11 Miles, Krispy Kreme, & Fish

I ran 11 miles today but I'm not feeling joyous. I crapped out about mile 8 and walked/ran the last 3. My running partner Royce said this is called "running it out," and as long as one still finishes the run, it counts.  I suppose, but I'd be a lot more pleased if I had managed to run the whole thing. Kiawah is in 4 weeks and I want to run the half-marathon, not run/walk.  I've had some bad runs lately.  That's because I'm not getting enough pavement time. It turned cold here the last couple of weeks and I found it hard to make myself leave the house in 40 degree weather (and the dark) to run.  But I'm going to have to step up my game plan if I want to finish this race with a respectable time.

The bright side of today's run is that Blair picked me up afterward and revived my spirits by feeding me Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Nothing like a doughy lump of sugar to get your blood pumping again. We indulged in the seasonal limited availability Pumpkin-Spice doughnuts. I strongly suggest you swing by and pick some up.

Had a lot of fun in Krispy Kreme watching the kids. One little girl about 5 walked in with her family and brother, who was maybe 7. She raced to the doughnut window, turned, and with an urgency in her voice one might hear from an adult if the home were on fire and they were trying to get everyone out called, "JOHN!! HURRY!...Sprinkles!!" 

A lot of dads were there with their kids and I eavesdropped on conversations about the best way to wear the paper KK hat and whether jelly doughnuts were better than chocolate. When we left, I mentioned to Blair how sweet it was to see dad's spending a Saturday morning, taking their kids out for a special treat.  Blair pointed out the majority of those  dad's weren't wearing wedding bands, begging the question if this was the dad's "weekend" visit with the kids. Still a nice outing for everyone but kind of makes me sad...

Okay. Fish. We have heard your words and are dramatically scaling back our plans. We'll start with a small tank and freshwater fish.  No mortgaging the house to buy an 80-gallon tank until we're sure we're in it for the long haul. Thank you all for putting the fear of God into us.

And that's it. My reward for having run 11 miles is I don't have to do jack for the rest of the day. (Hey--maybe there's the motivation I need to get outside and run more often.)  

Hope everyone is enjoying stellar weather like we are...close to 80 today. It's one of those days that make you happy to be alive.

Although that could also be the sugar from the doughnut talking...