Inspiration and perspiration.

Happy Valentine's Day! <3

Today I inspired some running. Isn't that terrific? No, I have not converted my nearest and dearest to winter running (yet), and I did not drag anyone out into the wild wind with me today (it was enough of a struggle psyching myself up enough to get out in the ghastly gusts). What happened was I inspired a trail-walking Beagle to kick his cardio up a notch or two. Truly, it was the cutest thing. I wish that I'd brought the iPhone running.

I spotted this cute pup and his teenage owner coming around the bend on this pretty trail though the woods I take on almost every run. I pooch-watched for a moment or two, as I am prone to do, then turned my head back around to avoid crashing into the trees or falling into the stream. After about a minute, I heard a little jingling and felt some warm breath on my calf. The wee fellow had decided to join me on my run! He kept looking up at me with the biggest doggy grin on his face as he ran right by my side. I stopped and petted him and let him give me a kiss, then I grabbed his leash and ran him back to his owner. His friendliness and enthusiasm for running put a huge smile on my face that stuck around for my entire run.

I had a lot of reasons to smile today. I ran 12 for the first time in 8 weeks, first and foremost! Plus, although it was pretty intensely breezy outside today, it wasn't cold - it was just hovering around freezing. And it hasn't snowed in a couple of days, so the sidewalks were mercifully clear. Plus, I saw two other dogs on my run (can you tell I want a canine companion?) - and these guys were super neat! Again I wish that I'd been able to grab a picture. They were the fuzziest, biggest blonde dogs hanging out on the ground beside an igloo doghouse. Cute!

I got home and had a juice box (I told you I'm a kid!) while still red in the face (there's the perspiration part of this post). That was not quite sufficient, so then there was this:

I was also really inspired (read: giddy and excited) about getting my visa. It totally made this whole thing feel real.

That's it! And why-I'm-a-youth fun fact #253: Not only do I 

let my hair air dry, I brush it basically only under protest.

And still more inspiration: I love the fact that my twitter was lighting up with all these messages of love. Simple love tweets, triathlove, and animal kisses = awesome. I love Valentine's Day - I think it's very sweet. It makes my day when people embrace and celebrate the good things in this world, of which love ranks highest of all. "Love is a many splendored thing, love lifts you up where you belong, all you need is love!" My V-day was reallyreally awesome too - I'm a lucky girl. See?

Starbucks and almonds and chocolate and smiles...

these are a few of my favorite things!

Hope you had a lovely Monday that kick-starts an awesome week, folks! :)