Today

This morning I woke up to two little boys snuggling with me. This morning I watched my husband pack his stuff and take care of the last minute things. This afternoon I had lunch with my family. This afternoon I snuggled on the chair with my husband and kids. Then later this afternoon, I drove my husband to work for the last time for a while. I watched him say goodbye to my kids and then turn to me. We said our goodbyes and I got back into the car to take the kids to gymnastics. On our drive home we picked up dinner. I then ate dinner alone with my kids. Then I snuggled with my kids by myself and then I tucked my kids into bed by myself. Now I find myself alone. Most nights of these next 9 months will be like this. I am very fortunate to have great family and friends and will enjoy company here and there, but most nights will be like this. I've got goals for this deployment. Some are physical (obviously), some deal with the house, some deal with the kiddos, some are personal. Since this is a blog about running, I'll elaborate on that.

As far as running goes, I'm establishing a pattern. Monday I do short interval training, Wednesday is long interval training and Friday I'm doing my long runs. I actually did a long run on Sunday to get one last one in without having to push a kiddo in a stroller. I was really proud of myself. I actually ran (jogged, whatever you want to call it!) 3.25 miles in 52 minutes, which is a 16 minute mile! That is the slowest pace I will be able to keep in order not to be 'swept' off the course at the Disney races. I'm hoping that the interval work I'm doing along with the long runs will put me at 14 minute miles by the end of January.

So, tomorrow is Wednesday. Tomorrow I'll get up, get everyone off to school, and get my interval workout in. As a family we'll begin the countdown to the time that our family will be back together. Personally, I'll begin the countdown to a new lifestyle, new challenges and new goals being met.