Weekend Things & The Coolest Experience Ever

Happy Monday to everybody! Here I am writing another Weekend Recap because I can’t seem to get my act together on the weekends. But that’s what weekends are for right? RIGHT?!

FRIDAY

Work –> Home from work –> finished up the other half of the 6 mile run I had on my schedule –> birthday things with my mom for Hope and Jake –> party with all my bestest high school friends. It’s so fun how some things never change:)

SATURDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOPE AND JAKE!!!!

(Sorry for the terrible iPhone quality. My sister got a pink and black perfume set from Victoria’s Secret and my brother got red and black Adidas pants… so the balloons match their gifts because my mom and I are cute like that:)

I can’t believe my baby sibs are 17… mostly because I still feel like I’m 17 sometimes. They’re going into grade 12 in two weeks and then they’ll be off into the real world. Crazy.  I really hope they enjoy 17 because it is a great year full of exciting firsts and lasts. I am super lucky that I have grown really close to both of them – they are easily my two best friends. They are turning into such AMAZING and GENUINE people and I can’t wait to see where the next year takes them. LOVE YOU GUYS.

After cinnamon buns and muffins and orange juice for breaky, Terry, Hope and I headed out to do the COOLEST THING EVER. We went on a helicopter ride! (Jake had other plans).

It was a very spur of the moment decision, but Terry and I decided we needed a little oomph in our summer and it was only necessary to take the birthday girl herself!

The pilot took us up 15,000 feet for a tour around the Gatineau Hills and downtown Ottawa. It was such a beautiful and humbling experience.

It’s crazy how a little change in perspective can remind us all how tiny we really are, and how vast this world really is. I felt like I was looking at massive pieces of the world, until I was reminded that this beauty was only one PIECE of Ottawa.

It was a perfect mix of city and country. It was also a great reminder of how stunningly beautiful and underestimated Ottawa really is.

Literally breathtaking. I can’t even compare this experience to anything else. It was much more intimate than an airplane since there were only 3 of us. And the way it elevates, turns and lands really makes you feel like you are flying.

(Side note: how similar do Hope and I look in this picture?! People mistake us for twins or for each other all the time!)

What an experience!!!

Fast forward to later in the day, because it’s not a birthday without all the indulgences.

(For those of age of course)

Everyone needs to go to The Works at some point in their lives. Just look up their menu and you will probably die of over-salivating. There are so many burger combos to choose from that I took at least 20 minutes to decide on my order. There is something for everybody AND tons of vegetarian/vegan options as well!

I got the Sk8r Boy – beef burger with jack cheese, bacon and PEANUT BUTTER. Yup. And it was incredible.

We finished off the night with gelato (coconut… always) and a vegan cake for Hope from the cutest little bakery I ever did see.

(Strawberry Blonde Bakery, Ottawa, ON)

SUNDAY

Long run – 9 miles/14.5km at about 5:45/km average pace. I think I’m starting to get the hang of a faster pace and am starting to feel confident that I really be able to run a 5:35/km pace on race day.

The weather was beautiful and cool and everything I could ever want in life. It was a great run fuelled with half a white bagel with peanut butter and Undisclosed podcast (couldn’t get enough of Serial! If you loved Serial, listen to Undisclosed!)

I felt a little pain and tightness in my IT Band during the run but I stretched and foam rolled later that day so my fingers are crossed that I stay pain free! I will admit to a few tears during my run after feeling the pain, imagining myself out for another month with ITBS (which actually happened after my last race HERE) but the pain was so much weaker than it had been, so I continued my run and promised myself lots of foam rolling and TLC.

I also went to a Gentle Power yoga class with my favourite instructor (see her mantra HERE) and ended up being the ONLY PERSON IN THE CLASS, so I had a private lesson for an entire hour! Dream come true!

We worked a lot on our core and opening up our hips (mine were a little sore from my long run as well) and then worked only arm balances. So cool and so fun. I will write an entire post on arm balances later this week – but first – LOTS of practice!!

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend as well! Can’t wait to go read about them righhhhhtttt now;)

——–

Have you ever been in a helicopter before? Do you want to?

What is an item on your bucket list?

How was your long run this weekend?

Can anybody do any cool yoga poses?

Any vegans out there?