Sunday! Funday! Runday!

Distance: 8 miles!!!
Time: 1:40:42
Pace: 12:40 min/mil
Most Challenging Moment: Abby and I both needed bathroom breaks; only Abby could do something about it
Most Inspiring Moment: Felt great the whole time

I survived my first long run! And not only survived, but had a great time! I was pretty worried that around the one hour mark, I'd be ready to call quits, but happily, I got the whole run in and could have kept going.

My run prep started Saturday night, when Dave and I went out for some sushi. I have this thing with sushi. My whole life I thought I wouldn't like it, and then I decided to try it two years ago and oh man it is amazing. Since then, I've tried to cram a lifetime's worth of missed sushi opportunities into my daily routine, with the result being that every time that Dave and I actually go out, I tend to go overboard (cue boat joke):

WE ORDERED SO MUCH THAT THEY BROUGHT IT IN A BOAT. This was unexpected and also amazing. Halfway through our meal I stopped and said to Dave, "Did we order too much?" He said something back but I didn't hear him because I was too busy eating.

With my stomach full of delicious raw fish, I went to bed. Iris, who has responded to three weeks of traveling and a rotating cast of family members with all the grace and calm of a Chihuahua on uppers, woke up several times throughout the night. But thankfully, the Support Staff: Husband Level took care of things, so while I was woken up many times, my butt stayed between the sheets from 10pm to 6am...

...when I got up for my run! It was dark. In case you're curious what 6:30 in the morning looks like in the suburbs, here you go:

I thought I would show a steady progression of lightening skies, ending with a beautiful sunrise, but my little iPhone camera was not up to the task. Here are several blurry photos of the suburbs, ending with a shot of the sky when I figured "I guess it's daytime now."

 

The run itself actually was really nice! For most of the morning, no one was out but me and Abby, and it was so dark and peaceful. I'm beginning to understand that I actually prefer the long runs over the short runs, because while I eventually get into a nice groove and enjoy myself, I usually spend the first 20-30 minutes hating life.

Miss Abby seemed to enjoy herself, too. I wasn't sure how she'd take almost two hours of constant running, but we were going at such a leisurely pace that she had no trouble keeping up.

She did, however, have to make not one, not two, but THREE bathroom breaks. The suburbs not having an abundance of garbage cans, this usually means I have to carry around her little baggie myself, but by the third one I decided if she was going to make the mess, she could hold onto it until we got home.

The indignity...

I would have loved to say that I got home and relaxed in my maternity sweatpants all day, but instead I barely had time to shower, change, and eat before we rushed out again for the baby's baptism. (for the record: she did great. Took the water like a champ and only began to scream her little face off once we started taking pictures)

After the baptism came the baptism PARTY, and I stuffed myself with quiche, ham, and my mother-in-law's famous gingerbread cookies, which this year were literary themed:

Now today, I'm finally getting my cookie-and-sweatpants sleepy day, with cross training only thing on my agenda.

Mmmm...yoga...cookies...