Awesome Outcome

So, after running this morning, I opened up my Facebook page to find this in my feed:

In my head, I was all, "Um, was this guy following me this morning?" because here's the deal: Today's run? Wrought with issues!!! Come along ...

It actually started out pretty well (not for Elly who was not asked to join me even though she let me sleep all the way 'til the alarm instead of getting up her usual hour earlier ... poor puppy ...). There were possible storms in the forecast, but they missed us, so I got to run outside. (I told Pit Crew #2 we were running in the rain as long as it wasn't thundering/lightening; she accepted that over running her 7 miles on the treadmill!) Anyway, stepping outside was almost refreshing; it didn't feel great, but it was better and a weeeeeeee bit less humid. And, the clouds not only provided very welcomed cushion from the sun but also gave us this:

Glory to God here ... and, boy, was I going to need Him today!!

I had five miles to go on my own, so I took our latest 5-mile route and turned it backward just for something different to do. I know I've passed this a million times but haven't seen it from the other direction ...

Woo Hoo!! Fabulous Weed Of the Day!

... same goes for this ...

You just know this is home to some critter ... awesome!

... and, for this:

Check that out!! Bigger than my head!!

All systems seemed to be firing pretty well, and the lack of direct sun helped not suck my energy right out of me. That wasn't going to last, though. I felt it start to peek through near the fourth mile which is when I looked up to see if it was temporary with more clouds coming or if the cover was about to break up and really bum me out:

I totally see a circus elephant there in the middle. Trunk out,
up on its hind legs. I'm good with it if you don't.

Even with the sudden sun which also seemed to quickly up the humidity level (drat double drat!), the rest of this leg of the run went just fine.

Unfortunately, I was really kind of ready to just be done by the time I picked up PC#2. No sooner did I momentarily stop than my legs were all, "Oh, we're finished! Awesome! Wait ... wait ... what's going on ... we're moving ... what are we doing?!?!?" With just a couple of minutes between ending my solo venture and starting up again with PC#2, my legs were all quivery and annoying and added to my "let's just not do this today" internal sentiment!

On top of which, PC#2 and I were still hammering out an issue. To say that we have a fabulous relationship, one I truly dreamed of, is an understatement. But, our great relationship and our being human are not mutually exclusive, and, sometimes, there's crap to deal with. So, we capitalized on the time to get to the heart of our matter, chew on it and problem solve. Note: I'm not sure PC#2 would call that capitalizing on a moment; she might define it as totally trapped by circumstance. Just being fair.

We worked on our issue for the first mile and a half. In the sun. And the humidity. Yelling over traffic. Going up hill. No joke -- one of the two biggest on the route, and that's what we were doing.

However.

At the top of that hill, I felt very good about what we got "out there." So did she. And, we stopped and hugged even though we were starting to get smelly. But, I don't care. She's my girl. And, that was a perfect moment to finish that topic, and get on with the goodness.

Wait, did I say goodness? I'm pretty sure I've already mentioned the upping of the humidity, so you know saying goodness is a total lie! Eiye yie yie, it was something  out there!! Fortunately, we both have good water bottles and I routed us by many refill spots! Also fortunate was we both checked our egos at the door, and we walked more of this route than we ever have. It seemed one of us at different times needed a stint (or big stint up the biggest hill), and we just rolled with it. In fact, it was really quite enjoyable for a while! Also enjoyable was finding bank! It started with ...

Do you see what PC#2 saw?

It's a penny in disguise!

... and, it continued when we cruised through the parking lot of a fast food place before going in to refill our bottles. The refill places were on the route, and I was going to use them!

So says the Run Find Your Happy Pace Facebook page.
And, so we did.

Okay okay okay!!! We'll stop again ... if ... we ... have ... to ...

You know what they say about girls always having to go to the
bathroom together! Although, straight from the TMI department,
there was nothin' in there to come out ... all of our liquid was
all used up!! Time to replenish from the faucet!

I'm not even going to lie. I was spent by this point. With a little more than two miles to go, that's no good, so I ignored how I mentally felt, I kept drinking my water, and we got on with business! We happily continued our run-walk status (reserving walking for going up hill, but, by this time, "up" was ... ummm ... well, pushing it. But it was still up!), but by the 6th mile, it was nice to walk but hurt a bit to start back up. I couldn't help but think we'd indulged in too much of a good thing. Then, I kept thinking about how something that becomes a bad thing by first being a good thing is a really weird cycle. Just sayin'. I never did resolve this issue in my head, but it did keep me distracted for quite some time!

Still pondering my good-turns-bad issue, I looked over to check on PC#2 and noticed the Queen Ann's Lace she'd picked miles ago was pooping out:

Totally with you, little flower. Totally.

Less than a mile later, we closed in on our end point. The male Pit Crewers drove over to pick us up and take us home, and we were thankful!

And, there you have it. Seven for her; Twelve for me. We did it. It was hot. It was humid. She was rather tired, and I was totally drained. My feet still hurt. And, I'm walking a little funny. It wasn't all that fun.

But, it turned out to be one of the best runs ever.

We're in it together. All of it. Always.

Next week is soooo much more chill on the miles before the big one on Saturday, so the hard part is behind us! But, before that, tomorrow? That's right! WE REST!! And, we're cooking, so I'll see you then with a report! Ahhhh ... rest ...!