I should have known better than to try to go for a training ride yesterday morning. I made it about 15 minutes before reaching my first NATO barricade: about 50 City of Chicago snow plows lined up blocking access to an open road. Ridiculous! I spent a good 10-20 minutes trying to find a big enough gap to fit my bike through so I could get to a road leading to Lake Shore. It was incredibly frustrating. Then, once I got on the path, it was extremely crowded and I had to weave between zillions of runners. I am the biggest hypocrite. When I run, I get annoyed by bikers and when I bike, I’m annoyed by runners. Who am I? Anyway, after about 20 minutes, I became frustrated, headed into the city and biked side streets home.

Chicago triathletes/cyclists any recommendations on places/times to cycle? I want to get a few good training sessions in before my race but I can’t seem to find a good location for it.

After my bike ride, I locked my bike up and headed out for a run. I decided to complete two miles instead of one after my sub-par biking experience but when my Garmin would not connect with a satellite (maybe it was the helicopter that hung out over my building all day yesterday?) I just took off. My guess is I ran 1.75 miles but I’m not sure. It would have been two but I had to use the bathroom (thankfully TJs has open restrooms) and then lost all motivation to continue. What can I say, yesterday was not my best day of workouts.

While my workout may not have been amazing, brunch sure was! This past Valentine’s Day Ian took me to The Publican, a beer-focused, farm-to-table restaurant. We loved it and have since been talking about returning. The Publican is well-known for their brunch and we had to make a reservation earlier in the week. We also knew our server (friends of family) and were treated like royalty which very sweet and generous.

I started out with a coffee and Ian had fresh squeezed orange juice. While we were looking over our menu, our servor brought us out complimentary rhubarb-almond coffee cake. See, I told you we were spoiled

Next, we split an asparagus salad that came with a poached egg, parmesan cheese, and a lemon vinaigrette.

The salad was light and crisp, I want to recreate it at home!

Then, we had our mains. Ian ordered smoked arctic char with a side of bacon while I had the chachouka (tomatoes, feta, pinenuts, & baked eggs).

It was amazing and completely unlike anything I usually order. I loved it!

The Publican’s brunch menu was so tasty that I joked with Ian that we should go there every weekend. But even if we could afford it, going every weekend would make it less special. We decided to reserve The Publican for brunch with family or friends when they’re in town and looking for something a little bit nicer. That will definitely keep the “special factor” alive .

With the impending NATO summit, we decided to knock some errands out right after brunch rather than on Sunday like we usually do. We went to Target (I bought some shirts!) and then Trader Joe’s to do our grocery shopping. By the time we got home, I was full of food and exhausted and happily curled up on the couch for a long nap. It was awesome.

When I woke up I had a quick costume change and then Ian and I headed out to a BBQ at our friends’ home in the suburbs.

We sat out in their fenced backyard, played with their pups, sipped some adult drinks, and feasted on hamburgers, hotdogs, and smartdogs (for me). We also walked into their little downtown for local ice cream. It was a great time and I wish I had taken pictures but I was honestly having too much fun to even think about it!

Surprisingly, Ian and I made good time getting back into the city and even watched an episode of Mad Men before crashing. Everyone keeps saying the first season is the slowest and I already like it, I can’t wait to get to the 5th!

What have you been up to this weekend? Anything exciting?