2009 March 01

Is the weekend really over?!?!?! I had too much fun this weekend, tell it to come back! I refuse to believe its over and just want to keep living each and every experience over and over again.

At least it has ended on a good note…

This afternoon it was so nice to meet up with some great fellow bloggers to celebrate the end of mine and Caitlin’s Tampa Adventure.

From left to right: Courtney, Me, Caitlin, Jenna, Maddy, Ashley, Ryan, and Jenna’s friend who had also ran the 5k the morning before.

Jenna was able to hook all 10 of us (there are a couple of male guests missing from the above picture) at the very cute and welcoming Datz Delicatessan.

I fell in love with this place as soon as I walked inside. It had that great fun, local vibe that just shined through all of the decor and layout.

We had a bit of a wait when we arrived, but the staff was passing out free samples of Raspberry Danishes (I had just a bite) and some Hot Chocolate (which was actually cold chocolate)

Upon being seated complimentary Monkey Bread was brought to our table. It was very funny to see the camera’s come flying as soon as it hit the table.

I managed to stick with this single piece, though every urge in my body told me to go back to more.

We were also provided with complimentary Sparkling Wine. Nothing like a little bubbly to bring a group of semi-strangers out of their shell.

Enjoying the free drinks.

I was very excited when I first discovered the Datz menu online because it featured many great sandwiches including some veggie ones I was coveting. Sadly, all they had today was the Sunday Brunch menu which featured no Veggie Sammies, I even asked if they could make me one and they declined.

For some reason I was not feeling any of the brunch items, but settled on the Lettuce Entertain You Salad: organic greens, smoked turkey breast, vermont cheddar cheese, blueberries, strawberries, strawberries, raspberries, cheery tomatoes, candied walnuts, with datz berry vinaigrette on the side.

It was a HUGE, beautiful, colorful salad that I could barely eat half of. I can’t wait to finish it off for lunch tomorrow.

I also ordered a side of Potato Latke Fingers.. which are kind of like hashbrowns in stick form.

I had about two of the fingers and shared the rest.

It was so great to spend the time getting to know all of the bloggers, it always amazes me how easy every one is to talk to and conversations never seemed to stall around the table. I look forward to meeting up many times in the future with my new friends.

After we said our good byes, Caitlin and I picked up Abbie and were on the road back home. Of course, we did have one stop we had to make.

Dairy Queen!! It was our treat to ourselves for completing the Bud Light Challenge. I ordered a small Chocolate Dipped Cone while Caitlin finally got to enjoy her Blizzard.

I think she was in Blizzard Heaven and was mmming and awwwwing with every bite she took.

I was not hungry at all for dinner until close to 8:00. I finally decided I just needed to eat something because I needed to get to sleep. so I dug some soup to of the freezer and presto instant dinner.

This was the last of my Chickpea Noodle Soup I made a couple of weeks ago.

I also had a Cranberry Walnut Muffin to round out my meal.

I think I can now fully understand what being truly exhausted feels like! After two back 2 back 4:30am wake up calls I am in desperate need of a ton of sleep. I am hitting the hay early tonight and sleeping in tomorrow morning. Good night blog world!

{ 35 comments }

3 Races…. 2 PRs… 1 Fucking AMAZING weekend of running!!!!!

That’s right, I survived my Half Marathon this weekend and it was amazing. The rain held off until the end and I was smoking my split times each mile. In the end I killed it coming in below my goal and shaving over 7 minutes off my previous personal best! :)

I am officially a hardcore runner and I feel great.

Thankfully last night I as able to pass the heck out at 10:00 and slept peacefully until the alarm went off at 4:30. I hopped up, ready to take on the next day of racing.

For pre-race fuel I had a Bagel with a smear of Blueberry Cream Cheese and a Big Ole Apple.

The race started at 6:00am and we were thankful the predicted early morning rain was still not bursting from the sky. Caitlin and I came prepared, waterproofing our gear and accepting the challenge of the bleak forecast.

At the starting line, my legs felt great and adrenaline was pumping through me.

As the race started and over 11,000 people started to cross the same start line, there was a bit of a stall and major congestion starting off.

I lost Caitlin almost immediately at the beginning. I was on my own and this race was mine for the taking. I weaved in and out around the crowd for the first couple of miles. Around mile 2 it finally started to thin out and I was able to set a 9:00 minute pace I had been comfortable with the day before.

I kept my head in the game and just focused on running at pace. I turned the volume of Ipod to high and went with the flow. I passed pace group after pace group and each time I did there was this wealth of accomplishment running through me that I was beating that pace.

Mile 5 I took two Orange Shot Blox and let them dissolve in my mouth for a boost of energy. I took two more at mile 10 and was given an orange slice at mile 11. I took water from every station, but did not stop or walk while drinking. I think I have officially mastered the double sip then throwing of the cup.

After mile 7 there was a 3 mile stretch down Bayshore that had us running directly into the wind. It was the most tortureous 3 miles of the race and I saw my pace suffer tremendously because of it. Luckily there was a turn around point that had us finishing off the race with the wind at our back.

At the turn around point I was able to spot Caitlin in the crowd going to opposite direction running about 1/2 a mile behind me. It felt good to see her familiar face.

Then it started to rain!

THANK GOD it held off until mile 11! Everyone started to shout and honestly at that point I welcomed the rain. Luckily it was very light rain that didn’t last for long.

When I saw the finish I knew I had to give it all I had because I was SOOOOO CLOSE to coming under my goal of 2:00. I picked up my speed and was THRILLED to see my final time at 1:58:56!!!!!! I was shouting up and down thrilled with excitement for beating my goal.

Split Times:

Mile 1: 9:15
Mile 2: 9:03
Mile 3: 8:53
Mile 4: 8:55
Mile 5: 8:56
Mile 6: 9:00
Mile 7: 9:07
Mile 8: 9:13
Mile 9: 9:27
Mile 10: 9:26
Mile 11: 9:11
Mile 12: 8:58
Mile 13: 8:40
Finish: 0:48

Race States:

Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 1:58:56
Average Pace: 9:05
Average Heart Rate: 174
Calories Burned: 1278

Being my second PR in two days, you can bet I was a big emotional mess at the finish line.

Caitlin and I were in pain but thrilled with out accomplishments.

A guy walking by had hot breakfast sandwiches in his hand and I grabbed a small Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Crossiant which I devoured in less then a minute.

Best damn Croissant Sandwich I ever had!!

Around mile 3 of the race I could feel my shoe rubbing against my ankle thanks to a too low sock. I had pushed the pain out of my mind and refused chance my time by stopping and fixing the problem. When we were walking back to the car I finally got a glimpse of my heel.

I was shocked to see soo much blood on my heel and can not believe I managed to run with this.

I guess this makes me hardcore?… or just incredibly stupid…lol Tis the price a small price to pay for running 25.5 miles this weekend.

After a nice hot shower and some good stretches I re-fueled once more with a Cranberry Walnut Multigrain Muffin and some Fruit Salad.

Now its time to back up and head out. I am very excited to meet some wonderful bloggers this weekend for a Gasparilla lunch met up. And of course I believe there is some Blizzard in the future a la Caitlin!

{ 81 comments }