Yesterday I celebrated Black Friday with a new pair of shoes! I got some New Balance shoes at JCPenney for $30. I have been wearing the same shoes for a year and they were falling apart; the holes in them were so big, my feet have been freezing in the colder weather! So this morning I decided to run in my new shoes, and I did great! 4 miles and my feet feel good!!! I was only going to go 2-3 miles, but I felt really good and went for more! :D

It doesn't always go like that when I go out there. When I first started this morning, all I kept thinking about was the cold wind that was beating me in the face, and I almost talked myself into changing it down to a short neighborhood walk. (Brrr...the REAL November has arrived!) But I promised a Sparkbuddy that I would run today, so I started telling myself that if I kept going, I would have a nice tailwind home...and I did. There is a busy intersection near my house that has a flashing red light over it, and I love coming back from a long run and seeing that beacon in front of me! It always lights up my world and makes me smile to myself and say "I did it!" I feel amazing right now and I'm so proud of myself. :)

An interesting thing happened out there this morning; I have a loop around my oldest daughter's HS that I like to do, because it adds an easy quarter mile to my route. This time, as I emerged from behind the school, there was a cop to greet me! His lights weren't on, but he had his spotlight right on me, and I think he was checking to make sure I was legit! Once he saw me running at a steady pace and minding my own business, he backed all the way out of the school drive, Mater-style, and went in another direction, but kept his spotlight on me. Then as I got back out to the main road there were other cops sitting around, and one with his lights going. Eventually as I ran past that subdivision, I realized they were casing the neighborhood there and probably looking for a prowler or something. They left me alone and I kept going, and I got all the way back to my own neighborhood, a mile away, without incident. Craziness.

Well, I guess that's about all for today. I need food and a shower and an ice pack for my foot, just in case. Spark On. :)