Listen To the Whisper

Today's numbers: Nancy's Days Run: 172 Nancy's 2013 Mileage 810.7 Elly's 2013 Mileage 383.5 Money Found For Food Bank: $20.06 in change, $25 in bills

2012 Found-Money Food Bank Donation: $7.83

I don't know what it is lately, but the running gods have been smiling on me by not forcing a treadmill run due to rain! At some point this morning, it was clearly raining, but it mostly ended by the time Elly and I headed out. And, the rain that did come was sparse enough that moving through it actually felt as though I was avoiding drops rather than making myself wetter by forcing my way through. It was sweet.

The recent rain affected Elly way more than it did me. Check this out from when we finished:

Wet paws = Very wet tummy!

We had a very nice outing today. I did cut the distance from 7 to 5.5 because I have wiggle room on my year-end goal. Cutting it worked great because then Elly could join me! She's totally down with going 5 miles when the temperature is only 40 degrees. She's also down with the post-run massage she received while I got her dry! Have I mentioned she's a bit of a diva?

That's okay, she deserves the spoils. That dog changed my life in so many ways. Of course, the most obvious is that she was my original running partner (aka: trainer). How could I not want to spoil her?

Almost every time I head out with Elly, I do flash back to many of our original runs. Those were the "ugly" runs -- the ones where you didn't have to know a thing about me but could tell by looking that I was just starting out. (Was it the look of pure exhaustion, the slumped posture, or the scrunched face holding back the tears? So hard to decide ... !) They were ugly runs, but I continue to be proud of them. You have to start somewhere.

And, this morning, this came through my Facebook feed from the "I Love To Run" page, and it darn near took my breath away:

"All runners announce their entry into the sport with the most basic athletic action: a step ... A splendid step, a quiet step, a lonely step; born of some inner dialogue, some longing to be different, to be-not the best-but at least better. The step takes less than a second. Doubts are silenced in that whisper of time."

-Martin Dugard (To Be A Runner) 
It was the very last line that got me because those inaugural runs were  quiet except for hearing Elly's nails grind on the pavement and the occasional foot shuffle and deep gasping breathing of my own efforts. Those were some days.

But, here we are today. Elly gets to join me when the combination of temperature and distance is good for her. I have runs already on the calendar and paid for  for next year. And, heading out in the morning is a foregone conclusion if it's on the day's calendar. I like these days. And, I'm thankful for those many, many whispers of time that kept me going.

In the meantime, I need to shift around my schedule for next week, so that starts with going ahead and running tomorrow to get the shift started! Hopefully, the running gods will continue my fortune and allow me to run outside. If not, it'll still get done. I'll see you after one way or the other!