Excellent Investment

Today’s Numbers: Nancy's Days Run: 194 Nancy's 2013 Mileage: 915.6 Elly's 2013 Mileage: 462.3 Money Found For Food Bank: $3.71

Happy continued holiday week! I hope yours is full of good!! Mine most certainly has been including a fun after-Christmas shopping scour yesterday where all of us came home with a fun prize or two. My personal favorite find was this little fellow:

Everything about him screams  happy!! I had already decided that when the Christmas decorations come down, some Winter/snow ones are going up. It'll help ease out of the Christmas bonanza of color and fun things strewn around! Besides, this little half-price fella needed me, don't you think?

Speaking of needs in my world, the whole point of having a mileage goal for the year was to keep my motivated to keep going. Without some kind of motivation (which I need), I would stop (which I sometimes want). However, having surpassed my goal, my motivation has waned a bit. To my own surprise credit, it hasn't waned as much as in past holiday stretches, but I've certainly had my moments of just not wanting to bother.

Today's run had its own special brand of need in that I was reasonably confident, given our plans, that my afternoon would be an emotionally bumpy ride. I've learned that starting my day off with a run is probably the best way I can ensure being ready to tackle a day in every way -- physically, emotionally, spiritually -- so, there was no way a run wasn't part of the morning plan! Elly told you yesterday I was decidedly indecisive about how to approach the run, and I finally figured out that was because my focus was on how long I "should" go. Therefore, I changed the focus to creating a route that maximized money-finding potential, and I was fired up to get out there! (I know: Alert the media!)

I didn't take Elly in part because I wasn't sure how long I was actually going and, in other part, because I didn't want to get locked into her pace. (Don't tell her, though, seeing as that very pace is what got me going in the first place!) She was happily hanging out on the couch when I left, though, so I think she was more than fine basking in her own post-holiday laze!

Not taking her worked out great for me because I could just cruise. And, it felt awesome! Even the hills! (Whuuuutt ??) Most areas were free of ice hazard with just a few, small stretches still refreezing overnight. Decorations are still up making things bright and happy ...

... There was moneymoneymoney  in both anticipated and also unexpected places to the tune of 76 cents today. (Yeahh!!) And, take a look at what else I found ...

It's a wooden Fisher-Price Little People
airline stewardess!! Seriously ... right there
on the side of the road. Ran.Dom.

I mapped my route later to find out it was five and a half miles that I banged out in a time frame that made me feel strong and ready to take on the day. The post-run Diet Coke didn't hurt such matters, either!

I'll go ahead and report the outcome of the afternoon plans in that I was unfortunately accurate that my body and heart needed the reinforcement provided by this run (not to mention a whole lotta in-the-moment prayer!). But, the good news is that I anticipated it, and that I did something about it. Investing an hour stockpiled exactly what I needed to stay strong throughout the day. It's not always that perfect, but it is often that close. Yet, another reason to run.

Tomorrow appears to be scheduled as a Rest Day while I pick my way through the rest of the calendar year. I anticipate one more run this calendar year. Maybe two. One. No, two. Waaaittt ... one. Seriously, I don't know. But, it doesn't matter as this is my window to dink around before kicking off scheduled training in January! With that, make sure you are investing in yourself as needed to keep all of your systems well fueled, and I'll check in on tomorrow's Rest Day!