Three Things Thursday

1)  So if you didn't figure it out yesterday, we're taking the kids to DISNEY!!!  We are leaving tomorrow for Jacksonville, spending the night, and then on Saturday early we arrive in Orlando!  I'm so excited.  This is the first family vacation we've ever been on that didn't include staying with someone.  And it's my first time to Disney with my own kids.  And, bonus, I get to see Chele of Furry Deviants in J'ville on Friday night, and I haven't seen her since... dunno, 1993?, and hopefully I will get to meet her man, R, too.  AND DOUBLE BONUS - MY KIDS HAVE NO IDEA!!!  My kids believe that Chele is the reason for the trip and that we will be spending the week visiting her cat rescue and hanging out on the beach near Jacksonville.  snicker snicker.

2)  My hamstring is lonely for Dave.  Yup.  That's what I said.  "The Illusive Dave" (who is only named this because T laughingly referred to him as this before a run, and it stuck) and I have become quite friendly over the past few months, and I miss him on our group runs.  He's a good running partner, supportive and at the same time, challenges me to think about how the human body is capable of doing more than we think.  He's good looking, which is a nice bonus, and he has a very unassuming personality that makes him easy to get along with and talk to... and from reading my blog, I could guess that you all may have figured out that I talk.  A lot.  When we volunteered at Rockett's Landing Tri he kept me laughing the whole day.  His blog post on that topic is hilarious.  Heck-fire-and-shoot, I'm still laughing... I want to be The ICEMAN next year for Halloween.  Dave is out of commission right now with a "damaged" hamstring.  And because his sore hamstring has been missing our runs, my hamstring has been having sympathy pain.  So starting today, and all next week in Disney, I will be taking the week off from running.  As Dave says, Don't Fight the Hammy.... it will always win.

3)  I often worried that if the time came for me to run long alone, I wouldn't be able to do it.  That's the disadvantage of having so many running buddies...  I always get to run with a lot of support, and I know I 'lean' on them.  But no worries.  On Wednesday's 14 miler, in the pitch black & pouring rain (1 inch/hour), I was alone.  My pace was terrible, and while I berated myself on the run, when I got home and thought about it, I realized, pouring rain, in the dark, alone, that it wasn't too bad and I'm just going to embrace it and be proud. I forced myself to run past my house and finish the whole 14 miles.  So, any doubts I had about a 14 mile test were laid to rest.  I can do 14 miles on my own in the worst conditions.