Let’s just get this out of the way…I’ve missed two days this week of my writing challenge, yesterday being another. While I’ve failed to write every day, I’m writing a heck of a lot more often than before, so that’s something. If in the end of this whole shebang I end up slightly under 30 consecutive days of writing, but I’ve still got 5-7 blogs posts here a week, it will be a huge success in still creating this as a much more active space for myself. Okay, phew. I feel so much better for having cleared the air. You? Now onto more exciting things, like mini golf and long runs.
Yesterday was one of those serendipitous days in which fates seems to intervene in just the way you would have wanted it to had you designed the events yourself. We had planned for a fast and furious day trip for a family obligation that would have entailed about 5-6 total hours in the car round trip for basically a long lunch. None of us were thrilled at this prospect, but sometimes you do what you have to do. We had stopped at a gas station about 15 minutes outside of town to put a little extra air in the tires, and while the Mister was doing so one of them blew, or faded slowly like a sad popped balloon. We sat there for a second, waiting for someone else to express joy, because we were all feeling it, then after some hooping and hollering we got the spare tire on and decided to have a completely impromptu fun day out. I mean, we were already out, and convincing two teenagers that spending time as a family can be fun isn’t the easiest of feats, but somehow the prospect of being forced out of our original long day was the magic elixir. We played mini golf, which was conveniently across the street from the gas station. We went out for Mexican food afterwards. We let the kids play DJ on the ride back home, which was definitely equal parts enlightening and hilarious.
This morning I ran an easy 12 miles with some short bouts of 10K effort sprinkled in, and I felt great. There were a few rain drops, but nothing too noticeable, and I was loving the mild temps. Somehow I managed to select the perfect playlist, and the run flew right by. Afterwards I enjoyed a smoothie and some pancakes, smothered in my newest obsession: lemon jelly. I have no idea what in the world triggered a random craving for lemon jelly, but I have not looked back. In case you were wondering, it is a perfect companion to peanut butter and/or coconut. As I’m sitting here writing this I am flipping through a list of all the other foods I can smear it on. I might draw the line at veggies, but otherwise everything else feels like fair game.
My long run this morning was one of those times when I started out feeling dead tired, and then 3 miles in felt strong and solid. I didn’t start running super early, but it was still dark out, so maybe that had a dampening effect. Or maybe, like yesterday’s golf tournament and burritos, a good run was just in the cards for me today. This was my longest run in probably 4 months. I had capped my long runs at 10 miles for the past few months as I’ve been focused more on speed, though 12 didn’t feel noticeably longer, so I’ll take it. It felt good to go long. I enjoyed spreading out my miles and revisiting some of my farther flung training routes. Now I’m sitting here listening to the rain, just feeling grateful. This morning I realized that I am working towards being in the best shape of my life, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the process. Every effort is another step forward, another insight gained, another drop in the bucket. I’m glad to have found myself in this place, and excited to see what happens next.
I’ll leave you for today on that sappy note. I hope your weekend has also been a great one.
In gratitude and lemon jelly,
Sarah
