good morning everyone! i hope that you are enjoying the weekend and getting into the autumn mood 
last week, i ran a 10k race with a friend called ‘the great race‘ here in pittsburgh. it was a really fun experience even though it poured rain around mile 4 to the finish. i was so relieved i wore my race hat—the rain was streaming off the bill of the cap! i was soaked to the bone and pleased with our time ~58 minutes! neither of us had a watch, and it was very difficult to ‘gain any ground’ because there were over 10,000 runners! it was a literal sea of humanity! i carried my phone with me and would have snapped some shots if i thought i would not have been run over by an army of people!
i’ll be honest…i’m happy we finished and didn’t walk at all–i haven’t run that far in 2 months! i’ve also been battling a terrible infection for three weeks and hope to be on the mend soon (i have 5 more days left of antibiotics). finding nate after the race proved to be a bit difficult with traffic so i ended up running through the city a little to meet up with our car ha. i could not wait to get off my soggy clothing and have a warm shower—oh. and this delicious chai latte with almond milk below!
i definitely wanted to pull out of the race due to how crap i was feeling but i’m very excited that i pushed through and achieved that goal as i have never run a 10k race. p.s. do you see the new goodies at trader joes? the pumpkin macarons are infinitely better than the vanilla/chocolate ones they sell year round. i will be stock piling these in my freezer thank you very much. if you like pumpkin or macarons, go get these immediately! the texture is wonderful considering this is not paris and the flavor is incredible with a subtle sweetness. ::swoon::
what is one challenge that you accomplished recently in which you had doubt? best new grocery store find for this season?
October 7, 2012 at 9:11 pm
changing out a toilet
yep that was what Gary and I’s Sunday late afternoon was doing that was a challenge for us, and one that I never thought I would do haha
October 8, 2012 at 1:12 pm
ahahaha i literally laughed out loud. oh man i know how strange/difficult home reno challenges can be. plumbing is one thing that we tried but ended up needing some help with! good luck, i’m sure the finished product will be worth it!
October 8, 2012 at 2:06 am
What a lovely pic of you! That chai latte looks delish!
October 8, 2012 at 1:11 pm
thanks! delicious chai latte c/o quiet storm
October 8, 2012 at 3:00 am
Congrats on finish strong with 10k race! I am not sure I could sustain running that long since I’ve never really ran that long for the past 4 years already and I’m a person who got bored so fast so short circuit training is always my best friend..ha!
I’ve never had that pumpkin macaroon…looks delish! I’ll check out my local TJ to find out. Are those macaroon cookies or ice cream?
There are too many challenges that I have doubt for now and haven’t conquered any of them yet.. *eek!*
October 8, 2012 at 1:10 pm
maybe a good fall challenge would be to knock one of those doubts out—bring your confidence jos! x p.s. they are a cookie not ice cream..the texture is airy with a creamy/ganache like filling!
October 8, 2012 at 4:14 am
1) YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! love that pic of you with the hot CUPPA! and I have been wanting to try a chai latte with A.Milk! ugh, gotta find a fun cafe that can gehd it right.
2) good job with the race! hope you are feeling better!
3) gotta get me some of those macaroons AND kale chips! delicious!
HAPPY WEEK TO YOU MAMA! hopefully you’ll be gettin some snail from me soon!
October 8, 2012 at 1:10 pm
aww thanks GC! i did indeed get your snail mail, it made me smile! so sparkly too haha!
October 8, 2012 at 11:52 am
i would be quite proud of myself too! that is a great time. Those races are always hard to “race” because you feel like you are cattle being herded from one place to another and no space to run. LOL.
p.s.
We need a TJ’s. ugh
October 8, 2012 at 1:09 pm
i def felt like cattle! you have better whole foods where you live than we do!
October 9, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Congrats on finishing your 10K! I’m running one in a couple of weeks, my first race longer than a 5K and I am a little nervous
The chai with almond milk sounds amazing… unfortunately, not many coffee shops in the Twin Cities have jumped on the almond milk bandwagon yet. Maybe if I keep asking/pestering…
October 9, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Congratulations! Isn’t racing gratifying? It almost doesn’t even matter how fast you go. Hope you’re still glowing from it! I ran in a frigid rainy December race once… it was that much more fun when I crossed the finish line.
I got those kale chips yesterday, too!
October 9, 2012 at 10:55 pm
You’re amazing! I’m training for my 5k and struggle to do it without any walking. It might rain on Sunday too, should I invest in a waterproof hat?
October 10, 2012 at 6:21 am
I wish they had a Trader Joes in Canada! We regularly make trips across the border just so I can grocery shop there.