Holy hot weekend, Batman!

I have somehow managed to become as good a holiday-eater as I am a cupcake-talker.

On Friday and Saturday, Neil and I made our way to friends' houses (Nate and Kate on Friday; Stef and Dane on Saturday) where we stuffed our faces with grilled eggplant and fresh mozzarella on fresh baguettes; tomatillo salsa sandwiches with tomatoes, swiss and lettuce; cream-filled chocolate cupcakes; chocolate-caramel torte; Nilla wafer-banana cream pie; and, mmm, cherries.

So, sitting down to my breakfast of a chai tea Luna bar and apple was a little less exciting than usual.

The exciting part of it, however, is that I bought the chai tea Luna bar at Whole Foods in University Heights, which conveniently opened shortly after I left the area. While I haven’t become dependent on bar-form meals, they’re a handy way of maintaining my nutrition when I could just as quickly sink my teeth into a quick donut or two. And as you can see from the above list, I can probably stand a few days away from any serious binging, eh?

But the weekend wasn’t all face-stuffing and naps: I kicked a little bit of running butt on what turned out to be a rather disgusting Saturday morning/early afternoon walk-and-run around the neighborhood. I started with a very fast 2.10-mile walk and then picked up into a 3.83-mile run.

I had intended on greater distances when I started the workout, but as the heat washed over me (I also started later than intended—I generally get running by 8 a.m., but didn’t get out the door until after 10:30), I felt like I was trying to breathe underwater. The trouble was primarily at the end of the run, so it didn’t seem to signal any grand deterioration of my shape.

It did, however, mark a new “accomplishment” in my world of running: it was my first workout in the present era without music. I had my iPod along to track the workout, but I had no music playing. Sure, it doesn’t sound like much, but I’ve had some serious attachment problems with running music—as if some form of audio distraction were absolutely necessary.

Ever since I became a more-frequent cyclist though, I’ve gotten used to the non-distraction workout. It’s obviously too dangerous to listen to music when I’m riding my bike (and, come on, when I do something it’s about 35 times more dangerous than the average participant), and I’ve kind of settled into that quiet space.

So, when I headed out on Saturday morning, I thought I would give it a try. It seemed a little strange at first because I like to use music rhythms to get me moving, but I found my inner motivation to push me instead. It took some digging…. And it will take some getting used to. Maybe I can just start singing to myself.