Random Sunday thoughts

• I am no longer out of my favorite perfume. Hesperides by Fresh is my favorite scent (citrus, primarily grapefruit!) and I am beyond happy to have it once again. (Why was I out? Because I didn't want to spend the money to rebuy it.)
• At church the pastor was talking about spiritual vitality. One of his key points was to "Give it all you've got." And when talking about that, he said that you need to exhibit these qualities: the DEDICATION of a SOLDIER, the DISCIPLINE of an ATHLETE, and the RESISTANCE TO DISCOURAGEMENT of a FARMER. If only we had these qualities -- dedication, discipline, and resistance to discouragement -- in anything we commit to. How could we fail? Cool insight, huh?
• I ran 17 miles this morning, which is the furthest I've ever run in my life. I started at 6:30 and ended nearly 3 hours later. The first few miles were fine, and since I originally set out to run 15, I considered resetting my Garmin after 5, since then I'd have only 10 miles to go. I didn't reset the Garmin, but I kept focusing on how few miles I had to go, like at mile 7 "I'm almost 1/2 way done" or at mile 10 "Just 5 more miles." I did 17 because a) I had the energy to do it, and b) I'm kind of behind on long run training for a marathon that takes place in a little over 8 weeks. And as with other times when I've covered new running territory, the new miles were tough. It's like your body's going "Hey, we should be done by now!" But I finished. Then quickly got ready for church, and met my family there. I was doing fine until this afternoon when kid transportation needs were making a nap an impossibility. I cam home from taking Tucker someplace, nearly burst into tears and snapped irritably (tough to do both at the same time!) when Tim asked why it had taken so long. Thankfully he offered to do the next leg of driving, which allowed me to sleep. Woke up feeling much MUCH better! And I'm very happy to have run 17 miles!
• Question for fellow runners -- would I have gotten the long run benefit if I'd run part of it early today and part later? I started running at 6:30 this morning, because it's supposed to be 97 degrees today, and I just couldn't see doing a long run in the heat. I told Tim I was going to run 6 before church, then 9 after, and he said I'd lose the benefit of time on my feet. I tend to agree with him, but wanted to know if another runner can weigh in on this.
• Back to church -- our worship leader is Lincoln Brewster and he's awesome! My favorite song we sing is called "Give Him Praise" and it rocks! If you want to know what singing sounds like at my church, go to iTunes and search on Lincoln Brewster.
• There was an 83 year old man who did the 5 mile Mud Run yesterday. Impressive, huh? Tucker shook his hand and said, "Good job, sir!" after the race.
  
• Ummmmmm, as Mark Reifkind would say, datsit friends! More comment appreciation in the next few days.