Happy Monday everyone! I slept like a rock last night and feel great today. I think my body really needed some rest after the weekend I had. It was jam packed and so so so fun! Let’s recap it!
Friday
Friday night we had dinner with friends to celebrate Meghan‘s birthday. We ate at Brio and they have a gluten free menu that was quite tasty. There were a few other bloggers there and we had an awesome time discussing how our birthday and Christmas lists have gone from purses and regular clothes to spandex and cycling jerseys. I think Meghan had a blast and so did we!
Saturday
Saturday was an early morning wake up (surprise, surprise) for a 17 mile long run. I did this run solo and really enjoyed it. I think I mentioned how I was trying different gels (Gu, Accel, and Honey Stinger) to find the one that didn’t upset my stomach and that I could slurp down without feeling barfy. In the past I’ve used Gu and Hammer and although I liked them both I wanted to change it up because the flavors weren’t quite doing it for me lately. Enter Honey Stinger gels. If you like honey, you will LOVE these. I find them deeeee-licious. I took three on my run and had ZERO stomach issues. Those coupled with a very simple chicken and pasta dinner are the way to go for me from here on out.
For this run, I set myself up for success by going to bed early, eating a very simple dinner, and planning my route. The S.O. and I decided to stick close to the house so we set up a water station in the driveway that we could come back to. I did two loops of 5 miles and then an out and back of 3.5 miles. I didn’t have to carry water because of our “aid station” and a few water fountains on the route. I was really happy about that. I like my Nathan water belt but I REALLY like running without anything. I took the first ten miles of this run very easy and then tried to pick up the pace for the last seven. I wasn’t running eight minute miles or anything, but I did want negative splits and honestly, I felt so good the last three miles I averaged 8:45’s for those. It was an excellent run and I averaged 9:23/mile for the 17, which was WAY better than that last Godforsaken 17 miler.
Ice bath!
Saturday night, the S.O. and I celebrated our one year anniversary which was sort of a made up date because neither of us could remember the exact date. Oops. We’re so romantic. We had a lovely dinner out and I recieved a new Gator and Miami Dolphins t-shirt. Score! The S.O. got delicious homemade gluten free chocolate chip cookies. Seems like an even exchange right? Heh.

Alton Brown’s recipe, SOOOO yummy!
Sunday
On Sunday, I got up super early (again) to head over to the Cystic Fibrosis Cycle for Life event that I’ve been helping put together. I was pumped to see it all unfold. I was hoping it went off without a hitch and all of our cyclists were safe and happy.

Me and the fabulous Dawn from CFF
The S.O. came out to volunteer at registration and packet pick-up and before I knew it all three ride distances were off. I had so many friends come out to ride and support this event that it really made me feel quite warm and fuzzy. I love love love my friends! THANKS for coming out you guys!

VIP service at the CFF ride. (Me & John)
Me, Meghan, and Tori
Meghan and Tori came out to ride the metric century and I am so thankful they helped support this cause and had a kick ass ride to boot. I think the best part of my day was cheering for the cyclists as they came in. Needless to say, everything did go off without a hitch and we heard nothing but good things from the riders. Everyone enjoyed the ride and post ride celebration. I loved working with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the wonderful group of people who made up the committee.
How was your weekend? What did you do?