Day 1

Today, after 23 days of my Training Peaks schedule saying "You Have No Upcoming Workouts," I HAD A WORKOUT! It was a short Z1 run. I. Am. Slow. It took me 40 minutes to cover less than 4 miles while desperately trying to stay in Zone 1. I suppose that means that my 5 mile run yesterday sans watch and sans HR monitor (but my running buddy Tim had his on and we finished with an average pace of 8:14) was probably done in Zone 25. Oh well, eventually the speed and fitness will come back. This isn't the end of the world.

In other news that both more interesting and more uplifting than my slow run, I spent last weekend down in Tennessee celebrating my goddaughter Reagan's first birthday! Erin (Reagan's mom) is my best friend. Four years of living together during college and dining on Easy Mac and boxed wine will bond you for life. Reagan was ridiculously cute in her tutu and pink/orange polkadot headband. Erin did an amazing job with the decorations and the food. She should quit nursing school and become a full-time party planner :).

BTW, kids as young as 3 know what manipulation is. I was watching a 3 year old try to break into the bag of hot dog buns. She told me she was hungry and just wanted the bread, no hot dog. So I stuck a bun on a plate for her and she asked me, very smoothly, for a fork and knife so she could cut it into pieces. I handed her plastic utensils and she went to town. When I asked her if she always cuts her own food, because she was doing a very good job, she says, "oh no, my mommy and daddy NEVER let me use a knife." I made sure I got the knife back before she meandered back to her parents.

I always have a good time down in Tennessee - it was fun to spend time with Erin, Reagan is super cute and I think pretty soon she's going to start remembering me. She's super smart, walking and getting into stuff, and doing baby sign language. I also got to spend the weekend with Erin and Ashley's families, which was great. It was a full house, which is the best kind of house to have.

Now it's back to reality and, thankfully, back to some regularly scheduled training!