After yesterday's freezing cold morning (yep, these three layered runs are becoming a bit of a regular thing now), it actually turned into a gorgeous, sunny (almost hot) day here. So, after work we headed out on our bicycles to a local park so that Puppy could run around and we could lay on the grass for a bit (felt SO good hey). We realised as soon as we got out the door and into the glorious sunshine that her newly purchased, super-stylin puppy jacket wasn't needed, but here's a couple of 'just-because' shots of her in it (just because she's so f'kin cute!):

As soon as we could, our respective jacket/shoes/boots came straight off for some prime time feel-the-grass action:

Seriously. Haven't tried just lying on the grass lately? Give it a whirl. Feels pretty amazeballs.

Here is Puppy expressing just how good it feels (we call her the dog of many faces - here's her best 'pissing-myself-with-laughter-as-am-thrilled-to-be-at-the-park' face):

And yes, an extra 'just because' shot of the autumnal colours of the leaves changing colour (had to get this before it is too late and they start to fall):

And back to some running musings now: Today I ran a 9km (ish) endurance pace run. It took 40 minutes. So, think that's roughly the same pace as yesterday's run. Hopefully, I can repeat this on race day. Felt pretty strong today and like I could have kept on running for many more kilometres, so that's a good sign. Also, I read a great quote yesterday, and wish I could remember who by or where I saw it, as my paraphrasing of it here is going to be much less eloquent, but here goes: it was something along the lines of that humans need and love to 'play' and that running is just a form of play, even when we try to be really good at it. This concept really made me smile at points during my run this morning, and I reflected on my 9km of playtime before the day really starts. This is getting added to my mental log of running mantras now, and whenever things seem tough or I get a little tired, I'll try to remember that it's all just playing anyway, and not to take it so seriously.

So, have a fookin fantastic Friday everyone, filled with fun times and PLAYING.

Boo... Rainy and cold here today. This means: 1) I did NOT go for my training run as planned this morning, but chose staying put in my warm, comfy(ish, well ok, rock-hard Chinese) bed with Hot Husband (you know I would chose you over a run anytime Lovely, if you're reading this!); and 2) now I will get the joy of a track workout run this arvo/evening in what looks to be an all-day raining session.

However, one big perk of this rainy, average Tuesday, is that now we can stay inside in the warm and dry thanks to a mid-term exam that all the students are having today. I arrived at my lesson this morning to be told this news. Love these surprise holiday/resting days! So, fingers crossed that by this evening it has cleared up enough for me to not pussy out of heading to the track.

What's on schedule for today is: a 2km warm-up, 8km tempo at half marathon pace, and then 2 km cool down. Hmm, now if I had been a bit less lazy this morning, then I could have run the 8km portion outside on one of my riverside routes, as it would have been early enough to avoid the crazy traffic (both vehicles and people traffic), however now I am resigned to the track, especially as it will more than likely be dark for some of my run (and I've well and truly learnt my lesson about running in the dark, after a sprained ankle earlier this year, owing to my stupidity when I thought going for a run in the early morning, in the dark, along a boardwalk on a beach, in a new city, was a good idea. It was a bad idea and I fell off the boardwalk, d'oh).

So, this is pretty much the view here today (yes, not my own picture, but you get the idea):

This change in the weather (i.e. it is now the COLD you would expect from November) has meant that I have rediscovered my porridge (or Oatmeal to those American readers) addiction. Seriously, it's turned into a staple food this past week. Does anyone else go through food phases and have mini-addictions? Am I the only one?? It usually turns me off the food for a while after I've had a few weeks of it though, so maybe my body knows and wants to let me know, 'ok Lou, move along now, nothing to see here, you've had quite enough porridge/toastie sandwiches/cereal/insert addictive foodstuff of the moment here'.

So, back to lesson planning / internet research for me. I know it seems I am very happy to get my lessons cancelled, but actually this is not the case (well, maybe half the case). The same thing happened with the same students last week, so by the time we see them again, they will be two weeks behind all the other students with our lessons. Hey-ho, will they remember our names?!

Have truly terrific Tuesdays everyone! :)