An Interesting Week

Sunday: I ran a marathon.  Yes, read I ran 26.2 miles in one day without stopping. (except to grab water/Gatorade each mile)  I had been training for this race since September and my training went very well.  However, what you can never totally prepare for or predict is the weather.  Unfortunately, an unusual warm spell came through Houston this past weekend and the highs were in the upper 70s.  Sunday was humid and the starting temp was 67 degrees.  I was hoping for a max of 50 degrees as this would be consistent with training.  Also, humidity was about 100% for the whole race.  If it wasn’t raining it was suffocating air.  My goal was 4:30 or below, but the result was 4:51.  Although I was bummed, it was a hard fight to keep going with the weather and I was definitely proud of myself for running the whole thing despite the conditions.  Looks like I’ll have to sign up for another race in hopes of reaching my goal.  I would like to give a shout out to my support system during the training and the race as well (without them this race would not have been possible): Gilbert’s Gazelles (my training group), family and friends, my training partners, and last but certainly not least my husband who ran the last 13+ miles with me and kept me motivated and mentally strong.  Special thanks to Mary for putting us up for the weekend, and a great friend and person, Stacy Phillips for coming to Houston to come and see me along the course and give her support.

Monday: Worked from home to begin the recoup process.  Took the dog for a walk and slipped out to get a massage that evening.

Tuesday-Wednesday:  The artic blast starts blowing through Texas and North Texas gets the rest of the week off.

Thursday: All of the Austinites had our fingers crossed that the snow forecast would ring true.  Also, we had Austin Stone on Campus to kickoff the Spring semester for the UT students.  It was a wonderful night of prayer and worship for the campus, the students, and the mission God has called us to.   

Friday: SNOW DAY.  We woke up to about an inch or two of snow on the ground and chilly temps.  We learned early that we would have the day off and were very happy to have an extra day to lounge.  I logged in to work for a few hours and we watched a movie and enjoyed the snow.  We took Lily on a walk that morning and she loooved playing in the snow.  Once the afternoon came, most of the snow and ice began to melt and my parents came over to take us to a movie and dinner.  Matt and my dad went to see The Fighter, and my mom and I had planned to go see Black Swan.  I had heard mixed reviews of Black Swan, but most people said, you have to see it.  Well, I was a bit out of my normal routine with waking up later than usual and not being as hungry, so I hadn’t much going in to the movie.  Big Mistake.  The filming was very rough, much like the Blair Witch Project.  Not to mention the brutality of Nena’s (Natalie Portman) self mutilation.  I lasted about 40 minutes before I couldn’t take it anymore and mentioned to my mother I was feeling sick.  Not 2 seconds later I was passed out cold.  Once I came to and got my wits back, we immediately exited the theatre.  So, that was embarrassing.  I decided to call a friend to see how it ended since I doubt I will ever see the rest of the movie…

Here are some photos and a vid of our snow day:

 

(You may want to mute this to not hear my annoying kid voice in the background...)

Saturday:  Went for my first run post-Marathon with some other running buddies.  It was a nice, easy 5 miles and I felt pretty good.  We all headed to Texas School for the Deaf to take part in their annual all you can eat pancake breakfast, then we ran some errands.  So, remember yesterday was a snow day?  Well, on Saturday the temps were back in the 60s-70s that afternoon.   I had a lovely coffee date with a student that I’m coaching and it was so nice, we sat outside.  Texas is so weird, but I love it.  Saturday night we had game night with some friends.

Sunday:  Super Bowl!  AKA the biggest American sporting event.  I really wish the Bears were in it, but I’ll be rooting for the Packers since they’re my childhood favorite and I can’t stand the Steelers.  This day is usually an excuse to eat a bunch of greasy food and veg on the couch watching football.

As you can probably imagine, this was not a typical week and I had to share the bizarreness of it.  Hope you all enjoy this Super Bowl Sunday and that it’s a good day of food, family and friends.