Running Well, Wedding Bells + Internet Hell

Yep, that pretty much sums up my weekend.

Let’s start with the good stuff – I got up at 7am bright n’ early on Saturday morning and ate a nice carb-heavy pre-run meal consisting of a 1/2 cup Special K with 1/2 cup skim milk and a chocolate chip granola bar.  There is no better running fuel than pure white carbs.

Then, yours truly did what she has NEVER done before – run 16 miles!

The first 9 miles went well despite the Minnesota heat and humidity.  I made sure to make frequent water stops (also stopping to splash water on my head to cool down) before returning back to my friend Ashley’s where I popped 3 Clif Black Cherry Shot Bloks and some Diet Cherry Pepsi (don’t judge).  Then Ashley headed out with me to finish the last 7 miles, and my other friend Megan joined us for the last 3 miles.  My friends are seriously the best :).

In the end? The run went AWESOME.  I finished in my marathon pace of just under 10:00 minutes/mile, equaling about 2 hours and 40 minutes.  I seriously think I could have gone even further. It was that kind of glorious running day.

post-run Pomegranate Paradise Jamba Juice (with soy protein)

Indian buffet of love from Whole Foods...with a Cilantro Chutney Samosa!

Seriously…if I could marry Indian food I would.  Shhhhh, don’t tell McMac I am cheating on him ;).

After lunchie, it was off to IKEA –  ummm, holy anxiety!  Soooo many people, soooo many things to look at and tooooo little time.  Luckily, I had my trusted Meggy Moo in tow.  If this isn’t a friend, I don’t know what is:

on the floor checking the unmarked chair for a price...that is love right there

Then, I gussied myself up and headed off to my girl Charlotte’s wedding!  Charlotte and I studied abroad together in college in London, and we’ve pretty much been soulmates ever since.  LOVE that girl.  I also got to see Brittany (who also studied abroad with us) for the first time in years.  LOVE that girl too.

Hobag, CharChar Binks and Brittho (our nicknames)

started with a red vino...

then continued on with a berry spinach salad...

followed up by some vegetarian ravioli...

and finished off with turtle cheesecake and a brewsky!

Yeah, that’s right.  My girl Char had a plethora of CHEESECAKES at her wedding instead of regular ol’ wedding cake.  That is reason #4,276 that we are friends.  Brittho and I may have split an additional piece of Key Lime Cheesecake.  Just sayin…

a lil' bubbly to toast the bride and groom

fabulousness all around

Did I mention Charlotte also had a photo booth AND late-night pizza?  Reasons #3,231 and #6,121,989 we are friends.

two slices of veggie pizza were most certainly devoured

When I got home, I crashed harder than Lindsey Lohan’s career.

After almost 10 hours of glorious sleep, I woke up to coffee and a lovely chat with Ashley.  Then, right as I started contemplating eating Ash’s carpet, it was 10:30am and time for me to meet another fabulous lady you all know – Ms. Angharad!

We met at the Uptown Diner…looks like a total dive from the outside, but inside you will find such fabulous delicacies such as this…

tex-mex breakfast burrito (Angharad)

french toast kamikaze-style (aka with bananas, blueberries & pecans) para moi

After brekkie, I skedaddled back on the road (wasn’t I just driving?) back to Madison.  Five LONG hours later, I arrived safely.  After successful shopping trip #2 at the co-op (including a free coupon for a French Meadow bread product and a bottle of organic agave syrup – score!), I made it back to my apartment to find the Internet still not working.

WTF?!?!?!?!

I can’t handle this.  ATT is apparently coming on Tuesday to fix it, but that means another two days of paying for coffee at the cute coffeeshop for free Wi-Fi.  I guess there could be worse thangs…

green ap + peppahjack stick

emergency stash of almonds was consumed when i hit mayjuh traffic

Ah, home sweet home.

After getting really frustrated and angry speaking calmly with the Internet peeps, I needed a snackie.  Enter in perhaps, my other new love (sorry McMac AND Indian food :()

i am a firm believer in dessert before dinner

Ingredients: organic coconut milk, organic agave syrup, organic pineapple, organic pineapple juice concentrate, organic coconut extract, organic rum extract

One word: AMAZING.

look at those pineapple chunks of love

After dessert, I had dinner…

mixed greens
cherry tomatoes
1/2 avocado
1/3 cup cumin-spiced black beans
1/3 cup mild salsa
1/4 cup sliced green pepper
crushed blue corn chips 

Mexican Fiesta Salad

And a lil’ calcium for (more) dessert…

i think the barista gave me Vitamin D milk...decaf iced chai was still yummo

I just scrolled through the post and realized it’s practically a marathon long, which by the way, the Twin Cities Marathon is in T-minus 49 days.  Eeeeeeek!

Bloggy thangs I still have planned (even if they are taking uber-longer than I expected):

• Marathon training post
• Holly Investigates… post (It’s been 75% done for like three weeks now!)
• Two exciting announcements
• Updates

Hang in there my children…mama WILL eventually get there!

Now, I am downing the rest of my drank and gettin’ down to read some bloggy love!  Say a prayer for my Internet por favor and have a relaxing Sunday night!

 

Highlight of the weekend?  Put it out there peeps!  Mine was probably the amazing run on Saturday morning and the pictures Char, Britt and I took in the photo booth.  They were epic.