13-ish miles on this lovely day.

My husband and I had grand plans to enjoy a nice, long run together this morning.  I checked the weather forecast last night, it looked like it was going to be decent enough.  When I took the kids to school, it was cloudy, but not too cold and not too windy.  So, while my night-shift working hubby got a few extra zzz's, I did 15 minutes of Pilates, and rode the stationary bike for about 20 minutes to warm my body up.  We had mapped an out and back run totaling 16 miles.  At around 9am, we were both up and rarin' to go, so we headed out.  The first 3 miles or so were fine, but then the wind picked up and it started to snow.  Just a few, light flakes at first, but soon the pretty little crystals turned evil and started pelting our cold faces as we ran.  Then it turned into full-on, pouring rain.  At around 4.8 miles, we made a "pit" stop (my husband has no qualms about that sort of thing, unlike me).  At that point we were completely soaked and started to discuss the idea of turning back and cutting our run short.  We decided to be fearless and venture on, but just as we did, my cell phone rang.  One of my kids was sick at school and wanted to come home.  So, then we finally decided the running gods were actually working against us today.  We turned back for home, running straight to the elementary school to get our son, then we walked the last two or so blocks back to the house, clocking 8.55 miles in a little over an hour and half at that point.

After changing into dry, warm shoes and clothes, I got on the treadmill.  I was still feeling so good physically, and today was supposed to be a long run day after all.  I ended up doing another 4 miles of running on the treadmill, then I got back on the bike and cycled for another hour while I got caught up on internet stuff.

I've been searching for a race to do between now and the marathon in May.  I would like to do either a half or full marathon, but it's difficult to find races that are within a reasonable driving distance during the late winter/early spring months.  I was thinking it would be cool to combine a little family vacation with a road race.  Anyone have any ideas?