I’d planned 8 today with Ginger, but the Tampa Bay Ray’s home opener against the Yankees was Friday, and, well, we all know how those things turn out.  Too much beer, not enough sleep.  I called off early Friday night.

We had an unexpected arrival of Adam’s brother’s new baby on Friday afternoon too – almost seven weeks premature.  Everything is ok, but it’s been hectic trying to figure out when to get to the hospital to meet the new little squish and fit in a run between grocery shopping for Easter brunch and the baby shower planned for Saturday afternoon.

It’s the season of busy, and I’ve got it by the balls.  Or so I think.  I feel pretty on top of it all.

Anyway.

Piper had a sleepover at her cousin’s on Friday night, so when we found out we couldn’t go visit the new nephew yet (he’s in NICU and mom’s on bedrest), the hubs and I decided to embrace the unseasonably cool weather and head out for a run at Coffee Pot Bayou.

I would’ve liked to do 8; Adam wanted to do 4.  We settled at 6 since it’s a natural turn-around point – to the end of the Pier from the parking lot and back.

• Starting time: 9:15 am
• Starting temp: 64 degrees F
• Finishing temp: 66 degrees F (sunny)
• What I wore:  Lululemon shorts, tank
• Route: Coffee Pot parking lot to loop around Pier and back; Northshore park closed for FunkFest so shortcut in front of Vinoy required

I generally really enjoy running with Adam even though he makes me stop every ten minutes because he has to stretch or pee or get a drink. I generally run longer distances than he does, but he runs a little faster, so it works out. I demand longer distances that make him have to slow down, and we both win. Or, mostly I win. That’s cool.

We did the usual loop and it was crowded in the park.  It was an absolutely gorgeous Saturday morning – cool, sunny and breezy.  Perfect running weather.

It was an event-fill park for sure. There were bootcamps galore, a volleyball tournament on the beach in front of the sign up booth for a tiny “Passover Prance” 5k run being loosely organized and held on our path (marked by chalk on the sidewalk), all sitting in front of the chairs and stage set up for an Easter Sonrise Service along the beach.  Vinoy Park was closed for FunkFest so we had to avoid that and run along the street instead of the waterfront sidewalk, shaving about a quarter-mile off the distance, but that’s ok.

Running out the Pier, we were facing into a pretty strong headwind.  We were both leaning into it, but were rewarded with an easy ride back of course.  There’s a gorgeous, huge sailboat tied up at the Pier right now – check it out.

Despite stopping so Adam could pee on both the way out and the way back (seriously – he’s like a pregnant woman), we still ran close to a 9:40 pace which felt really easy and fun.  I didn’t stop my Nike+ when I finished the run with about 4 blocks of walking lunges, so my pace looks off but the distance is probably correct.

As an aside, the walking lunges totally killed my hamstrings. My legs today are total Jello, and I’m ok with that.  Feeling strong again.

I’m feeling pretty excited about running for fun right now.  We don’t have to start marathon training until the end of June, so for the next three months – and especially during this holy-hell-Batman-I’m-busy month of April – I intend to run when it’s convenient and exciting. I don’t have to push myself when I don’t feel up to it and don’t have to try to fit in 12 miles when I’m feeling like 5.  It’s a time to breathe and focus on what’s important before getting wrapped back up in it again.

And I’m ok with that.  I keep telling myself that anyway.  I still feel guilty about not pushing myself harder or working out more often, even though I have every good reason to take it easy right now.

As soon as we got home from the run and picked up Piper, I jumped in the shower, mixed up my sangria contribution for the party (YUM!  recipe to come!) and headed out for a friend’s baby shower, which was a blast.  My friends know how to “shower” – lots of wine, sangria, snacks, sweets and lady-talk.  The guys showed up with the kids at the end so we could all hang out for a while, then we headed home so I could finish making my contributions to Easter morning brunch (raspberry cream cheese french toast casserole FTW!).

Good morning y’all.  Enjoy your day.  I’m going to wake my munchkin to get excited about what the Easter bunny delivered last night!