Double digit walk

After reading the comments on my post yesterday, I'm feeling like I really should get the root canal soon. The thought of it makes me cringe so badly! But so many people said it was no big deal and painless, so I hope I can make it through. It's not so much the pain that I'm worried about (I've been through some very painful things), but the anticipation of pain that terrifies me. I'm going to be on edge the whole time, just waiting for the pain to shoot through my nerve. It's strange, I am SO much more nervous about this than I was about my skin removal surgery!

Today, I had plans to meet up with Jessica for a long walk--10 miles. The lazy person in me was kind of hoping she'd cancel, so I could just forget about it, but one thing I love about Jessica is that she only cancels out of absolute necessity. She never lets me back out of something unless it's absolutely necessary, either! So I knew I wasn't getting out of this walk today ;)

First thing this morning, I walked into the kitchen and saw Joey sniffing at something on the kitchen floor. I turned on the light and inspected what it was--it was a decapitated mouse. I have no idea how it got into the house, but my cats (probably Phoebe) had a good time with it during the night, apparently. :/

After getting the kids off to school, I went to meet Jessica. We drove to a park that connects a couple of the Metroparks, and started our walk there. When we were nearly there, I realized I forgot my Garmin. I was SO bummed! It was a 30 minute drive, so I couldn't go back home and get it. Jessica didn't bring hers, either, assuming that I would have brought mine.

I had just done this 10-mile route in the summer, so I knew the turn-around point. Remember that day I ran while the kids rode their bikes alongside me? I had a miserable run, but that was a 10-miler, so Jessica and I did that exact same route. I noted the time that we started walking, and then again at the halfway point and the finish.

It was such an odd feeling not knowing if we were two miles or four miles or eight miles into our walk! I had no idea what our pace was, either. The first half seemed like it went by really fast. I was surprised at how quickly it flew by. Once we turned around, my legs were starting to feel tired, and I was getting a couple of hot spots on my feet. It was absolutely gorgeous outside, though! Not a cloud in the sky, about 60 degrees, and lots of fall colors.

The last mile or so, my feet were really hurting from the hot spots (thankfully, none of them developed into blisters), so I was relieved to get back to the car. We were both pretty impressed with ourselves for walking so far!

We finished the walk in 2:37, so that worked out to a 15:42/mile pace. Not too bad! For the half-marathon, Jerry and I have to maintain an 18:18/mile pace (or faster), so as long as Jerry can do that, I think we're good to go.

Tomorrow is my boudoir photo shoot! I'm about 95% excited and 5% nervous. I met the photographer a couple of days ago, and she is super friendly. I feel very comfortable with her, and she assured me that it will be a lot of fun. Can't wait!