Back to the grind

Here's hoping you all had a lovely Thanksgiving Holiday with family and friends!!!

It's been a week since I posted - I can't believe it. That old saying about how time flies when having fun isn't far from the truth.

Since my last post, I've had some decent runs, however confused about my pacing right now. I'll explain...

Wed (PM)- 3 miles
This was just a horrible run for me. I started out slow, feeling heavy and even tired, and just got slower. Talk about positive splits! I work for a grocery store chain, and during the Holidays, we, at the corp office are encouraged to volunteer in the stores and this was the first year I chose to. So, I bagged groceries, filled the character balloons of air, and brought in the shopping carts (in dress shoes) all afternoon. So, I can blame my bad run on the painful sores on my feel from returning all those shopping carts, right?

I had planned on running my 6 on Thanksgiving Day, but that quickly got put off to the next day after we returned from my Aunt's house that afternoon. It was a great Thanksgiving as always with my family!

Here's Grace with my cousin's boy, Tyler. They have a big age difference but really enjoy playing with each other.















One I got of her without the "cheesy" smile after she says "Cheese".


My brother got dragged outside by Grace to play with her.


After Thanksgiving get-together, Grace went home with Grandma. David and I got home and went out for a ride before it got dark. However, when we returned and took off the sunglasses (that don't show how dark it is), we realized JUST how dark it was and snapped this photo. It was a nice ride that I really enjoyed! I even hit the 26mph range on the flats on a little of the ride, and didn't even realize it, until David told me after we returned.

Thursday - Ride 8.52 miles / 37:52@13.5mph













Friday - Run 6 miles
We got up and both headed out for a run. David ended up doing 7, while I did 6. He found me around 3.5 miles into my run and ran the return portion with me. Yes, he slowed W-A-Y down for me. I picked up my pace in the end, but this run had me baffled all day, because it showed me that I'm intentionally slowing myself down way too much in the beginning of my longer runs, not trusting in myself. My splits are ALL over the place. For instance, I started out with a 10:37 (mile 1) and got up to a 11:42 (mile 4 - I walked some), but mile 6 (last mile) was a 9:19. I need some consistency in my runs!

Saturday was the BIG game!!! Clemson/Carolina game and we are Tiger fans! We had our good friends, Chris and Jennifer, over to celebrate the game with us and had such a great time! We let the kids go nuts, and believe me - they did! but had so much fun playing. Clemson barely won this game, and we were on our toes in the last 2 minutes seeing if our field goal was going to take the game's lead, and it did!!! Here are some photos of the party!

..and here's Grace celebrating!











Sunday - Run 7 Miles
Sunday morning, while Grace and David were still sleeping, I got up and went out for my 7 miles before Church. It was in the low 40's with a small breeze, depending on direction I was going. The first 1.5 of my runs these days, I honestly don't know if I'll finish them, but it could have something to do with the incline leaving our community and just tight legs. So, after I got into the ZONE, I was doing well. Again, the splits are ALL over the place, from a range of (10:22-11:14) pace, and a 9:39 as my 7th mile. Oh well!

After Church, we had lunch with my Mom for her Birthday! She's one of the sweetest people I know or have ever known, and my brother and I are super fortunate to have her as a Mother. Here's the last photo of this post and probably one of my favorites! David, Me, my Brother (Daniel), Mom, Butch, & Grace.


We had a great long weekend with lots of fun with family and friends! Hope yours was just as enjoyable!