Will Run for Tiramisu

Hey guys! How is your week going thus far? I can’t complain here, it hasn’t been a bad one at all.

So, after Saturday’s GREAT race we headed home, showered and changed, and headed over to Dog Day. Last year due to a massive wreck on the interstate we had totally missed it, which was pretty disappointing. This year I just WISH we had missed it! After the disappointing Top Dog announcement we wandered around the booths. It was mostly organic dog treats and clothes for tiny dogs. I’m not sure why they think dogs enjoy shopping, because there just wasn’t much for dogs to do otherwise. There were a few other “cutest tail” contests and stuff like that but we had already blown $10 to get in and $10 for Pippin to enter Top Dog and I didn’t really want to “donate” more for no return. We were there less than an hour and totally disappointed. Two years ago there had been a really fun event for the dogs where they chase this little white lure on a pulley system. It was hilarious to watch the “sporting dogs” go for it, and Pippin had fun just watching them. Other than meeting Steph in person the only other highlight was chatting with a British lady who had a Boston and a Pug, the dream doggie combination. And we love the British. Most of the other dogs there could have easily been classified as horses, and a lot of them were so snippy. For free we could’ve just taken Pippin to the dog park .5 mile from our house or the one right there at Centennial Park and he could play off leash. A couple of my coworkers also went and thought it was a drag compared to previous years, and none of us are planning to waste our time with it next year. Oh well.

From there we attempted to head back to Oktoberfest for a late lunch but by then it was sheer insanity and chaos. Cars were parked EVERYWHERE including blocking the ATM and all other lanes of the bank we tried to get cash from! Total mess! We did not feel like dealing with 30K oblivious people so we headed home and just made some lunch. From there on out it was all about decorating for Halloween!! Spider webs, lights, garland – we’ve got it!! I love Halloween; it’s such a fun holiday!!

In anticipation of Sunday’s long run we decided to try out a new Italian restaurant in the ‘hood for dinner. We weren’t exactly sure where we had seen it so we decided to drive (versus walk). We found it pretty easily and it wasn’t crowded, at all. The food was just….ok. Their breadsticks are LITERALLY sitting in butter. They’re seriously good but we had to sort of stand them up in the basket to let some butter drip off. A salad was $3.95 extra so we skipped that. I ordered their “homemade” fettuccini alfredo, which was definitely homemade but very light on the alfredo. Brent makes a SERIOUS alfredo from scratch and it is WAY better. This alfredo was so thin I felt like I ate a plate of noodles. I guess that’s healthier anyway. I will definitely go back again but I’m going to try something else. We got a tiramisu to go as a reward for after our long run. Tiramisu is my favorite dessert, hands down! (Although theirs is WAY overpriced at $7 for a pretty small piece.)

So Sunday. Time for a long run. Ugh. I hate this part of training when it becomes a chore, like work. I had wanted to run for 4-4:30 hours, but I really just wasn’t feeling it. It was cold, we were shivering before we got started and it took a good mile to warm up and feel good. Both of us were just SO bored. Nothing hurt, nothing was wrong….we just did NOT want to be there. I think racing the 5K the day before also took something out of us as well. We just had no desire. Brent came up with a fun game to try to entertain us – Bostons in the Woods. There were a TON of squirrels and chipmunks running around storing up for winter. Brent decided we should picture them all as Boston Terriers running around, climbing trees, eating nuts, etc. And all chipmunks became pugs – just like Phog. It was so funny trying to picture chubby Pippin leaping from tree to tree, and little Phog scampering along a log. That kept us entertained for a couple of miles. Throw in some person holed up for all of eternity in the one and only portapotty for MILES and it was just a crappy run. We got back to the car around 10-11 miles to change shirts (to short sleeves) and water bottles and we just sort of stared at each other like – ‘ugh, do we HAVE to keep doing this??’ I really, really hate quitting but I had zilch desire to do that run one more time in reverse. We decided it would be more fun to run the trails, which are still GREAT hill training. First we ran the cross-country course so I could use a portapotty and then we ran over to the trailhead. And stopped. And sort of stared at each other like it would be SO nice to go home. But deep down I just did not want to call it quits at 12 miles. We ponied up and headed out. Once we were on the trails things just became a bit more interesting. I was still tired and it was still tough but we were making it and having fun. We did one loop and then called it quits, somewhere around 17 miles. Still not as far as I had originally planned but not half bad.

We’re just so sick of the hill training, I’m starting to feel like this race can’t get here fast enough! This weekend we’re going to do 12 miles of trails and then the following weekend is my “super cute” training run marathon. Let me tell you – I’ve seen the elevation chart now and it is NOT so super cute looking anymore!!! JEEZ! YIKES!
Well, this is too long already so I am signing out!! Have a great week!!