Midnight Sun Run recap

I was so excited all day Saturday. We all woke up early, at least earlier than we usually do on weekends. We brought Jenna into bed with us when she woke up, and she got so very close to dozing off. But that's not something she's likely to ever do when there's a possibility of playing instead!

Finally, Frank and I relented and we got up and got ready. We headed into town for breakfast, then we drove out to Eielson Air Force Base for their annual open house. We got to walk through the mid-air refueling planes, looked into a B-1, and walked through a huge cargo plane. There was an incredible demonstration by four F-16s, complete with distant 'explosions'! It was such a fun outing, even the machine gun-toting soldiers at the entry to the tarmac as they waved the metal-detector wands over everyone were friendly.

We went home and decided to take a nap to rest up for the late night ahead of us. When we woke up, we felt rested, and I was getting so excited for the race! Jenna had her dinner, then a bath, and got into her pajamas (I figured she'd sleep through the race and would just slide into her crib when we returned home around midnight). I started getting nervous on our drive to town. I haven't run since before I was pregnant, although we do walk as a family every day. I knew I could do the distance, but I wanted to do it quickly, despite not being in good enough shape. At the start area, I went near the back of the pack, not wanting to get in anyone's way with the stroller. That turned out to be a big mistake. There were so many people walking, that it was two miles into the race before I could get around enough people to have some breathing room. By this point, I had unbuckled Jenna in the stroller. Twice she had twisted her body and gotten stuck on her tummy with the belt up under her arms. Since the stroller has a huge flat area and the secure screen covering, I wasn't worried about her getting hurt. She was thrilled with the freedom! She stood and looked at me, she practiced her headstands (even with a foot up in the air!), she reclined and played with toys, and then she'd sit nicely and watch the crowds cheer us as we passed by.

I ran the next four miles and felt great. I wasn't speedy, and it was hard. I've never run while pushing a kid in a stroller, so I got a much better workout than I was hoping for! I felt great at the end, definitely proud of what I had accomplished.

Jenna went right to sleep when we got home, she's such a good girl. Frank and I showered, ate a snack, and watched a fascinating show on PBS about an archeology dig for an ancient marsupial hunter in Australia. We had no idea that we missed such interesting shows wasting so much time sleeping!

My quadriceps were a little tight on Sunday, they were squealing yesterday, and they're finally getting better today. I'm looking forward to running again, I just need to figure out a schedule that I can stick to.

I've kept my water intake up, which is a huge accomplishment for me. It turns out that I actually like the taste of water when I squeeze in a few drops of lime juice. I've been avoiding the crap snacks (no potato chips!) in favor of fruit, popcorn, and more vegetables.