My Shuffle....Survived

I know that this is my first spring in Cincinnati, but I kind of expected it to be a little warmer. Running has been difficult this past week, not because I can't handle the weather, just because I got used to the warm weather for those two awesome weeks! Needless to say, you have good runs and you have bad runs. As long as the temperature on Marathon Day is above 50 degrees, then I should be OK.

Amber and I went to Dayton last Wednesday night to see RENT and it was fabulous. We had sushi before the play and then went to see it at this beautiful theatre. Because we sat on the 5th row, we felt like we were with "our people"...die hard RENT fans! We sang and clapped along with everyone else in the first 10 rows of seats. It was so much fun. On our way home that night from Dayton, it began to snow and I had volunteered to drive us in Amber's car since it was so late and she was letting her ankle rest. (Apparently, driving makes her ankle hurt?) Well about 10 miles outside of Dayton, I noticed that the car felt a little funny. I thought that it was the wind making us kind of drift around on the road a bit. Well, then we heard a noise...kind of like a "flump, flump, flump". We pulled over at the next gas station (not much between Dayton and Cincinnati) so we could investigate. Apparently, we had blown a tire. There was hardly any rubber left, and the car was sitting on the rim by the time we made it the gas station. Granted that it was 11:30 at night, we weren't sure what to do. We don't know how to change a tire. So Amber went into the gas station and talked to the man behind the counter. He started pulling out the phone book and his business cards looking for an all-night car service business. When we were running out of options, the nice young guy behind the counter offered to change the tire himself. We were so grateful, and Amber "manned" the store for the worker, while he changed the tire. I sat in the car this whole time because it was 30 degrees! I just want everyone to know that there are good people out there that are willing to lend a hand when needed. Big thanks went to that nice man at the gas station. I drove 50 mph all the way home on the donut, and we had her car fixed the next day.

Back to running...we had a 13 mile run yesterday with our running group that started at 7:10 A.M. It was about 20 degrees at that time, and neither one of us had a very good run. We were taking it pretty slow since Amber's ankle was still sore, but it took us a good 3 miles to really warm up. We ran from the Crossroads church on Madison through O'Bryonville, Eden park and ended up at the Celestial Restaurant in Mt Adams. We then turned around and came back the same route. We both wore our fuel belts and had jelly beans along the way (fruit punch this week). We were glad to get that run over with and decided that even though the run was not great, we would have better days. I was wearing my North Face fleece to run in and decided to wash it when I got home yesterday. Well, last night, I remembered that they handed out GU packs for the runners at The Running Spot during the 13 miler yesterday, and I wondered what had happened to mine. I had planned to eat jelly beans so I decided to save my chocolate flavor GU pack for another occasion. It then occurred to me that I had put it in my fleece jacket that had already been through the washer and dryer and was sitting in the dryer waiting to be folded. I cringed...I was hoping that the chocolate GU was not all over my dryer and clean clothes! Luckily though, I reached in there and found the GU package still in the pocket of my fleece and still in one piece. Yea!! It had not exploded. Unfortunately, I also reached in that jacket pocket and retrieved my beloved Ipod Shuffle. I was so upset. It had gone through the washer and dryer too. It would not turn on, and when I tried to charge it, the usual charging light did not light up. I decided that I would let it charge over night and see what it looked like in the morning. My backup plan was to go to Target today to buy a new one...I can't go more than a day without my Shuffle. When I woke up this morning, I was happy to report that my Ipod Shuffle worked. I think that the Easter Bunny must have visited me because I thought the Shuffle was a goner.

I might make it out today for a short run...it is still pretty cold outside and I am not sure if I want to get bundled up again like I did yesterday. I am basing my run decision on how much Easter candy I eat today! Happy Easter to everyone!