The Kind of Weekend I am Thankful For

I think it was the perfect weekend.  Here were the ingredients not necessarily in order:

• 8 Mile run through some great parts of Tulsa including the "Center of the Universe" and Tulsa's Oldest House.  Kept great company during this run which helped it fly by.
• NO HOUSE CLEANING!!!! I cleaned house during the week so I could just relax and enjoy the weekend.
• Thrifting/antiquing with my sister.  We scavenged some of my favorite places.  Mid Town Flea, Silver Screen Vintage and Cheap Thrills to name a few.  
• Finished off season three of Mad Men.  
• Breakfast at Blue Dome Diner with good friends Jason and Lisa.  
• Long nap.
• Watched a movie.
• Went to bed early.
• Had some quality time with my animals.  

Good weekend seem nice and long.  And then I'm ready to face the music on Monday.  It always comes...

My First 25K Trail Race

Very tough.  Humbling.
These are the words I wrote the day of the race.  I started this blog entry and then quit writing.   I was feeling pretty numb and icing on the couch.  Napped.

Now- Three days later I'm fully recovered.  Even went running on Turkey Mountain tonight. Here is my race report.

This race ended up breaking down hour by hour for me.  I had thought it would take me 3 1/2 or 4 hours but it was more like 5.

Hour 1:  Feeling stiff and not really into it.  Ran into some runners who twisted ankles and dropped out early on.  Just to emphasize how tough it was...the coach/owner of runners world tulsa broke her hand on the run.
Hour 2:  Warmed up and started enjoying it.  Forest paths, rocks, trees.
Hour 3:  Began to wonder how long it would take me to finish.  Realized I was getting through about 3-4 miles per hour and I'd probably be at this much longer than I thought.  Very rocky.  Had to walk long stretches.  Began to see the those who ran the 50K double back.
Hour 4:  Put my head down and ran as much as I could.  Got behind a runner named Sue and although she was running slower than my preferred pace...could not bring myself to pass her.
Hour 5:  Very tough.  If it was loop or if I could have quit I would have.  But I really had no choice but to push on.  I passed Sue.  Knees hurt.  Big toes were pounding because I thoughtlessly put on old road running shoes that I bought to size before knowing I need my running shoes to be at least a full size bigger.  Got in a 13 minute mile and then walked a long way.  Saw lots of 50k folks.  At the end they started giving me estimates..."only 35 minutes out"..."only 13 minutes out".

When it was over I sat numbly at a picnic table with friends wearing my medal.  Ate bbq and drank a beer.  Felt numb the rest of the day.  It pretty much stunned me how tough it was.  Was super sore on Monday but felt fine today.
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Today running the trail it was great.  I felt so alive.  I thought, this is why I run.  It is life enhancing-helps me feel my life.

Home Projects

Last weekend and continuing into this week I've been occupied with DIY projects.  I find handiwork around the house so rewarding!  I guess it is the short-term gratification of a household task that does it.
Here is my most recent project:

At first I was going to repaint the ceiling of my screen room as the bead board seemed covered in a dark mildew.  Then I discovered it washed right off.  Although it was a bit arduous, (1) I scrubbed down the whole surface with dish soap and bleach.  Then (2) I hosed everything down and in the process of this found that the brick walls were filthy!  Dirty water gushed off the brick and they may never been washed before!

Now brick is much brighter.  (3) Coated ceiling in a moisture, mildew proof clear coat.
(4) Took Blades off ceiling fain.  (5) Sprayed ceiling fan with a dark bronze color (from white) and replaced blades with new ones in a dark finish.  (6) Scraped down moldings holding in screens and re-caulked wood moldings attached to brick.  Next job:  Fresh paint on all moldings and floor!  Scheduled:  This weekend!