Sometimes, the Bottom Falls Out and It's a GOOD Thing!

Today’s Numbers: Nancy's Days Run: 158 Nancy's 2013 Mileage: 740.9 Elly's 2013 Mileage: 349.3 Money Found For Food Bank: $15.89 in change; $25 in bills

2012 Found-Money Food Bank Donation: $7.83

The other day, I was moving the Food Bank Snoopy Bank, and the bottom completely fell out of it. I was in a bit of a bad mood before that even happened, so I didn't take a picture of the pennies-and-friends that were ev.ery.where. on and under the shelved not to mention that treasure hunting required to find them amidst the potted plants. (Evidently, those little suckers can jump!)

The good news is that the bottom fell out because it just had to. The bank was full. The other good news is that I already had an annex where the rest of the anticipated finds can gather. See?

This annex option came at the perfect time as today was the day!!! I went in to this run needing 29 cents to double my 2012 change donation to the Food Bank, and I finished the run having found 35!!

Can we get an OHHH ... YEAHHHHH ?!?!?!

I had my doubts that today would be the day when the findings hovered just one penny shy of making it, and I was almost finished. Then, somewhere between Miles 11 and 12, I stopped to refill my water and saw the shiniest nickel -- the rarest of all found coins -- just gleaming at me! And, just around the corner was our little friend Abe to punctuate the moment:

This was, indeed, a great victory for today, but I have to chalk up the entire run as such. Just yesterday, I was thinking about how I am looking forward to finishing this Half Marathon stretch so I can dial the mileage down for a couple of months. I'm totally looking forward to training for my Half in April, but I am ready for a bit of a break right now! That sentiment was pretty pervasive all day yesterday, and I had my doubts about how motivated I'd be to get out there today. I knew I would, I just didn't know how I'd feel about it.

I'll tell you one thing about how I felt -- I felt cold! It was somewhere in the lower 40s when I started. I do love that temp, but it's still a shock to the system when running in shorts and short sleeves which I will do in the 40s at this distance. In fact, on this topic, I had a little exchange with a dude running past me around Mile 6. It went like this:

Very Smiley Running Guy: 'Glad to see I'm not the only one out here in shorts!
Me: It just shows we're the hard-core ones.
Very Smiley Running Guy: I agree!! (and he went on his way)

Then, another guy passed me, also in shorts, and my hard core theory out the window in his wake. Oh well.

To tell you the truth, I was much colder than I expected because there was more of a wind than I knew was coming. My right forearm caught the brunt of it and was almost numb by the time I hit Mile 7. That made picture taking tricky, but I still managed. See?

Yes. This.

And, not too much later, THESE:

This was worth stopping for a moment!

I chose this one as my favorite just because it was all white.
They were all so beautiful!!

This one was the smart one because it had a blanket!

This scene would have been better only if one of them took off running. Is there a creature more beautiful than a horse when they take off?! That's my opinion anyway!

Almost the entire distance today, I couldn't help but think that yesterday, I didn't think I wanted to do this. I'm so glad I did. The key is to do it exactly the way I want to. And, that's exactly what I did!

And, tomorrow, we rest! I'll see you then ...!