I Can Only Say: FANTASTIC!!

Today’s Numbers: Nancy's Days Run: 78 Nancy's 2014 Mileage: 352.7 Elly's 2013 Mileage: 158.3 Money Found For Food Bank: $30.66

HAPPY FRIDAY!!! First thing's first ... check out the total as of today for the Food Bank!! YAHOO!! I scored BIG today sending the total over the $30 mark!! THAT made the run worthwhile all by itself!!

The money find was really the icing on the cake of this one, though. Somewhere about 6 miles into it, I thought, "Ahh ... I think I've totally earned this one!" After months of crappy weather and injured training, it turns out all of those miles still banked in my body to turn out a 12-miler today that I loved every minute of! THAT never happens, and I soaked it up for all it was worth!

It started out in the mid-40s with a sky that looked like this:

I'd just found a penny, and when I looked up to give my thanks, I was spellbound. I would have stood and looked at it more had I not had 11 more miles to run!

There were all sorts of other lovely sites today, too! Like this one ...

I crossed the street to take this. I didn't see the dark car against
its dark background coming my way. No issue, no excitement,
just giving runners a bad name with my seemingly bad
manners, that's all.

... and, this one ...

... and, this one ...

HAHAHA! Just kidding. I smell worse
than I look, by the way!

And, in today's stop-in-the-tracks-because-when-do-you-ever-see-that moment:

It appears to be the aftermath of a sprinkles feud!
Happy and sad all at the same time!

Okay, my only grievance today was when I was in the ballpark of 9 miles, and I was looking for my turn. I kept looking ... and, looking ... and, going ... and, I either missed it, or, it was blocked by  construction. I did a fine job confusing myself on the matter and decided to just run the direction I knew I actually needed knowing it would work itself out. (How very willy-nilly of me.) The thing is, MapMyRun didn't pick up on any  of the construction in this area (whether I missed the street I actually needed or not). So, while I had no heads up about this ...

Seems obvious to me ...

... MapMyRun still blocks, redirects and reroutes a different area of town that looks very similar to this:

I'm no trail runner, but I'm pretty certain I could make my way
around this. I could probably even do so without kicking a rut
or falling down. Probably.

I ended up going a tenth or two farther than planned to get out of the is-it-construction-or-is-Nancy-a-tool maze. I realize a tenth or two isn't really far, but it sure can be when you're on foot. And, holy moly, had it been one of the blazing, summer days and I'd gone a tenth or two longer than intended as I approached 10 miles, there's a really good chance I would have gone from zero-to-biznatch before you could blink. Today, it was merely a mild irritant, and I kept on going!

Once I finally got myself straightened out, I didn't just find a dime in my path, but, as I picked it up, a man called out to me, "Did you find yourself a lucky penny?" to which I responded, "Nope! I found me a DIME!" I even stopped and chatted with him while we exchanged finding-money tales. It's good to commune with a kindred spirit!

Speaking of, here's today's stash:

That's $1.34, baby!! One sweet stash!!

I was very specific in routing today to pass some areas that offer the greatest possibility for bounty. And, today, it paid off!

If every, single run could be like today's for every, single person, I promise you everyone would run all.the.time! But, knowing how rare such a thing is, I say stick to what you love so you can get through the hard days that are sure to happen!

And, tomorrow? There's no running, but there is some running business to which we must attend with the Half coming next weekend! I'll check in and show you what we take care of! Have a great start to your weekend!