Up and at 'em

We ended up staying in last night, last minute change in plans. I whipped up a pretty tasty dinner, quinoa with chicken breast all marinated in delicious barbecue sauce with some broccoli on the side. I figured a nutritious dinner with lots of carbs and some protein would suit me well for my task this morning. The few pieces ton of holiday candy I ate probably didn't hurt either. I was up and out a little after 6:30am to pound out my longest distance yet, 16 miles. I missed my last two long runs because of out-of-town-ness but did stack up some extra miles during the week to compensate. Still, I was a little apprehensive. Unlike our friend here, I did not run like the wind. I knew the only way I'd get through that distance comfortably was to keep my pace at a more manageable level. I have a hard time with this because my brain seems to always want to go 10k pace now. I spent the first two miles really concentrating on keeping things on a more easy level and managed to settle into it once I got onto the Four Mil Run trail. I was really pleased with how the first 8 miles went. I stopped halfway long enough to drink 8oz of Gatorade while I walked and then started up again. I began to feel a little stiffness in my left foot so I stopped twice to stretch it, which helped. At about12 miles I walked long enough to drink the other 8oz of Gatorade I had on my belt. I hit a kinda harsh hill just after passing mile 14 which tired out my legs a bit. I tend to start to pants-out during my last mile because I'm tired and the lazy part of my brain takes over, however, today I really pushed through, reminding myself over and over that "if this were easy, everyone would do it". I rolled to the end with a total time of 2 hours and 48 minutes, not to shabby for that distance. I was very pleased. The endorphins kicked up as I walked my cool down and I was ecstatic to report my successful run to Jake when I got home. I then proceeded to drink water, eat a banana, shower and eat a huge bowl of Kashi Go Lean! Crunch with dried cranberries, my favorite breakfast of late.

So we just got back from a trip over to the Ballston Mall to see Harry Potter. I know, we're a little behind on this, but I thought it was very good and I'm looking forward to seeing the last installment next year. We grabbed a late lunch and then fought the crowd to get out of the parking lot to come home. Seriously, I forget how much it stinks to be driving around anywhere on the weekends this time of year. I baked up some chocolate chip cookies (read: put pre-made cookie dough in the oven for 12 minutes) and am now about to take a nap to the smell of their deliciousness. Tonight we're hitting up the annual holiday party of our friend M. Should be a good time, no doubt. I hope everyone is enjoying this pre-holiday weekend. It's been a pretty great day for me so far and now there's just 2 weeks until Christmas! Yay! Image sources here and here.