fast running, sugar hangovers, and other weekend fun

Hi! Hope your weekend is going well.  Mine has definitely been a good one.  Let's talk running first. I opted to take a rest day Friday, but ran yesterday and today. Yesterday, I had one goal: run one fast mile. I wasn't super optimistic. My goal was sub 7, but I really had no idea if it was possible.  At all.  I started of and felt good, so cranked up the speed. At about .60 of a mile, I almost threw in the figurative towel. Running fast is hard. Who knew? :P I kept going though. That last .10 of a mile, I really cranked it. The result?  6:37 at a 1% incline!

(note that the height and weight aren't set. Turns out I'm not 6'7 or 150 lbs..in case you were confused).

Break out the happy dance, fist pumps, and whatever else.  I was ECSTATIC. I didn't know I had it in me, but I felt awesome. Maybe it's not fast for one mile for some, but it's darn fast for me and I think any time accomplishment, no matter your pace, is worth celebrating and being proud.  I took a break for a few minutes (again, running fast is hard). Then, I hopped back on for two more miles at a slower pace, with varying inclines.

Today, it was so so nice (hello upper 60s!) and I knew I had to take my run outside. I told Ryan I wanted to do a 10k. I set out and felt good. Great, in fact. My legs felt good and strong. My cough finally seemed more or less in check. The sun was shining, there was a breeze (which got kind of strong at some points). Life was good. So what did I do? I set out for 7 miles instead. And that run? It was glorious. All 7 miles, each as wonderful as the last. I had a goal in mind of finishing in an hour. I ended up finishing in 1 hour and 51 seconds, for a 8:41 pace overall. That's a pretty decent clip for me and 7 miles. By the end, I was sweaty, red faced, and a little chafey. It was all worth it, because I felt like I had a great run. 

7 miles in a running skirt in November. Win!

Two back to back runs where I felt fast, strong, and like I could just run for days. Love that feeling. My next run will be much easier and slower because I don't need to be "fast" every day.  

When I wasn't being a fast woman (haha), I was indulging in possibly too much sugar. Before I ran yesterday, I told Ryan I felt like a sugar hangover. From what, you may ask?  This:

candy cane oreo poke cake.

Follow the directions for regular oreo poke cake found: here. Use Candy cane oreos instead (obviously) and use candy cane pudding, which is a little smaller, so use three boxes (most of, may not have to use all). Sorry and you're welcome. It's terrible for you, but tastes delicious. While you're at it, you may want to try these:

(found only at walmart)

And while not as bad for you, I'm suddenly now addicted to these:

peanut butta jelly time!

Needless to say, it was good to run both days after a little indulging and I was mighty glad to eat some greens today. 

It didn't help we had a birthday party last night, so I ate a piece of birthday cake too. It was my nephew's 8th (!!) birthday yesterday. I truly can't believe he's already 8.

The birthday boy and I (and his million legos. The kid is obsessed).

Post party, Ryan and I headed to Best Buy because we had a ton of reward bucks to use. We got all four of these movies for a grand total of...THREE dollars. Savvy spenders, indeed.

Moonrise Kindgom, Safety not Guaranteed, Spiderman, The art of getting by.

We hadn't seen any of them, but had heard good things, so opted to just risk it since we weren't paying for them. Last night, we watched Safety not Guaranteed (which has April from Parks & Rec, Pete from The League, and Nick from New Girl in it if you watch any or all of those shows). We liked it!  Today we watched Moonrise Kingdom (has Bill Murray and Bruce Willis). We liked that one too. We're two for two! Both of those and the Art of Getting By are 'indie-ish', so they may not be everyone's cup of tea. The ones we watched were definitely more unique/quirky, but definitely enjoyable.  

Besides the normal weekend to-do list of errands, laundry, homework, I also fit in a good hangout with my gal pal over coffee. It's definitely been a good weekend. One thing is for sure though, I will be grateful tomorrow when I'm back to consuming mostly healthy things. Sugar hangovers should not be an every day occurrence. 

Off to enjoy the little sliver of the weekend that remains!

Let's chat:

-Quick: tell me one thing that you've celebrated about yourself recently - a fast run, doing well at work/school, eating healthy all week, etc.

-Anyone else have a sugar hangover recently? From what? 

-What were you up to this weekend? Anyone else have fantastic weather?

-Have you seen any of the above movies? Thoughts? Or good movies you've seen recently?

Megan