Friday Fifteen

1. Due to a chain of events this morning (oversleeping, children wanting to snuggle, eating breakfast way later than I should have, not getting out to run until after 7:15 am), my scheduled 8 mile run became a 4 mile run.  The good news is that I didn't skip it all together despite the foggy, muggy, humid, and hot conditions (and everything else).

2. More good news is that I ran at an 11:24 mile average pace (which included walking for a little more than 0.1 miles while I took my gel).

3. Right as I thought that maybe I should try to run 2 more miles since I was running so "fast," my cereal (the breakfast I ate about 15 minutes before I started to run) decided to start to come up.  I  luckily stopped myself from throwing up in front of my neighbor's house, decided the 4 miles would be the end after all and vowed to never eat 15 minutes before I started a run again.

4.  I probably won't get the 2nd half of the run done today because I told Mr. Darcy I would have lunch with him.  I haven't seen much of him this week due to our schedules and his business trip, so lunch is more important today.

5. I feel guilty about not getting the 2nd half of the run done.  Especially after reading my friend Missey's blog and her coach's advice that what we do today will show us where we will be in 4 weeks and then on race day.  The positive side of this is that I used gels correctly on my run, drank on the run, pushed myself to run faster than usual on the run, and had good mental chatting (i.e. "you're doing great keep up the pace and see if you can go a little faster when you hit that hill over there.").  The negative... I only did 4 of the 8 miles.

6. My hamstrings were tight as rocks this morning when I woke up.  Thank goodness my lower back stretches have to do with my hamstrings.  Mr. Darcy said they'd probably loosen up while I ran.  I'm not sure that they did... at least not all that much.

7. I'm looking forward to my rest day tomorrow.  If only that meant I'd get to sleep past 7:00 am.  The little ladies are always up by 7 am on the weekends. 

8. I love that the past few days Ladybug has greeted me at day care with "Mommy!  I kept my underpants dry and clean all day!"  Now if only she'd do it while keeping her skirt down. (The child insists on wearing dresses lately.)

9. I love that Angelfish made me pictures at school the past two days and that she evidently has discovered the hole punch... either that or she's amazingly good at using scissors for a 3 year old.  I love that this prompted Ladybug to promise to make me "a beeeutiful artwork just for you tomorrow, Mommy."

10.  I love that our girls snuck out of their rooms this morning and laid on the floor in their playroom waiting for us and when we rounded the corner they yelled, "HI!" and then ducked under their covers to hide.

11.  Even better was when our dog (miniature schnauzer extraordinaire) dug both of them out and gave them "kisses."

12. Even better than that was when the girls took turns pointing at me and then Mr. Darcy while shouting "I love you!! I love you too!!"

13. Even better than that was when I asked Ladybug for a kiss before I went on my run and she gave me a look like it was soooo much to ask.  I asked her "Is it that much torture to kiss your Mommy?"  And she said "No.  Here's a kiss from me." and planted one one me with a smile.

14. Even better than that was when I asked Angelfish for a kiss before my run and she said. "OF COURSE!" And gave me not only a kiss but also a hug.

15. Now you know why I couldn't get out of the house and had to turn my 8 mile run into a 4 mile run.  Hopefully quality makes up at least a little bit for the lack of quantity.  Now to conquer the 60 mile bike and 10 mile run on Sunday! (I foresee an ice bath in my future....)

Have a happy weekend!