26 Down...

One of life's greatest tragedies, I think, is that people rarely live their dreams. How many people have you met who wanted to make a name for themselves and really accomplish everything they set their minds to, but never put any effort into it? How many of us really grow up to be what we wanted when we were kids?

Matt and I have a dream for our future. We want to own a catamaran and spend a few years sailing the world, maybe taking on charters. I could run races and write in different countries; he could get back to his art.

I mean, this should probably just be the new definition of the word "freedom".

Ignore the fact that I'm terrified of water.

Today, we took our first step in realizing this dream by stopping by a company that gives sailing lessons. It was a bit out of our way, and I wore my running clothes because we planned to go to the gym right after. But as we drove home, we passed one of the nicest parks in our area, and I was inspired to do our run there.

The first thing we saw was a redheaded woodpecker. Can you find him?

I only had one mile on the schedule today because yesterday's run was pretty brutal and I was still sore from the heavy workout I did Tuesday. We ran along the boardwalk of the park, over the water (the park is aptly named Lakes Park), then finished our drive to the gym. It was a beautiful diversion, and next time we'll plan ahead and do a longer run there.

It was overcast but humid, a balmy 89 degrees.

Because I'd only done a mile, I spent some time on the elliptical (I use it backwards to work those muscles we usually neglect) and finally braved the stair-stepper. I did six minutes on the rowing machine and called it a day.

I can't believe there are only 13 days of the run streak to go! I think next week I'm going to start upping my mileage two or three times to prepare for my first week of marathon training. It's looming (but in a good way)!

How often do you switch up your usual routes?
What is your long-term life dream?
How's the weather been in your neck of the woods?

ABK