Days 24, 25, and 26: Stine - RAYMOND IL Christmas Runs and "Running" Errands

I had the joy of running both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in my hometown of Raymond, IL.  It's a small town (understatement) of about 900 people, not counting the dogs.  The town is about 1 mile across and after spending two days of running, I had laced the streets back and forth and saw nearly all the new goodies that were happening.  Normally, it isn't too much besides some great holiday decorations, but this time there were actually two new "excitements" that caught my eye.

Downtown Raymond, IL

1. The Dollar General store is nearing completion!  For those of you who aren't from a small town...you won't get this.  BUT, if you are, then you know how big of a deal it is!  When the ground breaking happened this summer, there were 30+ supporters in the photo in the paper.  Seriously, for people to not have to drive 15 miles to the Walmart for essentials in a pretty big freakin' deal!  I had been hearing from my dad about the big concrete pour for the parking lot (and it looked great!).


2.  The high school addition is coming along nicely.  I wasn't able to get too close due to the fences, but I was able to spy some basic structural steel construction.  I don't know who the designers are, but found myself being very surprised at the small columns and bracing.  Simple one story construction....I'm just going to just assume it's all ok :)

I had a running partner all lined up for Christmas Eve, my cousin Aaron.  Aaron is about my pace and completed his first marathon this fall, a day before my fall one.  He's in the Air Force and did the awesome one in Dayton Ohio in September, the day before my Fox Valley Marathon in Illinois.  But - the weather just did not cooperate.  To be honest, if it wasn't for this Marcothon craziness, I woulda backed out in a heartbeat.  Instead, I headed out, and this is what the bank thermometer said. (windchill was nearly -14).

Thankfully, Christmas afternoon, the temperature was back up to 30 degrees, so it was fantastic! After two days of running the streets I realized - that to be honest, in the 16+ years since I graduated high school, hardly anything has changed :)

Today, Day 26 - I was back home and beginning the process of unpacking from Christmas.  Anyone with 3 kids know that this is nearly impossible.  New toys means the old toys need retired and dangit, the house looks like a bomb just dropped.  My daughter had a new "spa" for her feet and really needed C batteries.  I also had a marco-run to get in and my sitter was leaving in 40 minutes.  Time for a challenge.  I decided to "RUN" to the store.  Yep, our Walt's grocery store is 1.6 miles from my home...perfect for some minimum mileage.  I also got a FANTASTIC Garmin watch from my hubby and I was itching to try it out.  So, I strapped on my new watch, brought my credit card and a backpack, and headed towards the store.  All went as planned...until I got to the store and decided...Dang it, we need bananas too!

So there I was, running home with an overloaded backpack of 8 bananas and 8-C batteries (and fresh snow cover might I add).  The temp was high 20s, so it was slick but not too bad.  A few bruised ones, but I was home 2 minutes after the top of the hour and the sitter was out the door.  Success all around!!!  5 more days!

Day 24 Run Data HERE

Tuesday Run

DEC 24, 2013  -  8:03 AM

MI

3.10

DURATION

27:59

AVERAGE PACE

9:01

CALORIES BURNED

348

Day 25 (Christmas!) Run Data HERE

Wednesday Run

DEC 25, 2013  -  3:27 PM

MI

3.03

DURATION

26:26

AVERAGE PACE

8:43

CALORIES BURNED

427

Day 26 Run Data HERE

Thursday Run

DEC 26, 2013  -  12:30 PM

MI

3.12

DURATION

27:00

AVERAGE PACE

8:39

CALORIES BURNED

351