Friday Afternoon 21

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon, and I was lucky enough to only work a few hours today and then head out for a long run, out through the Commons and the fields of Pennelville, down to the ocean on the trails of Coleman Farm. 

It was warm and sunny. 

I wore shorts and a t-shirt - hurray! 

I saw my first Great Blue Heron of the season, gliding above the salt marshes along the Coleman Farm peninsula. 

I found some dirt! 

I ran 21 miles. 

And, after I got home , got showered, had a small snack, and realized I still had 45 minutes until I had to pick up Sam from daycare, I quickly ran upstairs and vacuumed, then came downstairs, gathered up all the recycling and made a quick trip to the dump. Part of me laughed, knowing that years ago, a 21 mile run would have wiped me out for the rest of the day. I would have sat on the couch and had Ryan go out and get a big ice cream for me and done nothing else all day long ;) Ha! Now, I had 45 minutes, and what did I do? I didn't relax! I got stuff done! Guess that's how things change when you have a kid, and when you think that running 21 miles on a Friday afternoon is a not that big of a deal :-) It is amazing how much my body has adapted and changed to handle volume since I ran my first ultra back in 2011, and the MDI marathon in 2008 (edit: not my my first marathon, as originally noted. First marathon was Maine Marathon in 2006).

From John's reports, it sounded like the Commons and Coleman Farm would be good options for today's long run. I wasn't expecting it to be perfect, but at least there was a lot of dirt to be found! There was also a lot of soft ice, ribbons of snow in the middle of the singletrack, puddles, mud, soft squishy boggy sections, ice with puddles over them, and all the other fun stuff to be found on the trails in spring ;) 

It was a bit softer overall than I thought it would be, and there was a fair amount of slipping and sliding, sloshing and mucking. I ran two laps out through the Commons and to the ocean, and things melted a lot in the 3:40 I was out there. Pretty amazing. So, variable conditions for sure. Also, unfortunately, the legs didn't have much pep in them from the very start. I had been hoping to run today's miles (mostly) at the pace I would like to be able to keep at the Spring Classic, but that didn't quite happen. I managed to keep the first 8 miles (minus mile #6, when I stopped out at the end of Coleman Farm to take in the ocean view) at sub-10 pace but then things slowed (well, except for the dirt road stretches). I'm a bit disappointed about that, as I was hoping for more of a confidence booster but oh well.

I'm thankful to have been able to get out and get in this run, and I never tire of being able to run on trails down to the edge of the ocean. I could have done without the tick I found crawling on my leg after I got in the car, and wish I'd been a bit more energetic out there, but I know it's all part of training. 

After I picked up Sam at daycare, we went to Little Tokyo for a dinner date, as Ryan was working late. We sat at the sushi bar and talked about her day, and watched the chefs behind the counter. And miracle of all miracles, she agreed to try her cucumber roll as is, and not just open it up and take out the cucumber and eat that portion :) And, she LIKED it! With soy sauce even! OMG, she is eating sushi! ;) There is hope yet...

Enjoying her sushi :)

Then we went and got gelato :) So, you know, really, it was a pretty good day!