Whirlwind Weekend!

This was a crazy busy weekend! Friday night was a surprise party for my mom's 50th birthday. We successfully pulled off the surprise!

*Mom when she first walked in!*

*Me and my family*

I was glad my mom had a great time at her party. Around 8 PM, my legs started feeling pretty sore from Friday morning's boot camp class. I tried to stretch for awhile and hoped it wouldn't be worse in the morning...

Saturday

Ow. OW. OWW!!! I pretty much have not done squats since May, so my legs and butt were not at all used to this and were killing me! Phil and I were meeting up with my friends Lisa, Cheryl and Ingrid and their fiancés and husbands at Scarecrow Fest in St. Charles. The weather was beautiful and the St. Charles area is gorgeous. Finding parking was a nightmare, though! I had been hoping to work out in the morning but given how badly my legs were hurting, I decided to skip, especially because I knew we'd be doing a lot of walking at the fest.

*Phil having a deep conversation at Scarecrow Fest*

*Just one example of the different types of "scarecrows"!*

After the group split up, Phil and I enjoyed some burgers and a pitcher of beer on the rooftop of one of the restaurants nearby. We were pretty tired, so we just stayed in for the evening.

Sunday

Sunday was my mom's actual birthday. She got another surprise in the morning!



I watched some of the Chicago marathon in the morning and saw the first finisher, Moses Mosop, cross the finish line. It was absolutely amazing to watch. I finished my half marathon in 2 hours, 13 minutes; this runner finished the full in 2 hours, 5 minutes! Much of his mile pace was 4 minutes, 40 seconds. So incredible what people can accomplish. I cannot imagine running a single mile that fast, let alone keeping up that pace for a marathon. My legs were still aching just as much on Sunday morning, so I decided to work out to see if that would loosen them up. After watching the marathon, I definitely didn't want to confine myself to an indoor workout on such a beautiful day, so I hit the pavement. I haven't run outdoors in about a month, so I was pleased I ran 4.3 miles. I loved seeing all the beautiful trees and feeling the leaves crunch beneath my feet. While it was a nice run, it didn't do much for my muscles. Still sore and aching!

Then it was off to Phil's second cousin's 2nd birthday. I love Hannah, she is such a little cutie!

*Me and the birthday girl!*

This is where the food overload began. I had a sandwich from Potbelly at about 1 PM. We ate at Hannah's party around 4 - I tried to keep my servings small, food was catered from Qdoba so I just made a mini nacho plate for myself. I wish I could have stayed at the party longer, but it was off to my mom's birthday dinner at Jameson's Charhouse. I had to order something, otherwise me being there was kinda pointless! I got a cheeseburger and ate about 3/4 of it. When we got home, I fell asleep on the couch for a good hour. Food coma!

The amount of sweets in our house right now is pretty awful - may the force be with me this week to avoid these! Look at all this sugar in a house of three people - ridiculous!

Chocolate covered strawberries, Halloween cupcakes,

brownies, Oreos, Chips Ahoy and leftover birthday cake

Well, off to bed - have to be up bright and early for boot camp! I just hope my legs can make it there!

Brownies, frustration, and a triathlon

This entry is going to get right to the point of its title.

I ate 2 brownies today. They were relatively small and thin. Homemade ones. I couldn't resist. Beating myself up about it now.

Frustrated because a girl I know posted on Facebook that she already lost 5 pounds with Weight Watchers. I just don't buy diets like that. I think they are not sustainable long term. Still, annoyed...and jealous...

So, I can't believe the words I'm about to say: I'm going to do a mini-triathlon this year. It's right in my neighborhood in August. My mom's friend did this very race last year, and through just 2 e-mails she's already given me so much helpful information on training. When it gets closer, she will also show me the course and explain the transitions from swimming to biking and biking to running, which I was curious about.

I'm excited and terrified at the same time! I just don't want to fail. It will be interesting to blog about my training for the triathlon once that starts. Robin (a friend of mine from grade school and my current workout buddy) wants to join in on it too. I think that will help a lot to have someone at my fitness level to train with!

Here are the distances:

250 yard swim (10 down and backs of a swimming pool)

6.5 mile bike ride

2.1 mile run

Looking at this now, I think the swim will be the hardest. Swimming laps isn't something I've practiced much. My gym, LA Fitness, has a pool so I need to start practicing. I'm not very concerned about the biking. I think my legs are really strong and I biked a LOT with my dad when I was younger. I was planning on buying a new bike in the spring anyway, so that will be the perfect time to work on building up endurance. Still, it just doesn't sound like a lot...I mean last summer I ran 5 miles a few times. This is just biking it.

Right now, running 2 miles is a piece of cake. But I know that I have to build up my strength, because it's not going to be such a piece of cake after the swimming and bike ride!

I also found a 5K in the area in May, so I'm going to do another one of those and maybe another in June.

Eek! This will be a journey, that's for sure!