The Weekend

April is full of birthdays in our family. Starting last Thursday and running through to the end of the month, we'll have 10 family birthdays (this includes my family and G's family also.) So we celebrated G's birthday yesterday, just the 7 of us having a fun time at home.
He almost got breakfast in bed; but a certain almost-3 year old thought it would be fun to sit on his head. So he didn't stay in bed. Instead he got a special breakfast, made by his children, served to him as he sat and watched some TV. This in itself was pretty amazing - not that the kids made breakfast but that he actually got to sit and watch some Sat. morning football!
Not too much was really exciting during the day. Birthdays get like that as a person gets older. Although I was pretty stoked when we actually went down to a store and handed over the $$ for a brand new dishwasher!! Wahoo! And then - it gets even better - G installed that evening and he even loaded it and ran the first batch of dishes! We are all pretty darn excited about not having to spend hours in front of the sink washing every dirty dish.
I think we surprised G this year with his birthday gifts. In the past he has usually been on the road on his birthday, so it was pretty low-key day. This time around every one of us made or bought him something special. And if I could find my camera (!) I'd show you a picture of the shirt I had done up for him. I might even get one myself: Until then .. it says "My sport is your sport's punishment" ((hopefully photo to come tomorrow))
Because after today, I think I can wear it. Today was The Day. The Race Day. (I'm in the orange jacket)

My half-marathon went really well. I had a goal in my mind to finish in 2 hours or less. Last year I made it in 2 hours and 1 minute! So of course I wanted better, even though I was probably just telling people I was happy to just finish it. Running without my husband this year was not as easy. I was a little more nervous; and I wasn't sure about my pacing. I kept an eye on my watch as I ticked off the miles, trying to stay at a 9 minute/mile pace. There was a section in which I was just mentally tired, and wasn't sure why I would do this. And then I hit a long downhill part and immediately the smile couldn't be contained. I love downhills. G. thinks they are awful, but I rather enjoy running faster than anyone else down a hill, and not feeling the pain of it until 7 hours later. It also helped to have my family cheering me on at strategic places along the course. Without that, I don't think I could have done as well. The last 2 miles, I knew I wanted to make my final kick; I just wasn't sure exactly when or where. But I did it; I made it to the finish line, glancing at my watch every few seconds to make sure I did make it at exactly 2 hours. It felt SO good to accomplish. I'm thinking I might keep training at this level and see what comes up in the next few months. I would really like to do another half-m with my husband. Or 26.2.