Nurse on the Run

In case you’re new to my blog, you may not know that my favorite thing to do on the weekends is LEAVE where I live, which is why this summer has been filled with weekend trips!  The Fourth of July holiday weekend was no different, although, no, I didn’t have Monday off!  The hospital doesn’t recognize it as a holiday, and let’s face it…I worked on Christmas so I don’t expect to have these “observed holidays off.”  Anyway, it was still a perfect time to head down to DC to visit my college roommate, Sara, who happened to be in town to visit her boyfriend for a little while.  DC is only about three-ish hours from me, so it’s totally do-able for a weekend trip. 

Saturday morning started off with my first “long run” since Boston!  I was ready to test myself and see what my legs had in me, so away I went into the heat.  The most I’ve run so far is five miles, so I was originally only planning on doing seven…but a “long” run doesn’t seem long until it’s at least over an hour, so eight miles it was!

Saturday, July 3
8.1 miles in 1:03:50, avg pace of 7:53

Although this was a little toasty, it was a lovely run!  Pace was good too.    I hit the trail  near my house, so it was fun to see people actually out running and biking.  Let the marathon training begin!!

After my run, I packed up my car and headed to DC…I got there around 5pm, and then we headed out to dinner in Adam’s Morgan.  July 3 is Sara’s birthday, so a bunch of her friends from DC came out for dinner, and then a mix of people from DC and college came to the various bars for the night.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROOMIE!!  (Yes, we still call each other “roomie” despite not having lived together for three years…totally normal.)

S^2 + Karilee…miss these girls!

After a few drinks at a low key bar, we headed to another bar for some dancing.  It was packed and I was a sweaty mess, but it was lots of fun!  DC is a wee bit different than the tiny, tiny town that I live in, and it really makes me want to move into a big city.  (Side note:  I just applied for a job in LA…fingers crossed!)

FOURTH

On Sunday, Sara and her boyfriend hosted a BBQ as a July 4th/birthday gathering/going away party since her boyfriend is leaving to drive across the country (touring in an RV!) in a few weeks.  Sara made some lovely food (check it out!), more friends came over, and it was a fantastic time.  Sara had requested baked good for her birthday, so I whipped up some lemon cupcakes with blueberry frosting, which were quite delicious if I must say so myself.

mmm blueberries!

For the record, it is TOTALLY normal to simmer blueberries for blueberry frosting at 1am on a Friday night.  Normal people do that, right?  So good.

Anyway, as the night moved I decided it was about time to head home, but as I got closer to Baltimore, I talked to one of my friends from college who lives there, and he mentioned that I should stop by since he was having a party.  He lives about three minutes out of the way, so I swung by.  It was perfect since he and his friends ate the rest of my cupcakes, and I was able to catch some fireworks at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore!  What a lovely place for fireworks, although I do miss Chicago’s display.

It was better in person!

Post-fireworks, I headed home and got back to Pennsylvania around 12:45am…still way before my bedtime!  I had a fantastic weekend and got to spend it was some of my favorite people, so you can’t beat that. 

monday funday…

While many people in this world were basking in the glory of the three day weekend, I prepared for just another week at work.  The morning started off with a hot run, followed immediately by me switching into my swimsuit and heading back outdoors.  Gotta love it. 

Monday, July 5
3.06 miles in 23:51, avg pace of 7:48

Short but sweet!  I picked my training plan (which shall be revealed in the near future…), and I forgot how not every marathon training run is long!  Three easy miles and I was done.  I’m looking forward to following a training plan again, and I must say…I’m loving my new shoes so far!

I hope everyone had an awesome (three day??) holiday weekend, and a special shout out to those of you who had to work some (or all) of the weekend…I’m glad I wasn’t one of you this time around!