Can You See Me Now?

To say I was excited about this morning might be a slight understatement. You see, I got a new little baby last Friday. Can you see it??

Cory took the day off last Friday and we spent most of the day celebrating our sweet Brenton. We decided that for a birthday surprise we would let him choose his own present at Toys R Us. And, lucky for me, Toys R Us is not far from my fave little running store that I not only had a 15% off coupon for, but also a store credit to spend.

Fit Right NW is like a candy store to me. So many textures, colors, styles.... makes me pee a little in all my excitement! Okay, not really. But, you get the point.

I browsed the clearance rack. Found some cute Saucony shorts to try and a great short sleeve New Balance top. Browsed through Nike. Brooks. Adidas. Oiselle. Tried on the most amazing running tights ever! CW-X. Oh my word. At $98 bucks, I felt like one of the women on Say Yes To The Dress (Yes, I watch it. Yes, I've been married for 12 years. No, I'm not getting married anytime soon. But, one of my dream jobs is to work in a bridal salon. I love weddings!) Anyway, on that show they often advise against trying something on that is WAY out of the budget. Yeah. $98 is WAY out of my budget. But, I just had to. And they were yummy! Then, I had to pull myself away.

I had pulled a few jackets to try as well and Cory found one too. Since I am running in the dark more and more thanks to fall darkness, safety and visibility were my #1 concern. Keeping me relatively dry and warm were important too. Enter this little beauty...

I took her for a spin this morning while running in the pitch black. She kept me nice and toasty with just a tech T underneath. And, I felt nice and visible as I bounded along. Not to mention, I actually love the bright color and there's even cute fabric on the inside of the zipper and a cute reflective curly q on the sleeve. Add to it a wonderful pocket for my I-pod and I'm in love! With my coupon and store credit I ended up spending $15 on this baby. Thanks Brooks for making such a great jacket!

Yesterday was the first day that really felt like fall. Cool morning temps. Crisp air. I couldn't wait to get out and run in it this morning. Mandi ended up cancelling just as I was lacing up my shoes so, I headed out in the darkness alone. Complete darkness. No lights on the side of my country road. Just stars and moonlight. Once I got past the creepiness, it was pretty cool. I couldn't help but feel a little hardcore.

Funny too. It was so dark that the only way to see my watch was to click the button that turns it on for a quick second. I glanced at it when it hit a mile. Then, winding through a little neighborhood I glanced again. 1.75 miles. Finished off the 2nd mile in the safeness of the neighborhood then headed back out to the road to finish off mile 3. It felt so good just to let my body do it's thing.

3 easy miles.

9:46. 9:01. 8:49.

A nice deep breath to start the day. The beautiful sun shining in the crisp morning air. Can you tell I love fall?