Stampede Miracle!

I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth which was awesome. Not only did I get my rodeo and beloved chuckwagons in, but I was able to be Second Greatest Show on Earth...me pigging out on the midway for 3 days. Here's but a mere  sampling of what I enjoyed on the weekend...

Maple Bacon Ice Cream = Delicious? Who knew???
The good people at McKays, that's who!

Donut burger....MAPLE GLAZED donut burger..mmmm

Deep fried poptart goodness=breakfast of champions

Mac and Cheese Pizza---Carbo-licious!!!

Ummm...there may have also been corndogs, mini donuts, poutine, deep fried cheese, sausage rolls, smokies, deep fried mac and cheese and a few beers thrown in for good measure, but a girl can only document so much shame.  So, YES, on Monday I felt like a giant bag of horse manure.  And barely managed 30 minutes on the elliptical at the gym, a run was out of the question.  I ate nothing but vegetables and grilled meats and drank endless cups of green tea in hopes of soothing achy liver.

Tuesday rolls around and Princess Crys and I head out for a morning 5K, both dreading what is sure to be a slow and painful run. In the rain.

It is our fastest run since March.

It felt OK. Actually, a bit better than OK. I felt good and like I could have run more. More like I used to feel in the winter when our training was umm...a bit more structured.

In short, now I'm somewhat convinced my all-deepfried weekend only enhanced my running performance!   I celebrated today's findings with not one, but TWO pancake breakfasts. YAHOO!!! 

Be nice to me, I gave blood today!

After my soccer practice was cancelled last week, I opted NOT to be lazy instead and rallied one of my buddies to go for a run with me at the Reservoir. We headed out around 730, and it was (once again) GLORIOUS. The sun was shining, everything smelled great, and it was just awesome. Plus, my buddy hadn't gone through the Weaselhead before, so I was able to point out all my previous victories (beating Sinewy legs, peeing in the snow, running up THAT hill) as we went.

About halfway out, we started noticing the bugs were bad.

Like...really bad.

Like, REALLY REALLY bad.

By the time we realized we were getting lightheaded from blood loss, we were already 3.5K away from the car and there was nothing we could do but bravely huff back, slapping each other on the shoulders and arms as we went. We were much faster coming back in an effort to outpace the skeeters. At some points, a slap would kill 5-6 bugs at a time.

By the time we got back to the car, we were both covered in bloodsmears and carcasses. I'd hate to say it ruined an otherwise great run, but I think we can both agree it was the most memorable part of a 7k trip. I had to take a picture before bed so that I could remember yes, they actually WERE that bad!

Not chicken pox, but just as itchy!!!

At my soccer game two nights later, I was able to refresh them with a whole new batch of bites, particularly on my legs,  in spite of slathering self with bug spray. Let's just say, my increasingly pudgy body isn't the only reason I'm not baring much skin at Stampede this year!