Helloooooo!

I'm playing catch-up after a weekend away to watch my sweet sister-in-law get married to her sweet love (whom she has been with since before me or Dave or her older brother and his wife. This wedding was a long time comin'.).

Since the weekend featured not one BUT TWO nights away from the little miss, and since I'm still recovering from my turn on the dance floor/that cranberry vodka, and since the real official marathon training starts this Wednesday, I thought I would skip Monday's run to let myself recuperate. And good thing, too, since I'm in New Jersey and Dave's in Boston and as the only parent on baby duty last night, I was the one to take care of the baby when she woke up at 1AM. And 3AM. And 5AM.

But! I did get my run in on Friday, before all the madness began. Here it is!

Distance Run: 3.39 miles
Time: 32:17
Pace: 10:45 min/mil

Most Challenging Moment: So...hungry...
Most Inspiring Moment: Wildlife!

I'm at my parents' house this week, getting ready to celebrate some Christmas, and I've rediscovered the joys of running in the suburbs. No traffic, waving hello to the other runners, and, of course, wildlife:

It was when I spotted this lady that I was grateful I didn't have Abby with me. To be fair, Abby's never actually seen a deer in real life before, so it's not like I'm positive she would lose her mind in a mixture of excitement and terror, but given that she gets nervous around colorful bits of trash and the Charles River, it seems like a pretty safe bet that she wouldn't enjoy the experience.

That was about the only reason I was happy Abby wasn't there, because otherwise I could have used her towing capacity. I was totally exhausted from our drive from Boston the night before (that seat back. For real tho.), and due to a scheduling error, I went out on my run having not eaten for, like, 17 hours.

It turns out there's actually a school of thought suggesting runners not eat beforehand, to train your body into burning fat stores for energy instead of just relying on carbs and sugars. (And there is the extent of my running-specific knowledge)

Maybe for someone it would be a good idea? But for me it was like running through glue, I was so exhausted. I felt so slow that I wouldn't be surprised if I was actually moving backwards, but my pace was actually not super terrible. This is good because I've decided to try to run the marathon at a 10:30-10:45 min/mile pace, and my first pace run is Thursday, and I am not totally confident that I can do that without Abby (yet).

Speaking of Abby, she's back with me now and ready to hit the streets on Wednesday. I'm curious how she'll do with any deer she spots, although she's probably just as likely to freak out over these other suburban wildlife:

Finally, a quick thank you to Kristen Lippert-Martin for her generous donation last week! Kristen is also a writer, so if you're looking for some books to round off your Christmas list, check her out.