Festivus

And so it begins. Another year, another Festivus. Tomorrow I turn 35. I'm not going to boo hoo it. Grace is really fired up for it so I've decided I will be too. I can't remember the last time I shouted "Hurray" for my birthday but the kids are getting a kick out of it. Grace wants me to have a princess theme but I'm trying to resist that one. . .We're headed to the zoo with the cousins and I'm really excited to spend the day with family and nutso kids. On tap for the evening: a grilled steak, some chimay, and yellow cake with chocolate frosting-old school:)

Summer has been a bit crazy so far. It's either been really hot or unseasonably cool. It's been hard to get into any kind of routine. We've been spending almost every moment we can outside and discovered this nest last month.

The baby birds have hatched and mama bird has been super busy keeping them fed. We can actually see them from our family room window and Grace goes nuts when the baby birds open their mouths. I even think it's cool! But much like my children, these baby birds scream "mommy" all blessed day long. Poor mommy bird!

We also planted a vegetable garden that we have high hopes for-especially given the recent tomato scare. Grace helped me plant tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, zucchini, and giant pumpkins. I'm particularly excited about the spice garden I planted which is thriving--except the dill. Seems like little bunny foo foo took a big chomp off of it. I have to say I feel very Barefoot Contessa padding out to the garden for my fresh herbs. Now if only I had her fabulous lifestyle. . .

The running is going well and Tom just delivered to me my Distance Run plan. I'm not as concerned this time as I was for Broad Street. It took me a while to slowly and safely work to 10 miles and now that I'm there, I'm more interested in time and pace than finishing. Friday saw my longest run of late. I was intending to do 11 miles really for the hell of it. I was curious to see how I would feel and I wanted a long break from the kids. . .

I left at 11:30 which isn't a great time with the heat but it's when I could go. I got a stupid side sticker almost from the start. By mile 7 it was gone. Everything felt fine except my joints which felt really stiff but no sharp pain. I did a route that encompassed the neighborhood where I grew up and I got a kick out of seeing all the old streets. It really made the run go by quickly. Then I ducked into a park with a 1.5 mile trail and water fountains. Stupid me decided to chug tons of water and guess what happened? Another side sticker. Maybe I won't do that again.

I miscalculated on the way back and did closer to 12 than 11 but I was happy with how I felt. I just ran it to run it and didn't aim for any particular pace. Ended up coming in just under 2 hours. I knew if I wanted to I could have gone faster and longer which is a nice confidence booster.

So for now I'm looking forward to a nice mix of runs. Tom's schedule includes a tempo run each week (pivotal in my mind for how strongly I finished Broad Street), a nice long run building up to some longer distances, and just some good, moderate running. I like to run 6 days a week but, with the exception of the tempo run, the pace is moderate and around 5 miles--a little more if I feel like it.

I really need new sneakers so I'm off to the running store this week. I always get a little nervous breaking in new shoes and this time I'm thinking of switching back to asics (from NB). I'm having toe bruising issues and they're on my last nerve. Summer time is not a good time for blue tootsies.