Back to Reality

Hey guys!

I have a feeling that it is really going to be hard to top my last post, but it’s not every day that you get to go to NYC for a photo shoot … It’s back to normal life now, but hopefully you will enjoy reading about normal life (and running) as well.

Like I mentioned before, Friday was our anniversary. When Daniel got home from work, we headed to a little gender-reveal party for a couple in our small group (congrats Molly & Trent on baby BOY #2!) and then we went out to eat to celebrate our anniversary. We tried a new restaurant downtown called The Bone & Barrel. Daniel and I both got tuna and it was really good. The restaurant was really loud (but most places downtown are) and the atmosphere was more like a bar than a restaurant, but they definitely have the food part down. We both enjoyed it and we will definitely be back.

Daniel likes to do the traditional gifts by year for me each year. 5 years is the wood year and he is very crafty, so he made me a jewelry box. It turned out great! I love it.

I was excited to see my training group Saturday morning! They had 16 miles this week, which was their longest run yet. We did two 8 mile loops and I ran the first loop with them and then got on the bike for the second loop.

Daniel ran 20 miles with a few of his buddies Saturday morning and they had a really solid run. He met me back at the store when they got done and we headed to Coffee Loft, because … well, coffee. I got a text from our friends in Auburn Friday evening saying that they were down at the gulf for a charity bike ride and that when they looked at the route, they realized they were going to be coming right through town. What a lovely surprise! We headed over to their check-point to catch a quick glimpse of them as they passed through.

It was a quick visit, but we will take anything we can get and thankfully they will be back in about a month.

After they took off, we headed back home for an afternoon of rest and football. I was worn out from the trip and started feeling like I was coming down with some sort of cold, so I was very thankful for an afternoon with nothing to do. I took about a 4 hour nap (I think that one probably needs to go in the “mini-sleep” category). I woke up feeling more stuffy, but hopefully it is just some sort of sinus mess. I feel fine otherwise, but decided to pick up some Emergen-C at the store just in case.

Saturday evening, we stopped by to see another couple in our small group that just had a baby. I didn’t think about it until we were on the way there, but I didn’t want to risk giving Baylor any germs, so we only got to see the baby from across the room, but he is precious! Congrats to Kayla & Brock! We came back home to a beautiful sunset. The picture turned out a little dark, but you get the idea.

After that we “watched” the Alabama game, which unfortunately A) didn’t start until after 8 p.m. and B) was a bit of a train wreck (or so I heard). I feel asleep at some point during the first quarter. Lame, I know. I think I am finally getting caught up on my rest though. I was ready to go when my alarm went off this morning for my long run. My run today was powered by UCAN, Emergen-C & Nuun (not all mixed). I did purposefully pick out the pink lemonade Emergen-C to go with the strawberry lemonade Nuun though. It’s like a runner’s cocktail, full of vitamins and hydration.

I met the group for a 6 a.m. start and Lizzie and I ended up kind of doing our own thing. We did 15 together and then Daniel and Karl met us. I had 7 more to go and she had 5 more, so the guys went with us for those last few miles, which worked out perfectly. Daniel really helped me those last few miles. He was fresh and happy when he met me and I was … well, the opposite. The humidity was back in full force this morning, and I was starting to struggle, but thanks to his encouragement I was able to hold on to my pace. I ended up with 22 miles at 7:35 pace. That was the third 22 miler of this training cycle and those long runs are definitely giving me more confidence going into the marathon.

We hung out at Coffee Loft for a little bit after our run before catching the late service at church. Now it is time for napping chores. We are working on lots of laundry and headed to the grocery store soon. I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday. Hopefully I will manage to get a mid-week post done this week!