Strong, Fast and Happy!

This is how I felt today!  And, thank goodness!  It was time to clear the funk out, both physically and mentally.  This week was sort of, well...blah.  My running was lackluster, to say the least, and I was feeling a bit under the weather.  But, this morning I woke up and, for some reason, I just felt better.  (It certainly wasn't due to a wonderful night's sleep or anything.  We watched two more episodes of Big Love last night.  Tonight we'll watch the series finale.  Phew!  That show is wearing me out.)  Maybe it's because it's Friday.

Or maybe it's because I got to eat a piece of this for breakfast...

This is the Fresh Orange Cake I "made for my staff meeting" today.  This is so pathetic...I made it last night for today's meeting, and while we were watching Big Love I couldn't take it anymore.  I HAD TO HAVE A PIECE!!  So, I busted into it and had a slice.  It.was.awesome.  So, this morning, I had to figure out how to bring it to my meeting without anyone seeing that I'd already taken a slice out of it.  This was my solution...

I sliced that baby up and arranged it beautifully on a pretty plate--HA!  Nobody will ever know the difference!!  (Um...except my co-workers who read my blog...but by then our meeting will be over.)  So, when I was slicing it up to look pretty on a plate this morning, my husband, my son and I split one more piece.  It was just as awesome as I remembered it from last night.

Or, maybe I was feeling better today because of the hilarious 4-year-old April Fools jokes my son was telling me on the way to school today:

Weston: Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
Weston: April Fools
Me: April Fools who?
Weston: April Fools wants to cross the street and jump up and down!
HA HA HA HA HA!!!

This is the kind of stuff an almost 5-year-old boy finds funny, people.  It was so cute.  He was really trying to grasp the concept of April Fools Day, and it just wasn't quite clicking.  But, this kid can make a knock-knock joke up about anything--and, it won't make sense, mind you--but, to him, it will be hilarious.  I try to cherish these moments.

Or, maybe it was the fact that the sun actually broke free from the clouds today--hallelujah!!!  As I came out of the gym and squinted in surprise, I actually looked at a total stranger who was walking in and just said "Sun." like some neanderthal idiot.  I think I was in a state of shock.  He did not respond.  Maybe he was feeling shocked too.

 See?  I'm pointing to the slice of sunshine that's streaming into our kitchen.



Well, whatever the reason for my feeling so much better today, it made my run much more enjoyable.  I felt both strong and fast.  I ended up going 6.9 miles in an hour with an average pace of 8:40.  I never felt overly fatigued (I mean, you should feel somewhat fatigued, right?  You're running.), and I had no pain or tightness.  Generally speaking, it was a joyful run.  And, I had been thinking this week about finding the joy in running again, so I am very grateful that the universe decided to bestow upon me a joyful run today.  Hopefully I can spread some of that joy around to others today.

I mean, really, if this doesn't make you happy, then I don't know what will.

Happy Friday, people!