A Ladies Weekend

This weekend was spent enjoying some time away with a few of the ladies from my Ragnar Relay Team. We did lots of eating, laughing and a little bit of running too. I rarely leave my family to take trips alone and this was the first time that I actually went away with friends so there was a little bit of guilt there. My kids never like it when I leave. My daughter still cries when I leave and she's a big girl already.

I had second thoughts about going because part of the trip included plans to run, of course! As you know, running and I have not been the best of friends lately so I didn't want to be the odd man out on the trip or be in the way. They insisted that I go anyway so I agreed and brought my running gear along with me just in case I was feeling up to it. I love running in new places and had been watching the weather forecast and when I saw that it was predicted to be in the mid 50's, I felt even worse. I haven't seen cool weather for quite a few months here in California so I was looking forward to it.

We headed out to Santa Barbara on Saturday morning and thankfully I did not have to drive! We made a quick pit stop at Starbucks and then we were on our way. I am kind of burned out with driving so that was one of the conditions for me to come along. NO DRIVING! We stayed at the Hotel Santa Barbara which is about a 135 mile drive from home. The drive was about an hour and a half but the time went by pretty quickly with all of the talking that we were doing.

The hotel was very pretty and the room was really cute but maybe a little too cozy for three females to share. The building is four stories high and we stayed on the 4th floor. Imagine how much time it takes for three women to get ready with only one bathroom....

After we settled into our room we walked down State Street and had breakfast. I had an egg white vegetable omelet and it was really good! They also served us some warm bread that was out of this world (one of my biggest weaknesses!)  

After breakfast we walked to the outdoor mall and ran into a couple of dangerous places.  I behaved myself at Lululemon and did not but anything even though I saw a few items that I would love to have! We also visited a cupcakery that had 100 calorie cupcakes but it was hardly a bite! Can you believe that I passed on the cupcakes? That is probably my biggest weakness of all!

The girls really wanted to go wine tasting but I am not much of a drinker... at all.  I have a drink every blue moon but I never ever finish it. I never developed a taste for alcohol but I went along just to see what it was all about. I told them that I would be the designated driver so they could enjoy themselves but we ended up catching the shuttle there. We went to the Santa Barbara Winery and I had a small taste one of the sweeter wines and it didn't taste like anything wonderful so I stopped there. The ladies really enjoyed it and purchased a few bottles to take home. I had never experienced what wine tasting was all about so it was a fun experience.

We had an amazing dinner at Pierre LaFond Bistro on Saturday night and since one of the girls that we met up with actually works there, she got us an amazing discount. We ordered different entrees and shared so that we could taste everything and it was all so delicious. I ordered the macaroni and cheese and some of the other dishes included meatloaf, diablo pizza which had goat cheese, veggies and soy chorizo on top, and the other dish was a risotto dish with duck. The appetizer was fried vegetables and they were so good. The veggies included kale,green beans, broccoli and squash.

The dessert, Kahlua Tiramisu, was by far my favorite. I love dessert (another one of my weakness)! 

After dinner we took a walk down State Street to burn off all of the yummy food but decided to turn in early because everyone was tired and wanted to rest up for a long run in the morning. State Street gets pretty crazy at night and that was confirmed when the Land Shark drove by with a bunch of intoxicated college students dancing to "Call Me Maybe."

The highlight of my weekend was our Sunday morning run and the weather was absolutely perfect!! It was 53 degrees at 8:00 a.m. and I enjoyed it so so much! We ran down State Street until we ended up on a bike trail by the ocean and the time flew right by because I was so busy taking everything in. After 3 miles, I told the girls that I was going to head back and told them to continue on because they wanted to run 10-12 miles and I knew that it was not a good idea for me. I felt sad turning back alone but I knew that it was a smart decision that I would not regret. It was a pain free run so I was happy about that and I am still feeling okay today considering that 6.25 miles was probably pushing it for me right now. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out downtown and probably some more eating. We also checked out the course of the upcoming Santa Barbara International Half Marathon/Marathon that is coming up in a few weeks. There is a pretty decent hill on the course that is in a pretty crazy location (Mile 10 for the half and Mile 22 of the full.) We drove up the hill which was about about a .40 mile climb and it is a pretty challenging one for me since I do not exactly love hills. I would love to run the half because I really love the perfect weather in Santa Barbara at this time of year. We headed home about 5:00 p.m and did not run into any traffic. I had a fun time but was a little home sick so I was glad to be back home with my family in my own bed on my own pillow :)

So what was the highlight of your weekend?