I did it & I didn't die!

I did this...

And then this...

And then I murdered this....sorry little black beans....

I survived and honestly, it wasn't even that bad. I'm gonna go drink a beer.

Snake Season

Monday's on my training calendar are marked with Weights or Xtraining.

This past Monday I wasn't in the mood to ride my bike on the trainer or lift weights....I was craving the outdoors and some time with my best buddy...and because I had been stuck staring at my computer all day with work, I needed to take it outside.

I am trying to live by the mantra of "just get out and do something"....to not restrict myself, to do something active that is fun and feels good. Why? Because exercising should be fun, creative and enjoyable so if I want to hike, I will hike.

I didn't get a killer workout or anything because it's a short 3.25 hike and I have to stop frequently to give water to this little turd...

It was quiet, hot and peaceful....and I felt a little nervous because it's now snake season and I ran into a rather large rattlesnake last year, so I was on the lookout the whole time. I'm thinking about getting Sadie snake proofed....has anyone done this with their doggies before?

Happy girl.

Weekend of BFF's

***I know it's Wednesday, but I forgot to post this Monday, whoooops***

I got my share of my bestest buddies this weekend...and I loved EVERY second of it.

Friday night, I got fancied up and hit the town with my handsome husband. We went for dinner at AZ88, a favorite of mine and enjoyed martinis and delicious food. My intention was just dinner and a drink or two, but Matt and Gio apparently had other plans for us and because they were visiting from San Fran for the weekend, they won.


As Gio said "we are goin out like we are 21 again".

Oh dear. We sure did.

We went to 3 CLUBS in Old Town Scottsdale. We strutted the streets in our high heels, got hit on by lots of boys (while our men laughed at us from afar), drank a few drinks, passed through a few VIP lines and had a lot of fun. Going out at 29 and married is a lot different than 21, broke and single. My husband had too many drinks and I paid him back by dousing his 3:00 am grilled cheese with Tabasco sauce.

I'm evil, mwahahaha.

I woke up Saturday (after 5 hours of sleep, yikes) and did a little work, enjoyed the morning and eventually got dressed to celebrate the wedding of my BFF's little bro and his future wife at a nice little Bridal Shower. The spread was amazing, the margaritas were tasty and most of all, I enjoyed spending some QT with Sara who was up from Tucson, we don't get that very often and it was really nice (and selfish of me) to get her to myself for a while.

Saturday night was another attempt at homemade pizza...we are getting better at this task, and then just lounging on the couch.

And Sunday was the usual day of laundry, errands, a short run and visiting my Goddaughter Natalie and my other BFF and her husband. Natalie will be 1 in May, and I cannot believe how fast time flies, how big she is and how smart she is getting...not that I'm partial or anything. I just LOVE her!

It was a SUPER weekend...I wish I could see them all every weekend.

A Light and Some Pasta

That was me walking my puppies last night...I absolutely LOVE living where we do. Our neighborhood is flanked by desert and one of my favorite things to do is walk along the edges, with my pups in tow. It makes me feel VERY lucky. But the real light was revealed today.

Back up to last night for a minute. I decided to rearrange my running schedule so that I could go out tonight and not run Saturday morning before a bridal shower I'm attending and to actually enjoy my whole Sunday off with nothing to do (except a short 5 miler). So I threw together a tasty pasta dinner, made with random crap I had in my kitchen. Kitchen sausage, wheat pasta, broccoli, a few shrimp, feta...and the kicker, red curry sauce. It was delish.

I set out this morning all alone, with some GU chomps, a drink and my iPod. I decided to run a simple loop around my house and smaller section of my neighborhood that is a total of 3.6 miles instead of my usual winding paths throughout the larger section of my neighborhood. I feared I would get bored. I did not. I actually appreciated the route...and of having one area that I kept my drink at to focus on as a next "goal" with each lap.

Neato.

So the light? It's that one at the end of the tunnel. 

I ran 13.1 today. I walked several times and I ran a slower pace than what I usually prefer to do with the guidance of my BFF Hal Higdon. He suggests running 30 to 90 sections slower than my estimated race pace. I didn't run THAT slow being that it is a shorter long run in the marathon training...

No pain. My body felt good. My lungs are still congested from my cold so I got winded faster than usual, but I was happy with my end result.

Well I better go get fancy for my big night out on the town!