12 miles + tennis + salsa dancing +school = A long day!

I woke up before the alarm clock (a first!) It was 4:35am. The thought crossed my mind of staying in bed for a few more minutes but I decided to get up instead. I went through my quiet ritual of every Saturday morning as I got ready to head out to Venice for another 12 mile training run. I got my garmin watch, fuel belt, shoes and headed downstairs to the kitchen to prepare my 3 bottles of Amino Vital. As my bagel toasted, I picked 3 Gu packets: Plain, Vanilla and Strawberry Banana. The bagel popped up ready and I spread some honey on both sides and wrapped it in some foil so I could eat it on the way.

I headed to my car and felt the cold morning air against my face. As I warmed up the car I turned on the "bun warmers". I went to pick up my 2 running buddies and headed for Venice.

We made it in plenty of time for the 6:30am pace leader meeting. When we were done I took off my warm jacket and left it in the car as I headed to the strand. Our group was already there and stretching. The cold air lingered but the sky was already promising a perfect day to run.

I started our group off since our leader was gone today and 45 people followed behind me. It's an awesome feeling to hear 45 sets of footsteps running behind you along with the initial hard breathing. We run 3 minutes and walk 3 minutes so today's 12 miles took us about 2 hrs. 49 min. We got it done!

After meeting some friends for breakfast, we headed back. I was trying to make Cristina's final CIF Tennis match at 1:30pm. I made it right on time and sat with my hubby near the courts.

Cristina won both first matches and was due to play the #1 girl shortly. The air was crisp and the sky blue and dotted with white clouds. I sat there thinking about how fast 4 years of high school had gone by. Today would be the last time I saw Cristina play on these courts. My husband took hundreds (if not thousands) of pictures...recording the moments.

Cristina's final match was unbelievable! She played some of the best Tennis I have ever seen her play. She already is amazing but today....she was flawless! The girl she beat had gone undefeated until she faced off with Cristina. Well, Cristina beat her 6-4! At one point there were so many ?deuces that I lost count. What mattered most to me was watching how happy she was to end her high school tennis career on such a sweet note. I know I will never forget this last match!

By the time she finished it was almost 4:30pm and Jeff and I had to be in Fontana by 6pm for dinner! I rushed hometo shower and get ready. We left shortly after 5:30pm and Phillip came with us. We were going to Ally's mom's house for a family gathering. At first, I did not know what to expect but we were greeted warmly by all of her family. The food was amazing Peruvian food!

Ally has 3 cute dogs who were all dressed up for the occasion! After dinner, Ally's mom Cecilia played some salsa music and she danced with her hubby Sal. The 2 of them are amazing dancers and soon most everyone there began to dance too (except for Jeff and I) I was feeling tired from my early morning wake-up and 12 miler.

Sal eventually convinced me to get up and dance and I ended up doing my own version of Latin dancing! Jeff joined me and we danced like 2 crazy people...we had fun! You know how they say that time flies when you are having fun? well, fun we were having and when I saw the clock, I stared in disbelief that it was past 11pm! We ended up leaving since we had a long drive home. I ended up driving because Jeff was tired. As I drove, I was trying to figure out how many hours I'd been up but I couldn't do the math so I gave up. I was thinking about my online class and how I had one more post to write before the deadline. We got home after midnight and I got on the computer. I finished my project and headed to bed.

I prayed and thanked God for the amazing day He gave me and thanked Him for all He had provided for me. I knew I had to get up early to teach Sunday school...So I set my alarm and dozed off deeply.