#8 & #9

I promise I didn't forget to be grateful.  I've just been very busy the last few days. I've had an extra amount of things to be grateful for, so it was tough to narrow it down to just one for each day.  I'll start with the important things. (Sorry to all my Alaskan friends, you may hate me after you read what I'm about to write.)

November 8: I am grateful for the RAIN.

It's like that country song by Luke Bryan, "Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey. Whiskey makes my baby feel a little..." Okay, maybe it's nothing like that.  I don't even like whiskey, but I do love rain. 

Yesterday morning, the ground was glistening from fresh rain when I got up to workout. It was the most beautiful thing I had seen in a long time.  Living in the land of eternal blue skies and bright golden sun is amazing, but it is such a welcome change to see dark clouds and raindrops falling from the sky. 

Not my finest photography moment, but those little raindrops truly brought me great joy.
Like my cracked windshield?  Thanks to potholes back home, this is the norm for most Alaskan cars. 

I think I love rain so much because a) if you're from Alaska you either learn to love rain or you don't last a week in the unpredictable Alaskan summers and b) the clouds and rain give me an excuse to bake delicious homemade coffee cake and then curl up with a steamy cup of hot cocoa.

Coffeecake from HEAVEN.

Someday, if you bribe me with running gear, I'll share my secret recipe with you. 

November 9: I am grateful for the road to recovery.

Did you think I would actually go a whole post without discussing running? :) This week I have made great strides in the recovery department.  I had 2 appointments with an Active Release Therapist (I swear by it - if you are injured and/or need a "tune" up, let me know and I'll give you a recommendation of who to see.  You will NOT be disappointed). He cleared me to run again- even saying that I would be fine to run the Silver Strand half marathon on Sunday! I'm not so sure running 13.1 miles after taking a few weeks off is the greatest idea, but I AM going to do the race.  My rule to races is: if I pay, I will finish to earn my medal and t-shirt. (And let's not forget collecting free stuff from the expo, because we all know how much I free samples of goo). My plan is run as much as is comfortable and then walk the rest. There is no reason to re-injure myself or cause more inflammation, but I'm ready to get back out there and at least see how everything feels! Regardless of how it goes, I am so grateful for this exciting news in the running-deprived world of mine!  

Hope you have a great weekend!!