I turned 31 Saturday. It was a day with much less fanfare than last year (and cleaning up and taking care of my puking drunk brother, but that's a whole other story that he should not be shunned for publicly beyond a mention here and he doesn't drink like that but maybe once every couple years and I am no better in that area) but "The day was a good day" like Iced Cube would say (replace the day with Today).
I started celebrating my birthday by going on the longest run I had to date (by 3 miles) and waking up before 6:00 to do so. I wanted to do 10 miles to do double digits and to prove to myself I could. The run I had planned out did not have a lot of sidewalks for half the run and was along busy roads. But I knew there was a shoulder and enough room to run since I had seen bikes hug those shoulders as well. I got up and drank almost a quart of water and had my bottle filled to 24 oz for the run. After taking the dog outside to do his thing, I tried unsuccessfully to do my thing for the second time. I hate those times. I know I'll have to go, but just can't get it done.
So I started off on my run at 6:15 a.m. expecting to be home at or just after 8:00. I started my normal route for my old 3-mile runs. I got to just over a mile and a half and I knew I wasn't lasting until 10 miles without some relief. Fortunately there was a port-a-john/let/pottie/etc that was only just over a 1/4 mile detour I saw. It was a nice little 5 minute or so detour from my run, but my head (amongst other things) were clear. The run was awesome. It was beautiful out. Great temperatures at that time, though by the end of the run it was getting up there quickly. I saw a lot of flattened prairie dogs and just focused on running and keeping a comfortable pace. At Mile 6, my knee felt a slight pain but I had felt it early in my running and knew it would not be a serious problem, so I kept at it. I ate up the run, probably staying pretty consistent the entire time. I got home at just before 8:05. I am giving myself 5 minutes and saying it was 10:30/mile which is exactly what my long paces should be around. It felt comfortable and I felt like I could have kept running. My knee pain was not present after that and the day was good knowing I had burned around 1200 calories and had burned off overeating the day before and my upcoming birthday foods.
We got a late start due to my late arrival and got to my mom & Michael's house 45 minutes or more late. We had a really good quiche, enjoyed a homemade gluten free strawberry shortcake (low calories w/ frozen yogurt and strawberries too!!!) and I got a gift card to Sports Authority and what appears to be a delicious dessert wine. It was a nice way to get calmed down after a hectic hour.
Unfortunately we had to run to the mall to exchange/return a couple of shirts I got Thursday or Friday night from the Rockies Dugout store at Flatirosns and had a Rockies game to get to after picking up my mother-in-law. We got there and were the only customers the entire 20-30 minutes we were there, but it did not end well. My wife had our bag for returns in this little store and I was trying to help give my opinion on shirts while Sophie was running around the store. The people didn't ask if we needed help the entire time. Then when we got to the counter, fireworks ensued between my wife and the lady in the store. The lady pretty much was leary of what we were returning, what we had in our bag and everything else. Pretty much she is not good in customer service and decided she would make things sound like accusations that we were trying to move things around and take an extra shirt or two. That was not the way to go with my wife that has worked in retail and has been in customer service working at a bank the last 10 years. It's easy to say, my wife wasn't taking her shit. I was more thinking, let's just get out of here. We are running late, we know we are good and that this lady is an idiot. My wife let this lady have it and the lady tried to back pedal but she'll remember my wife I am sure. LOL.
We got to my mother-in-laws and got down into the ballpark in the Top of the 2nd. Rockies suck is the easiest way to put it. They have the worse starting pitching staff in MLB. They have some pops in their bats, but you can't let a team score 6 or more runs every game and expect to get a win. The seats were great. 10 rows up halfway between first base and the right field wall. I hadn't understanded the speed the ball comes off the bat until seeing a variety of foul balls zinging into the stands. I realized, I don't want a foul ball unless it bounces to me off a seat. I didn't want any harm done to my family from one and saw a little kid a couple sections over get hurt by one. No thanks. It was nice to be out there but unless I get discounted or free tickets like these were, to me, it's nothing more than a once or twice a year thing. My daughter had fun at her baseball game (after already being a Buff and Nuggets attendee) and Grandma K kept spoiling her with food. It was hot, so it was good they went up there a lot. I also sat there baffled at the group of guys two rows in front of me. They must have had 6-10 beers each between a group of 3. I get irked buying one beer for the price of a 6 pack (thankfully my mother-in-law bought mine as I am a cheap ass) and was just saying idiots repeatedly about these guys. The Monforts are well funded by concessions and these guys spent over $150 on beer alone. I would rather spend my $150 on a lot of other great things. Anyway, we left after the 7th inning stretch. It was 93 degrees and we were just ready to enjoy the rest of our day.
After getting back to my mother-in-laws, I went to get Barclay Beagle and my stuff to spend the night at The Kunkel House. When I got back, the 4 of us enjoyed shish kabobs my mother-in-law made, jell-o cheesecake and a beer and hung out on the deck until past the sun went down and putting Sophie to bed, the 3 of us laid there outside and we almost fell asleep until we decided to go inside and watch some SNL. It was a good birthday with good, not overly unhealthy foodand I got some money for more running gear and entry fees into some races.
I woke up exhausted the next morning, but fortunately after soothing Sophie back to bed and letting the pesky beagle out, I got back to bed. My legs felt great and I decided to get a 3 mile quick run in so I could feel good about doing something active. I ran the fastest 3 miles I had ran since my 5k and felt great. I didn't totally exert myself and was probably just over 8 min/miles. We hung out at my mother-in-laws after a mall trip and stayed late. We had a nice weekend with the four of us. We shared a couple stories about my father-in-law and it was nice being able to have a relaxing weekend even though we weren't home almost the entire time.
I was at 173 today. I weighed myself Friday at 179 after eating more than I had ate since before starting this journey but also drinking around 5 quarts or more of water, so I didn't feel too down about that. My goal is 3 more lbs by the time my brother leaves. The weight is slowly coming off because I am rewarding myself and eating more regularly and refueling my body. I have no doubt that I am better suited to weigh what I do now at the heaviest. I used to think 180 was that skinny mark. Ha!
Congrats on your awesome birthday run! KEEP IT UP!
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