sweat for sweets

Helloooo, lovelies! How is your weekend so far?

I was up much earlier than I care to talk about (okay.. 6 AM) this morning. Gotta hydrate before the big run, baby! I also had one of the worst sleeps EVER. I guess nerves and excitement will do that to you! I was literally jumping around like a six-year-old when I should have been in bed hahah.

As I write this, I’m eating my pre-race breakfast (oatmeal with peanut butter + chia seeds and a banana) and marvelling at the fact that I’m awake on a Sunday before the sun. It’s actually still dark outside, which is kind of ridiculous. And it sounds like the rain has just started! Yep.. I’m running my first half marathon in the rain. Joy! When trying to pick out my outfit, I had a bit of trouble since my instinct would be to  to wear a rain jacket (I’ve got a nice wicking one from Lululemon), but I fear it might make me overheat since it’s going up to 18 degrees Celsius! I guess I’m just going to have to grin & bare it

Duncan is walking me to the start line & then is going to meet me at the finish. I’m so happy that he’s coming with me

After the race, we’re going out for brunch with his parents, his sister & her boyfriend and then spending the day walking around the city. I won’t have time to go back home & shower, so I’m fully aware I’ll look a sweaty mess while doing all this Oh well! And then tonight, Duncan and I have plans to watch the first episode of SEASON 3 of THE WALKING DEAD. Ahhhhh. This is going to be an intense day.

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And just to share some fun from the rest of my weekend thus far…

On Friday, I went to the race expo for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. The race provided a shuttle bus to & from the expo, since it was a little out of the way. I was amazed to meet people on the bus who were visiting Toronto to do the race from as far away as Colombia! There were a few couples from Vancouver, too, which is always nice to see

It got me thinking about doing some more international runs; or rather, using the run as an excuse to visit somewhere. I’ve had my eye on a few runs in San Francisco that I think would be beautiful, so long as the running didn’t traverse up some of those massive hills San Fran is known for Another one that’s on my unofficial bucket list is the Disney Princess Half Marathon. The six-year-old in me is just dying to do it!

I’ve only done a handful of races in my running career (ha!), but I must say that the STWM is always the best. I love me some free goodies My favourite booth was the Oasis Smoothie one – they were giving out samples of their new orange-mango & strawberry-banana smoothies .. so delicious! I also picked up a few samples of the new Libertie Greek Yogurt & some Vector cereal (for the boy).

Following the race expo, I met up with my friends Natalie and Cassandra for dinner. I hadn’t seen Cassandra in YEARS and it was so awesome to catch up with her. We won’t be strangers any more Natalie is a good friend of mine from high school who has moved to London, England & has the most ridiculously exciting life EVER. Seriously. I always say that she deserves her own reality TV show. I always walk away from our play dates feeling inspired (to see the world/do something exciting) yet oddly like a boring/unaccomplished person by comparison hahah. We went out to Gusto 101, which is a relatively new restaurant in the Queen West neighbourhood. It was jam packed & such a cool space. I instantly fell in love with the atmosphere of the restaurant and then the service, company, food & wine made it a perfect experience I had the house red wine (only the best house red I’ve ever had in my life) with a salmon salad, which was made with quinoa, spinach, crispy salmon, artichokes + roasted red peppers. YUMMMY.

{excuse the red eye}

Following the dinner, I went to a lil’ birthday celebration for Duncan’s friend, Curt. It  was so great to see everyone!

And then yesterday was spent doing not much at all. It was quite sad, actually hahaha. My excuse? Conserving energy for the big run

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I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend so far! See ya later for a race recap!

Oh, and wish me luck today. Please. I need it!

Love,

A xo

QUESTIONS

• Would you ever do a run away from home? Have you before?
• Have you ever run a half marathon? Any last minute words of wisdom? (not that I expect anyone to be up at this ungodly hour on a Sunday…)