Week End Wrap-Up (#2)

Hello, hello!

Here we are at the beginning of a brand new week!

As part of my continuing (and thus far, failed) efforts to bring some consistency to this little corner of the interwebs that is my blog, I have decided to do a “Week End Wrap” at the end of each week (or I guess technically the beginning of the week, depending on how you want to look at it). And in case you were wondering, yes I know weekend is one word, but the point of the post is that is going to be at the end of the week and will be a recap of running, life and random happenings, etc. that take place each week that I haven’t had a chance to fill y’all in on previously.

I am also thinking about starting to do more linkups and/or weekly themed posts. I feel like I have shared most of the “big stuff” that I set out to share when I started this blog. I know there will definitely be more, but right now I think it will be fun to link up with some other bloggers or just have a set topic one (or more) days where I don’t have to rack my brain for content. I think the point is that my brain just needs a ‘lil break, especially before tax season begins. I will need it to be functioning at maximum capacity by then!

Here are a few that I am considering … Let me know in the comments if there are any that you would like to see me write about!

Tuesday Tunes – A music related post.
Wordless Wednesday – A post of pictures and no not many words.
Thursday is for Thinking Out Loud – A weekly blogging linkup that is a “celebration of quirks and randomness! An opportunity to take the pressure and stress out of writing by sharing whatever it is that happens to pop into your mind when you begin to type — all worries about sense and structure pushed aside. A collection of random and disjointed thoughts, just because.”
The Friday Five – The topics are selected by the hosts each week and you come up with five things that go along with the weekly theme.
Friday Favorites – Share your favorite … anything, really from the week.

Now that we’ve thought about what I might be writing about in the future, let’s get on with things and catch up over an end of the week summary. The Thanksgiving holiday made the week fly by extra quickly and a few extra days off work made for lots of fun and relaxation!

I don’t have too much to report for the first few days of the week. Everything was pretty status quo around here with a little bit of running and a little bit of working. My parents got into town Tuesday evening, and an amazing sunset greeted them when they arrived!

Thursday morning, I ran in the local the turkey trot (you can read about that here) and then we headed to my grandmother’s for Thanksgiving lunch. My grandmother is quite amazing and is definitely one of a kind. She is ninety and she still works pretty much full-time, selling more real estate than most other realtors in the area (and she occasionally reads the blog, so hi Nana!).

Last weekend she took a pretty nasty tumble (she went out with a friend for dinner and dancing, no joke), but thankfully she is okay. No broken bones or anything! She is tough as nails. She is black and blue, but other than that, she is doing really well and she still insisted that everyone was coming over for Thanksgiving. My cousin Jessica did most of the cooking this year and she did a wonderful job! It was nice to spend some time with family and we were extra thankful this year that Nana was okay and is healing well.

Friday morning Daniel had a group run planned with some of his training buddies and I decided to tag along. In hindsight, I probably should’ve sat this one out, but I figured this was going to be the best chance for me to get my long run for the week done and have someone to run with (Daniel had to do rounds at the hospital Saturday and Sunday). The route that Daniel picked out was really tough, with over 1,200 feet of elevation gain. I was definitely struggling to keep up with the guys and ultimately, I didn’t keep up with them. Daniel was nice enough to hang back with me though. We ended up with 16 miles at about 7:55 pace.

I actually got a good yoga session in Friday evening. Totally random, but I felt like my body needed some good stretching and recovery, especially after a race and a long run on back to back days. That isn’t *technically* recommended, by the way. It is best to put at least one easy day in between a race or workout and your long run. I am really enjoying the Runner’s World DVD set that I got. It gives you the flexibility to work yoga into your schedule whenever you can. I also like that there are some shorter sessions on there. The yoga for recovery and yoga for core strength are just over 30 minutes, which is a good length, in my opinion.

Saturday morning I woke up and hung out with my mom and dad for a little bit while Daniel was at work. We had coffee by the fire. It was time to break out the Christmas coffee cups! If we’re being honest though, we pretty much use those year round. It was still fun to use them and know that it actually ’tis the season!

Then we bundled up and headed out for a boat ride. The bay was beautiful all weekend. There was an east breeze, which means that the bay is nice and calm. It would’ve been perfect skiing water. If I had a wetsuit, I’d be up for it, but I don’t. Hmm … maybe I should add that to my Christmas list? Dad dropped mom and I off at the pier in Fairhope and we walked 6 miles back to the house.

By the time we got back, Daniel was just getting home from work and it was time to do a little pre-Iron Bowl preparation. We headed to the store for some game snacks and to get some meat to grill out after the game. I am not a huge football fan, but I don’t mind watching every now and then. It turned out to be a really good game! It was pretty suspenseful. We grilled out some chicken, hamburgers and Conecuh sausage after the game, so basically now we have enough food to last us for several days.

Sunday morning was pretty much an exact repeat of Saturday morning. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we figured, might as well duplicate it. The only difference was that mom and I walked 4 miles home via the road and the last 2 via the beach, which was so much fun! The bay was really shallow so we had plenty of beach to walk on. We had to hop a few bulkheads and creeks, duck under some piers and do a little bit of rock climbing, but that just kept things interesting. I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with my family this weekend. I am so thankful for them!

Sunday afternoon I headed back out on the courts for some more tennis. I am really liking this new Sunday afternoon routine. It’s been good for me to play on a somewhat consistent basis and I’m actually enjoying playing doubles. My partner and I are getting into a good rhythm and hopefully we will be able to play in a league together soon. She’s awesome at the net and I like to stay back on the baseline, so we play well together.

Sunday evening was super lazy. We sat on the couch and watched White Collar for several hours. That show has definitely gotten us hooked!

Alright, guys … that pretty much gets us caught up on last week. Hopefully I will be talking to you soon! Please let me know if there is something that you like reading about or would like to see a post on. Any and all suggestions are welcome!