7 month check in??

I had this idea to do a mid-year check in on all the goals I set at the beginning of the year (and the other day I listened to a podcast with Chalene Johnson on push goals and how to be successful at setting and maintaining goals that reminded me again), but now it’s August, so it’s kind of less a mid-year check in and more….a mid-year plus a little more check in.  The good news is I’ve been doing productive sorts of things in the meantime!  Mostly!  But anyway!

• Practice yoga more regularly – I started the year off REALLY strong with this, going 2-3 times a week and just loving it.  I still love yoga (especially a really awesome juicy hot vinyasa class with enormously loud music where I can just lose myself in my body), but…..it’s summer, and being in a 100 degree room full of other sweaty bodies is just harder to find the motivation for right now.  BUT I’ve still been going around once a week, and putting in a lot of work on the “flashier” aspects – after months of trying, I finally nailed getting up into & holding bound headstand without any sort of wall! (Actually my first successful bound handstand with no wall happened on a precarious cliff edge at Mesa Verde in Colorado….

• Incorporate more strength training – YES!!  I’ve been going to barbell-based group fitness classes two days a week, which have been fabulous, even though they use simple iron grip equipment & not full size bars – I’ve definitely seen large strength improvements. My squats, chest & back have gone up exponentially and I’m slowly dragging my biceps along as well.  I just started a new boot camp program and let me tell you what, outdoor tire flips & prowler pushes ALL DAY make you feel pretty bad ass.  My new goal is to get into my gym’s Alpha Training (similar to Crossfit, with Olympic lifting & WOD-style workouts) by the end of the year!

• Read 50 books – I’m at 36! Definitely on track to finish 50+ by the end of the year.  Reading is something I haven’t done that much of in the past couple years, and it has felt REALLY good to get back into it.  I’ve been carving out an hour or so at night to do nothing but read from the comfort of my bed (I’ve even in the past week been starting to leave my phone OUTSIDE the bedroom charging through the night, which I never thought I’d be able to do…) and it’s such a nice way to wind down at the end of the day.

• Get more done – I’d say this is about 75/25.  I HAVE been doing much better at planning out my days to make the  most of my time, and I’ve gotten a lot of things done that I’ve been wanting to/planning on and at forcing myself to just get up and accomplish a task, but there are still those 5-10 minute jobs that I just can’t find it in my not to procrastinate on…

• Write more – PFFT. Moving on.  

• Run at least 6 races – I’ve done 3 so far (The Color Vibe, Hightail to Ale, & Insane Inflatable 5K) and have another one scheduled tonight (Glow in the Park!), so I’m almost there J  Looking at a Halloween race as well as maybe something closer to winter (Hot Chocolate 5k in Columbus is a possibility). I actually really like running when it’s colder out!

• Brew one batch a month – I’ve kept CLOSE to this. I’ve also gotten a lot more scientific in my brewing & started doing a much better job monitoring the process & my efficiencies, which I think has made a pretty substantial difference in overall quantity.  I’ve made a few really quality brews this year, and I’m pretty excited about this barleywine that I’ve got fermenting away right now, as well as the watermelon gose that’s currently in the works!  The second half of this goal was to seriously look in to an apprenticeship or volunteering at a brewery, which I have NOT put time and effort into yet, but I have one lead (a friend is head brewer at a brewery that is expanding) and one potential lead (a brewery run by a guy in my homebrew club is slated to open in a couple months), so the possibilities are out there….  

Bon bon bons & beers beers beers <3

•  Go camping for the first time ever! – YES!!  This happened and it was fabulous!  I went out to Colorado over my birthday and was treated to some glorious company, incredible beer, mountains to die for and also an army of Scottie dogs (no, really).  Despite the fact that it happened over a month ago, I still want to write about the experience so maybe someday…

Overall I think I’ve made some pretty decent progress – obviously there’s some things I’ve skimped out on, but 2015 has been MUCH more good than bad when it comes to personal improvement, and there’s still 5 months left!

colorado part one

I went on a pretty awesome trip a couple weeks ago and it’s only about now that I’ve gotten caught up enough on life again to put it into words –

A few months ago I realized few important things: #1. I somehow had acquired a steadily growing list of friends who call the Denver, Colorado area home, #2. I have not been to an NHL game at the Pepsi Center, #3. There are some really good beers coming out of that area, and #4. I’ve never actually been in the mountains.  In 2005 I went on a trip to China that involved some very harrowing bus-driving on some very narrow, very steep, very precarious Chinese roads, but I was actually marginally concerned for my life through most of that jaunt, so I don’t think I really got to take in the actual enormity and beauty of being surrounded by gigantic rock formations sticking up out of the earth.  Anyway, all these realizations turned into a whirlwind planned trip centered around what else but an Avalanche/Red Wings game.

I spent the first few days of the trip in Denver, staying with an old college friend who had to work for much of the time I was there, which gave me a lot of time to explore (and to walk multiple miles & indulge in a lot of day drinking and donuts) downtown Denver.  The first day I was there it snowed literally all day – wet, sloppy snow that soaked immediately through my inappropriately cable knit boots.  Fortunately for me, it literally ALL melted by the middle of the next day, and there were a number of Denver highlights that rendered soggy feet a small price to pay:

• Voodoo Donuts – There’s something to be said for a fritter the size of my face covered in banana, peanut butter, peanuts, and chocolate chips consumed slowly over the course of 48 hours (shoutout to college friend Nancy’s roommate for helping me consume a big chunk of this thing and therefore lessening the hatred I felt for myself when I reached the end of the world’s largest donut).

Worth the walk!

That's ONE donut in a half dozen box...

•  The Denver Beer Scene – During my day of wandering I made (accidentally) to The Cheeky Monk, which, while not being a brewery, had a ridiculously enormous selection of Belgian beers to pick from.  Since I had a bit of time to kick back and wait for Nancy to get off of work, I made friends with the bartender, who forcefed (really, I swear) me samples of all kinds of fabulous Belgian quads.  Life was truly good.  That evening we also made it to Epic, River North, Great Divide, and Wynkoop where I ate a burger I could actually not pick up even with two hands and took a picture with a giant gorilla before returning home to finish consuming above mentioned face-sized donut.

Oh, there it is!

First beer of the trip was a Kasteel Rouge. Please, more always.

St. Bernadus ABT 12

Epic!

Do you think they'd let me hug those barrels?

My lady date <3

There's a burger under this somewhere.

After I ate that burger I was sober enough to call a Lyft ride, and to do this.

• Denver City Park – Feeling slightly gross but also really awake the next morning, I crawled out of bed (couch) to watch the sun rise, at which point Nancy and I each realized each other was awake and decided to set out on a brisk morning run to get over the last twinges of hangover (and to work off the damn donut).  What I did not know was that it was going to be GORGEOUS.  I love exercise but I hate running – but if it looked like this every time I did it, I could be more often convinced.

Denver City Park after dawn.

• Blue Sushi – Shout out to literally the best vegetarian sushi roll I have EVER had.  After a quick bus ride downtown (during which I FINALLY saw mountains!!!!), I met up with Nanc and another friend for a quick lunch.  I love sushi but I feel like I always get the same things (lots and lots and l o o o o t s of raw salmon), so I decided to mix it up and get their lunch sashimi/sushi combo, which meant I DID get raw salmon, but I also got to pick a roll & I ended up going with the “Eden Roll,” which was sweet potato tempura topped with edamame hummus, a sun dried tomato, and a drizzle of olive oil.  I’m not usually an all-veggie sushi style girl, but hot damn. Hot. Damn.  (The weirdest part was it was really that little bit of olive oil that just pulled it all together into actual bliss in my mouth – never would have expected that!)

Eden indeed...

• Jagged Mountain Tequila Barrel Aged Porter – That happened.  Never would have put those flavors together.  Someone is clearly smarter at beer than me.

That Whiskey Voodoo Goat was nothing to scoff at, either.

• The Pepsi Center – First off, let me tell you something: Colorado is apparently the home of lost, misplaced, relocated Michiganders.  You know how at the Joe when there’s a Canadian team in town (especially when it’s the poor, woe begotten Maple Leafs), the crowd is literally 50/50 Wings fans & opposing team fans?  That’s how the Pepsi Center was. That’s how the arena-adjacent bar before the game was.  That’s how the streets of Denver the entire afternoon prior to the game were. Detroit jerseys EVERYWHERE, Detroit fans cheering, Detroit fans drowning out the Colorado fans, Detroit fans laughing forever when for some reason Roy thought it was the most intelligent decision to pull his goalie with 3 minutes remaining in a 1-0 game and give the Wings the opportunity to score not one but TWO empty net goals.  Thanks for the memories, Pepsi Center; you’re a beauty.

Soooo much red and white!

Detroit vs. Everybody <3

 

And then it was time to say goodbye to Denver and hop on the road (literally out of the parking structure and on the freeway in like ten minutes – you got a lot to learn, Detroit) to Fort Collins while deconstructing poor pop radio and contemplating how much beer was going to be consumed in the next 48 hours…

toronto cask days 2014!

Daddy-daughter day at the Cask Festival!

Having been home from the Motherland for two days now, I can say with confidence that I vastly prefer trolling for craft beer and shenanigans in my favorite city in the world to working in the automotive industry.

Last weekend was a blur (literally, given how much beer was consumed on Saturday) of friends, family, cask beer & the Great White North.  I was invited by my dearest Ottawa-based friends to come up for Toronto Cask Days – to which I took the opportunity to invite my pops, who is not only my best beer drinking buddy, but also a native Torontonian who hasn’t been to the city he grew up in for over a decade – and immediately RSVP’d a resounding YES.

We took off for the city Friday after work, but didn’t hit the Blue Water bridge without a quick stop at Michigan Brewery #93 on my list – formerly Quay Street, now known as Thumb Coast (much catchier, IMO).  I had optimistically mediocre expectations, but was actually really surprised by how GOOD their beer was!  We tried both the Hitch Hiker IPA (solid, malty) and the Wet Hopped on Quay (bitter but not grassy with a sweet kick at the end), and then because they were so good, had to sample the Expedition Coffee Stout as well (very roasty, lots of coffee, but drier than a lot of coffee stouts, which was a nice change).

Back on the road with raisin tea biscuits in hand, we made AWESOME time to Toronto, where we checked in to our hotel, tossed our stuff down and bee-lined for Bar Volo for some cask beer pre-gaming and charcuterie.  I ended up sampling Great Lakes & Amsterdamn’s collaboration, “Maverick & Gose” (chardonnay barrel-aged Gose), and Bellwoods’ “Skeleton Key” (13% ABV spiced stout – wow).  My favorite thing about Bar Volo is the atmosphere – I’m not even sure how to explain it, it’s dark and homey and has a really great sort of comfortable after-hours coffee shop feel to it.  My last time there was early 2013, so I was pleased to see it stood the stand of time well (although I missed the couch!).  Having finished our beers, we somewhat fuzzily headed back to the hotel (but not without stopping for some late night hole in the wall shawarma sandwiches)…

Maverick & Gose!

The BarVolo tap list - 90% perfect except where are all the hops??

Saturday morning we rolled out of bed early, packed in some hotel breakfast buffet, and then hit the hotel fitness center where I got in a quick workout (ran 1.5 miles, did a little bit of weight and core work, and then practiced some headstands), and then it was time to meet all our Ottawa Beer Blogger co. friends!  We shuttled out to Evergreen Brickworks (which was just an incredibly cool venue for an event like this – half outdoor & half indoor, bustling with music & people & beers, and this really awesome urban outdoorsy steel-wood-greenery kind of vibe) and handed over our tickets in exchange for some really cute Cask Days mason jars and 4 (HA) tokens to begin our adventure.

The cool thing about having such a big group was that we basically set up a meeting spot and then we’d all break, get a sample, come back and pass it along until everyone had tried everything – rinse & repeat.  Of course when you figure in how much beer that resulted in all of us drinking….

Love & lagers with my ones of my dearest Ottawa friends, Pav.

Inside the Evergreen Brickworks - don't ask me how I managed to get a picture with not one cask in it!

I plan to do a separate post on some of my favorites, some standouts, and some uh, “interesting” samples – this would get waaaaay too long otherwise.  I’m not sure how many beers we tried, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I thought it was probably up around 100.  So many, in fact, that my distinct memories of the evening AFTER the festival are trying to do pull-ups on the subway car, and passing out in my hotel bed and missing our evening English Pub reservations (oops…).

Surprisingly (or not – as except for a hourish reprieve to wake up, go get Thai food carryout and stuff our faces, we slept about 12 hours), I felt AWESOME the next morning & was all geared up to meet the group for breakfast, exchange beer presents (them from Ottawa and me from Michigan, obviously!), and part ways as they sadly had to leave to get back to Ottawa for the evening.

My dad and I took the opportunity of a bit extra time in Toronto to walk down to the Eaton Centre so I could have a mini shopping spree at Zara (I fell in love with the store when I was in the Czech Republic – and there still are none in the US except Chicago!) and wander through the Hockey Hall of Fame store.  From there, we decided to be really adventurous/optimistic and walk the 5ish kilometers to Glory Hole Donuts (cheesecake donut, I will dream about you), and then back to Bellwoods Brewery (I had a Farmageddon, which was good, but did not live up to my expectations – I was definitely spoiled by my first Bellwoods experience being Omerta & Witchshark).  At that point we waved the white flag and took the street car back to the hotel to begin our journey to Collingwood to see some family and, excitingly, discover a new brewery had opened only moments from my grandma’s condominium!

My Eaton Centre dream come true~

Roman Candle & Farmaggeddon at Bellwoods!

Canadians know how to do frites right - with herbs, vinegar, and mayo.

Wise words from downtown Toronto.

We’ve been going to Collingwood for about 15 years now, and it’s been crazy to see how it’s grown from a tiny one-Tim little ski/resort town into a still small but definitely growing little area.  They have a really spectacular farmer’s market now, one of the most delicious Thai restaurants I’ve ever been to, and now, North Winds Brewing.  Again, I was really surprised by how quality their beers were, especially since we were told they only opened in August!  We tried a flight, and in the spirit of the weekend thus far, decided to make some choices that deviated from the norm – along with the standard IPA & saison, we tried their lager (DELICIOUS) and their Oktoberfest (which had beets in it!) along with our burger & macaroni, and it was 5 stars all around.  We ended up stopping back the next day for some bottles, as well as to grab some jars of Pickl’d fare (mmmmmmmmmmm pickled beets & wax beans…).

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and Monday we spent the day in the car, heading back to the good old USA.  We made good time, ate more tea biscuits, and toasted our smashing weekend back at Thumb Coast with one more IPA and the fish and chips we missed out on having Saturday night.  I miss my dear Ottawa friends already, the city of Toronto, which I think will always be my favorite place on earth, and even sitting in a car watching wind turbines for miles and miles and miles with classic rock in the background talking beer shop with my papa.  Can’t wait for Cask Days 2015!

hot date on the detroit river

In my favorite place, showing off my other favorite place; whats a Canadian/American girl to do?

Skye & I and the most obnoxious tech shirts
I have ever seen.

I did the best thing ever this weekend, which was a 5k for a super amazing cause that I wholeheartedly support with NONE of the mega-stress that usually surrounds a race for me (that impending doom leading up to the moment that it starts, then abates for the first two minutes of feeling good, and then picks back up and spirals into the WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF despair that keeps me company for the rest of the race as I feel like my body is being broken down into a thousand miserable little non-runner pieces).  Why? Because my non-athlete friend Skye was in town from Ohio to support the cause with me, so as part of the deal to get her up here I agreed to walk it with her.  HA!  Take that, running!  (I admit though, I felt super guilty watching people pass me knowing I could pace them or even finish before them, had I been trying - and also kind of disappointed that I didn't truly run it because the course was BEAUTIFUL.)

The race we ran was Mickey's Run up in Windsor, sponsored by the Windsor Spitfires hockey team. The Spits are near and dear to my heart, and even more so is former captain Mickey Renaud, in whose honor the race is held to benefit the Windsor Spitfires Foundation.  I wasn't able to run the inaugural race last year because it was the same weekend I had another 5k planned, so I was extra excited to run this year.

Part of the track we ran - the whole thing was this beautiful & I want to go back and run this course for real some day.

The beautiful finisher medals we got.

After the race, we headed down to take a nice walk by the Riverfront before coming back to Detroit, & then decided that it was such a beautiful day that we should take advantage of it by staying outside, so I drove us over to Belle Isle to spend a few hours!  I can't remember the last time I was on the island, but it was definitely a perfect decision. I've been wanting to go to the aquarium ever since it reopened.  I wasn't disappointed - it's AMAZING to see it in working condition again - and even more cool is the fact that it's still undergoing renovations, but instead of trying to hide it, the aquarium almost flaunts this fact, filling open display tanks with local artwork, advertisements for local interests and signs for coming attractions.  Hallways under construction are only haphazardly blocked off, so visitors can see the work being done, and the employees are more than happy to tell you what they're working on renovating next. Such an amazing display of what makes Detroit so special.  We also spent some time walking through the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum and dipping our feet in the river before heading back home.

Riverwalk selfie!

Belle Isle Aquarium.

The beautiful koi pond out back of the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory made me long to be back in Asia. I could sit out there all day just basking in how peaceful it was. Unfortunately there was a wedding photo shoot going on when we were there, so this is as close as we could get :(

Enjoying the beautiful Detroit River.

Of course I couldn't leave without some spoils from the LCBO..........

Amazing Michigan history including a full spread on the Edmund Fitzgerald (which, as I pointed out about forty times as we walked through, is also an awesome beer).

We could have probably stay there all day to be quite honest - but we ended up leaving around the middle of the afternoon to meet up with some friends, grill some delicious venison burgers topped with blue cheese & horseradish sauce & marathon as many episodes of Orange is the New Black we could before passing out (which was way early....being out in the sun all day is exhausting!). 

Most delicious lettuce wrap I've had in a while....

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you feel guilty when you don't put your all into a workout, for whatever reason? Do you find yourself spending the rest of the day trying to compensate for it?

#IMWITHCUPID

What an attractive looking group of people ;)

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!  Hopefully everyone had a good one, whether it was spent out with someone special, or sitting at home with a bottle of wine (for me it was at a hot yoga class followed by some shawarma and a big ass bowl of bananas, peanut butter, & almonds...don't judge me). But more importantly the day AFTER V-Day........

 I literally thought after the cold that was the Winter Classic & Alumni Games, I was completely done with being outside until winter went away - but I had signed up for the 2014 Cupid's Undie Run, & it's an awesome (and super short) race, for a great cause, plus I was doing it with some friends I hadn't seen in ages, so I decided to be cold one more time.  The idea of Cupid's Undie Run is simple - dress up in your underwear and freeze your ass off for about a mile or so - with a big Valentine's-themed party full of pink cocktails before and after.  The Detroit race was sponsored by major local radio station Q95.5 last year, so it received a ton of coverage and got even bigger heading into this year.  The race party central moved from Cheli's Chili Bar to The Fillmore Detroit, & went from having a "meal" ticket you could redeem afterward for a quick lunch, to having a huge buffet table full of fruit & veggie cups, PB&J sandwiches, granola bars, bananas, apples, & the like.  The race also expanded to have an actual bag check this year which made a HUGE difference. No more racing back to your car in your undies frozen to death.  So a big shoutout to the organizers for improving an already awesome event!

I'd met up with a friend who I used to work with at my old job & a few of his friends, so we were able to run the race in a group which made the event even more fun! The route changed a little bit from last year, and it seemed like it was over practically as soon as it had begun - I'm honestly not sure it was even a mile!!

The ladies with our new friend outside trying to keep warm before the race started.

Ready to race!

Working on warming ourselves up again afterward.

Following the great Undie Run success, we made our way to Green Dot Stables for some post-runnin' sliders & beer.  For some reason I didn't take any pictures of the vast spread of food, but it was all phenomenal.  Green Dot boasts $3 rotating Bells & Shorts taps, as well as $2-3 fancy sliders, of which we ordered practically every option, along with some poutine & some venison chili cheese fries.  Topping my list was the catfish, the current week's mystery meat (which was a bison short rib & scallions), and my absolute favorite, the Korean (a burger with kimchi & peanut butter).

The Detroit vein of the Undie Run raised $203,217 for the Children's Tumor Foundation, & the run as a whole is nearing the $3 mil. mark - plus they're about to get another $25 from me, because who doesn't need this t-shirt???
 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Well.........would you do a mile run in your undies in mid-February??

2014 race schedule

I hate running, but ALL I POST ABOUT is running!  I think I might be exaggerating just a tiny bit when I say I hate running.  It also seems crazy to be planning to do things as far off as October (7 months away!), but it's so much fun to have a full schedule to look forward to & get excited about!

Of course things could always change, but as for right now I'm looking at...

• February 15; Cupid's Undie Run.
• April 6; The Cocoa Classic.
• June 21; The Color Run.
• June 29; Spartan Race (In Ottawa!!)
• May 2; Hightail to Ale (Thirsty 3 Series Race #1).
• August 16; Running Between the Vines (Thirsty 3 Series Race #2).
• October 5; Scrumpy Skedaddle (Thirsty 3 Series Race #3).

Also hoping to do the Mustache Dache again - but 2014 dates haven't been announced yet - as well as Warrior Dash...bringing my total to at least 9, which is 2 more than I did this year. Not only that, but I think I have a nice blend of serious, timed races, and just-for-fun silly themed races.  Ready, set, race!

Question of the Day: What races are you planning on running this year?

ottawa 2014 (aka doing all of my favorite things, but in canada!)

Ladies & gentlemen, I have, at last, a shiny brand new MacBook (my first mac!) to replace my poor old Sony, which is definitely in the twilight of its lifetime (I'm pretty sure you can hear the death rattle when it kicks on, these days).  Part of my bargain with myself when I handed over the paltry $2000 sum was that I would get back to all of the things I used to use my old beloved computer for - namely blogging.

Scarf Head & Pouty Helmet Face on the Canal.

Last weekend I took a little mini-vacation out to Ottawa to visit my friend Deiss & her husband, skate on the Rideau Canal, eat lots and lots of pancakes (and drink lots of beer), and also get in a little bridge run (she's much more of a runner than I am, so she was an amazing running buddy!).  Admittedly I've been a little bit lax with my fitness over the holidays, so it was awesome to have a vacation so full of activity (I like to think it did at least a LITTLE bit to balance out all the beer we drank and pancakes we ate).

Friday morning we went for a 15.6k skate up and down the entire length of the canal (the full distance you can skate when the entire thing is open is 7.8k) - it was the absolute most perfect day, and it didn't even feel like we were working out!  It snowed the entire time (hence my super attractive head scarf, meant to keep the snow from melting all over my hair, as I am a big vain jerk sometimes), which made it even prettier.  We ended up going back on Sunday as well, for a quick 5k skating jaunt.  The coolest part of it was seeing people skating by with backpacks & briefcases, using the canal as a means to get to school and work - I would LOVE to be able to skate to work every morning!! Mega jealous. Having Deiss as a tour guide was awesome too - she taught me all about the history and the maintenance of the canal & was able to point out all the coolest attractions.  Ever since coming home I've been absolutely craving putting my skates back on, even just at an indoor rink.  Skating that much worked up a huge appetite, so we headed out to the Pancake Shack, which is my new very favorite thing - a food truck that cooks up amazing breakfast sandwiches between two buttermilk pancakes.  I highly recommend Babe the Blue Ox & The Campfire, for any Ottawa locals who may have found their way here!  Shout out to my Pancake Shack buddies, from your biggest Detroit fan :)

Heading into Downtown Ottawa, about 2.4k up the canal from here. An absolute perfect day for skating!

Ottawa did not come without beer, either - after breakfast, Deiss and Pav took me across the water to the Quebec side to hit up Brasseur du Temps (where I tried every high gravity beer they had - go figure - and especially and surprisingly loved Grande Riviere, a Belgian style cranberry blonde), and then back to Ontario to Beyond the Pale, where literally EVERY beer was a new delicious sort of hop explosion in my mouth.  It was also really cool to see a smaller, newer brewery's setup (I got to walk through the back and take a little tour of the operations) - with any luck, someday I'll have one of my own!!  After all that beer we went back to the homestead where Pav cooked us the best Indian meal I've ever eaten in my life (you had me at oysters & horseradish, but that fish curry, though...), and we all stuffed ourselves full of more beer and more food that I thought could actually fit in me, and then went to bed early to prepare for our Saturday adventure!

Beautiful view from the bridge on our Sunday run!

Deiss is a big runner (much more so than I am!), and one of the reasons I think I'm so disinclined to become a true "runner" myself is because I get bored with it.  Maybe I just haven't found my inner running zen yet, but one of the reasons I was so excited about this trip is because I knew I'd get to go running with a runner buddy!  Not only that, but she had a beautiful route planned out for us - an early morning ~4k bridge run!  Part of me thinks I would love running a whole lot more if I had beautiful scenery like this to keep me going - Michigan is beautiful, no doubt, but where I live is so suburban any route you could run is basically trees...cars...more trees...

We clocked in at about 34 minutes for those 4k, but we stopped to take pictures on the bridge, again at the end of it, and again at the giant spider statue on the way back, so I think our average pace was pretty much in line with my usual 5ks!

Neither of us look our finest, but we're both thrilled at our morning run opportunity!

After the run I felt great - we came home to shower and then headed out to take in an Ottawa Senators game (the home team lost, as per usual, and I neglected to proclaim MINE ALL MINE in front of their giant Daniel Alfredsson tribute on the concourse...but we did get free Hockey Day in Canada hats, so all was not lost!  The evening took us to Brothers Beer Bistro, which was just incredible - from the beer flight, to the charcuterie & carpaccio appetizers, to the duck & octopus entree, to the peanut butter chocolate dessert, some of the absolute best prepared food & service I've ever experienced.

WILL RUN FOR PANCAKES!

Overall the whole trip went off without one single hitch - Pav had made us a perfect weekend agenda and everything could not have been smoother.  I hadn't seen Deiss in over 6 years, so it was SO awesome to catch up and see how much we'd both changed (and how oddly - but awesomely - similar we'd become!!).  I couldn't have asked for a better 4 days & I want to thank my wonderful hosts again for having me and treating me to all kinds of amazing things.  Your hospitality was absolutely incredible.

We of course also made plans to meet up again soon - namely in June, to run Spartan Race together in Ottawa, hit up some Montreal breweries (DIEU DU CIEL!!!!!!!), and enjoy some awesome Canada Day home cooking on their Tandoor grill.  (And, of course..........more pancakes.)

Now of course I'm back home & realizing how the results of all of my extravagant indulgences the past few weeks...it's back to fruits & veggies & the gym for this girl.  Time to give all those pancakes & beer a rest!

Up next.....my current batch of beer, & a tentative 2014 race schedule!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What are your go-to vacation indulgences?  Do you try to balance them out by squeezing in some travel fitness, or do you consider a vacation a free pass to indulge?