Hot Hot Hot

The "plan" called for me to run 9 miles this morning. Sam woke up at 6:15 to eat, but very nicely went back to bed for an hour. I took this hour to do a few things around the house while it was still quiet, and to sit for a minute or two with my coffee at the computer before she woke back up. Ryan took first shift running today, so Sam and I hung out while he was gone and I attempted to get her to eat breakfast. She appears to take after her dad in that she is just not a breakfast eater. She didn't like the asparagus I'd steamed and pureed up; she didn't want the sweet potatoes; she managed a few bites of the pears, but was happiest when I gave up and put all that aside, giving her her sippy cup of water and some Cheerios to chomp on. She is getting quite good at picking the Cheerios up and actually getting them into her mouth to chew on :-) It's cute to watch!

Sam went down for her nap at 9:50, so it was 10:00 before I headed out the door for my run. The thermometer was reading in the mid-70s and it was sunny, but at least there was a breeze. I decided to try out Ryan's new hand-held, which holds 22 oz, today. My fuel belt is getting old, is stretched out a bit, and at the moment, it's just a little too big for me, so things bounce around a bit more than I'd like, and my hand-held only holds 10 oz. I figured on this warm morning, having 22 oz. of fluids would be a good thing. My assessment after running for 1:18:32 is that that bottle is a bit too heavy for me to want to hold in my hand for that long, but I managed to drink all my Gatorade regardless!

In the shade of the woods, down by the river, with a gentle breeze blowing, it was quite comfortable out. Sure, I was sweating, but it wasn't all that bad. However, in the sun, on the open grassy paths, alone except for the deer flies buzzing my head and shoulders, it was, well, hot. Still, I had a great run and felt really good. I ended up taking one wrong turn on the route, and wound up with 8.25 miles, but on such a warm day, I wasn't going to run around the neighborhood aimlessly for 0.75 miles just to get to 9. I'll try to add on a bit tomorrow to make up for it, but was happy with my time and effort for the miles I did get in. This was the first time in a little while that nothing has hurt, not my left ankle, my hip, nothing. Hurray! Perhaps having a down month has come to some good in the end.

Flora and fauna notes: Saw a small groundhog foraging along the side of the trail down by the river. I stopped to look at him for a while, and he just looked right back. Cute. Noticed that the bunchberries are starting to sport their bunches of red berries, and stopped to eat a few yummy red raspberries in the open grassy sections heading down to the Ravine Trail.

Outside our front door, the lilies are sporting their beautiful buttery yellow flowers, and where they removed the large evergreen tree, a little field of violets has taken up residence. It's very cheerful!

Lilies

In Sam news, she has been having fun the past few days blowing raspberries and waving "hi" and "bye." I love it! :-)