Birthday Run & Festivities

I may actually pull this off.

Since coming up with my last-minute-most-abbreviated-training-plan-ever, I've successfully done what I needed to do.

Last weekend I ran six miles. Elizabeth joined me for the last two. It was rough and I walked a lot, but I got it done.

Despite a busy week, I got my weekday runs in, even if I didn't quite get the full 5 miles in I had planned for Thursday.

That was probably for the best, as I moved my 8 miler from Sunday to Saturday so I could fully enjoy my Saturday night birthday dinner, and I didn't want to tire my legs out too much. Despite some self-doubt creeping in, I was up early Saturday and ready for eight miles.

It was a beautiful, wonderful run. The weather hovered in the low-mid 60s, the sun only breeched the clouds in the last two miles, and my legs and lung felt surprisingly fresh. It was much easier than the previous week's six miler.

It was everything I could have wanted in my last long run (and longest run) before race day.

After a shower and nap, Matt and I went to Skillets for brunch. I had been looking forward to gluten free pancakes all week. Later, we picked up Elizabeth and Matt dropped us at Rocco's Tacos for our birthday dinner with Stacey and Jess.

Having gotten my long run out of the way, I was able to fully enjoy the table-side guac, two margaritas (Jalapeño and Black Diamond), tacos, and complementary flan without concern about how I'd feel in the morning.

Sunday, the festivities continued. My birthday is always on a long weekend, but of course this year we didn't celebrate with the usual trip to Fort Lauderdale and the A1A race, so we had to extend the festivities at home somehow.

These vegan nachos are the best!

Our friend James met us at the vegan festival downtown, then we all went to the Wonder Gardens where my birthday wish came true and I got to hold lots of birds and feed them and basically enjoy a little piece of heaven.

It should go without saying that this was a wonderful birthday. I feel ready for Gasparilla, more ready than I thought I would, and March has some exciting things in store. I think this year is going to be a good one for me.

ABK