I'm retired from racing. Really.

AM- 17 miles in 2:05:50 on a very rainy day on the dirt farm roads around Curryville, MO.  Rain feels nice when it's 70 degrees and you aren't wearing a shirt (except I wasn't wearing good socks for the rain, so it was over-squishy).  There is a very large Amish population around here, so I saw as many horse and buggies as cars.  Felt good- nice start to the week.

PM- 8 very easy in ~68 min.  Saw tons of Amish, and one young man even challenged me to a race (I told him he would win, on account that he was in a small buggy pulled by a fine looking horse).  The Amish sure have a lot of beautiful horses, some long-legged for buggies, some big chested for working.  The last half of the run was magical- running at dusk in a cloudless sky towards the dying light, with the last vestiges of orange and red fading into blue, purple, and black with just a sliver of moon overhead.  My gravel route was lit by the thousands of fireflies twinkling alongside, edging the woods and fields as the bats fluttered overhead and the distant coyotes sounded.  

 Happy 4th, everyone.