I seriously ADORE how many of you are champagne lovers! I’m usually the only one out of my friends to love it so much. In fact, there have been 2 weddings now where I have stolen all the champagne glasses off the table (and maybe even the surrounding tables). Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea, though, because one of those weddings resulted in a full on push up contest and the other in me wearing part of the centerpiece as earrings. What can I say, champagne = a good time!

Though, champagne wasn’t my friend last night because I woke up with a horrible sore throat and head cold.

Bad timing, my friends, bad timing.

Doesn’t the universe know that I don’t have time for this? I’ve been resting for far too long – it’s time to train!

So, train I did.

C took this picture – he wouldn’t stop snapping photos and this was the best of the bunch.

Three miles at a 9:46 pace.

It doesn’t matter if I run 3 miles or 8 miles, I still end up a sweaty mess.

My husband is a very lucky man.

And then C took the most unflattering picture of me ever:

Again, J is one lucky guy. This is probably what I look like 75% of the time when we’re at home.

In any case, I’m chugging orange juice like it’s my job in order to fend off this cold. I don’t drink juice very often and this was SO FREAKIN GOOD.

Hope you woke up this morning feeling better than I did! What do you do to fight off a cold? Any miracle remedies out there??

I wasn’t going to write much about 9/11 because I believe that the way we grieve, remember, honor, etc is personal and something so much more than I could ever put into words. But this morning I experienced the most amazing and emotional spinning class that I couldn’t not mention it. The ride was dedicated to those affected by the attack and all proceeds from the class were donated to charity. The music was uplifting, moving, sometimes angry, and simply perfect. As silly as it may sound, I was even moved to tears at one point. It was the best way I could have honored those who fought for our freedom that day 10 years ago. I’m so glad I went. If you haven’t tried Psycle in Westlake, you NEED to check it out. The instructors and studio are GRADE A, a class act all the way.

I also went to spinning this morning to flush out my legs from the 8 MILES I ran Saturday morning!!!

Baller.

The eight miles went by so quick due to some kick ass running partners. Seriously, they ran 10 miles before I joined them.

Kimi thought she was freakishly amazing running those 10 miles before I even started (but to be honest, she kinda was):

p.s. Check out my new ride in the background.

They quickly refilled their water bottles and we were on our way. Everything was going great. It was new scenery, I had people to talk to, the rain was holding off, and then we got to mile 6. I swear the first step I took after we hit 6 miles was when my ankle started to hurt. And then my calf was cramping up so bad. I have a hard time stretching my calf because I don’t have the full range of motion in my ankle yet. But then we hit mile 7 and I felt good again. Weird, yes, but what else is new?

Kimi and Christie totally rocked their 18 miles – I was secretly jealous I only ran 8.

But no matter how many miles we ran, we were all a sweaty mess when we were done. It was 96% humidity that morning!

Gross, sweaty legs. You are welcome.

And then, as Kimi refueled with her beloved chocolate milk,:

She came up with the best idea ever:

Why did I never think of that? The perfect way to ice my ankle after a run. So simple, but completely genius!

And to celebrate the 8 mile milestone?

Champagne!!!!

Kimi bought this for me way back at the beginning of summer (she knows I have a not so secret love affair with the bubbly goodness). She told me that each bottle represents 5 miles. So I’m supposed to drink one after my first 5 mile run, the second after 10 miles, etc.

I broke out the first one tonight.

Yeah, I may or may not have chugged that bottle. I’ll never tell.

As I look back on my day, I’m so glad 9/11 was full of remembrance this morning and celebration tonight. A good balance if I may say so myself.

What’s your favorite post-workout drink? Chocolate milk, water, gatorade, champagne??