Successful Saturday!!

At 3:45 a.m., I heard thunder and lots and lots of rain. My first thought was, "Crap! PC#2 and I are supposed to run together today!!" I actually used my brain, though, and realized there were a few hours before our planned run and hoped the weather would turn in our favor. This is a completely opposite stance from ones I've taken in the middle of the night during a storm when I'm in an official (read: paid to do it) morning run which is when I never go back to sleep and toss and turn trying my darndest to will the weather to swing my way!

You could argue that I was more calm this time because our run wasn't an official event. I see your logic but raise you with the very real desire to be able to run together today. This was PC#2's first-ever four-miler, and I totally wanted it to be an awesome experience for her!! I mean, pounding your heart out on the treadmill doesn't hold a candle to routing your way through a drive-thru to scope for money. Duh.

The weather did, indeed, cooperate turning off the water works and allowing me to run in the blanket of humidity left behind! Bleh!! I'll take it over the treadmill, though! For the next few weeks, our runs have a 3-mile difference, so Elly and I set sail by ourselves before I swung by home to pick up PC#2. I couldn't get a good read on the clouds and feared a pop-up storm approaching, so Elly and I got our jam on!

We weren't the only ones out and about today!

I love that turtles make Elly perk up!

I hate that Elly loses her manners when
close to a turtle ... Eww, Elly. Eww.

We saw other things, too ... like these lovelies:

Is it just me, or are these crazy-late to bloom this year?! And,
again, is it just me, or would Elly look AWESOME in her
sunshine yellow fashion sitting in front of these?! The rain
threat did not allow dawdle time, but I'm thinking that's a
must-do plan!

And, in case you're out and about and feeling musical, that piano is still available:

Do a little yard work, sing a little tune! You'll note the keys are
covered now which is a really good thing since it rained ...

The hound and I cruised up the last hill of this three-mile route. Yes, I said "cruised" because we actually did. It was at that moment when I thought, "Huh ... it's been a while that I've actually run all of my first three miles." Frankly, it's been even longer since Elly's run that much that consistently -- no dinking around pretending to find a potty spot today! She was all about the real biz!!

In no time, we were home where I traded Elly for PC#2, and we were off for four! I knew she was eager to do this run, and I hoped I wouldn't let her down ... For starters, running seven straight is different from running, then stopping even for a minute or so, then starting back up. It's that whole bodies-in-motion-bodies-at-rest thing, and I really had no idea what that was going to do to my pace versus her fresh (and fast) pace. Additionally, there's almost a mile's worth of distance where we had no choice but to run one behind the other instead of side by side. I was okay with it because I'm always running by myself. But, I hoped it would still be fun for my girl.

Fortunately, her expectations were to be able to run, not socialize, so it all worked out great! And, look what we found!

Unlike the previous turtle I left alone to
cross the road, this one was screwed if we
left it alone!

Ally-oop! for a pic, then he was put down to go about his biz.
He totally skiddooed away from the street as soon as his feet
hit ground, so I'm glad we found him! (That sky back there is
actually storm-cloud blue ... gulp ...)

Right after this finding was a big, yucky hill leading up to our second mile together. It's one of the worst I use because it's just long. Even PC#2 conceded there was nothing fun about it, so, at the top, we did a little victory dance before moving on. It just needed to be done! I also told her that that hill went as well as it did for us because there was no sun, there was a breeze, and the temp was about 10 degrees lower than I expected for this morning; from there, I told her this is a hill where, during summer runs, I tend to walk a good portion of it. PC#2 sounded a bit relieved to hear that. And, I have to admit, I was happy to lay that out there for her without any excuses or feeling bad about myself. This running thing can be so much fun, and that's what I want it to be for her!!

I'm very confident I've taught her well on the fun concept of running as she is the one who pointed out and delighted in finding a ton of these on our last major hill!

PC#2 was running ahead of me pointing
down to every snail she saw. There were
so many along that stretch that she looked
like she was disco dancing.

Once at the top of the hill, I told her the hard parts were all behind us, and we could put it on cruise from there! I'm not even sure what mile mark this was, I just knew she was proud to know she was going to complete these four miles without issue!! Yay!!!

But, first! We had to investigate my go-to drive thru. At first, it was a let-down in the finding department, but I was going to take her picture at the spot anyway. Because, that's what I do. I pulled out my camera, turned to take her pic when I happened to look down and spy with my little eye ...

... a very, shiny penny!! This was now a duo celebration pic!
And, I could add this to the three in my pocket I found before
the snail-riddled hill!

Our stopping point was right around the corner from here which is where we saw Aaron and PC#3 doing some Pit Crew duties cruising along to find us!

There they are ... the dynamic duo ...

... and, we in our chariot!

Aside from getting blindsided by a "Slug-Bug-Orange!" call out and punch along the run, PC#2 and I had a great time! (And, I'm only annoyed that I didn't see the Slug Bug first, just sayin'.) We totally beat the rain, and I was proud to be with her on this accomplishment! The successes only get better from here! We'll keep racking them up together! But, tomorrow, we rest ... and, celebrate!! See you then!