Sometimes I talk myself into running on a night that I don't completely feel like running and on other nights, I can talk myself out of running all together. Sometimes the hardest part about running is getting out the door. Sometimes the hardest part about running is getting out the door and having to deal with people that don't care much about other human beings. Today I went for a short run and got pegged in the back of the head with an open bottle of milk. Some guy just decided that he was gonna yell obscenities from the passenger side of this passing car and throw a half-full plastic bottle of milk at me. I'm okay. I've been thru worse. It hurt at first, but it was definitely more of a surprise than anything. The smell of milk is something I've never disliked, but it was rather unpleasant today - especially since it was soaked into my running cap and the top of my jacket. I've had people throw stuff at me out of passing cars before, but the items thrown never struck. This guy had extraordinary aim - lucky me. I guess in conclusion, watch out for careless jerks that scream and throw 'stuff' at you from passing cars. Mean people suck.

Top weird thing on my run today:
-An empty plastic milk bottle on the ground.

Goodness. It was just one of those nights when the Running Gods weren't happy. It felt like every time I got to a corner that had a stop-sign, there was a car just pulling up. I always have to stop in fear that 'this guy' will be the one that doesn't see me and plow me down like the Giants did the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Even worse, every corner that had a traffic light was certainly against me and my wishes to get a good run-rhythm going. I'm sure it wasn't every corner, but it certainly seemed like it. Above all though, it's the jumping up and down or running in place at the corner that is the real issue. Gosh, I always feel like a complete dork running in place, like people are pointing - laughing and carrying about, then later telling all their friends about the dork they saw bouncing up and down on the corner. After all, isn't it funny when you see other people doing it? In any case, I vote on putting jump ropes and preset hopscotch boxes on every corner, at least it will take my mind away from the obvious. All with me say 'Yea'!

The Coin Count
Oh yeah! I highly recommend running past car washes. I found twenty-four cents today. All pennies and nickels, but highly worth it!
Running Total: 31 cents

So Mother Nature has been trying to storm in Vegas for the last few weeks. We haven’t had a decent storm in Las Vegas it seems for three years. It HAS been windy though – Really windy. Does anyone really like running in the wind? Seriously. The only good thing at least is when you have a headwind you get a tailwind in return, that is until the time you turn the corner and you have to deal with the headwind all over again. Today, I was nearly blown right into a wall when I turned that corner. This was scary for two reasons:

1)Holy Cow! It is THAT windy outside right now

2)Holy Cow! Am I really THAT light?!?!?

Top weird thing on my run today:

• A dried up pile of vomit. Yucky.

I run at night and when I say ?night?, I mean some time between 9:30 and midnight usually - Most of my life I have. It works pretty well for me and my schedule. Running this late seems to help me clear all my thoughts and questions from the day...Hey, it's better than laying in bed for an hour or two wondering about every little thing. It also allows me to work a little bit more when I get back and it really does help me sleep better. Besides, I can't get my butt up in the morning any way! Yeah, you're right...It probably IS because of the late night running. What ever. I like it. For some reason I was up early this morning so thought I would go for my first morning run since the Zappos.com Las Vegas Marathon back in early December. So out I went, 6am and feeling like the morning sun was going to melt me like a gremlin. Along my route I instantly realized the huge difference in my surroundings between a morning and night run. Yeah, there were the obvious things: More people out and about and more school buses than I could count on both hands, etc...But there were also a few things that surprised me - The actuality that people never really looked at me with my oh so pale legs in shorts a little longer than I care to admit was much more believable to me at night and that house with grey curtains that I pass all the time was actually a house with a very obnoxious shade of pink curtains. Whoa! Nothing was more shocking though than the line that was formed inside, and well outside, of a Dunkin' Donuts I passed. WOW! I didn't even realize they had a Drive-Thru! THAT was packed solid as well! I'm not sure if this was a usual occurrence and now I wonder if it does happen every day - Guess I'll have to have run more in the morning to find out. One thing for certain, it put me in the mood for a tasty Dunkin' Donut this morning.

I have two little girls. Jacey is 4 1/2 and Abigail will be the big 3 in May. Today, they argued about who was going to go on a run in the jogger later with Daddy. It wasn't an argument you would normally hear between two people as much as it was a discussion, over playing their new toc-tac-toe game, about who would and wouldn't be going on the run. Later that day, the phrase, 'Who wants to play on the computer?' came out. Jacey is a complete brainiac, therefore Abby won the 'ride in the jogger' victory rather easily.

• A graveyard of rolled up sod - unfortunately all being torn up and not put down - poor grass.

Today, my youngest daughter Abigail comes to me right after her nap and tells me she wants to go on a run. It was weird because I was thinking just moments before that it was a good time to get out since the girls were sleeping. So I threw on my running gear and went to the garage to get the baby jogger. I pushed the jogger to the front door and there she was waiting for me. She was still in her pajamas, but that's how she rolls, hehh heh 'rolls' get it. She asks if she can bring her hairy blue flower purse and her teddy bear and OF COURSE I said yeah! So off we went. She was totally excited about seeing the moon in the daytime and got to say HI to a couple people on the way. She got in a few 'as loud as possible' songs and played hide-and-seek with me thru the window on the canopy. She's the coolest little girl - When we got back she told me that she loves running in the stroller. It was the most perfect 4-mile run for both of us.

Valentine's Day Candy. So much for the nice thoughts for V-Day.

Baby bottle nipple! Those over-sized cheap ones you get from the hospital when your kid is born.

Bottle of Coke with a substituted liquid of the complete opposite color. Eww....Gross.

I was actually very worried on my run today – I thought for sure when I was almost done with my eight-miler I wasn’t going to find any coins to start my coin- count off with a bang. Low and behold, a quarter mile away from my house - Six cents lay right before my very eyes. Sweetness.

Running Total: 6 cents

SO! You ask. How can a good ole' runner like me join this great little trend in coin-collecting on my runs? Read on for a little help...

1) Keen eyesight. Pennies are pretty easy to find, but coins of larger denomination often blend in with concrete.

2) Run in commercial areas. More people equal more coinage lost.

3) A good pocket. I use my shoe-laced key holder to carry my newly found fortunes.

4) Remember to STOP running when bending down to pick up your change. You'll get an 'owwie' if you don't.

5) Immunity to "The Jingle". You know what I mean? If you get lucky and find at least two cents on a run, your pockets are gonna play the "Happy Jingle of Prosperity". Warning: Even though you may love the sound, your running partner may not.

6) Beware of coins that are 'stuck' to the street. Although, you may want this coin really bad, some coins are just worth giving up on.

7) A Love for Pennies. After all, 90% of what you?re going to find on the streets are pennies. Get used to it.

8) No matter how rich you get, don't let it go to your head. Everyone will like you for who you are and not how many coins you have in your pocket.

So, I'm frugal. I collect coins I see on the street. It's been a so-called hobby of mine for a very long time and probably one of the reasons I run. Of course I will never get rich finding spare change on the street, but hey! Maybe one day all my coins will add up to pay my way into a race!

So why is it that so many coins are abandoned by their previous owners? It's so sad. Do people not care about Pennies, Dimes and Nickels (Quarters are a huge rarity) any more? Do people have holes in their pockets? Are people allergic? Who knows! I?m just content with the warm and fuzzy feeling inside when I do find some change.

Welcome to my world. My name is Chris and I’ll be touring you thru the very weird world of the so-called runner, Chris Peake. I oversee the wonderful athletic-performance buying team here at Zappos.com. I typically run about 20-25 miles a week out of the complete necessity. I say that only because I drink way too much beer and if I didn’t run, well…you get the picture – literally. I also run because I like it. There’s something insanely great about running and it’s not the fact that you stay in lean, mean fighting machine shape as much as it’s a huge release for me, both mentally and physically.

Since you're here, it's a perfect opportunity to learn a little bit about me. So, first things first - Call me cp, call me Chris, call me Chrispy, or Chris Puke, Peakie, Chrissie, Christy, Margaret, Ralphie, Garçon , Boy...Whatever, just don't call me Christopher. My old boss and my mother screamed 'CHRISTOPHER' when I did something wrong - which was a lot. Bad memories.

Okay fine, you can call me Christopher. It really doesn't bother me that much.

I got my shoe career started when I was a wee lad. I tripped down a full flight of stairs on my untied shoelaces (I have the scar to prove it, and no I didn't land on my head...I only bounced on it 4 or 5 times). It was from that day forward that I thought shoes would be the perfect career to strive for. I started dreaming of shoes, coloring just the shoes on characters in my coloring book, and joined many of the Shoe Pen Pal Clubs (SPPC) that were available to me as a youth. When I turned 13, I sold Girl Scout Cookies for my sister. That was fun - Especially the part that involved my wearing a wig, but seriously folks - Those Thin Mints are off the Hizzzzzzie! I moved to California and got my dream job a few years later working as a stock boy/coffee and bagel go-getter at the local Mom and Pop Sporting Goods store. Life was good - Shoes, bagels, bathroom duties, working for $4.15 an hour - ALL really sweet stuff, especially my boss. He said I was a very good worker. He was a nice guy. Things progressed and I was given a raise to $4.50 an hour and then there was no backing out. I was in this puppy for the long haul! I have no regrets about not taking that Nuclear Physicist Career or that job being Ruler of the Universe at all. All my struggles as a lonely shoe-boy paid off in '04 when I made my Shoe Pilgrimage to Zappos.com (just recently passed Disneyworld as the happiest place on Earth. I just signed some permission slips for my kids...Sing with me! "It's 'nly Zaaaaaaaapos after all, it's 'nly Zaaaaaappos after all, it's 'nly Zaaaaaappos after all, it's only Zappos after all!") YAY!

In all seriousness though, if you haven’t read anything about Zappos.com, let me tell you – ZAPPOS is an AMAZING company and I’m extremely lucky and happy to call such a company ‘home’. Zappos RoCkS!