A Run In the Key Of "Trying"

Today’s Numbers: Nancy's Days Run: 38 Nancy's 2013 Mileage: 120.8 Elly's 2013 Mileage: 58.8 Money Found For Food Bank: $13.16

You know you smell disgusting when you change out of your running clothes and let out an audible, "Uuuuugh!"

Those are gross.

Yeah, that happened. And, it's a moment where you want to look around for the source of the smell only to quickly realize, "Oh, hey. It's meeeee." Thank goodness for warm showers because they not only squelch the stinks, but the also warm a girl up because damn it's cold out there!! That's right, I've finally gotten to the point of profane punctuation as this has gone on long enough, don't you think?

By the way, I heard on a weather report this morning that 49 of the states are experiencing temperatures below freezing. What a united we stand moment, huh?

Anyway, cold or not, I got on out there for the week's long run because, cold or not, that Half is a'comin'!! I was pleased to feel not only the ability but the desire  to push myself this morning to really get the wheels turning to see what I can do right now. I admit to always being pretty chill about training and letting the chips fall where they may on race day, especially when the chips usually fall better than I train, but -- again! -- the elements have not only not been on anyone's side, but they've also not been mentally inspiring to even pretend  to want to try very hard. There's a difference in "going" and "trying", and I support both modes of operation. But, I feel like I've been going long enough without trying very hard, so I was glad to want to break that pattern today! (Don't worry -- it'll flip back around by about June ...!)

To that end, the first five miles were really good, and I was most pleased with that. I started feeling the burn somewhere in the neighborhood of closing in on Mile 7 which I would expect given the way this training schedule builds one more mile each week (therefore, the last mile is always the most difficult even when so many building up to it become easier). I felt a little more drained than I'd like, but given the righteous amount of runny nose issue with which I was dealing, I can only say I'm obviously not 100% cleared of my recent cold. That was also a super fun issue to deal with when I had no tissue and the brisk wind kept slapping me. I'm surprised I have any upper lip remaining in tact. This visual is precisely why there were no "after" pictures today.

You are welcome for that. However, I will show you what I did not plan to encounter somewhere in the middle of this route:

This is, perhaps, a third of what I saw just
in these two rows ...

Ah, yes. To many, a mere row of parking meters. To me, a field of dreams.

I have no idea how much money I found there, but I took a few minutes to cruise the four rows of meters! Along the entire route, I also impressed even myself with my coinoscopic vision capabilities (spotting a dirty quarter in a bed of gravel is not as easy as it might sound) to the total tune of 81 more cents for the Food Bank. BAM.

Oh, and, yes, I kept running ...

The fact remains that, by my definitions, "going" without really "trying" is still hugely beneficial to whatever goal I'm working on. Of course, just by going I'm trying, and I don't discount that. But, again, I know the difference between throwing down the effort and my site-seeing tours. That's all I'm saying. And, I get to decide what I want out of this which means I'm right.

You get to be right, too. Pick your path, and pick your way! Some days will rock, other days will decidedly not. But, no matter what, you're going forward. And, that's what matters. Be relentless with me. But, you might want to keep a bit of a distance right now because I'm not even kidding about this runny nose thing ...

Tomorrow's a break from running day, so we'll see what I end up doing. In the meantime, be your best you whatever that means, and I'll see you tomorrow!