"Good morning Starshine! The earth says 'Hello!'" That's how I feel this morning. Cheerful and slightly awkward. I just got back from a 2-mile run and had a couple interactions that were interesting:

1.) Got honked at by a strange vehicle. Not sure if it was a "Yay, good for you!" honk or an "I'd kidnap you if I could!" honk.

2.) Got crowed at. Literally. By a large rooster. Nice rooster...just stay on your side of the fence and we can be friends.

3.)  A middle-aged construction worker told me "Yer lookin' pretty today." I'm wearing a baggy church t-shirt and shorts. Again, not sure if that was a kind word or a creepy word. I feel like he could be genuinely nice because it's a small town and maybe people talk like that here?

Anyway, this was the second run I've been on in the last two weeks. The first run didn't go so well. I think I had high expectations for myself, since I'd been able to run longer distances in hilly SLO. By the 1.5 mile mark, I was huffing and puffing and cursing myself for falling out of shape. I walked the last .5 mile, pretty discouraged.

My husband comforted me by telling me the elevation change probably impacted my breathing more than I realized. According to Wikipedia, the elevation in San Luis Obispo is 234 ft. and the elevation in Tehachapi is 3,970 ft. Okay, maybe it's not ALL due to the fact that I haven't run in weeks.

Today, I didn't put as much pressure on myself. Slow and steady wins the race. I decided not to try to improve my time, but instead decided to do whatever it takes to not stop running. Praise God, I didn't stop running till I got home. Hopefully the more I run, the better my body will adjust to the mountain air. My goal is to run 2 miles at least three times a week, hopefully four. C'mon self-control, we can do this!