Racking Up the Miles But Not the Money

Good morning!

Oh, yes, I woke up to a wee bit of snow!! Perfect scenery for me for a run (as you know, I do love Winter!). I slept great and was excited to put on my favorite purple jacket and purple striped gloves to go log the miles!

On my way, I found some birds playing!

This one kept trying to allude me, but I was
persistent. Persistence makes pursuing a Half
Marathon a good match for me. It's the same
characteristic that also made me an awesome
younger sister. Hee hee hee ... worked for me.

These guys showed up right after I finished the first mile (which tends to be the most difficult as I get my motor running), so I had no issue stopping for a few minutes while watching them and trying to take a picture -- which is not an easy feat. Those little guys are fast! It was a perfectly timed mini break before heading on my way.

I was working very intentionally to really breathe in the cooler air (because I think that feels awesome), but because there was no wind (yay!),  the 24 degrees wasn't really that cold. (Yes, yes, when you're standing still, it's cold. I thought I'd clarify that before Aaron corrects me on my definition of cold ...)

You know what else wasn't working very well? My eye for the cash. Look what I found and was all kinds of excited about:

Sometimes, even when it looks like a duck and acts like a duck,
it just isn't a duck at all. (So, whoever made up that saying has
some pants on fire ...)

I wasn't completely convinced it was actually a quarter when I looked really close, but I was hopeful, so I put it in my pocket. Further inspection at home showed I did not score the big bank this time. Drat!

Who better to give closer inspection than
a scientist?!

Oh, why is it foggy? That has something to do with the camera being outside for an hour and a half then coming in to the heated house. This happens to my contacts, too, sometimes, which is funny. Wondering if I've broken my camera is not funny.

Fortunately, the camera warmed up. It took a while, but it looked all clear in the lens again, so, I tested it on the post-shower treat Aaron left for me while I was getting un-smelly:

Thank you Pit Crew leader!! Mmm ... I do love oranges! Did you
know oranges are good for repairing minor tears in your muscles
post-instense excercise? I might not be fast, but a long run counts
as intense! The quarter fake-out was mentally intense, too, so I
hope this orange made it to my brain.

The miles are ticking down to the Half, and I am stoked to be on this journey BUT I'm not excited to report I have some random muscle issue going on with one of my knees. It is most definitely muscular, so I'm hoping to be able to do the right thing with taking care of it while logging these miles. Fortunately, I have no time-to-beat issues (desires, yes; issues, no), so I think I'll be able to manage it. Do you know what super-stinks about it? It only gives me problems going down hill. For the first time ever today, I even had to stop and restretch. Whatever is acting loopy seems to be happy going up hill. That tells you how stupid it is.

There you have it. Another day of running in the books, and I've officially gone more than half of the half marathon miles -- that's a big milestone to hit for me because every mile after 7 is one where I can count down to the finish. The internal dialogue goes like this: "Just passed 7, only 6 more to go. I've run 6 tons of times, no problem." You see what I'm doing there. By the way, the coolest one to hit is 11 because then there are just 2 miles to go ... 2! THAT feels good. In my head. Don't ask my legs how they feel at that point ... See you on Rest Day!