YES!

Today I managed to get in a run. And not just any run, a GREAT run. Jake and I did 5K, outside. Hills. I felt STRONG. It's a good feeling. My first outdoor run since before Christmas, and as sloppy as it is out there, I felt great the whole way. And is it ever sloppy out - we're having a slight thaw, mostly because of how sunny it was today. Which means lots of melting, but the drifts are all so high and come so far into the roads, the storm drains are all still covered. Which means HUGE puddles. (Yes, I run on the road in the winter. People around here are good at clearing their sidewalks, but not everyone can get them clear down to concrete every time, and it doesn't take much to slip. Also, with the drifts as high as they are, not everyone on a corner has cleared out to the street, so I can't follow my regular routes. So I run in the road. I run facing traffic, I wear my day-glo safety vest, and I always check over my shoulder before going around parked cars. I also make eye contact with all drivers headed my way. I've been surprised - most people who refuse to even move over a bit or even slow down seem to be women with kids in the back. Most people who slow up and give me extra space also give me a huge smile. I'm guessing these are the other people I tend to see running in the neighbourhood.)

Where was I? Oh yes. Huge puddles. So my feet got very wet, very fast. But the thing I had the most trouble with were the ice/snow chunks. Lots of people were taking advantage of the slight thaw to chip up the last bit of snow/ice covering their driveways/sidewalks to get them completely clear. However, lots of these people chose to push this heavy stuff out into the road, instead of trying to throw it up onto the 8 foot snowbanks (not that I blame them). Now, I LOVE my jogging stroller. It handles like a dream, through snow, slush, dirt, gravel, and puddles. But not through ice chunks. It's light (as a jogging stroller should be) and easily gets misdirected by these huge chunks, especially when I'm only guiding it with one hand. I got hung up twice, when oncoming traffic made me hug the snowbanks as much as possible, and the chunks directed my tires into the snowbank. Happily Jake slept through the slight jar both times, but I did my best to steer clear of the piles of chunks whenever possible.

The best part about a day with a great run in it? Aside from my running high, I want the good feeling to last, so I want to eat better. It's Superbowl Sunday, and it would have been easy to pick up all kinds of goodies in the name of the game. Steve requested Timmy's this morning, and I obliged him. He's been feeling pretty under the weather, so I've done my best today to keep the kids occupied. I took the boys to Timmy's, but I stuck to just my coffee-with-milk, no treats for me. And after dinner, I took Owen to the store for ice cream. Brought home strawberry and chocolate, as per his instructions. Owen and daddy happily had ice cream for their Superbowl treat, but I made myself take a long look at the nutrition information on the labels, and passed. I didn't work this hard today to blow it all on one bowl of Haagen-Das. This needs to be my mindset - I can't reward "good behaviour" with food.

In other news, I'm back in my pre-pregnancy jeans as of today, which is probably what inspired me to run in the first place. Not my "skinny" size 10 jeans, but my size 12s. For a girl who's 6 foot 1, size 12 is awesome. But I'm coming for those 10s!