Unexpectedly Achieved

Pit Crew #2 came home from school yesterday relaying a story where, during her day, she spied a penny in the hallway. Unsure of the appearance of snagging a penny (I get that; she's a teen), she said she picked up the penny by pretending she was picking up a pencil she'd dropped.

Survival skills at their finest!

I thought about this story as I ran up toward my go-to drive-thru. As I got closer to it, I noticed there was actually an employee hanging outside near the window. I've never gone there where there was someone outside. And, while I'm reasonably certain I'm doing nothing wrong, I'm not especially interested in an audience, either! So, I stopped for just a moment about 100 yards away from the building and acted like I had to retie my shoes (I see your pencil drop ploy and raise you a fake shoe tie ...). I felt the need to take a moment to decide if I wanted to call that much attention to myself.

Spoiler alert: I didn't care, and I went on through! (The employee was out talking on the phone and smoking, so believe when I say she really didn't care what I was doing!) I grabbed an easy (read: not in driveway crack) penny and scoped the crack to see if there was something worth grabbing in a hurry. I only saw a really nasty penny and determined it wasn't worth messing up my newly painted nails (true story). It'll be there next time!

On I went on a beautiful morning!! I have no idea what the temp was, but it was warm enough to work up a quick sweat but cool enough that the sweat just kind of stayed put rather than pouring into my totally-over-the-heat eyeballs. I realized early in my run that I was definitely close to any of my fastest Half paces, and that felt good particularly after sluggin' through the heat and feeling perfectly incapable of running. As well, my 50-pound, 4-legged resistance partner wasn't with me, so I could pick up speed without any additional effort whatsoever. This run was all about what I wanted to do with it, and that's just the way I like it!

I also like that I ventured through 2 more drive-thrus to score a total of 14 cents (yay!!). Check this penny out from the last one, though ...

No nail polish was harmed in the capture of this penny.

I got to thinking along this run that two years ago, I had a goal to get to the point where I maintain enough weekly mileage that I can just "drop in" to a 10K run if one comes up that I want to do. That goal morphed last year into wanting to maintain a 10-mile weekly run. For the last three weeks, I've purposely scheduled 9-milers because, well, they've gotten very fun! It's not 10, but so what?! That I've gotten to 9 and actually look forward to it? That's huge for me!

I've been grappling with not running in the Roots and Blues event next weekend. It's not that I'm bummed about pulling out of the Half option because I'm not. I even just looked at the route and, while better than last time I did it, I'm still not bummed to pass! However, there is a 10K option, and what a cool way to put a stamp on the "work to drop into a 10K" goal! Besides, I have been itching a wee bit to participate in an event. Doing an unexpected 10K might just be what I need ...

Speaking of events, it hit me the other day that I need to prepare myself for the April Expo to not be as awesome as I'm hoping. I have no idea what kind of draw that event has, so I don't know what kind of vendors it will attract.

Yeah, some people do a lot of mental work and get their game faces on before a big run. I have to mentally prepare myself for the Expo to not be awesome! I'm going to ask a friend of mine who has participated in the past ... I'll let you know the verdict when I get it ...

Meanwhile, I'm betting the same people who have perfected the race day game face (which I say with all due respect) also don't go garage saling for their cool down walk like I did today. Yeah, I did!! The item I bought for $2 was functional and boring but necessary, so I won't bother showing you that, but I will show you what made me have to stop at one house. Ready?!

Right next to these was a bin holding this:

While the dog caught my eye, don't you
love that creepy face peeking out
underneath it?!

It turned out that not only did I know the person who lives at this house, but -- in unrelated news -- those three monsters were immediately bought by the person who walked up the driveway right behind me! She was a woman after my own heart when she offered to pay $10 for all instead of the sticker prices of $5 a piece. And, the home owner was also wise in taking it and just getting rid of them instead of holding out for the end of garage sale time tomorrow. At this house, everyone won!

With that, I wrapped up my walk and called it all good. And, it was all good! With a break in the weather, a strong run and the realization that all of the hard work brought about a long-standing goal, how could I ask for more?! I couldn't!

Tomorrow, we don't just rest ... we celebrate something special!!! See you then!

Posting delay as I'm in conversation with person who can possibly give me the low-down on the Expo ... hang tight.

Okay, the report is that there is a "decent" expo with drinks and food. Well, if there were drinks and food, then there were at least some merchandise vendors!! That's all I needed to know! Whee!!