Rough Start

Well, October has not come in kindly, but that's ok. Maybe I was getting too settled in my routine, and the Universe decided I needed to shake things up a bit. Regardless...it started out very slow, in terms of mileage.  I've set a lofty goal of 105 miles going into this month, based on the fact that we're starting into the colder months, which I battle hard, and last month I did 112+.  Very hard goal to reach, but doable, I thought.

And then, there's that whole only 4 days of rest goal I threw in there for good measure. Just to keep it real, yo.

So now, five days in to the month, I've already used a rest day, and after my five mile run yesterday, I've got a whopping 10 miles to show for the first five days.

By my calculations, I'll need to average 3.8 miles every day for the rest of the month to meet my goal, and that's with no rest days. I'm going to try for 4 miles a day, just to hedge my bets, in case I have to take a day.  Sometimes, stuff just comes up.  Like torrential rain and life and stuff.

Ok, in other news...I had to work all day on Saturday, but even with the nasty weather, I managed a solid mile and a half run before the rain shut me down.  And can I just say it was freaking cold out there? Holy cow.  I was not made for cold weather running.  Or wet running, either...which inevitably leads to me being cold.  That's why I don't like running in the rain.

Sunday morning, since Keith was out of town, I took the boys by myself to Sycamore Shoals for a little hike along the river. Handling both dogs solo is a challenge, I can tell you.  They're incredibly well-behaved, but Gojo has so much power that he doesn't realize his own potential to jerk me off my feet if he decides he wants to go investigate a smell or wet down a tree.  It makes for an interesting adventure, to say the least.  Still, they had an awesome time, and so did I!  The sun even came out briefly, enough to cast a shadow or two...amazing how much that little bit did for me.

 

These boys love getting wet, even in the winter...seriously, I don't know how they stand it!  Just seeing Luggie out in the river makes my joints ache.  They had a great time swimming and snorting and eating grass and roughhousing.  And I had a great time just chilling along the riverside, watching the water flow past and letting my mind decompress in the still morning.

All in all, we managed to go the full two-mile loop before we had to turn back to the car to avoid the impending storm that blew in.  I was happy with that, though...it did more than give me mileage. It settled my soul.  And sometimes, that's worth more than one can put a price on.