Keep on running

I'll admit it, I haven't been running in a while.  A month, to be exact.  I know, I know, what the heck am I thinking?  Well, mostly, I've been thinking, I have no races coming up, what's the point?  Yes, that's a poor mindset, but that's just how it goes.  It's not as if I've been sitting dormant either.  I've still been going to boxing, even through Christmas break, so I've basically been keeping up with fitness, just in a different way.  The weather lately hasn't been great either, and really, who wants to go running in a polar vortex?  Ok, so some people do, but I certainly don't.  So, I didn't.  Today though, the weather was amazing.  A nice 50 degree day in January, you really can't ask for anything better than that.  So, after a month long hiatus, I laced up my running shoes and hit the beach.  I took Stella with me, because she looked like she could use a good run.  We went for a nice 5 miler up through Nahant and back down again.  At first, I was a little concerned that I had made a bad choice.  The wind heading up to Nahant was kind of fierce, even if it was 50 degrees.  But eventually I got used to it, and once Stella got her business done, we really got into our groove again.  My first mile was a 10:10 pace.  By mile 4 we were back down to 9:18, right around my marathon/training pace.  I know that I wouldn't be anywhere near that if I had skipped a month of running and DIDN'T do any cross-training (boxing), but thankfully, I was able to get right back where I started from.
So, there's thing thing going around the social networks called 100 happy days.  The basic point is that you're supposed to take a picture of something that makes you happy, one a day, for 100 days.  Supposedly, people that do this start to notice more about their surroundings and are just generally happier people.  I've been participating on Twitter, just because I liked the idea.  I think it's a bit tough to do the picture thing every day though, simply because there are some things that you just CAN'T capture in a picture.  For example, the smell of the ocean air when you haven't been to the beach in a while, or the way the sunset looks over Boston.  Sure, you can try to get a picture of the sunset, but it never comes out as amazing as it looks in real life, especially on a phone camera.  But, I've been finding other pictures to take the place of non-capturable moments that make me happy.  On my run today, try as I might, I couldn't possibly capture just ONE moment. The entire run made me happy.  Stella was having a good time, the sunset was beautiful, I loved being on the beach, and I loved running again.  I took pictures to use, but there was just so much more to it today, that I can never capture.  Maybe that's the point though.  In looking for a picture, I noticed so much MORE than the picture.  For a moment, I was able to look around and take in everything, including the (real or imagined) joy I saw on Stella as her ears blew in the wind and she ran happily beside me.  Since I couldn't pick just one image, I made a collage of our whole run.  By the way, if you aren't using Picasa for your photos, you are missing out.  That program is amazing. So, here's a collage of all the things that made me happy today.  None of these pictures do the sunset justice, but there you have it.  Day 9 of 100 happy days.

And now for something completely different.  (I've decided to adopt this as my own, thanks Monty Python!)
I've been looking around for a better body wash/face cleanser.  My skin isn't overly oily or anything, but I felt like the regular Dove Bodywash was actually giving me acne, which I didn't appreciate.  So, I went on a search for a product that a. cleaned well and b. smelled good.  Luckily, I found these two amazing products.
Neutrogena's Body Clear Body Scrub, which smells lovely AND scrubs clean.  I can already see a total difference and I'm positive that it works far better after a workout, than the regular Dove did. Sorry Dove, but for intense cleaning after intense sweating, I'm all about this scrub now.  Hopefully I don't regret this post in a week or two.

My other amazing product is the Biore Charcoal face cleanser.  I just read someone else's review and she hated it, but personally, I love it.  Once again, it smells awesome and it really seems to work.  My face seems so much softer and clearer than it was two weeks ago.  But, then again, like I said, I don't have overly oily skin, so I'm not sure it would work for everyone. Just thought I'd share this little review, you know, in case you're in the market for some new body wash/face cleanser.