1. On Friday night Ian and I decided to take it easy. We had simple dinners (salads, smoothies) and watched Netflix for most of the evening. After a week of feeling exhausted, the downtime was much needed.

2. Saturday morning I ran the Schiller Chiller. I woke up early on the early-ish side for a Saturday, had a big breakfast of waffles and coffee, and then headed over to Kelsey‘s to catch a ride.

I’m planning on doing a complete race recap this week but I will say that even though the 10k course was a mile short, I had a lot of fun. I met some new bloggers, got to spend some time with the girls I already know, ran in an ugly Christmas sweater, and got in some good miles. It was the perfect start to my Saturday.

3. After the race, a few of the Schiller Chiller runners went back to Kelsey’s to get ready for book club. Last month we read The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz and while not all of us loved the book but we did have fun with the french theme.

We had a wonderful spread of brownies, trawffles (courtesy of Irina), baked mushrooms, bread, cheese, salad, a fig spread, peanut slaw, and macaroons. There was also plenty of wine.

We mingled, ate, and then did a white elephant gift swap. I brought a Harry Potter pen that was shaped like Harry’s wand and after having two gifts stolen from me, I ended up with a Beatles cd.

Of course, we all hung around longer than planned catching up and chatting. It was so nice to see everyone and to finally meet Irina and Katy. Thanks Sierra for hosting us all!

4. I wasn’t super hungry Saturday night but I knew with a 20 mile run in the morning I should eat some dinner. Ian and I have been talking about grabbing thai at our favorite Chicago spot, Sticky Rice, for awhile, so we decided to bite the bullet and drive over. To start we split sugar cane shrimp.

And then I had the veggie pad thai without egg. I remember the pad thai being good because you get soo many vegetables with the order but while that is still true, the flavor of the dish just didn’t seem right to me.

Maybe about half of this was consumed and the rest was saved for post-20 miler.

5. Sunday I woke up early to prepare for my long run. I had the usual pre-run snack + a few bites of a Heart Thrive granola bar before heading out to run.

I knew I was overdressed when I started to overheat at mile 3. I also had trouble with my fuelbelt riding up and I ran out of water with 6 miles left in my run. Not an ideal run. However, I like to think that toughing out the “bad” runs builds character. Not every run can or will be easy!

6. By the time I got back to my apartment, I was feeling really out of it. I was slightly dizzy and the bottoms of my feet were killing (I think I need new shoes?) so I laid a towel on the couch and drank glass after glass of water until I felt better. After a shower (alternating hot water with very cold water for muscle recovery) and some oatmeal, I was ready to start my lazy Sunday on the couch.

7. After hours of Netflix, Ian and I got stircrazy and decided to leave the apartment. We walked a few errands and then made plans to meet friends for dinner. On our way to meet them we passed Boss Bar, one of the first places Ian and I ever went together (and frequented quite a bit during the first few months we dated). I don’t think we’ve been there in over 3 years so we decided to stop in for a quick drink.

Glass of wine for me and a beer for him.

8. Dinner was at Slurping Turtle, a Japanese style restaurant in River North. I didn’t take any pictures but Ian and I split a few things from the bincho grill and then I ordered the Slurping Noodle which came with rice noodles, clear shio broth, tiger shrimp, napa cabbage, and cilantro (I asked for no tofu). It was really good AND I have leftovers for lunch today. After dinner we headed home and prepped for the start of the week.

How was your weekend?