It's a new dawn, it's a new day...

Today was a vacation day. The one purpose for this day was to get in a long run. As I looked out my window at work yesterday, all I could think was I really would like to be outside running. So I did what any normal person would do and asked for a last minute vacation day.

The plan was to get up early to avoid the heat and so that I did not sleep away the entire day. Lately, when I have been afforded the opportunity to wake up without the aid of an alarm clock, it is easily 12 or 13 hours after I went to sleep. Does anyone think I might be in a sleep deficit? Maybe... I had a few minor plans for the day, nothing overly scheduled. My big plans, you ask? Run 10 miles, buy some tomatoes at the neighborhood market, bake a pound cake for a tennis friend and possibly meet said friend for a late lunch.

I think I have mentioned my Mom issue before. Not to delve back into it but I am trying a tough love thing on her now. Along the lines of sometimes you just can't care enough to save someone who doesn't care enough to save themselves. She writes to me pretty much every day. Yesterday was a 10 pager. It kind of tweaked my mood about my vacation day. GRRRR... Well, it was either that or the avocados that I bought for guacamole weren't quite ripe anough and I tried to use them for guac anyhow. Just not the same. Bummer... Seriously, it is just one of those things where the other person just refuses to do even the simplest thing to help themself out of a situation. I feel a lot of guilt that I am not doing right by her but in the end she has to take some responsibility for herself. She is not incapacitated. That would be COMPLETELY different. I have decided I am not going to open the letters for a while. Maybe a couple of weeks for starters. We will see.

So I think subconsciously that tweaked my mood for the run although I didn't realize it until I got out there. I set my alarm clock for about 7:00 so I could get a reasonably early start. I ended up getting out to the Mountain about 9:00. I am so easily sidetracked in the morning. I head out on the path and am just not feeling it. You know how it is, I have read your blogs. Lord knows, it requires every ounce of mental fortitude to knock out 10 miles at Stone Mountain and today was not the day. Whenever this happens, immediately become some kind of split personality in the way I bargain with myself. Something like, "ok, so you aren't feeling it today, I will let you walk the uphills if you run the flats and the downhills". That worked for about 3.5 miles then I settled into a power walk. I kind of wish I had my heart rate monitor on as I would be interested to know my pace for those miles. As I approached the car at mile 5 for the second loop, it was the moment of truth. Get in the car and leave or keep going. I am a tough taskmaster. I convinced myself to keep going. There was almost no running in the second 5 miles, I just power walked and occasionally broke into a run on the downhills (I do love to fly down the hills). All in all, I turned a DNF into a finished-but-not-the-way-I-planned. For that, I am proud. My legs feel just about as tired as they would after a run and I didn't add that much time to the effort so I'll take an A+ for my ability to conquer my own attitude.

On my way home, I stopped at the local market, Always Fresh. It is the tiniest little shop with fresh vegetables for sale and they also have a little cafe. It is nothing fancy but I love the food. I rarely think of going there as they are only open until 4 or 5 and I just don't think of it on the weekend even though it is maybe 2 miles from my house. If the guy you have seen who sells produce out of the back of his pickup on the side of the road had a store this would be it. Very minimalist but great fresh veggies for sale. They also sell cakes from a local bakery and some jams and things but I go there for the tomatoes. In Georgia, ours are best in late July - early August. These are locally grown and NOT the flavorless ones you get in the grocery store. These are the kind you could eat on a sandwich with nothing else but bread and mayo. MMMMMMM. I brought these babies home with me...




Their cafe is really simple, just wooden tables covered in red checkered tablecloths. I am guessing they have a busy lunch business as they have added more tables since the last time I was there a year or so ago. It is southern style cooking and YUM-O. They have about 8 or 10 different veggie offerings and usually at least 2 meats in addition to soups, hamburgers and chicken salad sandwiches. Today's choices were meatloaf and baked chicken so I could not leave without grabbing lunch (so much for the lovely pre-packaged lunches but those were really for work anyhow, right?). I had yummy baked chicken, squash and green beans. Thankfully and surprisingly, their cornbread is not the best or I would have been in real trouble as I love good cornbread.

After that stop, I headed home to make my pound cake which turned out great if I do say so myself. For some reason, sometimes it burns ut today it was lovely which makes me happy as it was for a gift. If it was for me, well, I have no problem eating around the burned bits. :) Lunch plans were cancelled which is fine as I am enjoying getting things done around the house. Ahhhh... All in all, I'm feeling good. What a great day :)