Workout Related

So - I'm going to start doing this every Friday. Kind of like a 'review' of my workouts of the week.
Saturday - 30 miles on the bike/3400yd swim
Sunday-Yard work (counts in my book!)
Monday-Off (weather)
Tuesday-4.5 mile run
Weds- Off (weather)
Thursday-Off (weather)
Friday- 8.5 mile run
Ok - this week was kind of off due to the awesome rain we've had down here. Plus I've been picking up a few babysitting jobs after work, so that has been taking up some time.

Not to mention how AWESOME the Olympics have been this year! I've been glued.

Ahh..St. Louis

The trip back to St. Louis was great. My family lives in St. Louis Hills - so they are pretty much in the middle of everything. We had such a great time going to all of the little bars and doing all of the 'tourists' things - such as touring the BUDWEISER plant for the 110th time. But it's always fun. My dad wanted to go because it might just shut down due to the buy out. Touring the plant always reminds me of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. People working, big machines, lots of 'do not enter' signs - but lots of goodness being produced every day :)

So - after the tour, we went to Cafe Venice which is right around the corner. The bar it's self is very small - but has amazing random pieces of 'art' all over the walls. Great food, great atmosphere, amazing bands, and a breathtaking court yard. If you are EVER in the St. Louis area CHECK IT OUT! Here is their site: http://www.thevenicecafe.com/ Since is was the middle of the day, the upstairs (aka Safari room) was closed, but since my dad's old frat brother owns the place the cook took us on a tour. Ahhh...what a great day with the family :)

Since the family is full of runners, we had our 'track team' pretty much out ever morning. My dad kept on thinking that my Garmin beeping at every mile was my cell phone - but now wants a Garmin himself :) We ran Forest Park a few times which was amazing and also a few other parks around the house. Love St. Louis. What a great trip home!

Heading to St. Louis

My sister and I are heading home to St. Louis today after work. We grew up driving through the night to wake up at the beach - and now we're just doing the same thing backwards. :) But we're taking my new car wish I'm totally pumped about. The Crossfire use to be my mode of transportation - and I decided to trade it in last week for a 2006 Jetta. I traded in the Crossfire for two reasons 1) Needed more room - I can't fit more than one other person, much less a BIKE in the Crossfire and 2) lower car payments. I loved my crossfire, but it was time to grow up a bit and actually get a four door car. Please note - this is the first four door car I have EVER owned. Huge step for me.



So back to the drive. Since we'll be cruising in the sweet new Jetta - it should be fun. Allison and I are pretty good at taking turns driving through the night. One of the best things about long trips is (don't call me a geek) but books on CD's. I love them on long trips. They keep your mind going and help pass the time quickly!



Quick Random Note - if one more of my friends get engaged or have a baby with in the next year I'm either going to be BROKE or shoot myself :) Congrats to Mindy and Kristen!

Another quick note - I get on the Runners World Forum through out the day. At work I'm on hold quite a bit so it help passes the time. Anyway - if you get on the same threads, you'll see the same people. One person in particular really hit a soft spot one random day. She went on and starting typing about how her twin brother had just passed from cancer. She did not even know why she was posting. But it really effected me - how a person that I have not even met in person (but we both share the love of running) could make me so emotional. Anyway, she started to do Team in Training (TNT) to raise money and run a marathon for Cancer research. So I clicked on her link and donated $$. Not a huge amount - but anything helps. Cancer scares the shit out of me - so anything that can stop it needs to be done.

Random acts of kindness is the way to go. Click on her site and help out http://pages.teamintraining.org/sd/nikesf08/ngriffin

Karma is a good thing. Pass it along.

FISHING!

This past Saturday - Jason did not have a trip so we decided to go fishing. Now, I'm not like your typical girl when it comes to fishing. I'm obsessed with it. I can fish all day long. And we did. All over the bay. We did not find any red fish, but I did limit out on grouper, snapper, and rocked out a few flounders. Looking forward to the fresh fish tacos that we are going to cook up tonight!

I never really talked about this before on this 'blog' but I'm also into Triathlons. Love them. I can swim and run all day - but the bike is my downfall. Mentally it just brings me down. So - I decided that the bike will not win. Mentally, I know I can rock out 40+ miles on that bad boy. So cheer me on as I take on this challenge!!

Also - we just found out the one of my fishing pictures made it into Florida Sportsman! It's a fishing magazine that is pretty popular all over the state! I'll post it once I get a copy!!

Too Hot Outside...

This morning my whole goal was to run around 13 miles. We met at 5am to beat the heat. But I think the heat beat most of us! It was so hot and sticky outside that the run was just plain painful! GU and water in hand - but nothing helped. I only got about 9 miles in - but I'm proud of my self for that distance!

After the run - I stretched on a near by beach access. The waves where high due to hurricane Dolly so there where a ton of surfers to watch. Anyway - as I was stretching, I look to the right and see 3 huge, wonderful looking wine glasses. Jackpot. They are now in the back of my car waiting to be watched and drank out of tonight! That is a great highlight about living where I live. Drunk tourists. In the morning when I run I find all kinds of random 'road finds' - cameras, hats, and now wine glasses!

Here are a few more pictures from the Maine wedding - breathtaking. The photographers just grabbed the whole weekend and captured everything amazing and stuck it on a picture for all of us to enjoy. They are putting together a slide show - but no one is going to see it until the reception a week from Saturday. Which brings me to how excited I am to go to ST. LOUIS!! I love that city. Please note the red for the good old Cardinals. Go cards!

TGIFFFFFFF....

Thank goodness it's Friday. Friday is date night for Jason and I. We usually go to this little hole in the wall Mexican place where we can bring our own beer - not too greasy and not full of cheese. Just the way we like it!



So I finally broke down today and tried some GU gel before my run. My runs on friday are typically not hard at all - but lately the heat and humidity have been bringing everyone down a bit. But I felt GREAT! I'm excited to try out tomorrow morning before my race! Possibly get a sub 21? That would be AWESOME. It's been awhile since I've done just a 5K - so it should be fun.

The best wedding party picture ever...

The photographers from the Maine Wedding just posted this picture on their blog - and I HAD to share this picture asap. You can also find this picture on page 20 in the newest J Crew magazine. (just kidding).