Running in the rain!

I´m runnin´ in the rain
Just runnin´ in the rain,
What a glorious feeling,
And I´m happy again.
I´m laughing at clouds
So dark, up above,
The sun´s in my heart
And I´m ready for love.

Let the stormy clouds chase.
Everyone from the place,
Come on with the rain
I have a smile on my face.
I´ll run down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just runnin', runnin' in the rain.

With thanks to Frank Sinatra.


Seriously,how absolutely glorious it is that today was warm enough
for rain! I'd spent the majority of the day working on some job 
applications (for some especially cool jobs, in fact - so I was being 
extra anal), but when the first drops started hitting the the window 
beside my desk, I literally sprang from  my chair into running clothes 
and out the door. And my rainy run was truly fab - I did another 7 
(seems to be the popular length of the week) and I loved it. :) I had 
my new playlist of tunes for a soundtrack and was loving that too. 

Some examples:
The Black Keys (Brothers album)
Lady Gaga – Born This Way – I'm on the right track baby, I was born
this way is a theme I can get behind at this moment ;)
Katy Perry – Firework
Death from Above 1979
Bob Marley
New Glee

Here I am belting out one of the above on 
my return home after today's run. 

Yesterday, I learned how to use APPS on my iPhone. Yes, I know I am the 
last person to jump on that bandwagon. However, I just inherited my
secondhand smartphone this winter. And although it is capable of
doing awesome things like internet and apps, I didn't think I could
take advantage of either of those things, because it's only a
smartphone on the outside. Inside, it's a motorola razor. So while it
may not currently provide me with internet access, I have learned
that I can use apps without being connected. So I downloaded about a
dozen yesterday – everything from push-up apps to nutrition
trackers to the iMapMyRun app.

Here I am being extremely excited about the 
potential of this app before
yesterday's 7k.
It was a bit of a hilarious adventure. First ofall, I didn't know to turn off 
the voice feedback option. And because I had my music from my iPod 
on and my phone was tucked into my jacket pocket, I didn't realize this 
until the end of my route. When I first began running, I thought I could 
hear voices, so I kept twisting and turning, looking around me for 
whoever was following me and talking continuously. Seeing no one, I 
shrugged and kept running. Later, as people waiting at bus stops and 
walking towards me were giving me strange looks, I figured the voices 
must be real. Then I started worrying that I'd pocket-dialed someone – 
like a potential employer.  However, it was just an automated voice 
telling me how far I'd gone.

My verdict? I really liked that it tracked my route. However, since I
was not super adventurous and just running a loop through the park
and around my neighborhood, there was little danger of me getting
lost. The feature I was most excited about with this app was the
potential for me to learn my pace! I have never known my pace
outside, because I don't have a fancy watch. (I used to run with a
polar heart strap, but that is currently sitting on the floor
somewhere with a dead battery.) Alas, I still don't know my pace. It
may have announced my pace without me hearing it, or displayed it
while I was actually in motion, but I missed it. There was a message
about going online to check out “more stats about my run” so
perhaps I will find still be able to find my pace. I am still excited
about knowing it, and being able to not only track it but compare it
to my speed on the treadmill. Do you use this app? Can you help me 
get the most out of it? I want to pretend like it's my Garmin. :)

My sister also sent some pics of my custom Christmas chocolate bars that
I thought I'd share with you today, because it is a Friday after all,
and no better time for chocolate!


The darker one I named after this blog. It contained (briefly, before it
was inhaled by my family members and myself) silver flakes, dried
raspberries, cashews and dark chocolate. The other was Carrie's Berry
Blast, and it was white chocolate with blueberries, rice krispies,
pecans and star confetti. Delicious. :) I essentially did this with them:

Hope you have a happy, run and/or chocolate filled weekend!!