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Today's 8 mile run took forever... I took my camera along and ran one of my favorite routes off base. I took so many pictures... I guess I'm getting kind of sentimental about leaving this island after 3 years, 6 months, and 18 days. ;) That's 6 months and 18 days longer than we were supposed to be here.

I was late getting out the door because I got 2 phone calls (I don't get so many calls before 9 a.m. on a regular day, but today is my birthday!). I thought about cutting my run short so I would be home before David came for lunch (we went to a yummy Hawaiian restaurant), but then I decided that it's my birthday and I can be late if I want to! ;) He was waiting when I got home, but he had plenty of time until he had to go back to work.

It was chilly, but I was okay in short sleeves...I bet I won't be running in short sleeves on my next birthday! I took (brace yourself!) FIFTY-EIGHT pictures! I'll share a couple today and then I'll scatter some of my favorites in future blog entries.

The seawall is covered with "pretty graffiti": lots of cool drawings, welcome home messages, etc. This message wasn't actually for me, but it made me smile anyway! 

This is my favorite place to run in Okinawa...maybe in the whole world!

No interesting stories about today's run, other than the fact that I actually got out and did it!

Tuesday and Wednesday I was always either lazy or dealing with things related to our move, or too freezing to remove my pajamas. (It is in the 50s here, but still...we're not used to that "cold"!)

I was planning to do 3 or 4 more this evening, but after a day of watching my friend's little girl at ballet, lunch, gymnastics, the commissary and playing with all the "toys" (my shoes) at my house, I couldn't resist her sweet little invitation to come over and play with her toys, see her dog, and eat dinner at her house. I finally returned home after almost 10 hours and I'm pooped.  I'm quite amazed that some runners have the energy to wrangle a 3 year old for an entire day and still manage to run anywhere but the couch at the end of it! 

If I run twice tomorrow or twice on Saturday (probably tomorrow), I will still manage 5 runs for the week.

I hope that wherever it is I'm moving when I leave here in 2 weeks, the runners and walkers are more friendly! It's a gorgeous day and lots of people were out. I passed at least 10 people, and only 1 returned my "hello"...she used to come to my running group and also is a kindergarten aide at my school.

I was kind of sluggish today after a big lunch, and irritated once again by my Garmin beeping in and out of signal, but each mile got faster so I can't complain too much! And like I said, it was a gorgeous day so I can't really complain at all! I was just sitting around putting off my run and then I read an e-mail from my dad that said, "It didn't even reach -1 today. I'm sick of the treadmill" and decided I'd better get out and take advantage of my nice running conditions! 

Garmin says: 5.01 miles. 46:18 /Avg 9:15.     9:41, 9:27, 9:23, 9:09, 8:36  Of course, the first mile is uphill and the last is downhill!

Ran to the gym, then out on the seawall with my running group... four people today! Our group used to be much bigger, but most of the members have PCSed in the past couple of years. My turn to PCS next...next week will probably be our last run together :(

It was chilly and I wouldn't leave the house without my fleece jacket. I was warmed up by the time I got to the gym, so I left it in Veronica's car. We started without Mike at 6:40, but he saw us running by the first stoplight, turned, parked and quickly joined us! 

My knees hurt a little, maybe because of the cold. Last night my left calf felt really tight, so I'm going to be a good girl and stretch well today. Veronica gave me a ride home and when I sat down in her car, it hurt! It felt like I had bruises all over my bottom & the backs of my legs. Strange.