Thurs night I tried something new. We had been doing the occasional Thurs night run around the baseball stadium (endearingly known as “The Trop“), but it was time for a change of scenery. At last Saturday’s Tampa blogger meetup, I received a flyer about the Fit2Run Runner’s party. You probably don’t have a Fit2Run near you, which is just too bad! It is a running store with a very large shoe selection, running gear, a smoothie bar, clothes, and treadmills with video cameras hooked up to them so you can have a gait analysis. They usually have a large presence at Disney runs in Orlando, so you can look for them there.
Anyway, one of the Managers is runner and coach Gary Robinson, and he put together a team of women training for the Women’s Half in St Pete. (Which will be about 3 miles from my house, so let me know if you come to town for it.) I think they meet 3x/wk and they pay him something or other. But you can join in on Thurs night leaving from the Fit2Run store in the nicest mall in Tampa for free. And once a month or so the Thurs night run becomes a running party – he gives a little talk afterwards and there is free food and some adult drinks. There are supposed to be shoe vendors there letting you try their shoes (like, actually run in them for the night) and free sock giveaways.
On the way to the mall it was pouring rain, and we had to cross the bridge from St Pete, which was bumper to bumper in 6pm + thunderstorm traffic. We were 5 minutes late, but the rain was down to a drizzle, and they were just thinking about actually attempting the run.
I had S with me. She usually runs with Brian & Alice because her pace is about 2 min faster than mine, but she had already done her 6 miles that morning and kind of came just to see what it was about, so she agreed to drop down to my slow pace and stick it out with me. We did about 3.8, and the first 3 miles disappeared because S talked through them the whole way. It was delightful! I told her when I am sick, or in pain, or getting blood drawn – doing something where I want me mind off it – I try to get Brian to talk to me but he can’t just babble, especially when asked. I love being distracted when I’m doing something I don’t enjoy. Oh, like during childbirth! But S on the other hand was able to chit chat with me for 3 miles about running clothes matching other running gear, and where to order them online, and whether she should blog about running fashion, and the wedding she’s going to be in soon, and and and… it was great! When we got home I said to Alice, “I love running with her because the time flies by as she talks!” And Alice agreed completely.
At the end of the run I tried their TROPICAL BLEND smoothie made from fresh Pineapple, fresh mango, fresh papaya and OJ; as well as a piece of their hummus sandwich. They also had turkey sandwiches, beer, wine, and “pink squirrel” smoothies. The shoe vendors cancelled because of the rain, though.
I came home and had a green Flatout with some melted provolone, baby spinach and spicy mustard. I think it was after 9pm, though.
Fri morning I woke up for Core Yoga. The teacher sounds cutesy and immature with her word choice and inflection, but the class she puts together is great. I wish she could see a video of herself and tailor her verbiage better. She says “go ahead” a lot, such as, “Now we’re going to go ahead and tuck our toes, and go ahead and lift your hips…” Hopefully she’ll improve with time.
I had a decent day at work. I was putting together a website for a yoga instructor, ironically. And a logo for a new product coming on the market that I am not allowed to discuss 
We also enjoyed some online buzz after we ran our interview with Meghann Anderson of the Healthy Living Summit.
Fri night we rented Limitless.(Not a spoiler) Bradley Cooper (who I enjoyed in Alias) is a writer who lives in New York City. He is failing to meet the deadline to turn in his new book. One day, Eddie comes across the brother of his ex-wife, and he offers Eddie a sample of a new drug, claiming it has the ability to help you access 100% of the brain’s power, as opposed to the normal 20%. Eddie accepts, and chaos ensues. De Niro is in it too. Some fast-paced action but not the whole way through, not too gory, not too sexy. I give it an A- and we were all able to enjoy it as a family. (Remember my girls are teenagers.)
I also promised Brian fudgey cake this weekend. I baked 2 9″ rounds and expected to frost them into one cake, but Wendy did not like the frosting, so I over-frosted one and left the other plain. I used this recipe for the cake, which then left me with not enough cocoa for the Nestle frosting. But I had Baker’s squares, so I made their frosting. The cake is delicious but stuck to the pans a lot even though I sprayed and floured. So if you make this, spray and flour a LOT. I used whole wheat flour and slightly less sugar, and you can’t tell at all!
Saturday we woke up at 5:15 to meet people at 6am to run. Brian and S did 10 miles with one of our other regulars. S brought me an awesome present, a new OM Bondi Band! So now I have one with an OM for yoga and one that says RUN for running! (I’m sure I’ll get a photo eventually…) COUPON: Use code FIVE at checkout on BondiBand.com to get 5 Bondi Bands for $25. S would encourage this so you have one to match each running shirt! I did 3 miles, and for the first time in a long time I had to do it alone. I ran along the waterfront and there was actually a cool breeze I had not felt in probably 4-5 months! I’ve now showered, made a list of stuff to get done for the weekend, and I hope to have some swimming pool and BBQ time before Labor Day is done! Enjoy your long weekend!
