Back in the saddle again

Today, I went for my first run since my half marathon (almost a month ago, yeesh)!  More on that in a minute, but first I wanted to share a bit about the past few days.

Tuesday night I had big plans; there were so many things on my "to-do" list and what did I do?  I fell asleep a little before 9 and didn't wake up until the next morning.  I felt a little guilty for not doing anything on my list that night, but I figured that I must have needed the sleep.

Yesterday, Matt and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary.  I can't believe it's been 10 years; at times it seems like only yesterday and other times it seems like a lifetime ago given that so much has happened since then.  Births, deaths, new jobs, a new house, so much can happen in 10 years.  We both took the day off and spent the day together, which was wonderful.  We watched our wedding DVD and looked through our engagement, rehearsal dinner, and honeymoon photos.  Then we went to the St. Louis Art Museum and had a great time looking at the exhibits.  The Art Museum currently has a French Impressionist exhibit that I was hoping to see (I'm a huge Francophile) but it was an exhibit that you had to purchase a ticket for.  We are very lucky, though, in that the rest of the museum is free.  From time to time they have traveling exhibits that require you to purchase a ticket.  In fact, the last time I was at the Art Museum was when Nick was about two months old and my Dad was in town for his baptism.  We went to the Art Museum because there was a Napoleon exhibit at the time and we had a great time.  It was nice to remember that visit while Matt and I were there yesterday.  Our favorite part of the museum, though, was this phenomenal arms and armor exhibit they had.  It was filled with beautiful armor and spectacular weapons from the 15th through 18th centuries (the history geek in me was in awe) and the exhibit was in this gorgeous room with dark wood paneling and a grand staircase.  It was very impressive!

My handsome hubs in the arms and armor room at the Art Museum

Celebrating 10 years of being Mr. and Mrs.

After the Art Museum, we had a late lunch and then after we picked up the boys from school, my Mom came over to watch the boys so Matt and I could go to the movies.  We went to see The Other Woman (I highly recommend it; hilarious) and we enjoyed the movie in the comfort of the 5-star lounge at one of our local theaters.  We've been wanting to try it out for awhile and we figured our anniversary would be a good time.  The 5-star lounge is a 21+ theater that has heated, reclining seats, tableside service, and a full food and cocktail menu.  It was amazing and the only way I care to see movies from now on! :) It was definitely luxurious and a fun splurge for our anniversary!  We had a really great anniversary and it was so nice to have some quality time with the hubs and celebrate married life.  I love you, babe!  Here's to many more years of love, laughter, and happiness!

Just when I thought Spring had sprung, Mother Nature reminded me that she's in control.  After having some wonderful spring days with mild temperatures and glorious sun, the past two days have been cloudy and chilly.  I'm not sure we made it much into the 50's today, but it looks like Monday it's going to be 86.  You've got to love St. Louis weather!

Beautiful flowers from my lunchtime walk on Tuesday

This evening after work, I decided it was time to get back in the saddle.  It has been almost a month since my half and I haven't run since between my self-imposed post-race recovery week followed by my wicked sinus infection.  I originally thought I would just take it easy and do 2 miles, but I decided to go for 3 and I'm glad I did.  It was hard given that I haven't run in awhile (and the fact that I had a huge lunch followed by fro yo this afternoon) but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  It was a beautiful night, even though it was chilly.  It was overcast and there were some dark clouds in the sky, which made everything on the path seem greener and more vibrant.  It's the perfect running weather for me.  The creek along the path was babbling and the leaves were rustling and the trail wasn't too busy.  I listened to one of Dimity and Sarah's Another Mother Runner podcasts, which was so nice to get back to.  I had been listening to an audio book (Unbroken) while I trained for the half, so I have a lot of AMR podcasts to catch up on and I can't wait.  It felt damn good to get out and run and clear my head.  I was anxious to be finished around mile 2.3, but I kept at it and even though my pace was slower than my norm, it felt great to be out there and run.
 

Peaceful, beautiful, soul soothing

I'm planning to go for another run tomorrow night after work and I'll probably stick to 3 miles again just to ease back in to running.  I will probably stick to 3 miles for the next two weeks or so just to get back in the zone. I need to look at my race calendar for the next few months and figure out a game plan for training.  I think that will help me immensely to have a plan.

What is your perfect running weather?

"Progress is impossible without change...and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."