Enjoying the simple things...

The last few days have been kind of rough. The back-up of the floor drain in the basement has led to very expensive project. I had to take 2 vacation days Thursday and Friday for a guy to come out and dig up part of my drive-way and yard; which led to further problems. To sum up the plumbing problem, terracotta pipe should never have been used!

I did manage to get in some running this week despite the plumbing issue. I ran 6 miles of "commercial fartleks" on the treadmill Thursday night--kind of boring, but better than no running at all. Friday I managed to put in 4.5 miles on a local horse trail! Now that was fun and educational!

I practiced "power-walking" on the hills that were not runnable, learned to slow down after it gets dark, discovered that horse trails can get very rough when frozen, and most important--time means nothing on the trail! Even though I wore my Garmin, I never really looked at my time or pace. I did check out my heart rate during some of the climbs, but that was more for learning how to pace my "power-walks." I'm sure I'll get stronger on the trail. It'll take some time, and I'm looking forward to putting that time in!

Today was the Jingle Bell Run for the Arthritis Foundation in Pittsburgh. It was a nice 5K that I ran with some of my Uno Fish Running Club buddies. The temps were in the low 30's and the sun was bright! A perfect morning for shorts, long sleeve tech shirt, vest, ear warmers, and a Santa Hat! We had a ball. Shannon ran a 3 minute PR! I'm so happy for her! She's come such a long way!

Anyway, I managed to run my way through the stress of the plumbing problem. They're just pipes. We really didn't want to spend the money that we really don't have right now, but there's nothing we can do about it. Letting these things go and enjoying life for what it has to offer is so much more important.

Stay safe, keep your soles to the ground, and keep moving forward!