Running

I finally, finally got back out running today. I didn't aim to run fast, and it was a very hilly route, so I was just out to have fun and get back into it. It ended up being about 5 miles since I added a little to the end. The first 5K took me 27:16. My pace was 8:48, my best pace was 7:20. I did a little walk in the middle (to try to get my HR down, since I wanted to stay in or around Z2, which didn't work) and then I picked up the pace a little. Up Moores Lane, I walked 1 minute, ran 1 minute, and repeated. My best pace during that time was 5:55. Woohoo! I accidentally forgot to turn off the time, so I'm not sure what my average pace or anything was. It was total 5.31 miles, average HR 153, total 802 calories (although I'm not sure how accurate the calorie count is because the timer was on for 2 hours and something, whereas I only ran for 50 minutes).

Later in the morning, Lauren and her friend Emma and I went to the Nashville Zoo. I had never been before and was looking forward to seeing the tiger cubs the paper had been promoting. Lauren was looking forward to seeing the red panda. We don't think we saw the cubs (we saw 2 tigers, but they sure didn't look small enough to have been born in December), but we did see the panda. We also saw everything else: lots of birds, even more insects and creeping things, zebras, goats (which we got to pet in their habitat), elephants, giraffes, and more. It was a fun, hot morning!

The cougar...this was probably my favorite exhibit (since there were no rhinos)

The red panda...Lauren's favorite exhibit. It looks more like a raccoon but is a relative of the bear

Lauren and Emma with the tortoise...neither of them wanted to touch it, but they both loved going inside insect world

Although we didn't get to see the red panda for long, Lauren did get to ride it on the Carousel

Both the girls got some nectar to feed the birds

After the zoo, Lauren and I went back to my apt for a little lunch and Uno, and then I took her back home. I love having family nearby that I can spend time with, and then I love being able to take my cousin home so that I can have some time alone, too.