SUN-sational!

I woke up at 6:30 this morning to glorious sunshine. Beautiful, glorious, sunshine!

If you live in the pacific NW you know just how amazing this event was.

SUNSHINE!!!

Yes. We are that deprived of our vitamin D this year.

I had already arranged for a friend to watch little B and was all set to get my 16 in this morning. With 2 baseball games tomorrow and Easter on Sunday, I knew today was my only chance.

16.

I wonder if I will ever NOT get anxious about a long run. My stomach turns. My legs turn to jello. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but, long runs are like pregnancy tests to me. I always worried I'd go in for my 1st appointment only to discover that the test was wrong and I really was NOT pregnant. With my long runs, I have the same fear. Maybe I really DIDN'T run that far. Maybe it was just a false positive.

16.

Mable? (my Garmin. My motivator. Fresh from a night of charging.) Check!

Water bottles filled and snapped in? Check!

I-pod? Check!

Gatorade for after? Check!

Powerbar Harvest for after? Check!

Shot blocks in baggie in pouch? Check!

Buttshield? Check!

Sunscreen? Check!

I was set. Prepared. Ready to go.

Got to my friends. Gave kisses. Peed.

Ready.

Set.

Go...

Not so fast. Mable, my friend, my motivator would NOT turn on!!! In that moment, God must have poured his peace on me because I really didn't care. Me. The ever anal one when it comes to tracking my mileage. Me. Peaceful. And thankful that my friend had a stopwatch I could borrow so that I had some sort of idea of where I was at.

Off I went.

Anxious for the long run.

Excited for a run in the sun.

Expecting difficulty. Expecting fatigue. Because who gets two 16 milers that are amazing??

Can I tell you how wonderful it was to smell sunscreen?? I'm thinking that I'm going to have to start wearing it all the time... even though the sun hardly shines here. Oh, the smell!! Pure heaven!

Can I tell you how amazing it was to run in the sun???

Can I tell you how quickly the miles went by???

Can I tell you how uncompetitive I am??? Yes. Me. Competitive with myself. But, when faced with passing someone on the trail, I was in serious turmoil...

You see, I had passed this girl as I headed towards town. We were going in opposite directions and I had about 1/2 mile until I turned around. Imagine my shock and amazement when I came upon 4 miles and could see her in the distance. Surely, it would not be a problem. Surely, I would not catch up to her.

Mile 5. There she was. Not far. Oh, the dilemma. I stopped, drank some water, ate my blocks, and continued on. Do I slow down so I don't pass her?? Do I really pass her??? I seriously felt terrible. After all, when we first passed we were heading in opposite directions!

I did it. I sucked it up. I passed her and never saw her again...

The problem with not have Mable with me was that I really wasn't sure of the mile markers. I was planning on doing 10 miles the first time out and finishing with 6 more. Two out and backs. No problem. However, without Mable, I wasn't sure. Where was mile 5? I decided to just head up farther to what I knew (or thought) would be mile 7 and turn back from there. That would leave me with an out and back for 4 miles which wouldn't be a problem because I was sure of the mile markers there.

Yeah.

Mable keeps much better track that I.

16 miles turned into 16.46.

And it was amazing!

I felt like I could go on forever. Not even a hint of talking myself into the last 2 miles. They just zoomed by.

Thankful for the glorious sunshine. Thankful for a peaceful 16. Thankful for a God who loves me and blessed me with such heaven on earth.

Off to enjoy more sun with the kids!