Weekend in Solitude...It was a Long One!

Happy Monday friends!

Let's just start out by saying this was a crazy weekend and I'm glad it's over! Here's how it all went down...

Friday: Left work about 3, took the bus home b/c there's still crazy amounts of gravel at the bottom of my hill and I'm terrified of riding the motorcycle anywhere near gravel, packed and checked everything off my list and was on the road before 5. I didn't think that was bad, so I caught some of the 5pm Pullman traffic but that was a waaay better plan than having to catch the 5pm Spokane traffic. We got the the house a little after 6 and I introduced Heif to Meaka. She was afraid of him at first. Probly b/c he's a big goof and was super excited and she'd never seen a dog bigger than her before. She took some time to warm up to him but by the end of the weekend they were great friends.

I tied Heif to a tree and worked on finding my way around the house and settling and unpacking my stuff. By about 8:30, I think I was bored already from the NO INTERNET/NO TV situation. I don't know how people lived before the 1950s b/c just having a radio is super boring! I ended up watching 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' the Swedish version with English subtitles and went to bed about 10 b/c I was tired and knew I had to be up early for my 8am race start.

Saturday: Heif had me up at 2, 4 and finally at 6am I decided it was time to get up. Since I didn't bring his crate with him, I kept him in the downstairs bathroom b/c I figured there wasn't much he could destroy in there, there was tiled floor that would be cool and not damaged if he got his water everywhere. It worked out well.

I got my running stuff on, had a Special K Protein bar for breakfast and was out the door by about 6:40. On the way to the race, I found a Starbucks b/c I needed my tea fix even before a race and it was delish!! I got to the race site and got my number.

I was about 25 mins early so I hung out by my car, drank my tea and sunscreened myself. This ended up being a very good plan!

Before the race, there were some fitness instructors that did some warm up exercises with us. I think this was a good thing and I enjoyed them. The race started and I stayed at my pace, and then the hills started...

The hills begin!

They kept going up, up , up and up.

Up...

Up...

...and more up!

I finally got to the point that my legs were soooo tired and crampy that I had to walk! I ended up meeting a girl named Amy that ran the same pace as me and we trudged up the rest of the hill and were happy to hit the turn around. Then it was finally time to go downhill! YAY!!!

Downhill! Yay!

I thought the rest of the race would be all downhill until we made a turn and there was another hill!

Another stupid hill!

I think I was angry at this point b/c I was ready for the hills to be over! We went through some pretty country roads

 and then wound back around to the Middle school where everything started. I had a burst at the end and ended up leaving Amy and finished in 1:36:28. Then my freaking ipod froze and I lost the whole workout! So it will never post to fb or twitter that I PR'ed by 3 mins on my 10K distance and this one was half uphill! :( I'm still kinda sad about the stupid ipod but will get over it. Amy and I exchanged info and now I have a running buddy in Spokane for when I do races up there. Yay!

After the race was over, they were giving away door prizes and I won a $20 gift card to a local restaurant called Laguna Cafe on the South Hill of Spokane. I was super excited b/c I rarely win anything! After the prizes were all done, I went back to the house, showered and decided that I needed to go shopping! And shopping I did...

I started heading towards the North part of Spokane and went to the TJ Maxx. While I was there, I found some major deals on running stuff! Here's the loot:
1. Reebok RunTone for $50, compared to $100
2. 3 pairs of running shorts for $9.99, $12.99, and $12.99 one pair was even from the Ironman brand!
3. Water belt with 2 bottles and a pocket for $7.99, compared to $20+
4. Handheld water bottle for $3.99, compared to $12
5. Adidas sports socks for $5.99, compared to $12
6. Running tank top for $7.99, compared to $20

For a total of ~$120 spent and savings of ~$125!! SCORE!!!

The next stop was Target! My beloved Mother Ship!!!
I was better in here but my first stop was the Heath food isle for Special K Protein bars. They were even more on sale for $4.90/box!!! So I got 8 boxes thinking that would last me hopefully until my next trip to Spokane. I still have 2 boxes left from my last trip! Then I moved to the entertainment isle and got some movies. Persuasion for $4.75, Fried Green Tomatoes for $4.75, Lipstick Jungle Season 1 for $5, and The Blind Side for $10.

Now I didn't have an excuse for being bored and not having tv/internet b/c I had all this cool stuff to watch! I ended up spending about $80 at Target and decided that was enough shopping for the day but I needed to refuel.

I went to good old Red Robbin and had a Blue Ribbon Burger with sweet potato fries and read my Fitness magazine! It was a great lunch! I headed home with a full trunk and a full belly! I fed the farm animals, let the goats out to graze on the grass for a bit and then hung out with the dogs and watched movies the rest of the night.

Sunday: I got up and fed the animals and then was a bum and layed in the sun for a bit.

The farm...goat, sheep and chickens

the view from the porch

Then, I got ready for my 3pm meet up with fellow runner/blogger Nicole from Geek Turned Athlete. After about 20mins, I left our scheduled meet up place b/c it closed at 3 and went to a Starbucks to steal their internet. I had an email from Nicole that she had a follow up interview and asked to meet at 4. This worked out perfectly! I sat and ready my email/blogs til she got there and then we chatted for about 2 hours! It was just great! Talking to a fellow nerd and runner was a lot of fun!

After I left Starbucks, I was on the side of town where the restaurant that I won the $20 gift card, Laguna Cafe,  and decided to have free dinner there! It ended up being this quaint little bistro type place and I had the Mushroom & Brie soup, the Salade Nicoise with tuna, potatoes, green beans, capers, grape tomatoes and kalamata olives with a vinegraite dressing and I splurged and got the Red Velvet Cake to go. My bill ended up being $27, so not a bad dinner for $7+ tip!

I went home, watched my movies/ tv shows and hung out with the dogs and fed the animals, gathered up my stuff and went to bed.

Heif chillin

Heif after a long day

Monday: I was up at 2, 4 and 6 with Heif and finally decided to roll out of bed at 7:15 to go feed the animals, shower, ate breakfast and had a cup of tea. I packed up my things and Heif in the car and it was about 9:30 and time to leave to go to the Apple store, which didn't open til 10. I thought today was the big day that I could get a new phone and it was!!! HELLO iPHONE4!!!! I'm very excited and now can be in contact with the outside world while I'm at home with no internet. I'm loving my phone so far. I'm now at work, not working b/c you can't really start anything when you get there at 2 and have to catch the 5:30 bus b/c it's raining and still a gravel death in your driveway.

Sorry for such a looong blog but I wanted to get this all out before I forgot anything. Thanks for reading, if you made it all the way through! <3

Do you have an iPhone and do you love it?

Do you have any favorite apps? I hear there is a blogging one. What is it called so I can find it.

How did you survive the weekend?