Ok, so just a warning - this post could be a little long-winded, but I promise to try and keep it as short as possible!
So, the best weekend ever started off kind of low-key on Friday night. J and I did our usual driving around town looking at houses, then we drove through our run route for the next morning because we had never been on those particular roads before. Finally, we had a dinner full of carbs (aka pizza and spaghetti) before packing and hitting the sack fairly early.
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early at 5:05am (every five minutes count:). We hopped out of bed, got dressed for the run, and headed out by 5:45. The first three or four miles were a little slow getting going. It didn't get light as fast as we expected, so we ended up on a major highway...with no shoulder...in the dark...for about a mile. Also in the dark, J was leading us, and he tripped over a huge wire fence thing that was laying on the ground. It was so dark we couldn't see anything, but thankfully he was okay aside from a small toe injury. Anyway, on we went. We decided to take a route through some very rural areas of Stillwater so that we could try running on some gravel and dirt rather than cement. This worked out pretty well for us, except when the occasional car would pass and stir up all the dust from the gravel. I think it was much easier on my knee, however, and I had very little pain during the run. Praise the Lord! Our last stop for water was at 10 miles, and I was actually feeling pretty good. By mile 11, however, I was really feeling the pain. Or should I say "not feeling the pain." My legs were pretty numb, and I was just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. This only intensified for the final three miles, and then of course we had to add that extra .1 onto the end to make it an official half marathon distance.
I realized at the end why I run. Let me tell you...at about mile 12 I was really starting to doubt my reasoning. "Why am I putting myself through this?" I kept thinking. The emotion and feeling of accomplishment after pushing myself to the limit never fails to amaze me at the end of a long run. J and I basically fell into each others arms in celebration of our second half marathon finish:)
We didn't celebrate for long, however, because it was about 8:30am, and we had to book it to get Olive packed up and to the day care by 9. She wasn't too happy to leave us, but her best friend Sophie was also staying the weekend there so that eased her pain a bit:)
Sad to say the next few hours consisted of me going from the bed to the bathroom and back to the bed again over and over... and over. I don't know what on earth my stomach was so distraught about, but oh my gosh it was terrible. I wanted to badly for it to just go away so that i could get ready and finally get away with husband. I was actually able to down a waffle and eggs that my thoughtful husband worked so hard on, as well as about 20 pepto bismal tablets.
Eventually we got all ready and hit the road. We made a quick stop at chick fil a for him and Panera for me, then headed on to OKC. First stop in OKC - couples massage!! Oh, it was glorious! I can't really explain the kind of leg pain I have after a long run, but it's pretty intense. The only thing I could think of when I got up from the massage was how I felt like I had traded my old legs in for a wonderful new pair of pain free legs!
The next few hours we spent napping and relaxing in our hotel room. It had the most wonderful bed...I never wanted to leave. We did drag ourselves out around 6:30 to head to Cheesecake Factory though. Now, let me just say we had totally set ourselves up to wait to be seated. However, I hadn't necessarily set myself up to wait to wait to be seated. We waited about 20 minutes in line just to get to the hostess table, where upon arrival they informed us that we could come back in an hour to actually get a buzzer after which it would be at least another hour before we would be seated. So, what did we do?
We headed over to the mall (right across the parking lot), and made a beeline for Auntie Anne's! We had a coupon for buy one get one free, so we split a couple of those, and had a romantic time at the food court just hanging out:) Finally, we headed back over to CF, recieved our buzzer, and waited and waited.
Let me tell you, it was well worth it just for the avocado eggrolls alone! I could seriously make a meal out of those thing. We also shared an entre of pasta with a garlic cream sauce, mushrooms, peas, sun dried tomatoes, and ....wait for it....bacon. Yes, I ate bacon. Totally unknowingly.
I'm learning and loving more every day about this vegetarian thing. One of the ingredients in this pasta dish that was listed on the menu was pancetta. Sounds harmless enough, no? We even had a discussion that went like this:
Me: what do you think pancetta is?
J: I have no idea. Maybe we could ask them.
Me: Well, it can't be anything too bad right?
J: Yeah, it definitely wouldn't be meat so let's just not worry about it.
We only found out it was meat because after we were finished eating we overheard the table next to us ask what it was, and as my ears perked up to hear the answer she said "italian bacon." Slow spriral downward in my moral. I'm even ashamed to admit that what I realized were the bacon pieces I had thought were slivers of sun-dried tomato so I was purposely making certain that I had one in each bite. And, no I didn't taste bacon the entire time. And, yes, apparently I need to have my tastebuds evaluated. Either way, I just put it out of mind and moved on with our lovely evening...another lesson learned.
We headed back to the hotel where we cuddled up and shared our oreo cheesecake, and soon after fell sound asleep. A perfect end to a perfect Valentine's Day...sickness and all!
The next morning we slept, got ready, and headed out to find something for lunch. We randomly ended up at PeiWei, where we soon realized one of our best couple friends were also having lunch. They had just ordered so they invited us to join them, which resulted in 2 hours of great lunch and an unexpected wonderful time with friends. I loved getting to spend time with them. After lunch we headed to the mall, and I picked up a cute necklace and a pair of headbands (for $1.50!) at Forever 21. We stopped by Fleet Feet to pick up some more shot blocks and sport beans and of course Cold Stone, which we had a coupon for. Next stop: doggie daycare to pick up our baby!
She was so happy to see us, but maybe not as happy as we were to see her. We missed her so much! I felt like we were parents because throughout our time away we kept talking about her, wondering what she was doing and if she was mad at us for leaving her. Luckily she doesn't hold grudges:)
I was having so much fun...just me and husband...that I forgot to snap hardly any photos. I was sad when I realized that I had forgotten. Here's one that we took ourselves before dinner.
Looks like my effort to keep this short didn't work out very well...so sorry and thanks for hanging with me (if you did:)! I have to end this post with some crazy news I recieved after we got home Sunday night. My mom called to tell me that J and I will not be the next ones to bring a baby into our family. Instead, my aunt and uncle will be - I'm getting a new cousin! The crazy part is that my aunt is 42 and my uncle is 48, they already have a 16 year old and a 14 year old, and technically we all thought their family was finished. Apparently not!!
I've really enjoyed reading about everyone's Valentine's day! I hope you all have a great Tuesday. Don't forget to tune into The Biggest Loser tonight:)
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