Weekend Windown and Raffle Winner!

Wow, what a busy weekend it has been!

First things first, I'd like to announce the winner of the Chicago Spring Half Marathon and 10k raffle...

Congrats to Kevin and thank you to all participants for your donations! This is just the beginning and I have some more fun giveaways in the months to come! :)

Thursday night I had some meetings at work and we went out to dinner afterwards. The group had collectively decided ahead of time to go to Morton's Steakhouse for dinner. Considering I gave up meat for lent this year, I was interested to see how the menu would be. This restaurant definitely does NOT cater to vegetarians. I had very, very few options. In fact, my only option was a chopped salad that I ordered without bacon. Everyone else around me got steak and I was stuck with a crappy salad. (I've had better tasting salads at fast food restaurants.) Oh well, I didn't plan the dinner so there was nothing else I could do. Next time, I might skip a dinner like that. Although, the key lime pie was absolutely delicious! :)

Friday I had additional meetings and no time to blog. I was going to try to fit in some miles on my lunch break, but that didn't happen. Thankfully I was able to complete my long run on Saturday, despite a rocky start to my morning. I met up with the FN Runners out on the Old Plank Trail (standard) for 8 miles. It was a great turnout for a cold Saturday morning!

I got to meet another fellow blogger, Kelly the Culinarian, who made the trip from Addison, IL for our group run! It was great to meet Kelly and it was a great run overall! I had planned to do 12 so after the people looking to do 8 miles went home, Susan and Maggie joined me out on the trail for a few more miles. Susan was looking to do 10 so she joined us for a little while longer while Maggie stayed with me for the full 12. Our overall splits were consistent and we completed the run at an average pace of 9:20. I felt totally comfortable and that is around my goal pace for the Chicago Get Lucky Half Marathon. What was your long run this weekend?

After the long run, I had to take my poor puppy to the groomers. She was overdue and needed a haircut. Unfortunately, she had some mats that needed to be taken care of so she is much shorter than I would have wished.
As much as I am a dog lover and I still love my puppy, I do not love her haircut. Thankfully it is just hair and it will grow back soon. Have you ever had this happen to your pet?

That same night we went out to celebrate my cousin's birthday in downtown Lagrange, IL. It is a cute little place with lots of cool restaurants and bars.

Me and Mom

We had delicious Mexican food (which is much easier to order vegetarian) and of course, margaritas! I was happy to justify the copious amounts of guacamole I consumed with "I ran 12 miles today!" The joys of a long run fulfilled in so many ways! What is your favorite post-run reward?