Monday, March 5, 2012

Weekend Windown and Raffle Winner!

Wow, what a busy weekend it has been!

First things first, I'd like to announce the winner of the Chicago Spring Half Marathon and 10k raffle...

Kevin Goodwin

Congrats to Kevin and thank you to all participants for your donations! This is just the beginning and I have some more fun giveaways in the months to come! :)

Thursday night I had some meetings at work and we went out to dinner afterwards. The group had collectively decided ahead of time to go to Morton's Steakhouse for dinner. Considering I gave up meat for lent this year, I was interested to see how the menu would be. This restaurant definitely does NOT cater to vegetarians. I had very, very few options. In fact, my only option was a chopped salad that I ordered without bacon. Everyone else around me got steak and I was stuck with a crappy salad. (I've had better tasting salads at fast food restaurants.) Oh well, I didn't plan the dinner so there was nothing else I could do. Next time, I might skip a dinner like that. Although, the key lime pie was absolutely delicious! :)

Friday I had additional meetings and no time to blog. I was going to try to fit in some miles on my lunch break, but that didn't happen. Thankfully I was able to complete my long run on Saturday, despite a rocky start to my morning. I met up with the FN Runners out on the Old Plank Trail (standard) for 8 miles. It was a great turnout for a cold Saturday morning!

I got to meet another fellow blogger, Kelly the Culinarian, who made the trip from Addison, IL for our group run! It was great to meet Kelly and it was a great run overall! I had planned to do 12 so after the people looking to do 8 miles went home, Susan and Maggie joined me out on the trail for a few more miles. Susan was looking to do 10 so she joined us for a little while longer while Maggie stayed with me for the full 12. Our overall splits were consistent and we completed the run at an average pace of 9:20. I felt totally comfortable and that is around my goal pace for the Chicago Get Lucky Half Marathon. What was your long run this weekend?

After the long run, I had to take my poor puppy to the groomers. She was overdue and needed a haircut. Unfortunately, she had some mats that needed to be taken care of so she is much shorter than I would have wished.
As much as I am a dog lover and I still love my puppy, I do not love her haircut. Thankfully it is just hair and it will grow back soon. Have you ever had this happen to your pet?

That same night we went out to celebrate my cousin's birthday in downtown Lagrange, IL. It is a cute little place with lots of cool restaurants and bars.
Me and Mom
We had delicious Mexican food (which is much easier to order vegetarian) and of course, margaritas! I was happy to justify the copious amounts of guacamole I consumed with "I ran 12 miles today!" The joys of a long run fulfilled in so many ways! What is your favorite post-run reward?

14 comments:

  1. yay for a 12-miler!! I will probably end up running the same pace as you at get lucky!! I was hoping to go a little faster, but i don't know if the ole stems have it in them!!

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  2. YAY for a great 12 miler! I adore Lagrange...it's been way too long since I've been there...

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  3. Wahoo! While training for your first marathon, I wouldn't try to push the stems too hard. You don't want to get injured before the big day! :)

    We will have to email and exchange phone numbers or something to try to meet up post race! Let me know what you think! :)

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  4. That is cool that you used to live there! My cousin just bought a house within walking distance of the downtown area. I'm sure this is the first of many times we'll be there over the years to come!

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  5. Thanks for inviting me, it was a great run!

    And your puppy is such a pretty girl now. I love when they first come back from the groomers!

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  6. It was so nice to meet you; I'm glad you had fun!

    Thanks so much! I love how she smells and how I can't hear her claws on the ground. I'm just not used to her haircut yet. She doesn't look nearly as massive with less fur, but she's still my ittle baby! :)

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  7. Aww I think Pepper looks adorable!! Lagrange is super cute. We went there a couple times for dinner when we lived in Downers Grove. And I totally splurged at dinner on Saturday night too. We went to the Bier Stube in Frankfort (if you've never been there - probably not a good place for vegetarians) and got some fried stuff for an appetizer and I got a steak and we split cake for dessert. I actually had a ton of leftovers, so I had steak for lunch yesterday and will have it again for dinner.

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  8. Aww, thanks. I just think she looks so silly since I'm used to my fluffy baby!

    I have heard of Bier Stube, but haven't been there. Maybe I'll give it a try if my mom or brother wants to go to dinner, sans husband. :) It does sound delicious though!

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  9. I also think Pepper looks fab!

    You had a fun weekend and an awesome 12-miler!!! I was off my long run this weekend... Anxious to get back with 12 this Saturday!

    We LOVE LOVE LOVE Mexican. There can be a lot of hidden meat stuff in it though. Let me know if you actually care to hear about it ;) I think it's great you are going meat free at all, so it's kind of silly to sweat the small stuff.

    Congrats Kevin!!!

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  10. Thanks! I'm excited to hear about your 12 miler!

    I'm trying to be good about being an actual vegetarian. I know that beans a lot of times are made with meat (if they're not black beans), but I didn't really think about it until you just mentioned it. And today I did have a Lou Malnati's salad at lunch. When "scooping" my salad, I tried to not scoop up any bacon. I did a pretty good job as I think only 2 little pieces made it onto my plate. I figure that is pretty good considering... (I couldn't NOT have a LM salad, it is the best ever.)

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  11. Love the pic of you and your mom! Pepper is adorable too! Great job on the weekend long run!

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  12. Thanks Amanda! I am starting to like Pepper's haircut too. :)

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  13. Kelly, thanks again for the prize. I wasn't planning on doing another half this spring, but if it's free, I can't say no!

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  14. Thanks again for your donation and congrats on the win! Let me know how it goes when the date gets closer! :)

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