Windy? Shocking. Except today!

20mph winds for my afternoon run?  A bitter wind ruining a perfectly clear, sunny day?  But of course.  Look at that flag.  It's standing straight out and whipping.  My whole winter of running has been like this.  It's annoying, monotonous, and killing my enjoyment of my daily run.  I'm over it.  Yesterday I had had it, and cut my afternoon run to a shorter 5.5 miles. 

And then, as if by magic, or maybe to keep us sane before another snow(maybe?)/heavy rain event rolls through, today was gorgeous.  A taste of spring.  It was almost 50*, sunny, with little wind.  I hit the hills and stretched my run an extra mile to make up for the shorter one yesterday, and I just cruised.  Didn't pay attention to pace, just ran and soaked up the sunshine. It was a great reminder that most of the time, even when I'm beat from work, my afternoon runs can be enjoyable!

The week got by me...

I ended up fighting some sort of head cold that mainly just settled into my throat.  It wasn't really sore, but I had no voice all week.  Ever try to talk when you have no voice?  It's exhausting.  Teaching 7th graders made this even tougher, but I never felt down for the count, so I didn't miss a day the rest of the week.  I took Wednesday off from running and went to a hot yoga class instead -- which felt great.  I got some solid running done the rest of the week, though it was a bit slower pace just because of feeling worn out. 

By Friday night I was itching to hang with my Philly peeps, so I met them at a great place in the city for a couple glasses of wine, then headed home early.  But not before trying this:

It was an accidental pour for the bartender, so we got to taste it for free.  It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't something I'd drink for real.  The name alone was scary!

After a longer run Saturday morning and some errands, I met some of the running store peeps for bowling and beers.  Except we never got lanes and just drank beers instead.  Another late night of playing = Sunday wasn't so great -- but I made it through a morning run and then an insane day at the store (we were slammed!). 

And now it's time to get ready for another week of teaching!  I hope I see a bright, bold sunrise like this one on my way to work tomorrow morning:

Sore throat and a run with a friend...

Figures, after taking the day off yesterday I now have a sore throat brewing.  It's been bugging me all day. 

I probably should've headed to the pool today, but a friend asked me last night to hang out with him today after we were both done work, so we decided to run around town.  He's much faster than me, so I told him he'd have to slow way down and I wanted to keep it short.   After my long run yesterday and a stacked couple days of miles, I wanted to run easy today. 

I met him at the store directly after work.  The run started with a race to see who could get changed out of work clothes and into running clothes faster.  He declared I'd take forever.  *rolleyes*   While he did win that race, I wasn't far behind.  So far, so good. 

We decided on hitting the hills -- ok, that was his idea -- and it was actually a really good run.  He ran my pace, we talked the whole way, and soon enough we were back at the store after covering 5 miles. 

I don't really run with other people very often.  My sister on the weekends at times, and some randoms here and there, but mainly I'm a solo runner.  I generally prefer that.  But today was good.  I know I was helping a friend, and I got a run in on a day I hadn't planned to, and it went just fine.  It even made me forget about my sore throat for a bit! 

Mental Health Days, and I'm becoming a napper...

I took a "sick" day today.  Really, it was a mental health day.  This has been a super frustrating year for me, and my weekends sometimes do not provide enough of a walk-away-from-it respite.  I was feeling burnt last week, but because of the lessons I was doing with my kids, I couldn't really take a day -- my kids needed me to be there and I didn't want to mess up the plans. 

I decided yesterday evening that I needed that day.  I needed to step away for a day, I needed to take a break.  I always feel guilty taking a day off from work, and I don't do it often.  But when I woke up this morning and had the day to take care of me, I was glad I made it happen.

I got a 10 mile run done -- it was only supposed to be 8, then it turned into 9, and by the time I was back at my house it was close to 9.5 so I looped my development a little to make it an even 10.  Really, I toyed with the idea of going for 15 or more, just because -- but I didn't. 

I graded some papers (I know -- not the point of a day off!), I had some lunch, and then I napped.  I never used to nap, but in the past 2 years I've become somewhat of a napper.  I'm not a great night sleeper, so a 20 minute (or 90 minute on a day like today) nap has become a popular thing for me.  It works -- after my nap, I can get out for a run or get some errands done or do whatever I still have to do in my day and not feel exhausted. 

So that was my mental health day.  Physical good stuff, and a break from the daily frustrations.  Tomorrow is a new day. 

Solar Power

Sunrise Friday morning.

As I walked out of my house on my way to work, I was greeted by an explosion of color.  The sky, with the dawn breaking, was amazing.  I stood there, in awe, and soaked in the absolute beauty of this sunrise.  It was powerful.  I hope everyone, at some point in their life, gets to see something so naturally beautiful.  (I do know many people did see it yesterday, based on how many of my friends posted about it on facebook!)  Truly amazing.

Redefine Possible

Whee!  Got my Philadelphia Marathon shirt in the mail today.  For those of us who were NYC refugees at Philly, we had to wait for our shirts to arrive in the mail.  It took months, but I was excited (I know, you can't tell that by my face here, right? haha).  It fit great, and the slogan, "Redefine Possible" was exactly what I did this past November.  I PR'd at Philly, despite a leg issue that nearly had me walking off the course at mile 13.  I redefined my own possibilities that day, and this shirt was a great reminder of that today. 

Swimming, rain, sushi, and riesling.

Good combination, right? 

It was a rainy afternoon, and I had planned a legs-free day anyway -- so I did core work this morning and then hit the pool after work.  Did an easy 20 laps, then pushed 10 laps, then did another easy 10.  2000 yards.  Pretty solid swim for my once-a-week visit into the pool. 

But, as always, I was STARVING after swimming.  What's up with that?  I'm not even this hungry after running for twice as long! 

So I stopped at Wegmans on my way home and had them make me some yummy sushi (tip -- ask them to make what you want!  They will, and it's usually fresher than the stuff sitting in the cold case). 

And just because I felt like it, I opened up this, too.

It was a Christmas gift and it's been taking up space in the fridge.  It's actually quite tasty!  Add in some girl talk with my neighbor over the sushi and wine, and that's a pretty good end to the rainy day.