4:50am: the time where my big ambitions last night to hit the gym by 5 were immediately squashed
5:45am: the time i typically wake up to get ready and make lunches and not be rushed
6am: the time that i wake up to do the aforementioned stuff but am tight on time
6:15am: the time when i rush to the shower, rock a twisty-bang hairdo because i did NOT have time to mess with my hair, and throw whatever i can find into our lunchboxes.
Today, of course, was the 6:15 option. I just could NOT get OUT of BED. You'd think I had some wild and crazy weekend but no... no, it was pretty low-key.
Friday night we were super sassy and made BLTs. Well, I made a BLT-- Brian went to "take a quick nap" and ended up conking out at 7 and sleeping until about 10. So I did what any girl would do-- I ate my BLT while catching up on Bethenny and Giuliana, obviously. So basically when he woke up at 10, I was heading to bed. I would also like to note that we love our casual Friday nights. After a week of working plus my crazy commute every day, the last thing that we want to do is go out and battle the bars. We like to instead opt for evenings on the couch in our PJs with pizza, Blue Moon/wine and Dateline. I haz no complaints!
My weekend routine is typically to be up and running (like literally pounding the pavement for miles) by 6:30, then I come home to shower, grab my lists and such, and head off for my Morning of Me time. It's lovely. My first stop is Weight Watchers, where I stay for the meeting, then head to Target (they share a parking lot-- score for me, eek! for my bank account) and proceed to inevitably spend $75-100 on things that I didn't know I needed until I saw them. After that, I swing by Trader Joe's to grocery shop, Panera to pick up breakfast, DD for our coffees, then it's home to lounge on the couch with the boy for a bit. Sometimes we run errands, sometimes Bri does his thing and I hang out and clean and catch up on my shows. Regardless of what we do during the day, together or apart, Saturday night is ALWAYS our date night... and I love that. Whether we get dressed up to go out or stay in and cook together, it's nice to have that one night to look forward to where you get to relax and reconnect.
... Unless I'm babysitting. If that's the case, then I throw pasta together for him while I'm running out the door, which was very much the case this week. On occasion I babysit for a sweet family with three redheaded little boys, ages 8, 6 and 4. A positive this week was they were already bathed and fed and in pajamas, so we spent the evening leading up to bed watching this little gem:
Does anyone else remember this movie? It was painful to watch-- Rocky, Colt and Tum-Tum. Ah, yes. After this cinematic treasure, they were off to bed and I had several hours to relax with a book. Who says babysitting doesn't have its perks? Luckily I wasn't out TOO terribly late because I knew I needed to be nice and rest for...
... MY FIRST 10K!
Oh yes. It happened. I was up bright and early yesterday morning getting ready, stretching, making sure I had all of my race necessities together, and then we were off!
Brian snapped the obligatory pre-race picture, wished me luck, and headed back to his spot to watch for me. Honestly, going into this race, I was not in a great mental place. With having been sick the past three weeks with a chest cold, a bump in my training road for a good week, I was worried how much endurance I might have lost-- I've felt rundown and just so tired lately.
Once I started running, I was able to find a good pace, and was pushing enough to be running fast-ish, but not so fast that I was going to tire out. My game plan had been to take into account my having been sick and take a small walk break at mile 2, if I needed to, with water, then keep coming. Well, here came mile 2-- no water. I pushed through to 3 and just felt very out of it-- it was like my legs were completely detached from what my mind was telling them to do. At 3 1/2 miles, I finally found water and slowed down to take a quick breather. After I'd started running again I immediately felt tired and started to get a little worried if I was mentally enough in the race to actually finish, which is crazy now that I look back. To distract myself, I started dedicating every song that came on my iPod to my family and friends-- "Alright, I'm running 'Where You Lead' for Mama. 'Glory Days' goes out to Daddy!"
My saving grace came at mile 4-- I'd told Brian before the race that I thought this might be the kind of thing where I could REALLY use some support somewhere between the start and finish but he was worried if he'd be able to get through the streets or not. Lo and behold, his dad found a way and they were waiting at the mile 4 marker. A big inside joke with me and Brian is the Wilson Phillips song "Hold On," which he knows every. single. word to.
Wouldn't you know it that as soon as I saw him standing at the mile 4 sign this song came up in my shuffle? I cannot lie-- the tears started. He was taking pictures and all I could think was "I'm crying! I'm running and I'm crying! I'm crying because I have to keep running!" so I put on my brave face and pushed through. As I went down a hill and started to come up... there he was again. I'm not kidding, it got me through the race to see him there cheering for me. As I passed him I yelled "It's 'Hold On'... I'm crying!" and kept running.
Typical.
Typical.
After a steady mile incline on a road and the biggest hill of my life, I finished in 1:06:31. I was hoping for better, but I guess that gives me something to beat next time! I'm happy to say that I finished my first 10k though. As miserable as I was immediately after, by last night I was already looking at more upcoming races. Without a cold and missed training, I'm excited to see what my next time will be! Love that running feeling!
Once I got home and showered, I put on my favorite PJ pants and retired to the couch for the rest of the day. We watched Mad Men all afternoon and dinner was ready in the CrockPot. All in all, a lovely Sunday afternoon.
And just a tad bit more of REALLY exciting news-- I'm going home to Texas next weekend!! I'm SO EXCITED. I'm needing to rest and recharge and have meals cooked by Mama. And a haircut.
It's the little things.
To wrap up this (way longer than intended) blog post, do yourself a favor and swing by
you're welcome.
