Happy Hearts

A great weekend after some rough weeks!

Tim spent some time with good friends Friday night which was totally needed and deserved for him. The girls were fairly good for me, though Nora still woke up at 6am Saturday... Zzzz.

We went to breakfast at Frisch’s Saturday AM; never crowded and man it’s cheap!

Our friends, the Godfrey/Morris’ came over Saturday evening and we ordered thai food - yum! Glad to have some company and the girls did fairly well - ages 2.5 and 3 can get tricky with sharing : ) 

Nora and Evelyn having a moment of togetherness.

Saturday night we were both in bed before 9:30pm. I had my first race Sunday morning since 2013 - ! The Heart Mini sponsored by the American Heart Association. I’ve been wanting to do it for years and had multiple reasons to finally do it; 15K [9.3 miles] is probably my favorite distance and I’m not quite ready to do a half marathon. Plus, I feel heart health is becoming more important to me; with Hannah’s heart defect, my Dad’s congestive heart failure around 10 years ago [Mom, correct me if that’s wrong] and my Uncle [Godfather] Keith’s passing due to heart failure. I know I have many other family members who battle heart issues, so this race had meaning to me.

I woke up at 5:15am - which nowadays is not that much earlier than normal. My amazing mother and father-in-law came over at 5:50am [!] to give Tim a hand since he’s not entirely healed yet. Nana made breakfast for everyone because she’s a rockstar. 

It was strange going to a race all alone, but there’s no way I’d have them [him?] all get up that early in that cold weather. However, 40˚ and clear was perfect for this race. Usually the Heart Mini is colder and frequently wet - ! 

Heart Mini was a good size; not as crazy as Thanksgiving or the Pig. We ran out East on Columbia Parkway and back - simple as that. It was rather hilly but I liked it - just hilly enough - not as hard as the Half Pig. Plus running out East as the sun is rising was beautiful! 

I saw lots of familiar faces on the course including Hannah’s Cardiologist : ) He was rocking the Mini Half on a slightly different course, but I was excited to see Dr. Kimball. 

I felt really good and fast - I finished the 15K [9.3 miles] in 1:29:24 with a 9:37 pace - very good for me! I was super proud of myself! 

I got my medal [woo hoo!] and walked straight to my car and guess what I did? Hooked up the breast pump for the drive home - haha! Darn lactation. I decided to treat myself and get some Panera bagels & cream cheese + Starbucks coffee = post-race bliss.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning and spending time outdoors - so awesome! We even took our first family walk - whaaaat? Tim pushed Hannah in the stroller while I wrangled Ailo and Nora in a wagon... like a boss. There was a funny half hour where both girls and the dog were asleep - that darn 5pm!

ASLEEP

ASLEEP

ASLEEP

We treated ourselves again to some takeout - I wanted fish & chips. 

So a really lovely weekend with an extra shoutout to Dottie & Mike for their help on Sunday - we’re thankful for you! xx