5.15 miles in 44:11

connect.garmin.com/activity/162942174

i did not want to get up this morning. when my alarm went off, i got up, went to the bathroom and actually got back in bed. i was groggy and i just wanted more sleep. then my mind got hyper! when my brain starts zipping this way and that, there's no use lying around. i'm not going to drop off to slumberland. i got up and dressed to run.

i left the house and decided to run out around the cemetery again. i hadn't tried to do that since the dog incident a few weeks ago and i didn't want to let the mutt win. i faced my fears and ran quickly and lightly past his territory. a car going by at about that time probably helped mask the smell of terror that had to be wafting through the air.

i stopped at the highway to tie my shoe which had come undone and then headed south. my first plan was to turn on maple and make my way back home, but a glance at the time told me i could do more than that. i chose to continue on south on the highway and go out and around wal-mart and take in part of the south side of town.

when i neared the trailer court just past the baseball complex, i decided to take a slight detour and run through it. i followed the main drag through the 90-footers and exited onto country club then turned onto sixth. a quick right after the country club apartments took me back a bit to the east before turning north to climb the hill on parklane. i don't know why, but this little looping street is one of my favorites. it just feels like it should be run.

on third, i ran past the hospital then turned north to take in the rest of stout street. i ran to school and then on to home where i stopped at 5.15 miles for the third time in the last six days. kind of a weird mileage to repeat, i know. it wasn't planned. just happened.

after waking my wife up, i stripped off my sweat-drenched idiots running club tech t and walked about 15 minutes to cool down. at 52 degrees it wasn't hard to get back to comfortable. i just wish the humidity would've dropped a bit. at 94% i was drinking the air.

I'm thankful for...

It's Thankful Thursday. What are you thankful for? I asked this question on Facebook and here are the responses I got...

• God's love and wonderful family and friends!
• That Thursdays are my day off!
• I am thankful for you.
• Sunshine!
• That I have a God that loves and cares for me all days,
• That every morning can be a new beginning, not just Jan. 1st. For the Lord's grace and mercy is new every morning. So grateful.
• Bible study
• I'm Thankful for my family and friends and the freedom to choose to do what I want every day.
• The fact that I could post all day long the things I am blessed with
• I still have two teeth that hit!
• God and His provision!
• Ivy Marie
• Being on a vacation with my youngest in Sacramento, CA, for a week visiting my peeps.
• Only one more day of work before I'm on Maternity Leave! YAY!
• Oh, I better get serious! I am so thankful for all my dear friends here in the retirement community in Newberg, Oregon that I have known since my birth in Kansas as well as God's provision for us and being near our two daughters.

Feet up...

"Fear wants to put a stick in our spokes and call it being realistic; faith sometimes puts its feet on the handlebars and just hangs on."

Five weeks and counting...

Five weeks ago today, on February 22, 2012, I decided I was done drinking pop. I was drinking way too much and I knew it wasn't good for me, so I quit. This isn't the first time I've tried to cut out soda. I've tried numerous times and never made it this far. The difference, this time, is a group of friends on Twitter who are keeping me accountable. Every week that I tweet that I'm soda-free, they reply with encouragement. I'm excited! There are still moments when I want a Pepsi or a NOS or something with caffeine, but those moments are becoming less frequent. I look forward to the day when the temptations are months apart. Can't wait till I've mastered this habit instead of it mastering me.

A woohoo moment in cycling...

I have to admit, I've done this before! Every time I ride through Eastborough, I do my best to blow past their 20mph speed limit. I am so bad!

6.20 miles in 56:28

connect.garmin.com/activity/162384623

ugh! when will this awful, sultry weather end? it was 55 degrees out this morning with 88% relative humidity! my clothes were drenched when i got done running. my face glistened and then dripped. ugh!

i'm still in base-building mode, so i didn't really push it all that much this morning. i just ran around the neighborhood covering every street near home. after 3.5 miles, i stopped for a visit to the blockhouse before finishing off the rest of the streets.

it really is kind of hard to keep track of the streets i've run while i'm doing this and to get them all in since i don't like doubling back. try it. you'll see what i'm talking about.