Friends don't let friends Long Run/PDR alone!

Today was an monumental day! Today brought my first double digit run since the marathon! However, that was not the only reason today was monumental. It was also Mrs. Gray's first 10 mile run ever! Her current Personal Distance Record stood at 7 miles. Similar to myself, she has had a rough couple of weeks in training for the half marathon that's, oh, TWO WEEKS AWAY. So today had bigger implications: it was a huge mental boost for my little first time half marathoner!

We met and began running in my neighborhood. There were reasons we ran in my neighborhood, reasons that will be featured later in this post. Stay tuned. As we finished our first mile, sadly, we both needed to use the bathroom. We thought we could hold it, but we BOTH realized that was not happening. (Side note: I. can't. wait. for. park. bathrooms. to. OPEN! When is this happening? If you know, share the knowledge in a comment PUHLEASE!) Anyway, back to bathroom hunting. There weren't any. We finally resorted to running to my house and back to the park (It would add about 2.5 miles round trip, so who cares?! We had 10 miles to do!) Just as we had made that decision, we passed a gas station. SCORE! I forgot about this place! And it was a nice one! It turned out to be a gold mine: clean, in the "store" part of the gas station, and no embarrassing key to carry.
Back to running 10 miles. Mrs. Gray was a CHAMP! She ran the show. I was along for the ride to cheer lead! Our pace stayed fairly consistent, and I kept reminding my dear friend "This is not a race. This is a practice for the race. Take your time." By the way, her nickname is Pitbull...enough said. She fought through soreness and exhaustion, as I dangled the proverbial carrot of "mimosa's and brunch" in front of her....again, stay tuned. Brunch report is going to be great. Trust me.

We ran miles 7.5-9 on the track. It was a nice change of scenery and it is definitely softer on the 'ol knees. This is us right before leaving the park:
Smiles! Sparkles! Hope!

Mrs. Gray finished STRONG! I always forget that my road goes uphill, inevitably ending runs on an incline. It's tough when you're tired and want to be done, but we finished with flair. AKA, we walked right into the liquor store and bought champagne for mimosas...the brunch place is BYOB, adding to it's allure. We were VERY happy to be done and VERY hungry. I had actually ran a mile to meet my little runner that could, so I had done 11 miles and forgot to take my last Hammer Gel. AKA STARVING. Oh, you want the brunch report? Alrighty.
This is my breakfast burrito: Ingredients include eggs, chives, hash browns, cheese, and sausage that is so good I, a non sausage eater, love. The fuel of champions.This is R's fried chicken and waffles: Ingredients, fried chicken and waffles with syrup. The chicken was perfectly season with a little spicy kick that matched perfectly with the sweetness of the waffles and syrup.
This is Mr. Miller's breakfast: Ingredients, sausage, fried egg, hash brown, safe aioli and a yummy bun. He didn't run 10 miles, but he cleaned the entire house. Breakfast well earned!

Isn't that brunch worth waiting/running for?! Yes, yes it is. We promised the awesome staff that we would return in two weeks with shiny medals.

I'm so pumped after our run today! Mrs. Gray was amazing, and I'm so excited to run beside her in the 13.1NYC half marathon in just two short weeks!!!

How was your weekend? Brunch? Run? Bike? TELL ME ABOUT IT!

14 Days until the 13.1NYC Half Marathon!!!

56 Days until the Pittsburgh Half Marathon!!!