Sunday, December 13, 2009

Down to the Ocean


High tide at Simpson's Point

Last week was pretty dismal running-wise, with me logging only 2 runs and 6 miles total, so I wanted to start out this week on the right foot (yes, my week starts on Sunday, doesn't yours?). Ryan was more than willing to watch Sam, especially as he had been away all day yesterday, so once the temperatures had warmed up a bit, I headed over to the Pennelville fields for my run. I wanted to get in 5 miles, so I figured a road run would be the way to go, as I hadn't run 5 miles in many months, and so why not run to the ocean when I had the chance? It was a bit windier than I had anticipated, but the skies were blue, and as I always love running out this way, I wasn't complaining. The wind and rain had created some interesting patterns in the snow-covered fields, and tufts of brown grass poked up through the crust, determined not to give in to hibernation just yet. Down at Simpson's Point, the sun sparkled off the water, and I stopped to take the view in. Beautiful. Always makes me happy!

As I headed back down the point, I knew I could backtrack to the car, or loop around. Backtracking would get me 4 miles, and the loop would get me 5. I figured one extra mile couldn't hurt that much :-) As I neared the end of the run, I could certainly tell that I wasn't used to running this far and my pace had slowed slightly, but overall I felt pretty good. I ended the run in exactly 45:00 for the 5 miles, and although my initial thought at 9-minute pace on such a flat road loop was to be a bit depressed, I do realize I'm just coming back from pregnancy, over 2 months off from running and the c-section, so really I am just happy to be able to go out and run 5 miles 9 weeks after having Sam! Still, I am looking forward to building up my base and mileage in the coming weeks and months and picking up the pace as I get back in shape!

In Sam news, yesterday during naked time/tummy time, she rolled over from her stomach to her back! Yes, our child is very advanced :-) Of course, who knows if she meant to roll over or was surprised that her movements led to such an action, and we'll see if we can replicate it today while Ryan is around, but who cares? :-) A roll is a roll!

3 comments:

Jamie Anderson said...

Nice job on the five-miler! 9:00/min mile is damn good especially considering all the factors you mentioned. Well done! Sounds like Sam will be running with you guys in not time.

mindy said...

Nice Danielle! I'd say "you'll be back before you know it" but you already are! Looking forward to hearing about race plans for 2010...!

Sparkplug said...

Thanks guys :-) It is nice to be out there again, that's for sure!