Instead of boring you with a wordy post about my week in running and fitness fun, let’s review the week in pictures! On a really gorgeous Saturday last week, I ran 5 miles in a Skirt Sports skirt (the Happy Girl):

I even figured out how to use the timer on my phone, too!

It was a perfect running day: warm but not too hot, gentle breeze – I wish every day could be like that!

Later in the week I continued my daily strength training (no pics for that, sorry – it’s kind of weird being the girl taking selfies with your coworkers in your office gym). But I also did some non-gym healthy things, like eat some big-ass strawberries every day for dessert:

I also went upside down and continued my Runners Yoga program.

And because life is all about balance, I had an amazing hibiscus martini at the Cheesecake Factory for date night:

Saturday I met up with some friends – one is training for her first 5K in the fall! – and the other brought his pup, Pepper, to keep us company.

Isn’t she the cutest running partner ever?! Although the weather was something out of a Stephen King novel: light drizzle, whipping wind, and the temps fought to break 50 degrees.

After we parted ways at 3.5 miles, I went out for a full-on sprint mile alone to feel the burn without music, which is a new thing for me. It was oddly calming to focus only on my feet hitting the pavement and the crashing waves right next to me.

And of course I had to get a timer shot to show off my new leopard-print capris (!!!). When I got home I discovered that our neighbor’s tree threw up pink flowers all over the place, but it’s OK – it makes some pretty pictures:

Sunday I had Mike drive me 5 miles away at around 8:30, and the weather was brutal. It started off at 80% humidity (UGH) and about 75 degrees. I only brought a tiny water bottle with me and blew through it by mile 2.5, but now I know: always wear the water backpack! Once I got going, the sun came out and it turned into an absolutely gorgeous (albeit HOT) day.

I made it 5 miles to my parent’s house where I called Mike for a ride home. Bless his heart for being my running chauffeur – that sun was cranking up the temps to 80+! Which meant it was not a good day for capri’s. Oh well – live and learn!

The rest of the day was super busy: we split up Mother’s Day by taking his mama out to her favorite Chinese buffet (OHH the delicious carb-filled goodness!) at noon, and later I took my mom out for a jaunt around the Keyport waterfront flea market (after nixing our plans for a Long Branch trip due to the heat), then we got salads and BS’d for an hour at her favorite diner. It was one of those perfect days where everything flows so nicely, but I was most certainly ready for bed before the sun went down!

Which brings us to Monday, when this little cutie became my spirit animal:

See, what had happened was…. I spotted a Mother’s Day coupon code for the AC Half Marathon in October and couldn’t pass up a great deal! The prices are only going to get higher, and after looking at the courses and start times of a handful of other races that month, I finally decided to pull the trigger.

I just had to. This is the course where I tore my ACL, returned to set my current half PR, and where I’m sure I’ll set a new one. There’ll always be a special place in my heart for this race. Also: my mom is a penny slot queen and manages to score us a free room the night before the race, meaning all I have to do on race day is simply roll out of bed, make my in-room coffee, and saunter down to the starting line literally steps from the door. If you ask me, that beats waking up at 3:30AM for a 6:45AM start in NYC or PA any day.

But it’s also kind of funny, because I went from saying I enjoyed my empty race calendar to booking two pretty major events within like 4 days.

And that’s my week in pictures! How’s your week been?