Bayootiful....

Credit goes to my buddy Lara for this photo.  I didn't have my
phone with me, but she recently posted a photo from this
particular route through Bay Ridge...beautiful, right?
 

Can a Saturday get better than spending it do all your favorite things?  No.  Especially when the weather is in the 60s and the sun is shining.

After taking the diva to her gymnastics class today I offered to take her for a long run in the jogging stroller so that I could get in a few sunny miles.  My husband counteroffered.  He recommended we go to Quiet Waters Park so the diva could ride her bike and expend vast amounts of energy on the playground while I expended vast amounts of energy pounding the pavement.  Who can argue with that? 

So, dressed with my best "I can't wait for this" smile, I waved as I left them in the parking lot and hit the perimeter trail leading for the front gate to the park.  Oh no, no running in circles around the perimeter trail for me today.  With the sun shining, this running gal was heading out to Bay Ridge to enjoy the sun sparkling on the bay.  Yes, it was a totally zen day for running.

My goals for the day were to see if I could slow my pace down.  Just last night I agreed to volunteer as a pacer for the Zooma Annapolis half marathon in June.  I'll be pacing the 2:10:00 group.  How hard can it be to slow down?  Ummm, a lot harder than you think.  I set off thinking to myself that I was ambling along, only to look down at the Garmin and realize I needed to slow down by about 45 seconds per mile to hit the right pace. 

That's going to take practice, so instead I just decided to slow down a little and enjoy the scenery (I like window shopping the houses in the Bay Ridge neighborhood and imagining myself sitting on my front porch looking out to the Bay Bridge or the eastern shore over my morning cup of coffee) over the next 11 miles...a lot of it stretching out along the bay.  People were out and about prepping lawns for spring, walking their dogs, riding their bikes, enjoying a glass of wine on the picnic tables lining parts of the beach.  It was that kind of day.

I was both happy and sad to turn back toward the park to complete my run.  Happy to play in the sun on the playground with my kid, feeling awesome from my run.  And sad that there wasn't more time in the day to enjoy the serenity of my thoughts and my running shoes.

I reached the park to see a smiling face swinging high above the playground on her swing.  We played a little longer, letting the diva show me her new found rock climbing skills, before heading off to buy preschool safety scissors so she could cut her way through all the construction paper her little heart desired.  Yeah, I could take days like this everyday.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  11.01
Time:   1:43:25 (average pace of 9:23 per mile)
Feeling:  Completely at home