So, what made mine so great? Lots of things!
Friday night started with a meeting with our financial planner (woah-- serious stuff. we're like grown ups and stuff.) followed by a quick trip to the outlet mall to get a little Christmas shopping in before meeting the in-laws for pizza and beer! YUM!!! Was it the healthiest or most colorful (elf4health challenge of the day was to eat the rainbow)--- meh. Not so much. And, wanna know a secret? I didn't care even a little bit. Why workout so much if you can't eat some pizza and drink a beer without guilt? I won't even call it an "indulgence"... it was just--- dinner. And damn good dinner.
Saturday I worked in the morning. Sometimes I proctor SATs or ACTs for some extra cash. Easy money! Basically, I sat there and read blogs and books. And got PAID to do it. Score.
After work Saturday I hit the road to Kalamazoo to meet up with some friends. We headed immediately out for an Ikea, Trader Joe's, and HomeGoods shopping extravaganza! So much Christmas shopping done! And, lots of yummy food from TJs! So, so good!!!! Wish there was one closer. Best part? LOTS of girl talk!
I stayed the night with my running-bff, Amy. She and I had big long run plans for Sunday. But, before we could get to that-- we had some Ikea furniture to put together!
That's Amy and her cart!
OK, maybe it doesn't look like much and it might be upside down, but we assembled a kitchen cart-- all on our own! I'm pretty proud!!
Sunday morning we negotiated a start time-- I wanted 8, she wanted 9 (true morning bird and night owl right there)-- we settled on 8:30am and were out the door right on time!
We hit a local trail and were off by about 9am.
The weather was ALMOST perfect. A little rainy/misty, but not too bad at all. Not too windy and not too cold or hot. AMAZING company. All around-- perfect.
It was a straight out and back course in almost complete isolation. It was SO quiet! I do all my runs around a city and college campuses which almost always have other people, runners, dogs, bike and everything in between. It was almost therapeutic to have it be so quiet and be alone (ya know... minus having Amy there next to me). It was just amazing. Maybe it was because we were going a bit slower and I didn't obsess over pace at all. I didn't push myself at all. I didn't have a care in the world. I could just-- be. And run. Complete and utter running perfection.
We chatted the whole way out (about 7.5 miles) and each zoned out to music the way back (about 7.4 miles). Again-- just complete and utter running perfection. I couldn't have asked for a better run with better company. I loved every second of this run. I legit found myself grinning like a mad woman at some moments and had to intentionally wipe the grin off my face so Amy wouldn't think I was crazzzzzy. (Though, let's be honest-- she already knows I am.)
Thanks for the run, Amy !! Best running friend evvvvver. And, for the record-- you KICKED that trail's ass. Just like you're gonna kick the WDW Marathon's ass in a few weeks. Get pumped. It's gonna happen.
We covered 15 miles even at about an 11:15/mile pace.
Maybe it wasn't my fastest run. Maybe it wasn't even a "fast" run (whoever defines what "fast" is and isn't, I'll never know). Maybe it wasn't hilly or hot or snowing. Maybe nothing crazy or even of note happened. WHO CARES? It was perfect. I loved every step. I loved not caring. I loved not tracking. I loved just RUNNING. And having a great friend there to talk about life and love and food and running and everything in between.
I headed home after our run where the Hubs was waiting with flowers and a clean house (even the laundry was done!). BEST. HUBS. EVVVVVVER. Seriously. Ever.
We went to see Pitch Perfect and the local cheap theatre. Good movie. Not great, but good. Funny and cute. Definitely worth a redbox trip in the future if you haven't seen it yet.
Post-movie we grabbed some dinner and then just chilled. I was SOOOO tired. That run took it outta me! I was long, long asleep by 9pm.
Today started off with the classic 5am alarm and Monday morning Spinning Class. Another Monday, another spin class. Done and done.
Today's elf4health challenge is to eat lots of fiber and I've been doing that all day like it's my job! Stay tuned for Wednesday's WIAW to check it out! Veggie soup, almonds, apples-- oh my!
Anyway-- today's still a Monday and Monday's are pretty much always rough... luckily today I have a secret weapon to help me get through it.
Yup. N*Sync Holiday Station on Pandora. Don't believe me? Try it. It'll brighten your day, even if just a little. You'll see.
You did have a fun weekend. I am jealous that you have an IKEA so close. The closest one to Spokane is either Portland or Seattle...not so close!
ReplyDeleteI was pretty busy over the weekend with typical house chores/errands. I had a 5K race on Saturday and then we went to the Eastern Washington Univ. football playoff game where I proceeded to drink far too much beer. Oooops! Honestly though I was freezing my buns off so I was hoping that the beer would warm me up. I finally switched to peppermint liquor and hot chocolate...that did the trick! :-)