Monday Motivators!

[A beautiful leftover reminding us of another successful 

weekend gathering at our house] 

This weekend fa-lew by. Perfect fall weather allowed a memorable long run. A gathering at our home of a dozen friends. A clean, organized house adorned with fresh flowers. QT with doggies. Hours spent with my nose in a book.

It was just right.

The main attraction Saturday night was a friendly poker match, but the delicious BBQ grilled chicken (leftovers will happily accompany weekday dinners, thank you), creative autumn drink concoctions and long-overdue socializing are what made the night complete. We're thankful to have a real, "grownup" home with enough space to accommodate such a crowd...enough room so that those of us who could care less about poker and would rather chat on the couch with a giant glass of Cab can do just that. 

On the running front, after a week of taking it easy, Saturday kicked off a fresh, 6 week plan involving more long runs (sure to fly by with my favorite podcasts) and a new "off" day activity: reading on the recumbent bike after lifting weights at the gym. 

Finally, to make things sweeter, I'm working on a few new snack recipes to nourish this revised workout schedule. First up: home made apple/pear sauce. 

Also, as I am planning to somehow include more hours of sleep into this new 6-weeks-until-my-next-half-marathon routine, I found a great app to play at night in lieu of the fan (marriage compromises). 

Among all of the running & cleaning & biking & cooking & eating & drinking & being merry, I was able to finish my book this weekend!  I already have two loaners lined up that I can't wait to dig in to. 

Busy times, folks. 

(Loved ones, please take careful note that I made zero mention of work anywhere in this weekend's agenda).

[Recipe & how-to coming soon].