Weekend fun.

At this point in the pregnancy, there's a lot of counting down. I'm now 35 weeks into this thing, meaning I have 5 weeks to go. 35 days (give or take). Conal came 10 days early and I would not mind if this little one did the same. Of course, that would give me 10 fewer days to figure out the name, which we aren't even close to figuring out yet. Yikes!

Well, aside from stressing about the name I had a great weekend. My parents popped over for pizza on Friday and on Saturday Owen, Conal and I got up early(ish) and went for a little hike. There's a pretty cool waterfall about 15 minutes from our house so we decided to check it out. Walking from the parking spot to the trail-head, we ran into Amanda who was heading home after a 14 mile marathon training run. She looked great! Hard to believe she had just finished her longest run ever -- go, Amanda!

Anyway, we hiked to the bottom of the falls and they did not disappoint:


Conal had a great time tossing rocks and sticks into the water and Owen had fun pointing out the snakeskin that he found among the rocks.

After enjoying the view, we headed back up the trail and it proved quite steep for this mama. It's a short hike but -- hoo-ha! -- it was tiring for me. So tiring, in fact, that after we got home I was only able to sneak off to the farm stand and do about a half-hour of weeding before needing to break it down with a nap. Sheesh!

Sunday was spent with a trip to a nursery to investigate trees that we want to add around our house, a short workout and then a cookout/party at a neighbor's house. It was tons of fun and we met a bunch of neighbors we'd previously only waved to. It was great hanging out with a fun bunch of people who live so close to us! We'd thought our neighborhood was slightly anti-social but it turns out we just didn't know where the social was happening. Now we do so . . . watch out! Ha!

And today it is back to normal. Happy Monday, everyone. Hope you all had a good weekend!

~ Felice

Five Things Friday, ep. 27.

1. As quickly as the flies descended, they disappeared. I have no idea what happened to them, where they went, why there were so many and now there are none. And, I don't care. I'm just glad they are gone. Yuck-o!

2. I had another really good run yesterday evening. Pretty much the same as Tuesday's run: 3.1 miles, about .5 of that walking, the rest running. Thankfully, my calves did not hurt. Unthankfully (?), my shins did. I am clearly altering my stride because of this baby belly and the effect is sore lower legs.

They aren't painful, painful and I don't believe I'll cause myself any injuries. They're just sore and feel heavy. Which, when I think about it, makes sense considering all the extra weight I'm carrying!

3. After a mostly rainy week, yesterday was clear and today is beautiful! Conal and I headed to a local playground this morning, where we ran into a neighbor and her 3-year old daughter. So, she and Conal had some fun together and I got to feel more of a part of my community.

4. I can't not write about how cool I think it is that Deena Kastor is preggo. Paula Radcliffe, Kara Goucher, now Deena. Go elite mamas! I love reading and hearing about their pregnancy running and I know that once I am on the road back after giving birth I'll be very, very interested in their routines. Not that I think mine will in any way be on the same level but I'm sure they'll help inspire me and maybe I can pick up a tip or two.

5. Something sinister has gotten into me and all I can think of are cupcakes and doughnuts and the like. So, today, post playground, Conal and I made a batch of doughnuts. Full-on, deep-fried, rolled in cinnamon and sugar doughnuts.

And, boy howdy, are they good!

Pile o' doughnuts!

Sure, I splattered some hot oil on my thumb and now have a big ol' burn on it but, what the heck? Those goodies are worth the burn! It will heal . . .

And on that fatty, carbo note I wish you all an awesome weekend!

~ Felice

Weird and good.

Yesterday evening's run was just a weird one. I had decided to set out as soon as Owen got home but, as is my luck, it started to drizzle at the same time. OK, no big deal, I thought. It's only a drizzle and I can handle a drizzle.

But then Owen mentioned the flies.

Apparently, yesterday was the day that hundreds of thousands of pesky, gross flies decided to hatch and swarm around wherever their pesky little wings decided to take them. They were everywhere! But, I was dressed for the run and I felt up for it so I had to go.

As soon as I started running, of course, I felt like I had to pee but I tried to push it out of my mind. Instead, I focused on keeping my mouth closed so that I wouldn't breathe in any of the flies. The flies weren't all that bad, actually, because I think the drizzle kept them mostly away. But they were around and I had to swat several of them off my arms and face.

About 1.5 miles into the run, my calves felt tired. Suck it up, I told myself. It is only your calves. And I did. I sucked it up and pushed on. Had it been baby-related pain, I would have stopped. But, calves? Nah, I had to keep going. So I did and I finished 3.1 drizzly, fly-infested miles on tired calves. Boy, those miles felt good!

Then I whipped up a dinner of slow-roasted tomatoes (from our garden) and chicken sausage (made by my dad) over pasta. My guys loved it.

Yup, a good evening at Chez Happy Runner! Even with the flies :-)

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

~ Felice

Yes, a run!

I wasn't sure how it would work out but my Friday walk/run did indeed turn into a run! All in all, I walked for almost .5 miles and ran for 2.6 miles, for a total distance of 3.1 miles. Again, I felt really, really good with my running pace hovering right around 9:50/mile.

On Saturday, my walk/run was primarily a walk with a very little bit of running tossed in and, yesterday I worked out with my exercise tv on demand pals because I felt like it. Plus it was raining and I wasn't into that.

Anyway, a solid weekend of workouts overall so I'm pleased!

I'm even more pleased to share that Bridget, Janis and Jen, who were all in my new runners group, threw down some solid times at the 5K on Saturday. They each ran PRs -- so awesome! It's just really cool to see them all sticking with running. They're addicts!

Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was very productive and yet relaxing. I even managed to read The Help, which I highly recommend. It's a quick read so if you haven't read it and you have a little bit of time, check it out.

Happy Monday, everyone. Have a great week!

~ Felice

PS: My Jakfish giveaway ends tonight (pair of capris and a top). Don't miss it!