Recent and Upcoming...

This week has been really foggy in the morning when I am supposed to be running. The fog, and the dark, necessitated a head gear addition. Yep, it was time to break out the head-lamp. I would rather not have to wear it, but I got the lightest one I could find and it works wonders. There are now two specific times I wear it running. The first was last Winter in the dark and now it is mostly because I don't want to get hit while I am running in the fog.

Although I must say I have used it for more than just running in the morning. It worked great when we were redoing our little bathroom downstairs. I had the light fixture off the wall so that I could paint all the walls and eventually replace/upgrade the fixture. I also walked around the house in the dark when I first got it. Why? Because I could...

Okay, so this post was supposed to be about me running a half-marathon this weekend in Peoria, but I saw a head-lamp on my head and couldn't resist. This weekend will be my fifth half-marathon and I am far from learning exaclty how to pace to be the fastest I can be, but I have really started loving this particular distance. It is not like a full marathon that has always taken me quite a bit more than 4 hours to complete, rather it is doable, for me, in under 2 hours and because of that, a lot more fun. Maybe some day I will want to try the full distance again, but for now my time is better spent with that crazy kid B-Town.

The IVS half-marathon this weekend is put together by the Illinois Valley Striders and it is run through the Springdale Cemetary. I have done a little bit of mapping of the course and noticed it has a lot more hills than I am used to in B/N, but it is a two lap course which means I can run the first lap conservatively and push it once I know the course.

And, because I just love this picture, even though it has made the rounds in other places, I must post it here...

It's from last Saturday and he had just gotten out of bed. He was in a good mood like he always is in the morning and happened to pop this gem of a face as I was licking him back. Yes...I know this makes me no better than a 4 month old, but you gotta understand. He licks everything and I mean everything. He was playing in his exer-saucer tonight and started licking the turtle toy that is attached. Does it have a taste? No, it was cleaned before he used it. Ergo, I lick him back.