I just had a sudden craving for a Whopper.

There's a sign hanging on my front door staring me in the face every time I leave my apartment. It provides a whole list of bad situations, following each with "run anyway." For instance, if you have a hangover, run anyway. I suppose I meant it to be motivaional, but I don't actually follow its advice. Instead, I try to avoid those situations. If I suspect I'll be hungover on a given day I schedules my runs so that that's a rest day. If it's snowing I run on a treadmill. Etc.

But yesterday I followed one of the lines: "If it's raining, run anyway." And it was fun! I called Scott around 4pm when I observed a hurricance outside my office window and asked if he still wanted to run. Of course he did, and by the time I got home at 6:30 and saw clear skies I felt silly for even calling. But we ended up running in a massive downpour. Other than the rain getting under my contacts rendering me blind and the guys along the path staring at my white t-shirt, it was quite enjoyable. Maybe in the future I'll actually follow my own advice and run anyway. Especially now that Scott says it's ok to call myself a runner :)

Best birthday ever! Ok, I guess my best birthday was the actual day I was born, and any birthday where you're still alive and healthy enough to celebrate (and run a 10 mile race) is a good one. But this was definitely the best in recent memory, thanks to good friends :) A big thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy Mexican food and sketchy bars or who called to wish me a happy birthday!

Does bocce ball count as cross training?

Chryssi lands in a little over 21 hours! :)

This weekend is beginning to fill up very, very quickly. With any luck it will be a good birthday. I tend to be disappointed with my birthdays. I suppose that's the problem with a holiday birthday. There's an upside-- I never have to work on my birthday (and this year I get paid not to work!). But there's also a downside-- the day is just not about me. I've always had to contend with friends going out of town, busy with family functions, etc. I remember going to three parties on my birthday one year, but not a single one of the parties was for me, and in fact most people had no idea it was my birthday. Last year was definitely the worst though-- I was at a wedding on my birthday. The reception was certainly not designed to celebrate me, and I was seated at a table of my high school friends, who all had spouses/significant others with them. I was alone. Not that I mind being alone, but they kept bringing it up, asking me when I was going to settle down. And I had too long a drive home to be able to drink heavily!

A far cry from the days growing up when my parents would tell me the fireworks and bbqs and parades were all for me!