Ever since I started running in the mornings before work, I haven't been running with music. That's a big change for me because I never used to run without it.

Part of the reason I've been leaving my iPod at home has to do with safety. It's not quite light when I head out for my runs and I like being able to hear if someone or something is approaching me.

But a bigger part of the reason I've been going without my tunes is because I'm enjoying the morning tranquility. Even though there is still tons of traffic flying down the road I run on (don't worry there's a sidewalk) it still seems calmer. People don't seem to be in such a rush and it's just a little bit quieter.

It's a good time for me to let my mind wander and think about random things. It's also a good chance for me to focus on my to-do list for the day and start working through possible problems.

I've found on these shorter runs, I don't really miss the music, although I still listen to it on my weekend long runs to motivate me to keep going.

The relative quiet without my music is a nice change of pace. So for now I'm going to go with it.

Do you listen to music when running?

I'm always amazed how running in the morning completely shapes the outlook on the rest of my day.

Running (even the not so great ones) leaves me energetic and ridiculously happy all day a long. I'm probably 50 times more productive on days I run in the morning than days I don't.

I'm more focused. I can think more clearly. Life pretty much rocks on the days I run.

As a result of runners' increased productivity, I'm pretty certain that we should get some sort of kickback from our employers. Healthy, happy employees get more work done, are more efficient and take fewer sick days, right?

So doesn't it stand to reason that we should be rewarded for our awesomeness with more time off, a running bonus or some other incentive?

Think about it, if employers everywhere offered some sort of incentive for running I'm pretty sure we'd have fewer overweight, constantly miserable people chained to their desks all day long. Plus we'd all get more work done and meet our deadlines.

Sounds like a win-win.

I propose a half day on Fridays if you run three times during the work week for at least 30 minutes at a time. With the runner's focus, we'd be able to plow through our work in less time, enabling us to wrap up all of our projects by noon on Friday, getting us to the weekend just a little bit earlier.

Bosses would be happy because all the work would be done on time and we'd be happy because we'd have a few extra hours added on to the weekend. Seriously, who loses out with that plan?

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Negative Splits:

Saturday:
5 miles, 49:04

Splits:
1: 10:07
2: 9:59
3: 9:46
4: 9:44
5: 8:47

Monday:
4 miles, 37:06

Splits:
1: 9:50
2: 9:20
3: 9:03
4: 8:49

Last night we get a wicked thunderstorm rolling through the area. I did a little happy dance thinking it would knock out some of the humidity. It did for a little bit last night, but this morning the humidity is way back up and there's a 75 percent chance of more thunderstorms today.

I feel like we're in the middle of a steamy August instead of at the very beginning of June. I'm hoping this isn't a sneak peek as to what the rest of this DC summer will be like. That would make for some very miserable training.

After three straight days of running, I decided to rest today and enjoyed my extra hour of sleep.

Onto the food:

My cabinets were extra bare this week because I was rather uninspired when I went grocery shopping. I did pick up a huge watermelon that was on sale though and it has been rather delicious. I've only managed to eat about a quarter of it so far so I see a lot of watermelon in my future.

For the cooking challenge this week, I thought I would do one of my favorites: breakfast for dinner.

I was craving pancakes, but didn't have everything I needed, so I settled for some scrambled eggs instead.

After reading the Omnivore's Dilemma, I've only been buying organic, cage free eggs. They come in the brown shell.



I've never eaten brown eggs before and I wasn't sure what to expect. Turns out they taste the same to me as the eggs in the white shells.



I paired the eggs with some toast with a little bit of almond butter and raspberry preserves. I'm in love with raspberry preserves, it's my new go-to spread on almost everything.



I'm so looking forward to the weekend. The BF has tickets to the Orioles game on Saturday so cross your fingers we have nice weather!