it's good to be slow

Four, count 'em, FOUR 4-leaf clovers found during a run!!

Summer is leaving.  When it's gone for good, Summer will take with it the possibility of me changing my luck every time I go for a run.

Did I mention that I'm a slow runner?  It's a good thing I'm slow - I like to look around when I'm running.  When I'm alone I need to capitalize on the distraction of my surroundings to keep my mind off the fact that my body hasn't yet embraced what I'm doing to it.  And because I'm not super graceful, a faster pace might make my tendency to look around kind of treacherous.  Add running with Jane to the mix and things could get really ugly if I'm not noticing all the flora, fauna and funky stuff she's bound to go after.

Speaking of running with Jane, we went for a run this morning.  It was only 3 miles and we walked part of it but for some reason, it was a tough run for me.  I hate that!  I was grateful that I had to walk "for Jane's sake" because I was spent.  Seriously, at what point is running going to feel effortless?  Ever???

Back to the possibility of changing my luck with each run.... There are perks to being slow.   One of them is my strange talent for spotting four leaf clovers while I'm running.  It's not like I'm on a mission or anything, I just happen to look down and there they are!  It's pretty cool actually.  During one run, I found 4 of them. Since it was right before my first (and so far, only) half marathon, I took it as a good sign that the race would go well (meaning I'd finish).  And it was!  I had a surprisingly fun time in that race despite having to run down a huge hill at the beginning, up another big hill in the middle, then turn around and run down the big hill again and finish going up the HUGE hill we started on.  And I didn't even feel like puking when I was done!  So, was it the clovers or the slow pace?  Hmmmmm........maybe a bit of both.