Bailee earns her Half-Marathon pin today

This girl!  Although the pic doesn't show her excitement, she definitely knows some quality time together on a road or trail is about to happen when her vest appears.  After Saturday's GORGEOUS weather and impromptu interval run together, we took the day off yesterday, outside of a few ball-tosses in the front yard.  Initially, the plan this morning was to meet up with a friend for a 6-mile walk, but unfortunately she was struck with what I call the "Teacher's Murphy's Law" - namely, when one is on holiday break, one gets sick.   Ughers.  SO, my day opened up.  And long story short, after looking at the weather forecast for the next few days, knowing I had been toying with the idea of tackling a truly EASY long run of a half marathon tomorrow (New Year's Eve), the mindset shifted late last night to run around our town's lake (9 miles) with an extension of an out-n-back on the corridor trail TODAY to accumulate the 13.1miles to check the half-marathon box.

There's been a heavy fog lingering in NW Wisconsin for DAYS.  I waited until 9AM to head out; temps hovering at 30 deg F.  Stopped at the bank super quick before hitting the parking lot by the trail.  And oy-oy-oy!  SLICK n ICY roads and sidewalks.

Bummmmmmmmmmmer, because I really wanted to run around the Lake for a change of scenery, but... that asphalt was nothing to play around with.  Not deterred in the least, we took off on the corridor trail, mentally accepting we'd be running an out-n-back...and out-n-back... and out-n-back.  LOL.

The longest run she's given me prior was a 10-miler last weekend.  I don't take much with me on most runs, but for the 9+ mile runs, I pack a few fruit snacks to eat about every 3-4 miles.  Today, it occurred to me, what about Bailee??  Goodness, does she need any refueling too??  So, once this posts, I'm off to research that exact question!  I've changed her daily nutrition to include some performance canned dog food in addition to her little kibbles, and she certainly enjoys the new daily Joints/Hips supplemental treat each evening as well.  She just turned 7-years old on 12/14, and got her clean bill of health from the vet last week.  I simply can NOT fathom completing my runs without her anymore!  Unfortunately, she's not allowed on the course for a half-marathon on my calendar for April 26, but until then... she's by my side!

Certainly no record setters, and this run truly only was intended as base-mileage versus any form of race-pace.  

The afternoon has been pretty quiet for both of us.  There were a few errands daughter #3 and I needed to check off the list, but other than that, just a bit of sitting and prepping this blog post.

The jury is still out if I'll hit the quilting space yet tonight.  If not, tomorrow's ALLLLL DAAAAAAY plan will find me in that space <3

👆Today's motivational tattoo of choice 👆 - "Live Your Story Before It's Over"

Happy Monday everyone.