the field and a smart one out and about.

Unfortunately today, the space was invaded. Two leashed dogs were too interested in Elly and took after her. Their owner was pulled down (literally over a curb and into the street). In an instant, the run went from a delightful not-anything-important-on-my-mind outing to holy-crap-there's-a-blur-of-dogs-near-me. I managed to pull Elly ahead of me and out of doggie reach, which was good for sure; not only were there two dogs, but they also each had 40 pounds on Elly. Everyone separated, I asked for the help of a stranger in a passing car to assist the dog walker as she really wanted me and Elly away so the dogs did not further antagonize each other. Distancing myself was extremely difficult as I just wanted to help her, but that was impossible given the canine issues. I saw the dog owner again when I looped around, and she indicated she was fine and that she was sorry. I was relieved to see her, but the whole situation felt horrible.

On most runs, I spend time being thankful for a number of things: being healthy enough to run; having the motivation to go whether I want to or not; finding money; it being a Rest Day tomorrow. Today, in addition to the kindness of a passing stranger, I'm thankful for this sweet face:

"No harm, no foul, mommy ..."

"How about a kiss to feel better?!"

We'll take the rest tomorrow and get back out there Wednesday. May your day tomorrow be without life's surprises!!

The Pampered Puppy Pacer

I have read a handful of articles and blogs where an individual or group goes running on a weekend then has a brunch at someone's house. The brunch is often very fancy (by my standards) with mixed beverages and brie. It's fun to see what other people do, but it's very distant from my own reality! (Typically, I go out, get nasty gross then shower fast to go get a bagel and Diet Coke with the Pit Crew ... excellent!)

We all have what we love whether its really dress-down casual (like myself) or fancy pants (like Pit Crew #2). On this Rest Day, PC2 hosted a family tea party featuring a latest discovery from Hungry Girl: Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge. Check it out!

All you need is a can of pumpkin, a box of
fudge brownie mix and a little peanut butter.
We saw Hungry Girl make this on her show
where she also used about 3T of chocolate
syrup. PC2 and I swapped that for about the
same amount of melted chocolate chips.

There goes the grody pumpkin! Did I mention I can't stand pumpkin
unless it's really buried to the point you can't taste it?

PC2 had never before tried canned pumpkin.
I warned her ...

Just mix the brownie mix, pumpkin and chocolate. Hey, her stirring
looks a lot like Elly's waggy tail when it's in action!

Warm the peanut butter to make it melty, pour in lines across the
batter then run a toothpick up and down to make it look swirly. Ish.

The batter tasted okay ... but let's see what baking it does to really
hide that pumpkin taste!

The outcome ... they were definitely pretty!
But, here's the thing ... for us, if you want a
piece of fudge, then you want a piece of fudge.
This was more of a brownie-fudge hybrid with
a little too much lingering pumpkin taste and not
enough sweet if it's going to be a fudge. It was
good substitute effort for sure, but we voted
e'd rather have the real thing or nothing.

Hey! Here's our host!

She also made finger sandwiches (turkey, tomato - if you're a fan,
without if you're not - , lettuce & cucumber on wheat) and yummy
good fruit salad (grapefruit -- how I love you in season! --
oranges, apples and banana slices! Not so much fancy as fabulous!)

She also made us party favors -- remember the jackpot of an idea
to make popcorn in a paper bag in the microwave? Mmm, mmm!!
(And, in a bag with a Peanuts sticker and a popcorn sticker?! That
beats a try of brie any day for me!)

That was a seriously great way to spend some time on this Rest Day!! Hooray for being pampered! Thanks, PC2!! I'll be thinking about this while out running tomorrow!! See you after!

Plan B

Last night, we looked outside and saw this:

Really? Where have you been all Winter?!

It's not that it's not Winter and it shouldn't be expected ... but given this (fake) Winter, I didn't expect it! I was glad for the warning, though, so I could mentally prepare for this morning's run on the -- you guessed it -- Mean Machine!

Those shoes + that ice = Dumb Idea.

(But, so pretty!)

*Fortunately* I had enough on the DVR that actually kept my attention and my eyes from wandering to the mileage count. The household downside of my using the treadmill was keeping Pit Crew #3 away from his new video game as it's hooked to the oh-so-very-necessary-to-have-while-treadmilling tv! He entertained himself by taking pictures:

When I was finished with the run, he and I had the following conversation:
PC3: You know the down side of using the treadmill?
Me: Which one?
PC3: (ignorning my snide remark) You don't find any money!
Me: I know!
PC3: So I think that run shouldn't count. (As in I shouldn't have had to do it.)
Me: Oh ... it counts!

Oh, and I just realized I am actually going to hit 50 miles this month on Monday!! It was an easy month, too, so I am super excited! Small potatoes to the elite athletes of the land, I know, but I think I've mentioned more than once that my goal is to Just. Go. I enjoy being of Olympic calliber in my own mind. So, yay for me!

May you be pleasantly surprised at an accomplishment you already knew was good but that you now know is pretty great! It's there for sure, so find it and celebrate it! See you tomorrow on Rest Day post-Pit Crew #2 Family Tea Party which will feature another Hungry Girl recipe we're trying! It's dessert time!

Embrace It

If you need a tutorial on how to embrace a Rest Day, I offer the example set by the kitties:

Ahh ... all curled up with no where to go ... excellent.

Happy Friday! Happy Rest Day! See you after the morning run!

50 Never Looked So Good

It's Thursday, so I ran. I found no money which made me sad. I added to my miles, and that made me happy. Pretty typical, right? Here's what's not typical ... I give a SHOUT OUT to Pit Crew #3 who hit 50 miles in his runner's club cumulative miles challenge of last night!! YEAH!!!!!

His path to this mark has, in many ways, mirrored my own experiences: Making a decision he could do this; Going out when he's super-stoked to do it; Going out when he wanted to do something else but said he was going to log some miles that day; Running in the brrrrr-cold; Running when the weather is perfect; Running then walking then running all in one outing; Running with friends; Running alone with his thoughts; Finding his own treasures along the way; Gunning for a self-imposed goal; Crossing his first official finish line; Getting unconditional support, cheers and high fives from the family; Believing in himself no matter what; Just going because he said he could.

It's partly about the running, but it's all about the heart.

WAY TO GO hitting a major milestone!!!

What's Cookin'

So, while this is literally cooking in my kitchen right now:

Time to replenish the supply of cooked lentils and quinoa! It's as
though there's so much in there that they'll never run out, then
BAM! Gone.

... here's what's cooking in my brain with my I Have an Idea campaign: Now that I've been running for three years and have folded it into a consistent, predictable part of my routine, I started thinking that perhaps there is something more I can do with it beyond, well, benefiting me. For all of its personal benefits, I couldn't help but think that maybe I could use my running for the good of many.

Enter: The Idea. The bottom line is I am going to work to get the miles I run sponsored by someone -- hopefully local business(es?!) -- where the business pledges an amount of money per mile I run (for a month ... for a year ...), then that money is directly donated by them to a local charitable organization. As well, I hope to get Elly's miles sponsored for the same purpose. My hope for hers is that the donation will go to the local chapter of the Humane Society as that's where we adopted her.

As much as I'm excited about this idea, it really was making my head spin last week, so I contacted my former boss, Kim Dude, who is the Director of the MU Wellness Resource Center. She has built her career on turning her passion into reality, truly moving and shaking and making a difference. I was on her committees as a student and later was paid to work with her (really?! Who gets paid to work alongside someone that awesome!?). She knows how to get things done; I knew I could use her guidance!

(I took a picture of us together, but it was totally blurry as my quick-draw photography skills failed me, so I offer this as it not only was on my calendar the day we met, but she is also a huge Mary Engelbreit fan.):

Kim's the idea queen with a heart of gold.

Our meeting was hugely productive for me! We kept having to reel ourselves back during our brainstorming from the land of excitement and possibilities and where this can go discussions, which is aweseome!, and I figured out what I need to do right now:

I need to name this idea. Kim and I had a quick exchange and thought of a great name, then I did a quickie computer search to find out not only has someone in the country has used that name, but they've also implemented a similar idea! In fact, I found this similar idea a couple of places! None are the same, but they're similar in spirit. I was momentarily defeated feeling like a second grader whose classmate looks at them and says, "Stop copying off me!" Then I realized that's just dumb ... can we have too many people trying to help other people?! Is there such a thing as too many in this case? I think not!

I need to finish the website I started building in the Fall. The more together my end is, the better the proposals should go. Following the website construction is making an information sheet I can give to prospective donors or otherwise use to draw attention to the idea and the website for information. Yes, the same website I need to finish.

I need to meet with the businesses I hope are the recipients of the money. Kim brought up some logistics I should ask for that would be useful but I never thought about. (Whew! Good move on seeking help!)

Of course, there are many details within each to-do that need to happen. I think I know what I'll be spending a lot of my thinking time on while running for a while!!

The idea, putting together a plan and working on many of these components are right up my ally, but there are some aspects to this I can tell are going to be way, way out of my comfort zone. But! Believing in it is what will inspire me to go forward and try anyway. Either that, or I'll bribe Aaron to do them with a Diet Coke. And maybe a pizza. (HA!)

Updates to follow as I actually accomplish things. Until then, I will tend to my lentils and quinoa and get ready to hit it running tomorrow! Rest Day rules! I think Elly's doing a great job embracing it, too:

Flip Flop

Given both the weather predictions and the rest-of-my-world schedule tomorrow, I did a switch-a-roo and moved Rest Day to tomorrow and ran today. I don't like to dink with the schedule when I have the Half Marathon training miles on the calendar, but I'm not quite there, so I took advantage of the situation and made the running day today ... because I could! That's power I don't tend to have, so I take it when I can.

I'm really, really glad I chose today to go ... It was 20 degrees, but with no wind, it felt great! That's the kind of temperature that puts frost on the ol' ear warmer, but that's just cool. AND, for today, I made a plan to diverge my route just enough to put myself in (what Dr. Phil would call) a "target rich environment" to see if I could score some loose change. That's, right, I added on some parking lot paths, and it totally worked! See?

Not only is the Snoopy bank pleased, but Pit Crew #3 will be, too.
He thinks it's cool to have more cents than miles in my count.
I like that kind of math! Given the current tally, though, I'd better
keep looking while I'm running!

So, that happened right at the midway point of the run, and I'm thinking it's a great outing, right? Who knew it would only get better from there!! Sit back, and enjoy:

See that spectacular shot of blue? I can't believe I was lucky
enough to cross paths with that!!

I immediately stopped to watch, and I noticed he had friends ...

There's one ...

And, there's a little guy who liked playing on the ground ...

And, this one seemed to enjoy striking a pose ...

... Or two!

And, the blue friends had other friends! I know these guys are
destructive ... but, they're awesome when they're on a tree!

Then I barely caught these two before they took off!

FABULOUS!! These birds made the entire run totally worthwhile!! Yes, yes, it was worthwhile anyway, but STILL!!

So, I finished and was full of awesome eye candy, so I carried on ...
Question: When you go the grocery store after you run, what do you crave?
Answer:

Another question: When I go running and then go to the grocery store and still haven't showered and won't be able to do so for about another half hour, how do I reward myself?
Obvious answer:

Last question: When you go running, then you immediately go to the grocery store, how bad do you smell when you get home?
Answer: A lot.

See you tomorrow on real Rest Day! I hope to get my thoughts together from yesterday's meeting to take the next step in my I Have an Idea campaign!

Windicators

Anyone who knows me knows I hate wind. I just hate it. Cranky, yes ... but honest. So, you can imagine running in the wind -- especially against the wind -- makes for a tough go. Old Glory here tells you what it was like out there today:

The only weather condition I have put on my running is that I will not go out in the rain or run on ice. Otherwise, it's on the calendar, and I'm going. No whining allowed. (Wait, that's not true ... no bailing out allowed. My attitude is my problem as long as I go!)

A mile into our run, we turned the corner heading straight into the wind. It was a major chore, and I am just sure there's some mathematical formula that could tell me how much more effort it was to run against those gusts than on a day without wind. But, not only do I not know that formula, I quickly found myself highly entertained by my canine wind indicator:

Those floppy ears are about to do some tricks ...

Ready ... set ...

... We have lift off!

And now they're just going nutty! I love those ears! Thank you
for the great distractor in that wind tunnel!!

By the way, for all of the complaining I did going into the wind, I was shameless in my use of it when it was at my back, and I ran like a superstar for that stretch ... crediting myself, of course. Ha!

We finished and got in the car which is when I noticed my new do:

It's a good look ... always good to be stylish.

No pennies today darn it! My bank is lonely. Oh well ... speaking of money, my I Have An Idea campaign is making a step today as I'm meeting with my former boss/current idea mentor in just a bit! I can't wait to see what comes of the meeting! If I can actually use my miles for a greater good, well, I'm not even sure how excited I would be! I'll report on the meeting on Rest Day!!

Answering "Why?"

You know how you hear people say, "I need a vacation from my vacation!" The same sentiment can hold true of a Rest Day ... Indeed, I feel the desire for a Rest Day from my Rest Day! Crazy how that happens. Crazy how that takes a hit to the ol' motivation train when it comes to thinking about running tomorrow, too.

But. I recently finished my scrapbook of my first Half Marathon; with one right around the corner, it was the perfect time to revisit two very compelling reasons to keep on keepin' on:

How I felt for a moment ...

... and how I get to feel for a lifetime.

The shoes will be laced up in the morning. See you after!

Cause and Effect

When it's 17 degrees out, my face looks like this when I'm running because the cold is biting it:

Yowza ... no one said anything about a wind
chill this morning ... apparently gritting one's
teeth is supposed to help ward that off ...

 And, it sometimes looks like this because I'm trying to block the wind:

Oh, happy gloves, do your magic on my face!

When we finish our outing, Elly looks like this when she's just about up to something:

"Oh, yes I am plotting something, mommy ...
just you wait ..."

And, she was ... my reward for taking her with me:

"Bullseye Lick Attack! Right in your kisser!
Outstanding!"

And, so it was for another run! Rest Day tomorrow and sleeping in are both welcome! See you then ...!

Running Treasures

Often when I run, I get the best feeling of, "Ahhhh ..." in the middle of it. It's a mental "Ahhhh ..." where I have the luxury of being present in a moment for just a little while. It's a great feeling. And, it's often mentally cleansing.

Pit Crew #1, Aaron, and I had a similar feeling when we spent half the day cleaning out our storage room purging it of things of our past. In the cleaning, I came upon these treasures from the Pit Crew from September's Half Marathon, all made with love:

Clearly, they could find me on course which is awesome!!

A lovely contribution from Pit Crew #2! A bright spot in the middle
of a tough haul!

Pit Crew #3 thinks it's funny (and it is) to put on a British accent
and call me, "Mumsies." He just didn't know how to spell it. In
fairness, I had to look it up. I saw people read his sign and not get it.
But, they didn't have to. I totally got it!

Remember when Burgess Meredith's character Mickey, the trainer
in the first three Rocky movies, got in Rocky's face and used his
gravelly voice to deliver his knock-'em-out pep talks? That's what
Aaron thought of when he first saw this picture of me and Elly
after my first 5K in 2009. He often looks at this picture and uses
the gravel tone to "speak for" Elly as he snarls his lip and grunts,
"Run!" Therefore ...

... he made me this sign! Outstanding!

And, finally. An awesome sight after 13.1 miles!!

It's the little things done for you that mean a lot. I don't think I believed that when I was a little kid. Thank goodness I grew up! Thank you, Pit Crew, for the time and love that went into these!! You. All. ROCK.

See you after the morning run!