Wednesday, December 28, 2016

WWU - 7.7 Mile Christmas Eve Run!

Our devices, all showing 7.7 miles (except for Diane's - hers is the blank screen as the battery died close to the end of our run)

You might be thinking "hey, 7.7 miles is a random number for you all to run" and you would be right - but there was a method to our madness.  You see, a while back we pledged to run baby Mason's birth weight when he was born, so when he arrived on December 21st, we knew what we'd be doing on Saturday!  He was 19 inches long and obviously a very good weight, cute as a button and just plain adorable:
Mason and his moms! 

While CC, Loretta, and Mason were still in the hospital, we ran and then texted them the picture of our Garmins, along with a picture of us holding up seven point seven fingers...ish:
Welcome to the world, Mason!  

We all ran 7.7 miles, except for Brian, who ran 20 miles.  He's training for the Houston Marathon, crazy man.  Once again, it was hot and humid - seriously, on Christmas Eve, we still couldn't catch a break with the weather.  Turns out it was even hotter on Christmas day, with our town hitting 81 degrees.  Instead of lighting a fire in the fireplace, we cranked up the air conditioning.

Getting back to running, it's been a strange season - mostly it's stayed hot and humid, which has made for some rough long runs.  It's gotten to the point where I don't even bother to pause my Garmin when we get stuck waiting to cross a busy street, or when we stop to refill our water bottles - I don't pay attention to my pace or time; I'm really just working on completing the distance.  At least with this run I managed to not bonk; along with drinking Tailwind, I took a GU at mile 3 and had most of another GU at mile 6...I probably could have done without the second GU, but I wanted to test things out in preparation for our upcoming half marathon next month.

After our run we ended up at Blue Baker, where we were treated to chocolate cupcakes with fresh strawberry icing that didn't quite firm up - still tasted delicious, though:
We love our bakers!

More running is on tap this week, naturally.  We might be getting some cooler temps toward the end of the week - ONE CAN HOPE.  It's been pretty ridiculous, sweating through such hot, humid weather at the end of December.

I'll leave you with one more picture of baby Mason:
I got to hold him the day after he was born!  And while he was 1 pound, 7 ounces bigger than my biggest baby, he still seemed so tiny.  It was super fun to get to cuddle a newborn...they really are the sweetest.

23 comments:

  1. Ahhhhhh new baby smell is just the best!

    Once again, your club has the cutest ideas - running Mason's weight and it helped you all with your training. Well, it helped Brian by a third lol.

    You know, I have my Garmin set on auto pause because sometimes I can get stuck at a traffic light and it's just annoying to me that the clock is ticking and I can't move. But when I train for races, I always work on just getting the distance done. That's really all that is important and as you well know, conditions and health and so many other things determine pace on race day. So why not just assure yourself you can do the miles?!

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    1. We like running special numbers - usually it's a birthday number, but this time, a BIRTH number. :)

      I used to get more hung up on a few seconds (well, sometimes at our busy intersection it can stretch into a full minute WHICH SEEMS LIKE FOREVER, lol) when things would cut into my pace, but lately, probably because we've just been slogging through hot humid runs for over six months now, I'm all "eh, it's fine, whatever it is."

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  2. Aww what a neat way to welcome baby Mason to the world!

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    1. Our newest Renegade - it won't be too long before he'll be outpacing us, I suspect!

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  3. I love that you ran Mason's birthweight! What a great way to celebrate his birth!

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    1. We were just so glad he wasn't bigger, LOL! But yes, it was fun to finally have him here and celebrate him.

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  4. That's a great picture of your group--except for the bare tree in the background, you would think it was a picture of a summer run!

    Mason looks like a very healthy baby. I laughed at Helen's comment about baby smell. People used to say the same thing about puppy smell. I never got either thing.

    And yes to the chocolate strawberry cupcakes!

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    1. Unfortunately, it was exactly like a summer run...it would be nice to get a few months off from running in heat and humidity.

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    2. Oh and yes, baby smell is good, but have you ever noticed that dachshund's paws smell like Fritos?

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    3. Still laughing. Yes, I have to admit it. Even though I don't get people liking baby or puppy smell, I love to smell Sophie. I haven't noticed the Frito connection, but maybe that's why I like the way she smells :/

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  5. I can't wait for it to actually feel like winter around here...high of 80 again today. What a cute, sweet baby!

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  6. Sweet sweet baby! I love that y'all ran the birth weight...such a cute idea!

    I accidentally deleted your comment on my last post! It wasn't intentional...I hit the wrong button on my phone! :((

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  7. I love this idea. Congrats to CC and Loretta and welcome baby Mason. What a wonderful support system you all have. And how great will it be for him to grow up and learn about this great run that you all did?

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    1. We do support each other, that's very true...it's a good group of people. :)

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  8. Congrats to the new mom(s).

    Glad she didn't have a bigger baby LOL

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  9. What an awesome way to celebrate the birth of mason!!!

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  10. Congrats! It always amazes me when I get to hold an infant and think "was my kid ever that little?" Great job on the run! :D Wish I could send you some cold air from Chicago!

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    1. I got to hold him again yesterday - yep, still a tiny thing. :)

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  11. Aww, welcome baby Mason! It's so cool you ran his birth weight :)

    How is it that almost all of you have the same watch?!

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    1. We have stock in Garmin? LOL, I don't know, but it does look funny when all of the watches are piled together like that.

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  12. Awww what a beautiful boy is Mason and what a fun and great idea to all run 7.7 miles.

    Hopefully the weather is cooler this week, you deserve a break from the humidity.

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