It's been awhile...

It happened. It FINALLY happened.

I swam yesterday. It was my first swim since Ironman Arizona. I didn't really go into it with any plan, not knowing how I'd do after over 3 months off. I told myself I had to swim at least 20 laps (1,000 meters) and was pleasantly surprised when I was able to swim 32 laps (a mile) without stopping. It felt GREAT! I don't think I've ever had a swim feel as good as this one.

I'm not sure what changed, but I felt so different swimming. I felt like my form was WAY better and I felt like I was going a lot faster than I normally do. (I didn't bring my watch, because I was going into it with no plan.) I'll bring a watch to my next one and see if I really am faster, or if I just forgot after 3+ months off. ;)

Our friend Jon's birthday was a couple weeks ago and we finally planned to all go out and celebrate tonight. Every year for the past 6 years, we've celebrated his birthday by going to Texas Roadhouse and he gets a steak the size (in ounces) of his age (so when he was 28 he did 28 ounces). I think we've hit the point where he just orders a steak now, no extra ounces. ;)

6 years celebrating

For the past few years, I've taken a picture of us there and held up the number of years- everyone laughed about it then, but this year everyone knew when we started because I always hold up the number of years. (Moral of the story: take a lot of pictures- no matter who laughs! ;))

Last year, celebrating 5 years

After dinner we went back to Jon and Sheri's house and hung out way too late. It was one of those nights were everyone just had a good time and my abs and cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. We ended the night with a 4 person selfie:

There are less than 15 weeks until Boise 70.3- anyone else doing this race? 

We are going to NYC in less than a month! Does anyone have any recommendations or tips? 

Love Day!!

So this year we both stuck with tradition and worked Valentine's Day at the restaurant we met at, Marcello's Pasta Grill. (Last year, I worked alone.) It was such a looong day- I worked 10 hours at my regular job and then worked 5:30-10:30 at the restaurant. I'm not sure how I used to do this 3 nights a week- on top of college- I'm definitely getting older.

It's been a long time since I wore this work shirt- I honestly think the last time I wore it was last Valentine's Day.

I walked in and we were already slammed, it was crazy busy ALL. NIGHT. LONG! We were on a wait until well past 9:00pm! It was never-ending-non-stop-working.

We finally left around 10:30 and headed home. At this point, we were both exhausted and starving but didn't have a ton of options for food. So- we ordered pizza at 11:30 for delivery! Best decision! It was SO good!


Do we look tired?!

I think we watched a movie? I can't remember, but we finally went to bed around 1:30-2:00 in the morning.

We woke up Saturday and had 'The Skirt Chaser' run at 2:00. So we decided to go to breakfast (Is it still considered breakfast if it's 11:30am/noon??) to our favorite place, Biscuits. This place is serious SO good you can't stop- which usually isn't a problem, but when you have a race later that day- not the best. We learned this the hard way.

We somehow managed to make our way down to the race- in the ridiculously hot weather too. We were cutting it kind of close and still had to register, so we jogged from the car to the registration tent. (This is where it really sunk in that a big breakfast may not have been the best idea.)


I thought this shirt was fitting- "I love my boyfriend!"

We got registered and found some friends to hang out with before the start. This is one of those races where the ladies start first and then the guys start 3 minutes later...'chasing the skirts'.... get it?! ;) I was sweating before we even started, it was SO hot!
Last year, 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' caught me right around the half way point and then ran the rest of the race with me, which was great, he pushed me so hard I ended up PR'ing there. I told him all I wanted this year for Vanetine's Day was a new PR- no pressure right? Haha!


The girls took off and when we got about 10 steps into the race my watch beeped that the memory was full- awesome! I didn't really have the coordination/time to delete other workouts so I figured I would just wing it until 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' caught me. I still could see my pace, so I had that to work with.

I always forget that there are SO-many-dang-hills in this race! My archenemy, Curry Hill was involved- we had to run up it, then back down it to the turn around point. Then we had the pleasure of turning around and right right back up it! I could tell everyone really loved this part- especially with the heat! ;)

'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' didn't catch me until we hit the 2 mile marker and we were both not feeling so great from our breakfast. But we started climbing the next hill and he asked me if I was ready to "start pushing it"- I already felt like I was sprinting- but I told him yeah, and we picked up the pace a little bit.

This MUST have been before we were 'pushing it'. (And they only pictured 2/3's of 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter'- rude!;))

I kept asking how much further we had and what time it was- I was out of my comfort zone and wanted it to be over. He kept telling me to pick it up and push it- and I didn't have enough energy or air to respond with anything other than "OK"- so that's what we did.

When we were turning the final corner off of the Mill Bridge, I asked how much further we had and he said "the finish is right there!" and to go hard. I gave every last bit of energy I had to that final stretch and sprinted as fast as I could to the finish line.

I finished in the exact same time (to the second!) that I did last year: 27:13. I definitely felt like I was working harder this year- maybe I was just in better shape last year? It was still a super fun race!

Like always, we will probably go out and celebrate Valentine's Day in a couple weeks, but I did make 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' a card and paint my nails with SUPER cute nail polish I found on the clearance rack at Ulta- major score!! OH and my bonus-mom sent us the BEST cookies I've ever tasted- seriously they were amazing!

You can't really tell in the picture- but the nail polish had white, pink, and red glitter in it. SO perfect!!

 Did you run in any Valentine's Day races?

What did you do for Valentine's Day? Did anyone get engaged?!

The time I celebrated National Fro Yo Day TWICE!!

HAPPY NATIONAL FRO YO DAY!! (For reals this time too! ;))

So, let's back up to Tuesday.... I was reading some of the other blogs I follow- and they had posted that they celebrated Monday night! I freaked out and totally thought I for sure missed one of my favorite holidays.

I texted 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' and told him I forgot and said we were going to be celebrating a day late. :(

So, that night, I did my first track workout (there will be more on this later) and after dinner we went to get Fro Yo. When we walked in, I asked the guy working there if they did anything special yesterday. He looked at me like I was crazy and told him it was National Fro Yo Day and he said no, he didn't even know there was such a thing. I told him that they didn't do anything last year either!

Mine's the one with all the sprinkles! ;)

So we got our fro yo, and when we got up there to pay- I put all three cups on the scale and he told me to take one off. So I did, and he said he "Happy National Fro Yo Day, that one's free!" Best surprise ever!! I thanked him and told him this was the first time I've ever got free stuff 'celebrated' one of my favorite holidays!

This was right after my track workout- which is why I look so great! haha!

It was a day late- but great! Or so I thought....
So, Wednesday, I was working on my blog post about it and was Google-ing National Fro Yo day for an image, and everything kept saying February 6th! Which is also what I had on my calendar! So I didn't miss it!! Woohoo!!

I texted 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' again and told him we didn't miss it and it was the 6th- at this point, I think he thought I was just trying to get more Fro Yo. ;)

So tonight, we went back to our fro yo place and got more fro yo- nothing special happened this time either. But the fro yo was amazing as always!

Again, my good looks are from another track workout! ;)

So I technically celebrated twice- but I'm not complaining about it! ;) Moral of the story is: when in doubt- just get more fro yo!! ;)

Did you celebrate National Fro Yo Day??