Kilts and Dollas

I've mentioned it briefly before, but I'm currently giving myself $1 per mile run (doubles on races).

It's a sweet little motivator considering I am horrible about not putting money away voluntarily. Sure, I have direct deposit where I put a portion in to my 403B (whatever the hell that is, but it sounds fan-cy) and another little portion in to my savings account. But those portions are small and insignificant and I rarely just move money over when it's left over from bills and fun stuff.

So, every morning I run, I spend about two minutes transferring over small amounts of money back and forth from my checking account to savings. Obviously, the amounts are small- $3.10 on Tuesdays, $6.20 on Thursdays, between $10-$14 on Sundays. But in total, it's a good $20ish a week or around $80-100 a month.

I already know what I'm going to spend it on (because you really dont think that I'm saving for nothing)... VACATION!

 

I haven't had a real vacation in years. Seriously, multitudes of years. I love traveling and since I'm not saving up for babies, weddings, homes, cars, etc.... I can afford (har har) to take some me time and move around a bit. 

My sister and I are currently talking Scotland. I should mention that my sister had to be dragged screaming on family vacations, so her wanting to go to Scotland is a complete surprise. I did have to explain, with utter frustration, that you couldn't just do a weekend in Scotland. The plane alone would take 7+ hours and we would lose time. The concept seemed lost. 

We still dont get it, Daniel.

 

However, I'm more than happy to visit Scotland. It's not the first place on my travel list. But, if it gets me out of the house and using my passport, I'm down with that. 

Plus, who doesn't want to see the land of Sean Connery? 

So, from now on, during my runs I will be thinking about martinis and Sean Connery. Maybe I'll try to pace myself to Annie Lennox or use some Braveheart quotes as my running motto when I'm in a rut. Sounds good to me.

Better Son or Daughter

Oh Lord, I was on a high this week. And by high, I mean finally feeling normal. Yippee!

And then, two days later, I'm back down.

Yippee.

I would really love to be out of this- to feel normal, happy, proud. Oh, and I'd love to look at myself and see someone who is smiling rather than looking like the Ghost of Christmas past.

If you can believe it, I spent so much of yesterday just staring at nothing with no thoughts in my head. I spoke more words to the man on the L asking me about the book I'm reading (Last of the Mohicans) than actually communicating with anyone else.

Today, well, it's no different. I feel, uh, better. But I seriously think it's because I've spent much of the day planning for my niece's visit and trying to find Alex's 1st birthday gift online. Seriously, how can you not smile when looking at adorable babies in cute outfits?

Anyways, B sent me this song yesterday while I was in the thick of things, and it's been stuck in my head ever since. It eerily sums up exactly what is going through my head.:

Oh, and I ran 4 miles yesterday. I should throw that in someplace, so why not here? 4 miles is a pretty easy undertaking, but I ran it after work yesterday. I usually do all of my runs in the morning, before 8am, so there was a huge difference. I obviously felt more self conscious with the added amount of people on the trail. I guess there was more pressure to get through my intervals without looking like I'm about to fall apart or die of heat exhaustion.

Only 3 days away from my tune up 10K- or as my runner friends are calling it, RunHades 10K. I had really wanted to pull a PR (personal record), but with the race not starting till 7:30 and the temps as it is, I'm going to stick with just finishing as my goal. 

This is a great test to see how I will do in the heat with my half marathon. Only 4 weeks out! I'm feeling more and more confident as well as freaked out. My motivation is at a high with my training, but to make sure that I keep on running after I cross the finish line, I've decided to pay myself. For every mile I run, I'm giving myself a dollar and doubling it if it's a race. For July, I've already deposited about $21.50. Cha-ching!

Anyways, have a happy and healthy weekend. I'll be back, I'm sure, with a race recap on Sunday night or Monday.