And They Said We Couldn't Do It.....

I don't know what happened......but somehow, the camera exposure did a pretty good job of making us look like we were taking partially nude family photos in our living room.....AND....I managed to get myself registered for anther race........

We had a few friends over on Friday night for some dinner and drinks. I made a cross between Jumbalaya and Gumbo with sweet buttermilk cornbread and stuffed jalepenos. Cristina brought the salad, Ale brought the cookies, and Jessica brought the Diet Chick-Fi-La Lemonade to satisfy my long over due craving. They all brought their men.

I promise we didn't all plan to wear white knit tops!!! I guess great minds think alike!

It's a rare occassion we all have off on the same weekend day for a get-together, and when we figured out we all have off on St. Patrick's day this year, the decision was enthusiastically unaminous to run the St. Paddy's Day Dash Down Greenville together and spend the rest of the day drinking green beer! It's only a 5K, but it will be nice to take a little stroll with the boys and get us girls all pepped-up and excited for our half marathon on the 31st.

Remember when I discussed becoming a Sasquatch? Well we officially confirmed it while comparing my shoe with Ale's foot.

Our night flew by in record speed, which usually makes me sad, but I welcomed by bed's calling this night because my face hurt so bad from laughing for too many hours in a row, AND us girls had planned a long run for the next day before work.

No one thought we could wake up after a night like that for a run like this: 9.4 miles in 104 minutes. (That's an 11 minute mile, in case you were trying to calculate.............which is a long run record for me!!!!!) Our run had some built in hills, but they weren't as killer as the head wind we faced for the first 4 miles.  We faced near death situations along the way, finding ourselves on busy streets with no sidewalks and uneducated motorists that refused to switch lanes as courtesy, but the weather was amazingly beauitful, 59F degrees and sunny.......which somehow just makes everything in life seem better. I struggled the first 4.5 miles, until my elephant decided his piggy-back-ride had lasted long enough and checked out. From then on, my runner's high kicked in, and I felt like an amazing human running machine. I tried some "goo" for the first time, which was in interesting enough substance. Most importantly, I not only kept my heart rate <180 for the entire run, but I was able to keep up moderate conversation, even on the last leg.
Overall, it was a challenging, but gratifying and enjoyable expenditure.

Don't ever tell these girls it can't be done.