Sunday With Dad(s)

I passed up a fun bar crawl on Saturday night because I knew it'd make it impossible to get up for a 7am run on Sunday. Along with ugly feet, double the laundry, gallons of sunscreen, and huge grocery bills, forgoing late night drinking is a sacrifice made in the name of marathon training.

However, I was quite happy to be up and running on Sunday...even though it was raining. As the coach of the running group says, "You have to train in all kinds of weather. You never know what race day may bring." Usually rain in the wee hours of the morning would be a plenty good reason to turn off my alarm and snuggle back down under the covers, but I felt like I had already put so much into this run - I only had one glass of wine at the wedding, I laid out all of my running gear, I passed up going out with my friends, and I went to bed early.

I'm so glad I had the right mindset when I woke, because I hopped out of bed and immediately put on my running clothes. At that point, there's no turning back! I had an English muffin with peanut butter and an apple for breakfast. And I packed up water and Gatorade for after my run.

Then I headed downtown to meet the running group. Apparently the rain is a big deterrent, as only 8 of us showed up for the 7am run (there are usually more like 20). I felt pretty 'hardcore'!

I ran a soggy and hilly 10.5 miles with the running club coach. We averaged just over 10-minute miles, starting off slower than we ended. The route was difficult, but it's part of the Omaha Marathon course, so I'm happy to practice on it as much as I can! Sounds like we'll be running there again next weekend.

Know what's key when running in the rain? A hat! It keeps your face dry and your vision clear. And although my ponytail was sopping wet, I felt much drier because the top of my head was covered.

While running, I had 1/2 a pack of Sharkies at mile 5, as well as water at miles 3, 5, and 8. The running coach gave me some pointers on climbing hills. He said to:

• Keep your head up
• Keep your back straight/shoulders back
• Lean forward slightly
• Shorten your stride
• Pump your arms

It felt pretty good, and it gave me plenty to focus on while climbing the many hills, so they seemed to pass fairly quickly!

When I came home, I stuffed my shoes with newspaper to help them dry (another tip from my coach). Throughout the day, I replaced the wet paper with dry.

Then I got ready for Father's Day celebration #1! My sisters and I prepared a brunch for my family at my parents' house. We made the fixings for breakfast sandwiches (biscuits, eggs, cheese, bacon, veggie sausage, and tomatoes), cheesy potato casserole, and greek yogurt/berry/granola parfaits. We had hazelnut coffee and mimosas (or spritzers for the little ones) to drink.

My nephew spied my parfait (see him in the background of the above photo:)) and asked me to help him make one. He scarfed it down, asked for another, and then told his mom they should make them for a healthy dessert sometime!

After brunch, we sat around and fantasized about living in Colorado. Colorado is our favorite spot to vacation as a family. We just live for that fresh mountain air...hiking, fishing, rock climbing, rafting, playing games in front of the fire. We went last year over Memorial Day and it's already been much too long since we've been back.

The air is so thin up there!

After leaving my parents' house around 4:00, I (finally!) went grocery shopping. Then I met Katie and her parents' for Dad's Day celebration #2. We hung out at their place for a little while and then walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Katie's parents live in the downtown Old Market area, so there are lots of shops and restaurants right outside their door - it's great!

We went to Rock Bottom Brewery, where we started with some beers (I had the Molly's Titanic Brown Ale - yum!) and soft pretzels with spicy cheese dip.

These were much better than any ballpark pretzel I've had. First of all, they were GIANT. At least 2 times the size of a regular soft pretzel. They came out hot and soft and were sprinkled with garlic and salt.

For my entrée, I ordered a cobb salad. Sometimes I feel weird ordering cobb salad because I get it without the turkey/ham and bacon, but it's worth it for a salad with filling ingredients like hardboiled eggs, avocado, and blue cheese. So often all the salads on a menu have meat on them. Or the 'side garden salad' is merely iceberg lettuce and red onion. After 8 years of being vegetarian, I'm used to having to make special orders at restaurants. Almost everyone is accommodating...but it's important to be nice...and patient. Lucky for me, my salad came out correct the first time!

And it came with a baby croissant!

After all that celebrating on top of a long run, I was pretty tired. I was happy to wrap up my weekend by going to bed early with a good book.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!! You're the best!!