Miles and Miles Per Hour

This morning I woke up scared that I would see pouring rain outside my window. Instead, before I hopped out of bed I heard the house shaking. Not my favorite feeling in the world, to be honest. I looked out the window and didn't see rain as highly predicted (thank goodness), but I did see whipping winds. Guh-reat. Nothing I could do about it though! I just prayed my feet would stay on the ground, but who doesn't do that, you know?
15 miles meant something special today. I was bringing out the secret weapon.

 This bad boy has three compartments for little water bottles. The only problem is that I lost two bottles since the first marathon. I only needed one for the run so that worked out fine but guess what else this guy holds? My iPod, house key, and gummy bears!

Not only is it convenient but it's stylish! I've never felt more confident. I think I may start wearing it on a daily basis because lets face it, I need to stay hydrated, listen to music, and munch on gummy bears. In comparison to your average fanny pack, this hydration belt wins because, uh, it allows you to stay hydrated! No brainer.

Enough fashion talk, let's get to the run! The wind is sort of great and horrible at the same time. It just depends which direction you are running. I got the "best" of both worlds throughout the course. I came to the conclusion I'd rather have the wind for 15 miles than rain. Rain is great every once in awhile but do you know what isn't? Blood blisters. Yep, I went there. We're going to need to get comfortable talking about the good, bad, and ugly related to running. There's a lot of ugly, but I try to see mostly good. That's because I usually am unable to see myself...

After my windy run, I had to document what happened. Can you say windswept beauty? Let me say that I did not fix my hair at all during the course of the run (I now realize that is an obvious mistake) and I had to share this picture. Let me also say that my ponytail is not even in this picture. Not sure what happened to it.

Thankfully, I have no intention of finding love through this blog. The only date I had in mind was with a bottle of conditioner.

Today's Dedication: John

This dedication is for my brother and I should clear this up at the beginning. There is no correlation to this post and the fact that his birthday was yesterday and I have not given him a present yet. I promise. As I was running, I kept thinking about food. The gummy bears at the halfway mark did not cut it, although they gave me a little burst of energy. With several miles to go, I continuously wished a delicious meal would be sitting on the table upon my arrival. John is one of the best cooks I know (and am lucky to be related to). He has a natural talent in the kitchen. I love talking to John about what he is making for dinner because that's usually something we chat about on the phone. It's quite common to hear "something with chicken or steak." I know, why would I care then? I've never heard him say, "I really feel like whipping up some vegetable lasagna" but I still see his passion for cooking. It's true, garlic, olive oil, and onions do produce the best smell that there can be. I wonder if Burberry sells that cologne? My present shopping would be complete! John has always known good food. It probably stems back to the days of honey nut cheerios at the kitchen table before school. I could see his innovative mind just churning at future possibilities. I send John recipes all the time from blogs but I know he is not much of a recipe guy. Even still, I know he will take ideas and apply them. The result? Delicious home-cooked meals made by my dear brother. Easy peasy. I'm just waiting for him to appear on Top-Chef. You don't have to go to Le Cordon Bleu to be a genius in the kitchen. Although, it wouldn't hurt...

So now I'm still debating what to cook for lunch. I assume it will involve pasta, spinach, garlic, and whatever else I can find in the fridge. I could really go for something made by John, though. 

            Best, 

                   Anne