With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams...

30 min elliptical to move some muscles around in the morning and a 1 mile walk in the pm with MR.

morning came too soon today.  I got 4 miles in the hood today.  I felt let down that there was high cloud cover, so no stars shining on my shoulders.  And the inevitable finally happened- when I finished my run, it was still dark outside.  No sunrise on the horizon.  I knew it was coming, but why did it have to be on a Monday??

I almost ran into a middle school student.  he was walking along a very dark section of the road and I was wearing my red lamp, which I had pointed down at the road just then because it was so dark and I knew it was a cruddy section of asphalt.  I'm sure he saw me running, but I did not see him coming.  Luckily he was just a kid going to the bus stop, but it made me realize I would have been caught off guard by someone with more sinister plans.  I hate that running has turned into a workout balanced around fear.

A girl was attacked on her bike a couple weeks ago, Terri was "flashed," friend got hit by a car.... just too much bad stuff in such a short time.  Maybe with winter coming, the crazies will stay inside with colder weather.  Maybe.

Hope to get a run in home today as long as the weather cooperates.  I left my watch at home charging, so it should be a nice run with no worries because I can just imagine I'm going super fast :-)

Got to run 5 in the evening with Wyatt.  Super-duper good times!

Morning run with Venus and the stars.  Got out a little late, so I had a glimpse of some daylight trying to crawl out from the treeline.  Beautiful.

I thought it was going to be warmer than I'd planned for and there were a few chilly wind gusts that made me wish I'd put some sleeves or gloves on.  It was encouragement for me to keep the pace up so I could stay warm!

Progressive run.  Started super slow, but cut 90 seconds off my pace from mile one to mile 5.

Saw the reflection from a pair of eyes in the soybean field as I ran by.  They followed me as I ran past them.  Neat-o...my first chupacabra sighting of the season!!  I was reading about coyotes before I went to bed last night, and I think I'd rather take my chances with a chupacabra!

I'm not sure how my alarm clock got turned off, but I slept in until almost 7 am.  When I did finally get over the shock and panic of sleeping so late, I realized I felt great and loved the extra sleep.

I was going to run home from work, and when I went to change at the end of the day, I found that I'd left my shoes at home....so I went home and ran my 10K route.  Not a fan of the evening traffic and creeps that will not move over at all even when there's no one coming for at least .75 of a mile and it's a straight road and daylight outside.  Why are they so mean?

I did enjoy the view of the fields in the sunlight.  I'm so used to running that route in the dark, and I've been missing out on some pretty views.  Cotton field on the left and soybean on the right.

Had a good early morning run, another progressive run and it felt good.  It was in the 40's and just right for shorts and a long sleeve shirt.

After work, I changed (glad I remembered my shoes today since I didn't have a ride home!) and ran home.  It was humid and cloudy.  I was afraid I might get caught in the rain, but after a couple miles, the sun came out and it got warm. 

First mile was a lot faster than my usual mile 1, and I was able to keep the pace for mile two, but the hill climb just before I hit mile 3 slowed me down and made me wonder if I'd run out of steam.  After I hit mile 3 (30 seconds slower than miles 1 & 2), I stopped and ate a few chewy energy sharks.  Those sharks and the end of all the hills put me back on my pace, and I was able to make miles 4 and 5 faster than miles 1 and 2. 

No running tomorrow- maybe a bike ride?

It had just finished raining in the morning, so I was able to ride my bike into work.  It was a little darker than I thought it would be, so I got to use my bike light for the first time ever!  I thought it would be cold out for the ride, but it wasn't - and I was over dressed.

Got 9 miles to work and then 5 home.

My new CES compression socks came in the mail last night, so I wore them to bed :-)  I was able to sleep in, do a couple errands in the morning, and get in a good run before 4 pm!  The nice weather made it all possible.

MR and I went to the Cape Fear trail to run.  It is an out and back, 4 miles each way.  MR wanted to run 6 miles, so we ran 3 out and turned around.  

After getting more water at the car, MR got on his bike and rode along with me for the next 7.5 miles.  I had a couple slow miles on the uphill parts, but overall my pace was better than the last few  long runs I've done- and those were all on flat roads.  Pat myself on the back...

At one point in my run, I saw a young guy who looked like a soldier in a wheelchair with a girl/wife and a medical help dog.  He was rolling along the trail.  I had such a wave of gratitude rush over me, and whatever it was that had been bothering me seemed to float away.  So lucky to be able to run!

I liked the compression socks.  They are great!  I kept them on all day and think they really do have some benefits.  I'll be wearing them on my future long runs :-)

After the run was over, we were walking on the boardwalk over the swampy land and saw the cutest little raccoon paw prints.