Distractions

Might not be blogging much this week.  Had an awesome weekend, but one of the lame highlights was that I started a new puzzle yesterday afternoon.

It was a nice way to chill out after my first weekend of double-digit miles each day (well, at least first since we've been back from Italy), and day 37 in a row of temps at 100 or higher. 

The rest of the wknd was good.  We had dinner with friends Fri night and she interpreted my being a vegetarian as meaning the meal should consist mostly of cheese.  Ugh... not good for the goal of losing some weight, but so tasty!  We started with a curry-cream cheese dip and baked brie, then cheese tortellini in a spinach alfredo sauce, salad with bleu cheese, then for dessert, brownies and gelato.  Very good, just made me nervous about my stomach holding up on Sat morning.

I went to meet my buddies at 5:30 to loop the lake.  It was really nice.  They were doing 18 miles (2 lake loops), but I bailed just before completing the first loop and instead ran to the race.  My stomach had survived cheese-fest completely intact!  That was good news.  Sometimes I worry that by eating healthy most of the time, I'll be less tolerant of not-so-healthy foods (which is my husband's problem).  Anyway, I ran to the race site and I met my bestie and hubby there.  We hung out until the race start.

It was my first cross-country/trail race EVER.  It was a bit tougher.  Lots of watching for roots, little room to pass, and jumping over the 3 obstacle hurdles (hay bales) on the 2 mile loop.  And there were probably 2 uphill climbs (though the last half mile was all downhill, which was nice).  It was also hot and sunny, so I shouldn't have been shocked by how high my heart rate was by the end. 

So I ran very hard for 2 miles.  It was tough.  But I felt like I ran pretty strong and then handed off to my hubby.  And then before I knew it (busy guzzling water and seeking shade), he was handing off to my bestie.  And then she was done.  That's the beauty of a relay with legs of only 2 miles each -- it's like they're over before you know it.  We didn't end up placing in our division, but we hadn't expected to.  It was a lot of fun. 

Then hubby and I walked back to my car at the lake, just over one very hot mile away.  Along the walk though, we did check out a kayak/canoe rental place and I think we're planning to do that in 2 weeks, which will be a fun Saturday adventure!  Got home, ate, straightened up, ran errands, and went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  Pretty good.  But I came in with little of the "ape movies" background.  Apparently there were a couple references to the original that hubby caught but I of course missed.

Sunday was my group long run.  It was only 10 miles, but we were a little worried about it b/c of the heat.  I added a few extra miles, and it all felt good.  One person in our group ended up having a lot of trouble with the heat, so she fell back a group.  But otherwise, it was all good.  Came home and relaxed, did some more stuff around the house (including breaking our washing machine and finally ordering some pics from my bro's wedding to put into frames in my office).  Then last night I went to a running team dinner, which was fun, but b/c of the puzzle I started after breaking the washing machine, I didn't really want to go. 

I just wanted to stay home and puzzle!  They're so addictive!  One of my good friends is coming over tomorrow night to help me with it, which will be nice.  Right now I've basically just got the border done.  Fun week project!