A weekend of running and eating (not necessarily in that order)

Actually, the running happened on Sunday (and most of the eating too), but Saturday was a pretty good day too, full of all kinds of "me" things.

I headed to the Y early to burn some calories on the elliptical. I was so early that I had to wait outside in my car for ten minutes before they opened! I pounded away for 90-plus minutes on the machine.

Then it was time for a massage. I had made an appointment with one of the YMCA massage therapists, because the person I had been going to stopped working at my hair salon, and it was too out-of-the-way to go to her new location. The YMCA is super-convenient for me, both because it's near my house and because I go there lots anyway!

The massage therapist was kind of hippy-dippy new agey, but she was nice and did a really good job. She asked if it was okay to go over my allotted hour (no charge), and I said sure. The massage was supposed to be 10-11, and I had another appointment at 12:30, but I thought a few minutes extra would still allow me enough time to zip home, take a quick shower, and get to Mill Creek Town Center for my pedicure appointment.

After the massage was done I was still lying quietly on the table, and I waited for the therapist to say, "you're done." All was silent. After a few minutes I peeked in her direction and she was sitting quietly in sort of a meditative pose. I thought okay, there's a meditation period so I lay there quietly. And lay there. I started wondering when this was going to end. I was a little worried now about being late to my next appointment. Finally I started moving around restlessly and she spoke, telling me how I must have really needed rest, to lay there for so long. Um, yeah... but not that much rest!

Other than the overlong post-massage period, it was a great massage and a great price as well, only $55! I'll definitely go back but perhaps make my time perameters a little clearer.

Because it was already after 12. No time to go home, not even to get sandals for the pedicure, let alone shower and change. Luckily I had brought along another shirt, at least, so I didn't have to wear a damp shirt to the pedicure. I flew out of there and by pushing the boundaries of the speed limit, managed to arrive at the spa just by 12:30.

After the pedicure, I took my newly painted toes (wearing spa slippers as I didn't have sandals) to Coldstone Creamery for a free birthday treat (a "like it" scoop with one mix-in—I had cake batter with oreo cookies).

Then home to go grocery shopping, fix dinner, and eat (the previously-written-about stuffed squash and blueberry-peach cobbler). We had planned to go see Julie & Julia afterwards, but the only showings were 6:30 and 9:30. The first was too early and the second, it turned out, was too late when you are stuffed full of dinner and dessert!

However, while I was cooking dinner Rod did install my new TV which I had bought a couple months ago but hadn't managed to unpack yet. 32" LCD flat screen, baby! (I know that doesn't sound like that big a deal but for me it is like a movie theatre!)
Sunday was the day of my family birthday dinner, also known as Taste of Maine Day (to reflect my chosen theme of the day). My brief itinerary (as I posted on Facebook) was Run, Market, Run, Eat, Rest, Eat. Here's how it played out....

Run - 11 miles in town, ending at the Farmer's Market. The plan was to meet my parents there to buy a few things for dinner. I had actually intended to do ten miles in this portion of running, but my parents hadn't arrived yet when I got there, so I did a mile lap around the marina.

I had also left home a little later than I intended, so although this was supposed to be a no-pressure long run, I did feel like I had to push a little bit just so I wouldn't be late. This led to an average pace for the run of about 9:15! My last couple of miles were especially speedy, before I finished with the extra mile. My splits - 9:45, .56 @ 9:44, 9:27, 9:40, 9:24, 9:11, .44 @ 9:17, 9:11, 9:20, 8:48, 8:13, 9:03.

I had a little bit of a break with my running route because, although I went all over town to accumulate 10+ miles, which included a few uphills, I was basically making my way downhill toward the waterfront, without ever having to climb back up again. I am sure my elevation loss ultimately exceeded my elevation gain substantially!

After my parents arrived at the marina, we proceeded to...

Market - The Everett Farmer's Market. Here I am with my market bag ready to head in and get me some fresh produce.
We met up at 10:45 and the market doesn't open till 11, so my mother and I had to stand outside the perimeter of the stalls and wait (along with a bunch of other people) to be let in. My dad, however, managed to work his way in and wander through before any of the rest of us.

I didn't have a lot to get, and we didn't have a lot of spare time. I quickly filled a bag with tiny fingerling potatoes, then moved on to Samish Bay Cheese to get some of their fresh mozzarella. (Also a small carton of greek yoghurt, just because.) That was all we needed for dinner, but I added some plums from Tiny's Produce (half of which ended up getting bruised and smashed in transit) and some beets for roasting in the oven at home.

Then we met up at the car, and my parents drove me home (with a stop at Starbucks on the way; I had them divide a Strawberry Banana Vivanno into two cups for my mother and I to share). My parents headed to Hagens to pick up some last minute groceries for the meal(s) to come, and I headed out to the beach for part 2 of my....

Run - Five miles on the beach. Thanks to some lag time along the way, I had left myself with exactly an hour to run the five miles before I should be back at the house to get ready for lunch. Five miles in an hour sounds easy-peasy, but... running on the beach is hard! And slow. Since I had a time deadline, I forced myself to turn around at exactly 2.5 miles, even though at least another quarter mile of beach stretched ahead of me, beckoning. I turned myself back and did manage to make the hour deadline, in 56:49 to be exact, with an average pace of 11:20. No need to post individual splits...my fastest mile was 10:45, and my slowest need not be mentioned! Honestly, I am happy just that not one mile was over twelve minutes. Beach running is way slower than road running. As I have said numerous times.

Here I am after my run on the beach, wearing my Maine Coast Half Marathon cap!

Eat - I started back up to the house for lunch (there's a 120 step flight of stairs between the main house and the beach) and met Rod on his way down. My dad had sent him down to "find me"—or else to get him out of the way while he vacuumed. As it turns out I had been slightly "missing" as I had inadvertantly dialed my mom's cell phone with my phone, and ended up leaving a lengthy empty message.

After allowing my parents a few minutes of prep time, we headed back up the stairs. It was about a quarter of two, and "lunch time" was designated at 2:00. So I flew into the shower for a quick rinse and change of clothes.

Lunch was lobster rolls and potato chips on the "Maine Deck"! The Maine Deck is one of the numerous decks around my parents' house, which they have adorned with buoys, lobster pots, and a couple of rocking chairs they bought at the Cracker Barrel (in New Hampshire, but close).

I had ordered "real" top split buns from New England for the lobster rolls (at great shipping expense, though the rolls themselves were cheap) and the lobster came from eight lobster tails that my mom had happened to buy on sale and conveniently had in the freezer. The eight tails made eight rolls, not as big or stuffed full of lobster as the ones from Red's, but still nice.
We (meaning my mom, at my direction) lightly buttered the inside of the buns and toasted the outsides under the broiler, and mixed the lobster meat with a little mayonnaise, then spooned it into the warm buns. Here is the finished product!

Rod and I sat in the New England rockers to eat our lobster rolls. I had, ahem, two. Actually I had one, then half of another, then another half. It was my birthday lunch, after all! (And with sixteen miles under my belt, I had a hearty appetite.) After we ate, though, we had to move into shadier spots, as it was pretty warm there in the sun! (The lobster pots can't be seen in the picture; one is behind Rod and the other is in front of the porch swing in the background.) (The shirt I am wearing, though you can't see it well in this picture, is a map of Deer Isle, in northern Maine.)

Rest - After lunch we had time on our hands before dinner. Everyone disappeared to different lounging spots to relax, except for my sister's husband and my dad, who went down to the beach with Nissa (sister's dog). (Although I'm sure they returned in time for a nap too.)

Rod and I moved back to the upper deck where the chairs were a little more cushioned. I read my book (still reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall—I am loving it but it is taking a while to get through) and Rod dozed. The only flaw was my wildly running nose (punctuated with explosive sneezing). (I finally determined that I had a cold!) The runny nose was so bad that I finally got a Benadryl from my mom to help dry it up. Then I dozed in my chair a little too.

Eat - Eventually it was time to think about dinner. Although it was my birthday dinner I had to have a hand in the preparation (just to make sure it was to my liking). I shucked and boiled corn on the cob, boiled baby potatoes, and made an herb butter to go with the potatoes (butter, grated lemon rind, lemon juice, chives, parsley, and a tiny bit of lemon thyme). I also made a giant salad with my special balsamic vinaigrette, tomatoes from my garden, fresh mozzarella from the market, and basil. It was gorgeous! And delicious.

Here's the rest of the menu... Country ribs in sauce, corn, boiled potatoes (and oven roasted potatoes as well, and shrimp boiled with Old Bay seasoning.
The boys with their plates (and my plate in the the foreground). Is my dad wearing socks with sandals???
Eva Marie, at the dinner table but not quite ready for ribs and corn on the cob.

Dessert was my very favorite birthday dessert, apple cake with cream cheese frosting (and a side of vanilla ice cream). Here are Rod and I ready to partake! That was my first piece....

All in all, a great day! Sixteen miles run and lots of favorite foods consumed (without any guilt). I was also happily surprised that I didn't have any achiness in my legs that night. I don't know if it was because I took a break after the first eleven miles, then had an easy five to loosen them up? Or just that my legs are stronger? Whatever, it's a good thing anyway!