Go, you chicken fat, go away!

I went to bed early and woke up early.  It was somewhat dark when I started running, but the moon was bright and full.  I took a picture of it twice.  I could see a figure up ahead of me on the Floodway path, but after I took the picture, they were gone.  I started running again, and after passing the line of sight of some trees, could see the figure again.  I could also see now that there were two of them and they were walking in the same direction that I was running.  I may have scared them a little.  I believe they were of the same denomination as me from the bits and pieces of their conversation that I was able to pick out as I went by.  Then I saw a blue light up ahead low to the ground.  I immediately knew that it was the same two girls I saw the other day walking their dogs.  One of them has a blue glowing dog collar on her dog.  I said, "I knew it was you guys because I could see the collar."  I'm very awkward in my beginning conversations with people I've never met. 

It was starting to get lighter and I was moving quite slow after not having run the last two days.  When I got back to Adobe I saw a guy walking a dog.  I didn't recognize him right away as he waved at me.  But then it registered in my mind who the dog was.  So I turned around and said, "Is that you, Jesse?", talking to the owner and not the dog.  I knew it was him by the time the words left my mouth, but all he said was, "Hey."  Crossing Adobe I saw the old couple that I see all the time.  They were turning south on to the Floodway path on the east side of the Floodway.  I was running south on the west side which is also the RWCD Canal east road.  One of the Sutherlin's chickens was making a funny noise.  The Sutherlin's are in the first house backing up to the east side of the Floodway off of Adobe.  I turned around to look and the old couple was looking, too.  I kept going, but I kept hearing it and wondered if it was really one of their chickens or some other sort of bird that was following me.  I ran down to University and headed north on the east side of the Floodway.  I said, "Hey, guys" as I passed the old couple.

I loved the General Conference addresses over the weekend.  I was wise enought to take a nap in between the first and second session yesterday so that I wouldn't fall asleep during the second session.  However, that nap caused me to wake up at 3am this morning.  I got up, went to the bathroom, and tried to lay back down to go to sleep.  I couldn't.  Then at quarter to 4, I heard David start crowing.  Seriously?  Maria still sleeps outside our window next to the steps.  I heard her start clucking so I went outside to check on her.  She seemed to be all right, but I could hear the pool pump sucking air.  I opened the pool gate and went in to check.  We want to drain it within the next couple of weeks so that we can do some maintenance on it.  But as I walked over to the drain, I could hear water spraying.

There are some irrigation pipes that run along the dividing wall between us and our neighbor.  At the end of the line is a spigot with a little riser right next to it.  The riser is capped with a twisting cap that I assume is for bleeding the line.  However, it's broken and it leaks water.  It's been leaking water for over year now, I'd say.  And recently it's been getting worse.  I haven't paid it much mind because it provides another place the chickens can go to get a drink.  And it's not flooding anything.  With the harsh summer temperatures, a lot of the water gets evaporated.  But the ground is getting saturated and it could do damage to the wall. 

My plan was to have one of the handymen that are working on our house renovations right now fix it.  We just ripped out the flooring in our laundry room and bought a brand new washer, dryer, and water heater.  They put in the new flooring and the new appliances came Friday.  But now the cold water faucet to the washing machine is broken.  My guess is that it broke when it was turned off because now it won't turn back on.  So we can't use the washing machine because it doesn't work if the cold water doesn't work.  Blah!  We're going to have to have one of the handymen fix it for us, and I figured I'd ask them to fix the irrigation leak, also.  Well, now I'm going to have to fix the leak myself because it was shooting water straight up in the air.  That portion of the yard was getting really flooded.  I'm glad I woke up.  Maybe that's what was making David crow. 

I woke up my wife to let her know what was going on.  She was starting to panic because she figured I wouldn't wake her up unless it was an emergency.  I mean, it was a little emergency.  When she came to her senses, I told her we need to turn the water off.  The valve is in the front yard.  We weren't sure which one was for the backyard and which one was for the house, so she stayed at the valves and I went to the backyard.  I walked around the side of the house through the RV gate this time.  I stepped in a puddle of water.  I was like, "Oh man, did it flood all the way over here?"  But shining my light on the ground I could tell that the water was localized and it was coming from the pool pump.  That explains the pool sucking air.  I guess the seal is broke.  So, the laundry pipes, the irrigation pipes, and the pool pump.  Our plumbing sucks!  I called Vickie on my phone and we figured it out which valve shut off the backyard.

By now it was pushing 4am and I wanted to get at least another hour of sleep.  But I couldn't.  I sat on the toilet again for a while.  Then I played some games on my phone and decided to go running.  I got dressed and walked through the bathroom door and into the hallway.  As I opened the bathroom door, I heard my bedroom door open.  It was Emily.  She was awake and had to use the bathroom.  I'm always worried that if I leave and she's the only one else awake in the house, that she'll follow me.  I told her after she was done going potty, she could sleep on my side of the bed.  She said she didn't want to.  She wanted to watch the sunrise with me.  Great.

Don't get me wrong.  I love spending time with her.  But it was 6am now, and I wanted to get started before it got too light.  Well, there was nothing I could do to convince her to go back to bed, so watching the sunrise it was.  This means, she puts her shoes on and we walk out to the corner of Adobe and 48th and sit on the curb.  It was getting light out.  Emily loves to say good morning to everyone that's out, walking, walking dogs, riding bikes, and even driving by.  And I guess everyone else loves it, too.  She sure can strike up a nice converstation with perfect strangers.

As the sun started to come up, so did the mosquitoes.  That's what got her to decide to go home.  I walked her home and told her to pour herself a bowl of cereal.  If she's eating, there's a good chance she won't follow me.  But she said she wanted me to cook her scrambled eggs!  It's quarter to 7 now!  I woke up Vickie.  She had no problem going back to sleep.  I told her Emily wanted eggs.  She said she would be up in a bit to make them.  Then I went to the front door and hollered, "Emily stay there while I go running!  Mom's going to make you some eggs in a minute!"  And I finally got to go running.

I saw some of the dog walkers that I had seen earlier.  I smiled and waved at them.  I saw the Schumacher's.  This time I decided to stop and ask them how they liked General Conference.  Carol said it was excellent, and Bruce said it provided much need interpersonal perspective.  I said they were very timely.  We parted ways and I passed them again as I heades south on the other side of the Floodway.  Turning back north on the Floodway, there was Jeff, sleeping in his sleeping bag as usual.  There's also a new guy about an eight of a mile north of him.  I ran by my back wall and looked to see if there was any water leaking through the wall or any visible damage, but it looked all right.  Finally I got home and Vickie made some eggs for me, too.
 

I started running one minute before 6am.  It was just starting to get light out.  As I approached the Floodway I could see some reflector light under the pavilion by the water fountain.  I thought maybe a cyclist was getting a drink.  But that fountain only yields hot water.  I've let that thing run for minutes and it just stays hot.  So I ran by and noticed someone was sleeping on the ground next to the bench.  They had a bicycle.  I almost stopped to ask if they were all right, but they had a duffel bag under their head, so I could tell it was for sure someone sleeping.  That's about all the excitement I had on this run.  My pace was 30 sec/mile faster than yesterday, but still slow.

I started running at 5:47am.  It was dark.  I was running for a while and had almost made it to Brown Road.  I said to myself, "Wow.  I haven't seen a soul."  Just then I heard a voice behind me, "On your right."  I knew he was on a bicycle, so whenever you hear that, you kind of panic a little because you only have so much time to remember which side is your right and which side is your left.  But I pulled myself together real fast and motioned him to pass me on the right.  I turned back south on the RWCD road.  I decided I would add on another loop to my run today, meaning I would keep running south after University and go down to Main.  That adds just over a mile to my normal run.  And I felt like I was really struggling.  I'm in such bad shape right now.  But I'll keep at it.
 

I went to Kingman over the weekend for my sister's wedding.  We drove up Friday mid morning.  I brought a pair of running clothes, but I never went running.  I spent most of Saturday setting up for the wedding that would be at 5pm.  I didn't go Sunday either because I try not to sweat on Sundays.

We got home around 10pm Sunday night.  I slept in and started my run at 7am.  A little later than I like, but better late than never.  Today is the first day where students will be going back to school full time instead of just two days a week.  I saw the junior high kids at the bus stop.  One of them was our old bishop's son.  I said, "What's up, Ethan?"  But his name is Emerson.  I continued to the Floodway and headed north.  I saw the Schumacher's again.  Some day I'm going to remember how to spell their name without having to look it up on Facebook every time.  I stopped briefly and asked if they went to church yesterday.  Yesterday was also the first day of non-restricted crowd sizes at church.  They said they did.  I said I missed it due to my sister's wedding, but there's always next week. 

I got to the other side of the Floodway and headed south.  I could see the old man in the fisher hat ahead of me.  I didn't think I would catch up to him.  I was making up ground on him but couldn't catch him before Adobe.  I saw the tall old lady and waved at her.  The old man continued south down the RWCD road after crossing Adobe.  So I did end up catching him.  I almost asked him what his name was, but I didn't feel like it was the right time.  I got to University and headed back north on the east side of the Floodway.  I saw a guy heading south on the other side near Adobe.  Turns out it was Br. Massey from the ward.  Strava told me so.  Then when I was leaving the gate, I could see two ladies walking down the sidewalk and I could see the tall old lady leaving the gate on the other side of the street.  So as I was waving at her again, one of the walking ladies said, "Burt."  I had no idea who she was at first, so I stopped and realized it was Sis. Knudsen.  Not sure who the other girl was.  Maybe one of her daughters that I don't know?  But I asked them both if they had gone to church yesterday.  She said they didn't because they were up at their cabin and they were supposed to have the flooring redone on Friday, but they didn't come until Saturday, so it was being worked on Saturday and Sunday.  Then she said, "There's always next week."

I got up nice and early this morning.  I started my run at 5:48am.  It was dark.  I could see a red light low to the ground up ahead on the Floodway trail.  I wondered if it was the blue light collared dog.  As I got closer I could see the blue light, too.  Apparently the other girl put a glow stick around her dog's neck.  So now they're twinsies.  Kind of.  There wasn't much going on today because of the darkness.  But it was getting light and I could see pretty well for the last quarter of my run.  As I was heading north on the east side of the Floodway on my second loop, I saw a lady running south down the RWCD road.  I don't think I've ever seen her before.  But then again, it was a still a touch dark.  I waved at her but I can't tell if she even saw me.  Just then I heard, "On your right!"  It was that same guy on a bike again.  So that was embarrassing.

I was up early.  I didn't sleep well last night.  Probably because of the nap I took yesterday and I ate more than I should have last night.  It took me a while to get out the door, though.  It was 6:21am, and it was already light out.  We're supposedly nearing the end of days over 100º.  It is a little cooler out.  I like running when it's a bit cold.  I seem to go faster.

Today's run was much faster than yesterday's even though I didn't feel great.  I think it's because it wasn't dark out.  I slow down when it's dark.  I saw a lady ahead of me walking her two dogs.  One of the dogs, the stout one, kept turning around and looking at me.  She just kept focused ahead and kept pulling him along, but I was worried that I was going to make her trip over him or something.  Right before I passed her I saw Edythe Ray coming towards me.  She said something about running, running, running.  She has a very soft voice.  I guess she was talking about me because she wasn't running.  Then I passed the dog walker and apologized.  I wasn't sure if she would hear me because she had headphones on.  But she said, "No, you're fine."

About a minute after passing her I heard a noise and looked to the west.  It was a (flock?) of geese flying in a V formation.  They went right over my head.  I thought about taking a picture and pulled my phone out of my pocket, but it was too late.

I guess Strava disabled the Flyby feature.  That's too bad.  Or maybe I just need to reboot my computer, but I expect its the former.  As I was approaching Adobe I saw a guy riding a bike slowly.  Not real slow, but he looked like he could definitely go faster if he wanted.  I saw a lady running behind him.   I wondered if they were together.  They both turned on the RWCD road, and I followed them.  The guy went on ahead.  I didn't think I would catch the girl, and I didn't, but she wasn't running that much faster than me.

I headed back north on the Floodway path and saw the old couple that saw me shirtless last week.  I told them to have a great day.  I got passed twice by cyclists today but neither of them were the same guy that passed me yesterday.

I did a quick Google search on Strava and flyby's.  They disabled it for securtity reasons.  Makes sense.  The option for it is still there, but you have to enable it.  So they turned it off for everyone, but you can go back and turn it on yourself.  But who's gonna do that when they probably didn't know it existed in the first place?

I got out after 7am this morning.  I thought it might be too hot, but it has been cooling down a little.  I saw quite a few people out today.  A couple of them were awkward because of timing.  Twice I ended up following behind ladies that I'm sure were nervous.  You can't blame them.  I just wish I could say, "Hey, I'm one of the good guys!"  But that's exactly what a bad guy would say.  I could hear one lady pushing her baby in a stroller.  She was Asian.  I would guess Japanese.  She was loudly speaking in Japanese, I'm guessing, to the baby as she pulled the stroller from the side instead of pushing it.  I thought it an odd custom, but perhaps an accepted one in other cultures.  Wow.  I'm really walking a line here.  But it turns out there was a phone sticking out of the cup holder and she was talking to some on the phone.

I decided to run up to 1-1/2 on the Canal today.  That means half way between McDowell and McKellips.  At one point I came across a tree branch that had fallen from the main trunk of a tree in someone's backyard.  It was completely covering the path leaving only a tiny place to step over it right next to the Canal.  I'm glad we didn't come upon it when we did our midnight hike a couple of weeks ago.  We would have walked right into it.

It's funny how a 4.7 mile run now makes me sore for days.  I was still feeling it this morning.  I started at 6:39am this morning.  It was light out.  Not sure why I slept so long because I went to bed early.  As I was stretching I saw Sis. Ashcroft walking down the street.  Herbie barked at her from the upstairs window.  I came around the corner of the garage and pointed at him.  Bad doggy!  I ran north up the Floodway path and saw Br. Aschcroft and one of his daughters.  I said, "I saw your wife a looong time ago."  I got a belly laugh from him.  I said, "She left you in the dust!", and got another belly laugh. 

I was approaching Brown and was closing the distance on one of the old couples I see all the time.  Then I saw a lady running on Brown and turn into the Floodway.  We were all going to pass each other at the same time.  Knowing the path was only big enough for 3 people in these times of Covid, I stepped off to the side.  But the runner lady stepped off at the same time.  So I had to swerve even closer to the channel bank.  The lady looked awkward because she wanted to wave at both me and the walkers and now she was in the middle of us.

Heading south on the RWCD road, I saw the Schumachers again.  They were being closely followed by two guys that looked like they wanted to pass them, but couldn't because I was in the way.  Br. Schumacher said the closing prayer at sacrament yesterday.  I said, "It was nice to see you guys yesterday."  Then Sis. Schumacher said, "Good morning, Burt."  Not the response I was expecting.  Then I realized they were once again listening to something on Br. Schumacher's phone, so they probably didn't hear what I said.  Last time I could tell they were listening to a General Conference talk.  It was probably the same this time.  I passed them, and waved at the guys behind them.  Then I looked across the Floodway and saw my wife.  She usually doesn't run on the Floodway, but I guess she chose to do so today.  I waved at her until she saw me and waved back.  I wondered if she was going to do a loop or if she would exit the Floodway at Brown and run down the street.  I thought, maybe I should speed up so she doesn't get to Adobe before me if she stays on the loop.  Well, as I was coming back towards Adobe I could see her from far off.  I was like, "Holy crud!  She smoked me!"  She got to Adobe before I did and then crossed the street and continued south.  She pretty much ran the same route I did.  But I realized that we were about at the same distance south of Adobe as we were north of Adobe when we passed each other the first time.  As sore as I was, I wasn't about to push the pace, so I was fine with that.  But after she finished I noticed her pace was one second/per mile faster than mine, which she bragged about.

Still not getting up as early as I'd like.  The weather seems to be cooling down slightly.  I saw some people wearing sweaters.  I saw Edythe on the other side of the Floodway.  Don't think she saw me.  Then I passed the Schumachers on the other side of the Floodway which measn Edythe must've saw them, too.  I ran to the other side and said good morning to them.  I was running slow, but I was trying to run a little faster than yesterday.  I got about a third of a mile from home when I got a phone call from my top client, so I had to stop and answer it.  But I walked while I was talking, so I don't know if my time would've been faster than yesterday's.

My grandson and I had watched all of the Tremors movies.  Burt Gummer is our hero.  I saw that a brand new one was released on Netflix last night.  I said, "Alexa, make an announcement."  "What's the announcement?"  "Atticus, there's a brand new Tremors movie!!"  A couple of minutes later we were watching it.  Burt Gummer didn't make an appearance right away, and I wondered if he would.  Napoleon Dynamite was in it.  Is he taking over?  I thought Jamie Kennedy was.  But then he was called to duty.  No one can fight a graboid like he can.  After a while I had this feeling that he wasn't coming out of this movie alive.  In fact, at one point my grandson said, "Burt Gummer never dies!"  But I couldn't shake the feeling.  Well, spoiler alert, he sacrifices himself in the end.  What a bummer, Gummer.  My grandson and I are grief stricken. 

I went to bed right after that and got up early.  It was nice and dark out.  I literally had the entire route to myself.  As I was coming to the Floodway I saw a lady with a headlamp and three dogs walking out.  She was at the street when I passed her, so she doesn't count.  I ran up to Brown and went to the RWCD road.  The horizon was starting to turn pink.  I ran down to Adobe and it had changed from pink to yellow.  At University it was turning gray, or maybe navy blue.  I wanted to do three loops today so I continued south after University down to Main.  I saw a couple on the other side of the Floodway.  It just light enough to see their shapes.  Could it be the Schumacher's?  What are they doing on this side of University?  Indeed it was, and I could make out Sis. Schumacher's arm waving at me.  They were over a half mile ahead of me.  I probably wouldn't catch them, I thought. 

I got to Main Street and now the horizon was baby blue and the clouds were pink.  It was beautiful, but this would be the last time I would see the sunrise because now I was heading north by northwest. The chase was on.  Not really.  I was running as slow as normal.  Each mile got faster as I went, and I'm sure it's because I could see more and more as I went.  I couldn't see the Schumacher's when I crossed University.  The path winds, and there are trees and bushes.  But after a while I saw them.  Still didn't look like I would catch them.  It might be close, though.  Finally, they got to Adobe before I did, so I was right that I wouldn't catch them.  But I was within shouting distance and told them to have a good morning.  Sis. Schumacher said, "You, too, Burt."

I made someone else mad at me this morning by telling them they shouldn't be fishing in the Canal.  Wow, did this guy take it personal.  I still believe that it's better I tell them, than they do.  But he called me tubby.  He was this close to me pushing him out of his chair and in to the Canal.
 

Not much to report on this run.  I saw the Schumachers again.  Lots of runners out today.  The weather is cooling down.
 

We drove up to Sedona to hike with Vickie's hiking group again.  We planned on doing three "vortex" hikes.  Apparently that has something to do with places where there's hocus pocus supernatural energy.  Who knows?  Bunch of hippies.  The first hike was Cathedral Rock.  I had heard that this was a tough hike.  Truth be told, it wasn't that bad.  It looked scarier than it was.  The sand stone was nice and smooth and not at all slippery.  Daylene and one of the other girls only made it half way up.  There was this crack that you had to scramble up and they were too afraid to try.  After doing it, I think they could've done it easily.  The other 6 of us made it to the top and took some pictures.  Then we came back down and Daylene and the other girl, her name escapes me, were still there where we left them.  I helped Daylene down the rest of the way.

We then drove over to Bell Rock.  There were a bunch of different paths and we weren't sure which way to go.  All Trails wasn't helping.  We wandered around a lot.  We wanted to get to the top, but how do you do it?  We got to this place where you had to scramble to get up.  I saw another place to go up, and some of the girls followed me.  (I was the only guy.)  I realized this wasn't going to be easier and told them I didn't recommend they come up this way.  They told me to turn around, which I did.  We then went to where the other girls went up and I found a real easy way to get up, but they didn't want to.  So it was just me, Vickie, and Heidi.  Katelynn stayed with the other girls and they hiked around the base of the mountain.  We tried to find a way up, but there were no marked paths and everything looked sketchy.  I decided it wasn't that important to me to go to the top.  Maybe if we were following someone that knew the way.  So we turned around and went down.

After the other girls finished, we went to eat at a Mexican restaurant.  It was good.  I wasn't in the mood for meat, so I ate a vegetarian burrito which was pretty good.  I also had a slab of cactus.  Then we decided to forgo the last hike and head for home.  What a nightmare.  It took 7 hours to get home because the traffic is always so bad on a Sunday evening when everyone that left town for the weekend is coming back.

My big left toe was hurting after hiking Sunday.  I thought for sure when I took my shoe off I was going to find it all bloody.  But it wasn't.  I decided to take Monday off to rest.  Also Monday morning I started to feel the soreness in my arms and chest from the scrambling.  Yowza!

So I went running this morning, but my legs were really hurting.  I decided to just do one loop.  It was actually kinda cold this morning.  I saw Edythe and she was bundled up in a jacket.  I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt as usual.  I said, "What's with the jacket?"

I still wasn't feeling good today.  Just one loop again.  I decided I am going to take another day off.

I was feeling better today.  The soreness from the hike was gone.  Now I just felt normal.  Which still isn't great, but good enough for two loops.  I saw Edythe cutting through the park at the intersection of Adobe and 48th.  There are two openings in the Floodway fence that you can go through before getting to the main one at Adobe that I usually take.  I saw another lady that I've been seeing a lot lately.  We waved at each other as she ran by.  I saw another lady that walks her two dogs.  I'm pretty sure she was the one Emily talked to the day we went to watch the sunrise.  Then I headed south on the RWCD road and saw the runner lady again.  I told her to have a good day.  I saw a zanjero in his truck at Adobe and the Canal, but I couldn't tell who it was.  There was an old man that I'd never seen before who waved at me.  I waved back and also waved at the zanjero.  There were two guys running together near University.  I said good morning to them.  I've been seeing them lately, too.  They were the ones that wanted to pass the Schumachers a couple of weeks ago.  But they were just walking then.  I headed back north on the Floodway path and saw the old man that had waved at me on Adobe.  I said, "You're making up some ground!"

I went to bed real early again last night.  Probably between 8:30pm and 9pm.  I was awakened at 11:30pm by my wife watching Tik Tok videos in bed next to me.  I scolded her for waking me up at 4 in the morning.  I knew it wasn't 4 in the morning, although it felt like it.  I just like to scold her for unreal things.  I went to the bathroom and went back to sleep.  I didn't get up until late, and finally went running at 8:40am.

My wife wanted to run 5 miles today and was very nervous about doing it.  She left before I did and texted me when she got 3 miles in.  She was shooting for a 13:30 pace, but she was at a 13:03 pace, so she decided to shoot for 13 instead.  She ended up running  5.31 at 12:53 pace.  I didn't know that at the time I left.  She probably finished shortly after I started.

I also decided to do 5 miles to show her how easy it was.  Although, 5 is not easy for me lately.  But it actually felt easy today.  The idea was to run straight up the Canal for 2.5 miles and then come back.  I turned in to the Floodway and saw a dad and two boys walking towards me.  I recognized them right away as Br. Whetten, Dallin, and Lincoln.  Dallin was one of my Wolf scouts.  Their daughter/sister is Katelynn's best friend, and she apparently stayed the night last night.  We were just at their house this week for our annual spooky dinner with them.  At one point during dinner Br. Whetten said, "We're so glad you guys could come over."  I replied, "We're surprised you guys invited us this year.  Not because of Covid.  But because you're in the bishopric now, and you're so high and mighty."  Anyway, I said, "Hey guys!"  Br. Whetten said, "It's good to see you."  I said, "Happy Halloween!"

At the mile and a half point I had to stop to shake this small pebble out of my shoe.  I sat on the irrigation box at 2-1/4.  (RWCD numbering system)  I was one mile away from the turn around.  It was almost 9am now, but the weather was great.  Strava used to only show tenths of a mile while you were running, and then give you to the hundredth once you'd saved and uploaded the workout.  Now they show you to the hundredth, which is nice.  I had a pretty good idea where 2.5 would be, so I pulled my phone out of my pocket and I was at 2.46.  I stopped at 2.5, took a quick rest and started back.  Usually my longer runs are slower, but since I was feeling good today, I tried to maintain a faster pace. 

After I passed McKellips again I could see a bunch of people to the south of me.  Getting closer I could see that it was a family letting their dogs play in the Canal, and an older couple walking.  The dogs got out of the Canal and one of them jumped up on the lady that was walking.  I laughed on the inside.  Then one of the dogs got loose and started running towards me.  It passed the couple and was coming straight for me.  I figured if it didn't bite them, it won't bite me.  It did bark, though.  I stopped and said, "Come here, puppy."  He ran back to his family, an Asian man and woman with two young boys.  The man apologized, and I said, "No worries.  I love dogs."  The older of the two boys said, "Have a good day, sir!"  I said, "Happy Halloween!"  And the other boy yelled something at the top of his lungs which I couldn't make out, but it was cute. 

During the last mile, I kept feeling like I was slowing down, so I'd mentally have to pick it back up.  I made it home, and my wife was mad because my pace was faster than hers.