"Presidential" run (get it?)

We had a ton of family spending the night with us on Sunday and I wanted to get the run out of the way Monday morning so I could enjoy a big unhealthy breakfast and a fun day with family. I also wanted to work on my snail pace, so what better way than to go run with my husband - he volunteered to be my pace setter. We ran a dirt path along a canal, which was nicer on the knees. He indeed kept my pace up and we ran a little over 3 miles in the 35 minutes (he calculated our pace at 11.3) , so a pretty good improvement from my 15 minute miles on Saturday! I think I'm so nervous that I will overexpend my energy on those long runs and not have enough to last, but hopefully I'll figure out a good pace during these training weeks. Anyhow, one mistake I made: in my concern about getting the run out of the way I didn't eat or drink anything in the morning, and I could really tell. I struggled with a side cramp almost the entire time and I felt no energy. I was reading last night again about hydration and how much you should drink 2 hours before, during, and after runs, and how important it is to maintain hydration levels all day while training. A good reminder!