My day started off in the strangest way today….

I took the dogs out about 6:15am (Normally Mr. Badger does this, but he was away), and as I cut across our front lawn I nearly jumped out of my skin, there was a woman (complete stranger) stood on our driveway…. lifting the lid on our garbage can.  All I could think of to say was “Can I help you with something?” to which she told me a story about how next door’s garbage can had been rolling around in the street, and how she was worried ours was going to, and she had been debating whether or not to move it for us. I pointed out that next door’s garbage can was empty (the house is empty), and ours was full, so thank you, but ours wasn’t going to be rolling anywhere. The garbage can had been out all night, Thursdays are our garbage pick up day, and we had ridiculously strong winds & rain all night. I figured if the stupid garbage can didn’t budge during all that, it certainly wasn’t going anywhere at the tail end of the storm.

What I didn’t realize during this conversation, was that our front yard had overnight gone from grass, to a big, muddy swamp, with the illusion of grass on top. I found out when the dogs pulled over to the woman, and as I tried to pull them back I had zero traction beneath my feet, went flying in the air, and landed in a muddy heap.  Classy.  I left the odd woman (says the woman who was outside in her pajamas, and covered in mud), and continued on with the dog walk.  I did however check the garbage can for body parts once we returned. It didn’t look any different to the night before, so I was relieved. The kids were half horrified & half hysterical laughter at the sight of me when I walked in, I wish I’d gotten a photo!

By the time I’d gotten clean, and done our morning chaos routine, I was at my desk, and as the day went on, the wacky women became even stranger.  The garbage can next door was in the EXACT spot it has been for weeks, the chance was slim that she’d coincidentally put it back in the same place.  She wasn’t walking a dog, and didn’t have a handbag or keys with her (as someone would if they were leaving their house and going to work). It also bothered me that once I had gone around the corner, a big black SUV that I didn’t recognize drove by, from the direction the woman had gone. With hindsight I’m guessing she was either a) trying to break into Mr. Badger’s car, parked on the driveway or b) looking for documents with our identity in the garbage can. Either way, it gave me the heebie-jeebies for the rest of the day.

The morning kerfuffle was NOT the most exciting part of the day though…. Mr. Badger came home, with HUGE bags of English chocolate!

For anyone not familiar with Cadbury’s eclairs, they are caramels, with chocolate in the middle. Chocolate heaven, and that big bag above was all for me! It was great timing that the last day of my Dietbet challenge was yesterday, and I had weighed in for the final time this morning (pre-mud). I spent a great afternoon not running (as I should have), but lay around catching up with Mr. Badger, while doing my best to make a big dent in the bag of eclairs.

Before I knew it, it was 7:30, kids bedtime, and I still hadn’t made it to the gym. I had a 10 minute conversation with myself about whether or not to go, and a much shorter conversation with Mr. Badger that went like this:

Mr. Badger: Do you really want to go? It’s getting late

Me: I know, but if I don’t go today, then I have to do 3 days in a row starting tomorrow, with 9 miles on Saturday, and a race on Sunday.

Mr. Badger: You could just stay here with me instead, in this nice warm bed…

Me: …And I would wake up in the morning really regretting not getting my run in tonight.

Mr. Badger: I know, and that’s why I’m not going to push you hard to stay. Have fun…… Snore….

In defense of Mr. Badger’s snoring, he went to Germany, did eight presentations, and flew home, in less than 48 hours.  I probably would start snoring half-way through a conversation too.

I got this great t-shirt for $7 yesterday at Old Navy, when I went looking for a superhero t-shirt.

I love it! The Goonies is one of the best ever movies, and while I don’t generally like to advertise brands in my clothing choices, I am happy to make an exception with this (& obviously super hero stuff), especially if Sean Astin gets some money.  He just ran the Tinkerball Half Marathon in Disneyland, so he must be cool. I’m also a total sucker for baby soft t-shirts, and a good bargain.

My dreaded Thursday night easy run was actually pretty awesome tonight! It did feel easy, nice and relaxed.  I had my “I’m bored” moments, but I was really happy with how my body felt, and had some good splits:

Distance: 5 Miles

Total time: 50:43

Average Pace: 10:09

Favorite song tonight: On Top Of The World, by Imagine Dragons.

What is your favorite movie? Is there a weekly work out that you dread each week?