The Inaugural Run

You guessed it ... Jacques the Jockey is a big hit around our streets! We took him on a 3-mile tour, and it was fabulous! From the lady giving a big, endearing "Awwwwww!" out her car window to the bus driver who honked for our attention then threw his head back laughing (Jacques bouncing is quite a site), I think we started off many mornings with some laughter. Can't beat that!

I think Jacques was tired afterward, though. What about you?

He straightened up for the picture in the Winner's Circle, though:

My dad always talked about how the key to making work tolerable is to make it fun. I think Jacques helps fit that bill! Make Monday a good one! It's Rest Day tomorrow!! Yeah!!!

Double Rest Rocks

I could really get on board with double Rest Days! This has been fabulous! I've had some good down time and some time to plot out my route for tomorrow. It will be an easy-breezy route because I will bring along Elly and Jacques, whom, by the way, elicits the same happy dance from Elly as does getting out her leash ... seeing Jacques already means "walk," and Elly is always up for that action!

(By the way, I could really get on board with having some of this more often:

It's called "Summer Brew" and shared with me by a friend at yesterday's tailgate ... mmm ... mmm ... mmm ... but so ... so ... strong! Dominant taste: limeade. Limeade on crushed ice on a warm afternoon. Ahhh. Limit: ONE.)

In the meantime, the eagle-eyes spying coins on runs is also useful in spying McDonald's Monopoly game pieces that are abandoned in random places! (The eye for spying seems hereditary as Pit Crews #2 and #3 found some really out-of-site ones today! Respect the game, people! And, no, no one was in the garbage ...) While we've not hit it big monetarily, check out what we're in very few points of earning thanks to this game: A DIET COKE T-SHIRT! (click to see!) How perfect is that?! It would be more perfect if we could get two so Aaron and I don't have to fight over it. (HA!) No fighting; it's his. He brought the Diet Coke obsession to the marriage, so I concede on the shirt.

Besides, how could I even consider denying him that shirt when I spend money on something that looks like this:

Jacques says: RUN!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and may it include something yummy and something fun! We're all back at it tomorrow!

Introducing ...

I could talk about so many things today, but all topics pale in comparison to this ... Meet Jacques:

He called out to us at the store:

He simply had to come home with us. And, Elly seems just fine:

Jacques and Elly will continue to get to know each other tomorrow. They've already shared a personal moment with a potty stop, and they still seem comfortable with each other.

I cannot wait for Monday's run! But, I will. Because tomorrow is another Rest Day. I earned it, and I'm sticking to it!

Topsy-Turvey Week Continues!

Wasn't this supposed to be Rest Day? Yeah, I thought so, too. But, things change! It all started when I was up at 6 a.m. I noted it was still very dark outside. I then thought ahead to tomorrow's run and that I would need to head out at 6 a.m. in order to get on with morning plans we have. But, I don't like running in the dark. It's spooky. So, I went on with my day today all the while pondering a Plan B.

That Plan B turned out to be running early this evening ... the best part being I now have two Rest Days in a row!! yeah yeah yeah!!!!

So, how'd it go today after a long one yesterday? It was mighty fine, thank you! It was windy as heck out there, though, so I actually remembered to grab that headband I failed to use yesterday ... and, off I went!

Out she heads with a kicky headband to take
on the world!

Now that the run is behind me, I've decided I prefer to avoid the rush hour time I chose for this run. While I had great options with the new sidewalk system, there were still a whole lotta cars turning right in front of me including one with no blinker warning. That can make a girl nervous when they're coming from behind! While it was fine, my vote is for doing better than "fine"!

However! Check ... it ... out ...

I know you're thinking that I went after that penny I saw in my picture yesterday. Truth be told, I kind of did ... but, once I saw the traffic situation, I knew early in the run that I was not going to even bother with that particular stretch of road (back to my safety girl status ... It's fun to find pennies and all, but I do have some standards!). Anyway, I'd just decided I wasn't going to venture quite that far when cha-ching! There one was, right at my feet! I continued on, got to my turn-around point, ran about 30 feet and double-cha-ching! There was the other one! I was just there moments ago and didn't see it, but there it was! I don't question good fortune ... seems I just pick it up!

By the way, I forgot which side of my shorty pants houses my teeny-tiny pocket, so, for quite some time, I was trying to locate it and put in the pennies. It turned out I was contorting myself in vain as I was trying to find it on the wrong side of my pants. Seriously. Dork.

So, my eye is on the penny place for Monday ... of course, I'll let you know how that turns out. And, heads up, starting January 1, the Cash Count begins to see just how much cash I rake in on these runs! Between that and my fantasy Diet Coke sponsorship, I'm just certain my amateur status is in jeopardy ...

Banner Day!

Okay, this was just funny ... I spent the better part of my run this morning being faked out numerous times by washers in the road ... washers, particularly when rusty, look an awful lot like pennies from a bit of a distance. However, I'm not new to this game, so I've learned to not get too excited until I can make a close-up, positive identification. More often than not, it's a washer (and then I spend a great deal of time wondering why there are so many washers in the road ...).

Then, there was today.

I was closing in on mile 6 when ta-da! Payoff! There it was ... a dirty, hard-to-see-but-I-still-saw-it penny. It was in this little intersection:

Noting again that I am, indeed, a safety girl, I watched for traffic, snagged my penny, and took off again. It seems I took off a bit hasty because check this out in the lower right corner:

I MISSED ONE!! That's what I get for watching for cars ... HA!

I might be more disappointed about finding that out now that I'm home checking out the pictures, but you haven't heard the whole story!

So, I continue on for just a little bit when I spied in the corner of my eye something glinting in the sun. Usually, that's a piece of glass, and I kept going for a few steps. Besides, there were cars to respect! Then, I just had to check. There was a brief break in traffic, and, like a total dork, I literally backpedalled. I had to check this mess out:

In there is where I found another penny AND ... wait for it ... wait for it ... A QUARTER!! YAHOO!!

These have seen better days ...

For those doing the math, you do, indeed, see another penny in there because I found that shiny one immediately upon hitting (and stopping at) mile 8. Booyah!!!

By the way, I've occasionally seen pennies in such intersections when we've been in the car. The conversation between Aaron and myself has gone like this:
Me: Hey! There's a penny out there!
Aaron: So there is.
Me: Go get it real quick!
Aaron: No.

There were so many successes on this run besides the big bank. Let's name them:
1. I ate some oatmeal prior to running to make sure I had some slow-release energy going on, and I didn't feel sick even once while running (I don't usually eat at all prior ... upsets my tummy ...)
2. I was literally 3 steps away from being pooped on by a bird in a tree I was about to run under. I hear it's good luck to be nailed by that, but I'll pass.
3. I did not see the two dead mice on a sidewalk until passing over them, but I also did not step on them. (By the way, is being subjected to road kill not enough? Sidewalks?! Eww.)

All of this adds up to a banner day, don't you think? I felt great after:

A friend just gave me an elastic headband that fits my head
without rolling around (and out of) my hair. Perhaps I should
start using it, you think?!

Rest Day is tomorrow! So, meeting Aaron for lunch and having a yummy Diet Coke was in order!

Mmm ... so very good ...

And, by the way, we won some Redbox rentals today from the McDonald's Monopoly game! Seriously, banner day! I already have my run route mapped out in my head for Saturday ... it happens to pass by a lonely penny ...

I'll Take It

Do you know how awesome it felt this morning to wake up and know I don't have to run on a day I normally would?! YEAH!! I like days I run, I like days I don't, so I'll take whatever day it is! However, today's day of rest is most welcome as I'm not sure my muscles have fully recovered from Saturday's long run ... yup, messing up stretching takes a loooong time to work out of this body! The double-dip of pavement pounding yesterday was punctuated by a wicked game of tetherball with the family last night. I had no idea tetherball was so physical. Shows you what I know!

So, today will be filled with regular daily stuff, and I'll take it! The long run comes tomorrow! I'm not anticipating a stellar performance, but I do know it will be accomplished!

Today's Rest Day will be capped off with a viewing of tonight's episode of Survivor! Aaron and I are dedicated fans, so it's a great way to end the evening! Even Elly is in the spirit. Enjoy some down time today! See you in the late a.m. tomorrow!

Topsy-Turvey Week

Normally, I really like a girl with the umph to make a decision and be convicted about it. It turns out, I only like girls of the human variety in this regard; dogs are a different story. On our little outing this morning, Elly had all kinds of ideas about which way we should go, how fast we should go, when we should stop, etc etc etc. Now, I give on the pace because it totally works for me but I think I should not only get the vote on where we go, but I should get that vote sans resistance. Elly had other ideas today, and even though I ultimately won, she had a grand time trying!

That was totally fun messing with you, mommy!

It was a good run nonetheless for both of us especially when it's a totally messed up week this week ... I've moved my weekend long run to Thursday, today is supposed to be Rest Day but I didn't, and tomorrow I'm supposed to run but I'm not. No need to follow that, just know it's a topsy-turvey week, and that just happens sometimes! I even took a friend up on the suggestion to go walking this morning before running, so even my run today was post 4-mile walk. Hmmm ... no wonder I wasn't in the mood for Elly's antics!

Well, the miles are in the muscles any way you slice it, and this is just a week to get through. I am no real fan of "just getting through", but that's how it works sometimes! The only real issue right now I have is this:

Empty.

Among other things to take care of today, this is one of them! So, I'm off to fill 'er up and continue on! Come along with me because tomorrow is Rest Day!!