The Perfect Day

I had the best today! It began this morning with the half-marathon and ended with sushi and red wine.

I woke up this morning rested and ready to run. After selecting my clothes (and packing a complete change of clothes, just in case I changed my mind before the gun went off), we loaded Sophia and all her gear (she needs more gear than I do) and headed to Alton, NH. In addition to Mark and Sophia, my cheering squad also included my parents, who joined us at the start.

The rain held off until the start of the race, when it began to fall lightly. Even though the rain steadily fell harder as the race progressed I really didn't notice, I was too surprised by how good I felt and how fast I was running. My plan was to finish in two hours, which equates to running 9:00 min/miles. I reached mile one in 8:23. I was a little surprised and wondered if I should slow down, but I felt good, so I kept my pace through mile two, then three up the steep hills in mile four, five and six. At the halfway point I was two minutes ahead of my goal pace. I kept it steady through 'till mile eleven, and at mile eleven I picked up my pace and again at mile twelve and kicked through for a strong finish, I even had enough to spring the last tenth of a mile and pass a whole slew of people. I finished in…..drum roll please…1:55:43. Not my best half marathon time, but better than I thought I would do, and I felt great the whole time.

However, while I was glorying in my running abilities, Mark was trying to coax a fussy Sophia to take her bottle. Poor thing, didn't want to drink cold milk. I can't blame her, who wants a cold drink when its cold and rainy outside? Needless to say Mark and Sophia missed the finish, and so did my Mom and Dad: due to the fact that I removed the red shirt that they were keeping their eye out for. That was the only disappointing aspect of my day: that I didn't get any pictures of my epic finish. My mom, did get a few before and after pictures and a few actions shots from around mile six, so the day did not go completely undocumented.

And it got progressively better. My husband took me out on a date to celebrate Mother's Day--a real one, like one where you get dressed up, and drop off the baby and it's just the two of you. Yeah. It was fantastic. I knew it would be when I was able to slip into my "going out jeans"-- which I haven't been able to wear in a year (another surprise triumph for the day)! Our real date included drinks (red, red wine), sushi (my favorite!) and dessert (apple crisp). And of course as we drove home, the clouds parted to reveal a beautiful pastel sunset. I could't have planned a better day if I tried.