Sometimes it's not about how good your run is. Sometimes it's all about how much money you find.

Yesterday's run home from Zappos was the most sluggish I've had in a while. I was actually looking foward to running home - I felt good almost all day, ate a good sized portion of pasta for lunch and stayed nice and hydrated all day long, so I'm not too sure why I was so beat. Things were really sucking until I got about three miles into the run and suddenly my eyes were blessed by the wonderful sight of a shiny dime! It's amazing how finding money revives a tattered mind and body. I was feeling a little better.

Another block and what do you know - Another dime! At this point I'm considering retirement from Zappos. I was feeling a lot better.

Another mile after and guess what? A whole dollar bill!!! Even though it was only about ten feet off a crosswalk, it felt like it was laying in the sun all day long. As brittle and torn as it was, it was the most beautiful thing I ever picked up on a street corner. I picked it up and needed to share this with SOMEONE! I looked around and lucky me - A guy stuck at the red light had witnessed my newly found fortune. I raised the dollar in the air in excitement and he gave me the thumbs up and a smile

Damn, this is a great run.

I was feeling much much better. Another mile down the road and another penny! I mean, seriously. This is the best run ever - That is until I got another block down and I found another penny...It's now official - The best run ever.

Hansel and Gretel ain't got nothing on me and my scrilla!!!

The Coin Count

SHOW ME THE MONEY!
Running Total: $2.09

We got to the finish line about twenty-five minutes before the winner, Kenyan Sylvester Chebii, crossed. We stayed around and watched the finishers for a good hour or so before we zoomed off to check out the post race events. It’s always so inspiring to see so many happy people after a half and full marathon smiling and laughing away. The vibe in Nashville was seriously incredible after the race! We chilled at the expo until 11:30 or so then took off back to the hotel to get some work done and to get in a little run. I took off on West End Road near Vanderbilt and ran about 3½ miles up the road past where the start line was and back (7mi total). It was a great outing and Nashville is such a cool city. I love running in places I’ve never run before – time goes by quickly and it’s so cool to explore new places. I got back to the room and got some New Balance orders completed then went out to the post-race dinner and concert (Music Hall of Famer, Steve Cropper). The highlight of the night: Being back stage to watch the marathon awards presentation. We got to take an elevator ride down to the stage area, stuffed like sardines with top nine winners from the race. WOW! These are amazing people and it was such a great honor to be in the stuffed in the same space for a couple minutes.

A special thank you AGAIN goes out to John Smith from the Competitor Group, Inc. for showing us around and Elite Racing for your amazing hospitality – You guys R O C K! It was a load of fun and a great learning experience!

The Coin Count

Nothing in Music City today – both times

Running Total: 87 cents

After my Zappos.com softball game (we won!), I headed out for a five-mile run. It was fairly late, around 10:30pm. When I turned a corner I saw a guy about a quarter-mile down the road, across the street running in my direction. It's cool when I see fellow runners out at the same time I run. As we passed from opposite sides of the street, we both raised our hand at the same, waving in both greeting and recognition. There's something cool with having a connection with someone through running without knowing that person's name, face or anything else besides the fact that they're probably as passionate about running as I am.

The Coin Count

Uno Pennyo.

Running Total: 87 cents

I went on my long run tonight, since I was insanely lazy yesterday. Hey! At least I'm in the mood for a long run at 9pm! I threw on my reflective gear and hydration pack and hit the road. It was literally a mile into my run and my iPod died. "Are you serious?!??!?!", I asked my iPod - of course it didn't answer. I spent the next 13 miles thinking about how this run is gonna suck butt because I don't have my tunes. At the end of my run I realized it wasn't really that bad after all! I mean, I got in a ton of thinking about stuff like my work, family stuff, future plans, The Smurfs, PBR and Tang's crazy comebacks, what I would look like in a really tight fluorescent wrestling costume, bunny slippers and of course, Twitter (check me out on twitter: http://twitter.com/SuperPeake or check out zappos on twitter: http://twitter.zappos.com/start ).

I guess the biggest advantage of my iPod dying though was for the people I passed - No one had to hear me sing...HA! Look at ME improving fellow man's standard of living. I feel great about myself!

The Coin Count

A penny and a dime to my delight!

Running Total: 86 cents

This is an email from Maura, one of our Customer Loyalty Manager's, which put my coin collecting wisdom to shame:

Hi CP!

I just had to share this running story with you. I went on a run this morning (9 miles!) and as I was doing my cool down around my neighborhood I spotted a 20 dollar bill! It was against a wall and not really around any houses and no one in sight so it became mine . I have yet to find any coins on any of my runs but this definitely makes up for it :)my running total quickly jumped from 0 to $20.

Hope you're having a good weekend and next time you're on a run keep your eyes peeled for green paper not just metal

-Maura

It's very apparent that I have to improve my skills if I wanna stay in the game! Thanks for sharing, Maura

So, I'm still kind of recovering from being sick all last week. This week has been good both mentally and physically, despite the crazy winds in LV. Every time I stepped outside it seemed the wind was going to be my running buddy. Today's run with Mr. Wind proved to be the windiest of the year. I had the tailwind going out and the headwind heading back to the house. BLAH! The crazy winds in Vegas create just a couple issues for the runner. Here three I dealt with today:

1) There's just so much dirt and grit that flies up into your face. I think all my running glasses have completely scarred lenses, not to mention that I had enough dirt in my mouth to make a sand castle.

2) The wind blew around a good supply of natural smells. An enhanced sense of smell sample included a little something special from the Horses and Horse manure from the stables along my route.

3) I felt like Mary Poppins, all I needed was an umbrella. Well, it might have been more like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Yes, I almost flew away. No, I wasn't wearing a dress or sparkly red shoes.

The Coin Count

A penny for my thoughts!

Running Total: 75 cents

Remember the Toy Fairy Blog? Today I found a kids baseball glove. It was practically new, maybe used once. It was so sad because it was in the gutter in the middle of nowhere - no houses, no yards - I figured it was left on a roof of a car and just eventually flew off and now lost forever. I picked it up and found a home for it snuggled under my arm. I was debating putting flyers all around the neighborhood, but though that would be a waste of paper and some good quality telephone poles. Oh well.

Thinking about the glove brought me immediately back to my childhood in New York; Spending all summer playing ball from when the sun came up until dinner time. Maybe Jacey or Abby will pick it up one of these days and find the same kind of fun in that good ole piece of leather that I did. The only bummer about this glove was that there's no pink on it to make it a lot easier for my girls to find any kind of interest in it.

The Coin Count

No coins, but a glove worth a ton of pennies!

Running Total: 74 cents

I ran my first run in like a week and a half today. I actually went to the Las Vegas Corporate Challenge 5K this past weekend, but pretty much passed out immediately after starting the thing (but I'm not counting that) - THAT was dumb. I only ran about three today and it felt good overall - but I was seriously drained afterward. Man, I haven't been this sore in a long time. I spent the rest my night on the couch watching TV - What the hell is wrong with me? Peake is so lazy right now...

The Coin Count

My first run back and I find a penny! Very nice!

Running Total: 74 cents

Theo is still in town and he invited me and the girls to come live it large at the Venetian Hotel Pool. Sweet! My girls totally love swimming and I got the chance to run to the Venetian AND get a cool down with a nice little swim. My house to the Venetian is a nice little eight mile run up Las Vegas Boulevard. My wife and the kids were meeting me at the Venetian, so I took off a tad earlier than they did. It was hot today. I think it reached the mid eighties, but the ‘coolest' part about the run was when my wife drove by me and the kids were yelling out the window, ‘There's Daddy! HI DADDY! HI DADDY!' Very Cool Stuff indeed

The Coin Count

Nut and Honey.

Running Total: 73 cents

Remember the kid that asked me if I was running in the Olympics? Well, today I saw him again and he figured that since I was weak-sauce and wasn't running in the Olympics after all, that he would race me. I kicked that ten or eleven year-old kid's butt in a 40-yard sprint. I mean I really whooped him up good and showed that kid who's boss. I would ask you to step up and be my next challenger, but I've since decided to retire and leave racing fifth-graders to the professionals.

The Coin Count

I was robbed of my penny today! I reached down to pick up one of the grossest pennies I ever laid eyes on, only to find to my surprise that it was completely molded into the road as part of the street's landscape - Smashed into the asphalt by weeks and weeks of passing cars. Apparently, to my emotions, this is the same feeling you get when someone has a dollar attached to the end of the string and pulls it out just as you're ready to pick it up - Yeah. It sucked.

I think I'll go back tomorrow with a hammer and a chisel. I'm serious.

Running Total: 73 cents

I found a Quarter today. You have no idea how few and far between this happens! This is such a rare and joyous occasion that I'm writing a poem about it.

You big beautiful coin you

I can't believe I found you

Layin in the street lookin so sweet

What did I do to deserve such a wonderful treat?

Bending over to pick you up was such an easy endeavor

I want to keep you nestled in my shoe pocket forever

You really did make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside

I won't be this lucky again for a long time, no matter how hard I try

You big beautiful coin you

I can't believe I found you

Running Total: 73 cents. What what??!?!?

On the last part of my run today, I ran past bunch of kids. One of the kids yelled out, "Are you running in the Olympics"?!?!? I shook my head no and sprinted off just past my house, got my cool-down on then walked back towards the house. As I passed the kids again the same kid asked, ‘Are you'? I laughed and told him no and asked why he thought that. He mentioned that since I was running AND my shorts were really short, he assumed I was training for the Olympics. Ha! - The thought of me running in the Olympics. That's funny. Are my shorts really that short?

The Coin Count

Heck Yeah - A Shiny Nickel!

Running Total: 48 cents

Is it me or there a lot of dead pigeons around here lately? It's gross to think about, but in the last month or so I've seen a dead cat and like four dead pigeons...perhaps it was the same pigeon and someone moved it three times...I don't know, it's weird (in nothing but very best old school John Travolta voice).

The Coin Count

ALAS! One Penny!

Running Total: 43 cents

Top weird thing on my run today:

I ran thru a Vegas community called Cactus Flower. Not only was there no Cactus, there were no flowers either.

There are so many things I see on my runs that I want to write about when I get home, but like those dreams one can't remember the day after, my memory seizes and all I could think about when I hit the computer is food. Today was special. I actually have a story for you. I'm sure you're thrilled.

As soon as I started my run I noticed a ball that was ‘lost' - hanging out in the gutter, no home, no owner, no great prospects, and no dreams. Ahhhhh...Poor little ball. I kicked it into the yard that was directly behind it and pursued my aspirations to get in at least seven miles. I turned the first corner down the first major road I normally run down and what do I find in the gutter? Another ball! This road, like many major roads in residential areas in Las Vegas, is bordered up and down with cinderblock walls. I threw the ball over the wall and proceeded. So now my feeble mind can't help to think of anything but those two balls and what a weird thing it is to find these toys on the street...now we have something! My voyage for the rest of this run was to find as many things that make sense to throw back into a yard as possible...You with me? So seriously, here's what I found:

Four balls total

One Frisbee

One little black rubbery and stretchy action figure

What looks like a base to a balloon launcher?

Some cartoon-face thingy that had the same consistency as a stress relief ball

I threw all these over a wall or back into a yard - Hopefully all you kids that lost these toys now have them back, safe and warm. If they're not yours, enjoy your new toys kiddies!

The Coin Count

Nada today, but look at all the other things I found! YAY!

Running Total: 42 cents

Today, without a doubt, was the hottest day of the year so far. Yes, I think it actually made it to like 75° today...It wasn't super hot, but it was the thought that it was gonna get boilin' hot in a month or so that I couldn't stop thinking about on my run today- ewwwww, I hate those days when you get back from a run when it's like 90° out and you can't pee for six hours even though you drank 2 liters of water during your run AND you smell like a boys locker room...not too mention that wonderful taste of salty sweat the drips off the tip of your nose. Yummy.

The Coin Count

Natta whole lotta, once again. I'm very sad that I'm in this little slump right now

Running Total: STILL 42 cents