A Runner's Birthday

I still remember days of childhood and looking forward to birthdays for months, now as we age it seems like any other day that just comes with a new number at the end and in my case this year a new age group. This year seemed a little different, as O gets older and is even more excited about birthdays it brings back the fun of aging. My day began with a quiet house that was soon interrupted by a little voice running downstairs singing her own version of “Happy Birthday”

Since Matt was home I took advantage of this and headed out for 10 miles (which turned into 12 miles thanks to adding an extra mile out to hit the bathrooms!). I had to try out my new Nathan Intensity on a shorter run. After years of complaining about my fuel belt and the associated back pain I reached out to my Facebook followers and was convinced to try the Intensity. What did I think? It took some getting used to and some frequent readjusting at first but I think I can deal for long runs. The front pockets were super convenient and I had easy access to my phone and fuel had I brought some. I did learn to wash it better before use, yuck! The first sip tasted like nasty rubber. Oops, guess rinsing isn’t enough. I actually felt like it was fixing my running form by pushing me forward slightly since I normally run way too upright. I was surprised that it didn’t feel heavy or awkward; it did get my back extra sweaty but otherwise not bad.

Matt also headed out to run with O and they met me with about 3 miles to go so I had company and was once again greeted by “Happy Birthday Mommy.” We the run with our usual where O gets to run the last ½ mile with me, she loves it and this has become one of the tricks to get her to stay happy the rest of the run (this and snacks, an Etch a Sketch and singing). She of course got to beat me to the finish line at the end of our driveway!

The day continued with fresh corn on the grill and then a walk to get my free Caribou coffee, pumpkin is back, yay! As we sat and drank coffee Matt taught O how to burn wholes in leaves with her magnifying glass, oh joy! And we continued to pick up our CSA veggies/fruit and on the way home I even found a $10 bill on the ground, nice! The rest of our afternoon plans to bike to the beach fell apart when we learned the beach closed last weekend, what? It is still August and there is summer left. We just hung at home and relaxed before heading to dinner with my parents…

Guess who took the picture? Yes, a 3 year old...pretty good work. Per her request she set it all up.

The dinner adventure began with a waiter unfamiliar with gluten free options (luckily we had eaten here for Matt’s birthday and I knew some okay foods). The manager finally decided that my meal would be made in the kitchen rather than on the hibachi grill, perfect but then they seemed to forget. I got my salad and waited while everyone else ate. Soon my food arrived but no brown rice, oh well we’d bring it home for “fried” rice. We continued to wait and the manager apologized multiple times, each time or bill decreasing, nice! We finally left with multiple containers of fried rice for Matt but no brown rice since it wasn’t cooking right. All this meant we tipped and all the food was comped, wow! All that for a slightly delayed meal.

Yes, I am wearing boots in August...only way to hide the compression socks!

We ended the night with gluten free cupcakes and a bottle of local Cab Franc from our winery biking adventures earlier this month. And now I wake up on the lovely Friday in the 2^nd half of my 30s and in a new Age Group. Any other runners equate birthdays to new age groups? I get to try out my new age group next weekend. Now I need to get out of the birthday thought and back to better eating!

Have a great weekend, Any fun plans?

Remember just a few days left to log those miles for the Birthday Virtual. Have you run your's?

Sad, leaves are already changing!