The Birthday Weekend Wrap Up

Wow, what an amazing weekend! Thanks for all of the birthday wishes!

Friday:

This was my "Farewell to the 20s" party. Some girlfriends and I met up at the Metropolitan Grill - home of some of the best martinis and steaks in Calgary. We had a blast and the food and drinks did not disappoint. At 10 pm a DJ shows up in the lounge and a dance floor starts up that caters to the 25+ crowd. Given that the drinking age in Alberta is 18 I appreciated that we weren't hanging out with kids who were possibly still in grade 12. I had such a blast, so thanks for coming out to celebrate girls!

Saturday:

My 10 miler... I woke up around 7ish and I could hear the distinct sound of rain. It was coming down in buckets. After waiting to see what happened with the weather it became apparent that the rain was not going to let up too much. I suppose this may have been an improvement over last year when it snowed on my birthday... So instead I lounged around eating breakfast, watching some of So You Think You Can Dance and I chatted to my folks on the phone. I finally got around to packing, then it was time to drop Finlay off at the kennel and for Neil and I to head out to Banff. I have to say...I've never seen my dog so happy to go to kennel... We stopped off in Canmore for lunch at the Grizzly Paw Brewing Company. I like to think I have a pretty good tolerance to spicy food but the Smoking Hot chicken wings had my mouth on fire! It was followed up with an Angry Burger (BBQ sauce, jalapenos, bacon and cheese) and washed down with a pint or two of Grumpy Bear Honey Wheat. Delicious. We got to Banff, drove around town checking out some camping sites for the future, then hung out at the hot pool in our hotel. We went for a late dinner at the Grizzly House, a terrific fondue restaurant. We ordered the complete dinner - a house salad, cheese fondue, main course and chocolate fondue for dessert. Amazing. For dinner we had wild boar, buffalo, caribou, elk and venison cooked on a hot rock. It was fantastic!

Sunday:

It was still raining the entire drive back from Banff to town. Around 3:00 it seemed like the rain had slowed down so I figured this was my opportunity to get my 10 miles done. I ran around the neighborhood thinking that if the rain ever turned really bad that I could make it home in short order. Luckily I didn't need to put my backup plan in action and the 10 miler went off without too much of a hitch. I ran 19:1 intervals again, plus improved my pace on last week's 9 miler. Phew, a successful run!