NO PAIN NO . . . .

Despite both of us feeling various aches and pains, both Pigeon and I set out last night for our usual Tuesday workout but with the intentions of adding some "mile pick ups" in the middle.

Pigeon arrived a smidge late as she was coming from a massage appointment. Good for her. If I was her, I would have taken the time to enjoy that massage and reap its benefits instead of running but then again, that's me and not her.

I decided to run after having seen my chiropractor earlier in the day. I was sore but definitely on the mend compared to how I felt earlier that morning. Today I feel fantastic so I am glad I saw him.

Our initial plan was to warm up a mile, pick up the pace for a mile, slow for half mile, pick up for a mile and so on. When I arrived I informed Pigeon my stomach bug is still very present and that I'd be stopping to pee at the first bathroom we passed, which happens to be 1.5 miles in. There goes our plan.

Pigeon was visibly in some pain so we decided to try our first pick up at mile 2 instead. I apologize, I forgot my camera last night so no JC Penny photos to share. I'l try and make up for it on Thursday when we do hill repeats.

The first pick up I felt okay, good even, but then about 3/4 of the way in I felt exhausted. Pigeon I can tell was struggling behind me as I heard her footsteps drop farther back. Her poor back. Her poor body! After that pick up we checked in with each other and there I learned how much pain she really was in but she was determined to do more pick ups. Myself on the other hand, decided one more mile pick up might have been heaving by the side of the trail. Instead, we did 1 minute pick ups on the way back giving her more of a chance to recover and to not put too much strain on her back.

I still think she should be resting completely until she figures out what is going on with her back but she's one pigheaded stubborn runner.

Overall it was a better run than expected (at least for me). Battling my shoulder/back pain along with whatever stomach bug I seem to be dealing with lately has left me less than excited to run at all. Last night however, I felt like I might be slowly coming back to "normal" and Pigeon boosted my ego when she told me that my 7 lb weight loss (that I've been working hard at lately) was actually visable when she compared recent photos to past ones. It is hard to see weight loss on someone you see on an almost daily basis. That got me recharged to continue my clean eating habits and early morning runs.

Today I popped out of bed at 5:30 am and went for a nice cool 3 mile run around the neighborhood. These runs are not for training purposes. My speed isn't anywhere near fast but I enjoy these runs the most I think. I am the only one out there, minus the occaisonal dog walker and the temperature is just cool and enjoyable. Occaisonally a sprinkler will turn on somewhere and get me which adds to the fun.

One of these mornings I should bring my camera with me. I run through a neighborhood of beautiful mansions and as I pass them my mind immediately goes to "what if" scenarios . . . "what if I lived there" "what if that one was my house!" It's fun and also depressing. ha

While I was out running, the Peanut was helping Vans make dinnner. This is her apprentice chair.

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We're also working on teaching the Peanut how to swim. Really, we're just teaching her to play in the pool. Fun for all.