I hope you all had a great [long!] weekend! I know I did… it was SUNNY, very HOT and spent with FAMILY…. and mosquitos. Couldn’t ask for anything better minus the mosquitos of course.

G-Man and I went to visit my parents. It was a much needed visit and break from our daily lives here at home.

I didn’t get a long run in this weekend because quite frankly, I was very tired. I set my alarm but ended up not getting up. I did however take advantage of my parents treadmill and ran a good 1 hour. It was a nice change to not be squinting the entire time from the sun in my eyes.

double chins are in, don't ya know.

As per usual, I was sweating buckets…. and buckets. TMI? Maybe.

post run, outside trying to cool down

I wanted to get a run in because G-Man and I went out for these the night before

I just want to tell you that both of these are SMALLS… aren’t they MASSIVE!?! I couldn’t believe it when they handed the cone to me. Don’t get me wrong, I was jumping for joy at first but that slowly changed as I realized just how big it was. This ice cream place is so good and always so busy. They have over 65 flavors to chose from… which is just crazyness for someone who is so indecisive like me. Walking back and forth looking at all the flavors, trying to pick the best one. Of course once I found out a small was two scoops, I just had to pick two flavors. After pacing the window, looking at the different options, I decided on chocolate peanut butter and strawberry cheesecake. G-Man chose creme brulee… I KNOW, I couldn’t believe that was an ice cream flavor either!!

Throughout the short time that we were at my parents, I was lucky enough to visit with two of my amazing girl friends. I have such an incredible group of girls, whom I miss dearly, so it’s always really nice to have the chance to catch up a bit.

So about those dang mosquitos…. as I sit here and write this I am contemplating what would be easier, cut my legs off or continue scratching non-stop. Who ever said to “just leave them and don’t scratch” obviously never had a mosquito bite before. We had a campfire Sunday night and man, the bugs were horrible! I have tried the old trick of putting an “X” on the bite with my nail but that’s a big fail. HELP!! Any tricks on how to stop the itching?

Thanks to my sister, at least I have pretty nails to “X” them with!

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What did YOU did this long weekend?!

The past few days have had some ups and downs. Mostly “ups” which is always a bonus. Things have been busy and this week is going to be even busier.

I was in Ottawa for a few days with a group of International Students that I work with. A group of – talkative, laughing and singing on a 7 hour bus ride  – teenagers. Needless to say it made for an adventerous, unbearably hot and humid, fun few days.

parliament buildings in the distance

One night we went to Parliament to watch a light and sound show. It was something I had never seen before and something I will always remember!

We spent a day doing this:

No, not looking like a goof, although that may be what it seems. We went white water rafting down the Ottawa river for a morning. It wasn’t too intense but it was still fun for the kids. I was a little nervous since I had two kids in my raft that do not know how to swim. I may have said a few prayers to please keep them in the raft but I’m happy to report that we all came out in one piece.

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I made sure to wake up early and get a run in on the hotel treadmill. After sitting for such a long period of time on the bus, I had to get my legs moving. I ran hard for a good 40 minutes and felt great afterwards.

craptastic self portrait... i know.

I was already looking forward to my run the next morning and set my alarm extra early… but guess what? Apparently, I was to tired and slept right through my alarm. I woke up frusterated for missing my workout but shook it off and knew there would always be the next day. Sometimes we just need to go with the flow, right?

I am just happy and greatful to be active when I have the chance and always try to make time for it. Sure, there are days (ahem, Monday) when I’m too tired to go but that’s okay. Since I’ve been home, I’ve had the chance to get a few good runs in and it feels GREAT.

Whoa BABY it’s HOT outside! Although I’m trying to embrace it and not complain. Thinking of weather like this really aids in the “embracing” part of the 41 degree weather (105 F). I actually love the heat, I just have a hard time with the humidity… and it is soooo humid out.

With that being said, Summer is in full force and I’m loving it!

One of my favorite things about summer? FRESH PRODUCE!

fresh strawberries from our neighbours garden... the BEST!

they were so so delicious

fresh bread with herbs, beets, portobello mushroom, tamarind, fava beans and green and yellow beans

We made pizza with the bread (topped with portobello and tomato), fresh juice with the tamarind, and I ate all of the green and yellow beans in less than two days. They were just SO good.

topped this box off with freshly picked cherries. YUM.

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I have been running a lot lately and loving every minute of it. I’ve had some exciting runs to report but I guess it may be old news at this point, eh. I am thankful to get my runs done EARLY in the morning before work. Running early is so much better for so many reasons, but the main one right now is to beat the heat. I love just waking up, lacing up and heading out the door. Less time to think about it and if I’m tired, talk myself out of it. I had the opportunity to get an awesome 13km run (plus 1.23km warm up and cool down) with the Runners’ Edge crew on Saturday. It was great to run with the group again and run on the beautiful country roads. I felt good most of the time but the heat was definitely getting to me near the end. Have I mentioned that I love love love running the country roads? Unfortunately, I’m to chicken to run too far out on them by myself.

DELISH!

 One thing that I do need to get is a pair of sun glasses to wear while running. At the rate I’m going, my face will be so wrinkly from squinting so much I”ll look like a prune… that or an 80 year old lady.

ready for a ice cold shower.

Fueling properly is so important in this humidity. Lots of water throughout the day and of course an ice cream cone never hurts – the heart… but my thighs, well maybe. I am always sipping on water or the night before my run, chugging it – out of fear of being dehydrated. Clever, I know.

I have been enjoying not having a set training schedule. When I go out the door, sometimes I aim for a certain distance but mainly go on by how I feel. If I want to go farther than I will. If I want to cut it short than I won’t beat myself up over it. It feels good but with that being said, I do want to start training for a half marathon soon.

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Remember when I mentioned the crazyness about the marathon? I think I have finally made my decision….. it’s a NO. I think I would only run a marathon to check it off of my bucket list AND to say that I ran it. I just don’t feel like I want to commit THAT much time to training. At least not right now. I enjoy running half marathons and would like to do a few 5km if I can. It still takes hard work in training but not AS time consuming as if I were to train for a full marathon. I’m happy with my decision and am putting it behind me. I’m not scratching it off my list forever – just for right now.
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How do you deal with the heat?

What’s your favorite part of summer?