Powder to the People

We didn't end up going to the photography exhibit on Friday night, but come to find out you can view most of it online, so the good news is that we saved ourselves a long, cold, & crowded T ride out to Brookline!
On Saturday my alarm went off at 6:15 and I dragged myself out of bed in order to make it to FitCorp for 7:30-ish. Our group runs start at 8, but by the time I put all my stuff in my locker, fill my water bottles, & stretch it's pretty close to 8. Saturday's run was an 18.3 mile loop that ran down Beacon Street to Cleveland Circle, where we turned left at the Res and continued up Beacon and turned right onto Chestnut Street. From Chestnut Street in Newton, we turned right onto Comm Ave, up Heartbreak Hill and down Beacon Street back to FitCorp. The weather was not too chilly (at least not compared to the 16 mile loop 2 weeks ago) and the sunny was shining, so I can't complain. This was the first time I finished all 4 water bottles on my fuel belt, took water or Gatorade at all the stops and "refueled" (not snacked) on 2 GU packets. (Oh, and the Tri-Berry and Strawberry GU's are 1000 times better than the Orange flavored GU.) I finished in 3 hours and 3 minutes, which at 183 minutes makes it pretty easy to determine my pace for an 18.3 mile course! I'm pretty happy with the time and more importantly felt good when I finished. I think I realized how important it is to stayed fueled and hydrated while running.
Saturday night we went to a surprise party for my friend Jen's 30th birthday. We had to be at her sister's apartment by 7 for the surprise and managed to successfully surprise the birthday girl! Jen's sister and friends did an awesome job with the party; however, Nick and I only made it until a little after 9 since I was exhausted from the run and Nick was still jet-lagged from his trip to London. Sadly, we were asleep by 10.
After 9 hours of sleep, we felt refreshed enough to make a day trip to Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire. Now my book says, "Never skip a rest day!" but I like to live on the edge, people. Our skiing pals Brad and Jenny, along with Joel and his girlfriend Karen met us there and we were able to take advantage of some great conditions. I felt pretty tired, but managed to get some good runs in, despite going in for lunch a half hour before the rest of the crew. I had never been to Mount Sunapee before and it's a great day-trip, but the lodges were packed with kids. Seriously, there were what seemed like thousands of parent-less children roaming around. We spent a few minutes watching a little girl who probably didn't clear 2 feet trying to get on an elevator without a supervising adult. She pushed the button to get on, but I didn't see what happened as I turned my head back to my tasty chicken sandwich.
Today is a much-needed rest day!