20 Miles and Lots of Smiles

This morning started out with a 20 miler with Paula. She is not running the May marathon with me (she ran Asheville with me, but her next one is in October), but she has been with me for almost all of my training runs. I am lucky to have her! We stopped along the way every now-and-then to take in the views. We ran on a BEAUTIFUL (and mostly downhill!!!) trail. It made the miles fly by!

Literally some of the prettiest views on the mountain!

We ran into a Raven, my favorite bird! I always think of my grandfather when I see them. His middle name was Raven. I miss him so much!

It was REALLY close to the trail, but I couldn't pull my phone out in time to get a picture :( This was pretty far away, so it's a bit grainy, but you can still see it :)

We saw TONS of little (and bigger) waterfalls. They were flowing really well, we have had a TON of rain the past week or so. So much that schools were on a delay two days in a row because of impassable roads.

My parents met us around mile 11 and had all kinds of fuel for us! They always surprise us! We had NO clue they would be on the trail today, it is a really remote trail (we didn't have cell service for the first 15 miles) and they somehow figured out a place to meet us with food and water! They are the best! My Scotty took some pretty great pictures of Paula and me ;)

Paula ran 17 miles with me and was picked up by my husband (our husbands share pick-up duties ;) ). Little did I know, he had sneakily planned to run the last couple of miles with me! He is not a runner (AT ALL), so this was a very sweet gesture. He is a keeper, for sure!! :)

My parents picked up Paula's car (legitimately saving us over an hour of driving by doing so!!) and met us at a local campground where my 20 miles ended. We got a few group pictures :) Me with my AMAZING parents! Check out our matching hats ;)

The parents and the hubby :)

Me and my sweet husband!

Me and Paula- she's the best! Our shirts say "Running Partners" :)

After we parted ways, I had to come home to finish my paper, it was due today! I always have my sidekick Jack with me whenever I'm sitting still... ALWAYS...

Then Aaron went to go pick up Lynny and we played for a while with the leftover balloons from her party. She's all about sports so it turned in to a game of baseball pretty quickly ;)

Take a look at that swing!

I told the hubby I was craving red meat for dinner (I always do after runs!) and he delivered, for sure! I love that he is such a good cook!

After dinner, we wound down from the night to Kung Fu Panda 2. We are all about some Po lately! My husband loves the movies (there are 3, in case you didn't know!) so he doesn't mind this trend ;)

I am giving some students a math end-of-course exam today (I cannot stand math! History all the way over here!), so it'll be a long day, for sure! I'll be making an extra pot of coffee to help me stay alert!! ;)

How was your Sunday?

Are your family members supportive of your running?

Do you crave any specific foods after a long run?