Sigh...tomorrow I leave for a week long trip with just me and Harper. I am DREADING the drive. Of course I am excited to see my family and friends, but the amount of stuff I have to pack for a baby is crazy and the amount of stops I have to take is just going to make the first and last day of this trip blow! But on the good side I get to go see my friend Jane and her gorgeous son Nils on Wed and then onto KY to stay with my mom. I am going to see a few friends from high school and they will get to meet Harper, so that is cool. And then on the way back home I am stopping in Cinti to see my friend Lauren and her lovely little girl Emma and maybe a few other Cinti friends will stop by. So, I will be really making the rounds this week. My brother in law and I are going to run an 8 miler while I am in Danville, which will be fun, but I am nervous about running in the heat down there. He is coming here to run Akron HM with my in Sept!

Speaking of running I had a good 5 miler this morning. I am happy it felt good b/c my long run wasn't so great. It was my first speed workout in a LONG time. In the past I've pretty much just run a lot of junk miles, but this time I am really going to try and apply myself and do the speedwork and tempo runs that the plan details. Also....my friend is training for Columbus. We always run together on the weekends anyway, so I have decided I am just going to do the long runs she has to do with her. I might just do Columbus. I know I said I wouldn't think about a marathon until I lose the weight, but if I train conservatively and the long runs feel okay, I might give it a shot. The time probably won't be any better than my first marathon, but if I just do it for fun and to learn more about what works for me in marathon training, it can only help my plans for a PR in a spring marathon. But I'll see how it goes. This is the first week I will run over 20 miles, so I need to see how my feet hold up. But I really miss the accomplised feeling of running for 3 or 4 hours!