Ready for Christmas

Another seven straight days went by with no walking. How does this happen? I'm a tired slug, that's how! I could sleep forever. Probably has something to do with preparing for birth in 65 more days. But today I planned to remedy the drought. I was to meet Lisa at the park this afternoon. She wanted to run/walk for three hours. Three hours!

Before that, though, I got the pleasure of meeting her and her 10-year-old son at IHOP for breakfast, as did Chasen. That's a great way to start a day: good friends and yummy food. After that I attempted to bake some chocolate chip ginger cookies; I found the recipe in my new mag Women's Running. I must say, thus far it is NO Runner's World... but hey, what is? :) As for the cookies... they didn't turn out. It could have been me, so don't let me deter you from trying them yourself.

I was so tired that I, again, contemplated not showing up at the park. But I knew I had better do it. After all, it had been a week since my last walk. So off I went. It was overcast and misting rain when Lisa arrived. At mile 3 or so it began raining harder. By 3.75 it was a downpour. We had to get back to our cars, so we forged ahead. I arrived back at 3.93. Since I was already soaked, I decided to make it a nice even 4.00, which I did. I averaged 17:54. I must say... that pace is actually hard for me to keep on the treadmill... but with lovely Lisa by my side (we talked every single second) it was effortless.

We each left soaked; my running shoes are drying out as I type this. I got an "almost blister" thanks to the squishyness. Oh well. On a side note, my new friend Marianne recently did the 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk in Dallas. She said one of the more motivational signs she saw along the way said something like "Keep Going. Blisters Do Not Require Chemo." Well said! I have contemplated joining her team next year for the San Francisco walk in October 2009. But at this point I do not want to over-commit myself. The team name (how cute is this?!?) is The Mississippi Melons. HA!

After the walk, other than being dang sore (after 4 miles people... 4 miles!) I prepared RW Hearty Red Scalloped Potatoes in addition to turkey ham and spinach salad. Chasen loved them! (which says a lot, since it is a "healthier" version of scalloped potatoes) Still, the best RW recipe EVER is the potato salad. Seriously... what would we do without Runner's World?

Safe travels to those of you who'll be "fleeing the coop" for Christmas. We're staying put. Ho ho ho!