The sun is not out this morning, for the first time in a while.  I tend to count the dreaded days of rain, but take for granted the sunshine.  Six months of dreariness will start soon, and we’ll all begin to anticipate those brief sun breaks between rain showers.  Some of the cloudiness today is apparently attributed to smoke from forest fires in Canada and Washington state. The air quality is suffering, and a downpour would help wash the ashes from the sky.  I’m just afraid that when it starts, it won’t stop!

I took the dogs down to Starbucks for some boredom-breaking exercise and a treat.  I haven’t been very good to them the past few weeks with all my focus on the relay.  I haven’t felt like extra walks with them, but the soreness from training and running is now faint.  I got my cup of Tranquility Tea with honey and have settled into my office chair.  It’s almost reminiscent of a day at work that hasn’t happened now in 8 months.  Friends tease me about having a difficult adjustment, since I haven’t missed the daily grind in the slightest.  I enjoy my freedom and make no secret about it.  I’ve been able to travel, get in better shape, learn to cook, and keep busy.  I would honestly not know what day it is, but my wife mentioned on her way to work this morning that it is “Date Night.”  That translates to Wednesday, her hump day, and a new restaurant of her choosing to try tonight for dinner.  By the way, my Beer Can Chicken (done with a Diet Coke can instead) that I grilled last night turned out to be the tenderest, most delicious meat we’ve ever had.  I’ll enjoy some leftovers for lunch today.

My wife is looking forward to the Labor Day Holiday and the associated three-day weekend for her.  She’s provided a couple of movie options for us to go to on that extra day, since movie night is being displaced with a “Bite of Oregon” fundraiser.  I’ll have to stray from my retirement uniform (See Post #150) to be socially presentable for this event.  I wonder what travel package she’ll bid on?  I do plan to help some friends bottle wine from their vineyard this weekend.  It will help me keep stocked up on Pinot for the year, and give me a sense of manual labor that I typically tend to avoid.  I may have to take my wife to Cracker Barrel (See Post #233) since it’s near their home, if she agrees to help us.  It’s a big diversion from her five-star dining tastes, but she’s a big fan of the Hashbrown Casserole.  She would also like to visit some other vineyards, and pick-up our membership allotment at Stoller.

My Alma Mater, Indiana University (I.U.), will probably be humiliated by Ohio State in a rare, first-game conference football match-up tomorrow night.  Ohio State fans consider it to be just a practice game against a powder-puff squad.  I personally can’t wait until basketball season, a game where we can be competitive.  In the meantime, the Cubs have pleasantly surprised me by winning their first two games of the series with the Pirates.  The Cubbies are definitely not the dominant team they were last year, and will probably struggle to get into the Playoffs.  (See Post #231: Old Sport Shorts).  I’ll watch this evening as the Cubs go for the sweep.  I did my sweeping and dusting yesterday!

I ran three miles this morning, as I continue to internally debate my running future.  I should probably do a Half-Marathon since I’ve spent all this time in training.  There’s the “Run Like Hell” on October 22nd and the “Holiday Half” on December 10th that are on my radar.  I rediscovered that I really don’t like the pressure associated with competitive running, but at least this would not be a team effort.  At this point, the more serene Holiday theme seems more appealing than running like hell!  As a side note, I just completed day 3,167 of my running streak dating back to December 29, 2008.  I also moved up to slot #207 on the international list of running streaks, after four runners apparently vacated their streaks for one reason or another.  During the Hood to Coast Relay, I also met the wife of one of my wife’s sales managers who is ranked #333 on this list.  It’s the first time I’ve actually met another crazy streak runner like myself in person. Her streak is at 2,052 days.  Another woman from her home town of nearby Lake Oswego is just three days behind me on the list.  I have been in touch with her through e-mail, and just missed meeting her on race day.  Her talented team narrowly missed a first place finish in their division, as an intoxicated participant stole a truck belonging to Honeybucket, a portable restroom company, and drove it into a field of sleeping bags.  A woman was injured and the race disrupted at that point.  I, too, was in a sleeping bag at that time, already feeling like I’d been run over by a truck, after just completing my second leg.