Night Time Running

 My husband came home from a meeting last night and said "It's beautiful out, you should go for a run!"  So of course I did!  And man, was it gorgeous.  It was the best run I'd had in a while.  I only went 2.11 miles at with an average pace of 11.10min/mi, but it felt good.  I haven't felt good running lately so to have a run like this was important to me.  I did have to stop and walk up a hill but other than that, I ran the whole time with a fairly consistent pace (thanks RunKeeper for showing my pace/elevation throughout the course!), which I am very proud of.  Plus, I got to try out my new running shirt!  I picked up a Brooks Versatile long-sleeved running shirt at REI when we were in Colorado and have been dying to try it out.  I LOVE it!  It kept me warm without making me feel warm, and it has awesome moisture-wicking action.  It's also very lightweight material.  I would highly recommend it!

Now I just need to hit up Road ID and get a bracelet and some reflective gear or a light so I feel even more comfortable and safe on my night runs!  I never feel nervous when I'm out running by myself at night, but with all the concern I have been receiving from friends and family and after reading some of the testimonials on the site, I think I should probably take some precautions.

I also followed in fellow Sole Sister Jenni's lead and went for a bike ride/walk/run with my 5 1/2 year old son tonight!  It was great!  He has been so hesitant to ride his bike for whatever reason, so when I offered to run with him and he took me up on it, I was overjoyed.  It didn't take him long to get excited about his ride, however my 2 1/2 year old daughter insisted on going with us on her plastic bike.  I can't wait to see my route on RunKeeper because I was running back and forth between my fast son and my slow daughter.  The first part of our excursion ended with me running after my son (who was careening down a slope whooping excitedly) while carrying my daughter (who was cackling with laughter) and her plastic bike.

After dropping her off at home with Dad, my son and I headed to the bike path through our park.  It was a pretty quick pace because his comfort level on the bike skyrocketed the second he realized he is actually good at biking. ("Maybe I could do this as a job, Mom!")  I had a hard time keeping up--I got a nasty case of shin splints halfway through his ride.  I haven't had shin splints in a long time; was it because I was stopping and starting so much on the first part of my run?