Say Happy Valentine's Day with a Half Marathon

Saturday's Run
Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 2:15:29
Pace: 10:21 min/mil
Most Challenging Moment: I miscalculate my run (again), finish 1 mile away from home, have to take the T back
Most Inspiring Moment: Felt great!

Happy Valentine's Day! How did you celebrate? Dinner? Champagne? Impulse-adopt a puppy?* BABY FEET!

With the latest Boston blizzard coming (as a resident of Boston, I am legally obligated to type the words "snow," "wind chill," "blizzard of 2015 part III," and "parking bans are in effect" every 100 words), I again moved my long run up a day to Saturday. This time, I took a day off before my long run and kept to (relatively) well-plowed sidewalks, and as a result, I had a great, happy, endorphin-pumping half marathon!

I mean, it wouldn't have taken much to beat last week's run. Was I mauled by a wolverine? No? Then I'll count it as an improvement.

But it went great! I had two episodes of Invisibilia to keep me company and Dave's hat and gloves to keep me warm. Partly I think because I've been upping my pace on the treadmill to 8:57 min/mil, I had a nice, fast run. It was freezing cold, but I felt pretty good, and the sidewalks were mostly clear.

The only annoying thing was that somewhere I took I wrong turn, so where I thought I was supposed to finish my run at my front door, I actually finished like a mile and a half away. No way I was running anymore, so, to the T!

Only the best

Generally I feel a little bad when I take the T post run, because I'm usually a sweaty, disheveled mess. Here, I took a picture!

It was lovely to get home and relax with a shower and a nap. Then I got my fancy cookin' on with an elaborate and delicious Valentine's dinner. The menu:

Arugula salad with lemon dressing and Parmesan

Duck-fat-roasted potatoes tossed with parsley and Parmesan

Duck breast with a pomegranate-cinnamon glaze

Vanilla panna cotta

Prosecco

Ben & Jerry's Hazed and Confused

We put the baby to bed, put on Birdman, and had ourselves a good night.

And in the morning? MORE SNOW.

As usual, only Abby was able to show any enthusiasm, possibly because we let her outside for the first time in three weeks:

 Otherwise Iris pretty much nails how we're all feeling right now:

Wind-burned, swathed in multiple layers, done with this nonsense. She's earning her New England cred.



*This marks the two-year anniversary of the time I got Dave drunk on a fancy dinner and asked him if we could get a dog and he said yes. Happily, the answer still held in the sober light of day.