Support Crew

I know my blogging has been, well, nonexistent, but I just have to get this one in there. Yesterday, I ran my first 20-miler, and I had the most amazing support crew ever! I had to miss last week's "fall back" run of 10 miles (which I was really looking forward to after some long runs) because I was sick, so I was a little nervous heading into this run. But it all worked out.

I woke up and checked the weather. 38 degrees. I debated changing what I had planned to wear, but then I saw the wind chill. 18 degrees. Nope. I was fine with my cold weather gear. I ended up ready and waiting for the sky to lighten, heading out around 7:10. I had about 45 minutes on my own before meeting up with my sister, who would be finishing up teaching a BodyBack class at 8.

We got to run about 5 miles together before I dropped her at her car with about a mile back to my house to go alone. Once at home, I met up with Dad.

He was good for a 5K. Unfortunately, the best 3 mile route I know had us heading north right off the bat, and boy, was that north wind cold! We made the north neighborhood loop and headed back to the house where Mom was waiting.

 

I think Mom drew the short stick because my pace definitely fell off during her shift. We had about 5.75 miles together. It was awesome to have company for the majority of the run, with different conversations each time. I felt pretty darn good until right before mile 19. My back was already tight and I could feel my form slacking. But I did it!

I feel like that was a huge mental hurdle. Done. I know I still have two major long runs to go, but I feel good knowing I can do this. I came home, took a warm Epsom salt bath (yes, I know most people take an ice bath...trying something different), showered and got ready to leave. We had to eat, get my daughter some basketball shorts and get to the kids' basketball games (where I had to keep time for one and sit on the floor for the other). After that, we went for ice cream and shopping for Christmas gifts for church. We had a simple dinner of soup and sandwiches (and had to play restaurant for the kids). I was in quite a bit of pain last night, with the worst pain being my knee caps. Yes, my knee caps. I iced them and felt considerably better when I got up this morning. I'm still sore today, but I'm moving. In fact, I'm not sure I ever stopped moving today. With Christmas right around the corner, there's no time to stop :)

Family run

We had told the kids that we would take them on a run, a first for us, this weekend if it was nice. It wasn't. But that didn't stop us!

Notice her BondiBand, SPI Belt and running "tights" :)

It was cool and rainy, but we geared up and got the jogger out for our first family run. I love that we didn't let the weather stop us! We had so much fun together. SB ran the whole first mile and did awesome! Ryan, at just 4, handled a lot more than I thought he would. He hopped in and out of the jogger quite a bit, but that was what made this run so great...no set pace or distance, just us being active.

We actually ran to McDonald's (about 1.25 miles in about 20 minutes), had lunch, and ran/walked home (almost another mile in about 17 minutes). I stopped the watch if we were loading or unloading the jogger.

Yes, I know running to McDonald's might seem a little ironic, but the alternative was having Dad pick it up and eat it in front of the TV.

I have to say that this run ranks right up there with some of my best!