More Eating Out & CIM Relay

Whew, what a day! I survived my leg of the CIM relay and the rest of my plans for the day and am now ready to relax. Especially since it’s pouring rain outside as it has been for most of the weekend and I’m getting the stink eye from a very frustrated dog for not getting enough walks. But first a little catch up. Last night I had to meet my sister since she was sweet enough to pick up the race packets for our entire relay team and we decided on Ikea for dinner since it’s a good central location, has cheap, good food and kid-friendly for her restless toddler son. I usually go for the soup and salad combo, but this veggie-loaded wrap looked too good this time.

It was packed with bean sprouts, cucumber, pepper, cabbage and water chestnuts with a poppy seed dressing. Surprisingly fresh and filling for an Ikea vegan dish. I also grabbed a bowl of veggie soup because it looked so appealing with the rain coming down outside.

Again, a surprisingly good vegan dish for Ikea. When we got home, I instantly started going through the race goody bag only to  find the usual freebies.

Am I supposed to chug the vinegar and olive oil while running?

Because I was running the 3rd leg of the relay, I didn’t have to be there so early which was very nice. I was nervous about the weather since it rained all night and most of Saturday, but we were treated to a nearly cloudless sky for the walk to the relay station.

I had my long running pants, gloves and headband ready to go, but changed my mind with temps in the 50s this morning and plenty of sunshine, opting for cropped running pants and a thin hoodie. The relay was an interesting experience because I spent about 30 minutes standing around waiting for my team member to come in carefully listening to all the bib numbers called and debating on dashing to the disgusting outhouses again. Luckily my sister called during her run letting me know she was a mile away.

When my sister finally came in, we had to madly pull the sweaty strap with the timing chip from her ankle and secure it on mine before I could tear out. What irked me a little was there was no individual timing for the relay legs, the chip was only logged at the start and finish lines for the relay. Sad because I seriously PR’d for my 7-mile stretch, luckily I had RunKeeper to keep track for me.

I felt great and still feel great after pushing myself through this leg and it was an interesting experience running it with more seasoned runners taking on the entire marathon. There were runners of all types from an 80-something guy with a sport walker to young teens. Many runners looking seriously tired by this point, limping and hobbling along. The 20-mile marker had a huge gate of encouragement and a few volunteers yelling and cheering runners on, which I thought was strange until I heard the 20-mile marker was a common place for marathoners to give up for some reason. The weather was absolutely perfect, I couldn’t have asked for better weather being in the 50s, slightly sunny, but overcast enough to keep it cool and not too bright. I was so grateful! At the end of my stretch, I got another medal to add to my growing collection and a space-aged silver blanket to keep warm. That seemed useless after my short leg, but still a cool collectors item.

After my leg, we opted not to meet at the finish line because parking was a nightmare, there was no food and most of the vendor booths were gone. So hubby and I headed towards home stopping at The Counter again for lunch. By the time we were walking in, the hunger monster was catching up with me and I ordered a monster plate of sweet potato fries for an appetizer.

Followed by a vegan burger-topped salad with grilled pineapple and a sweet soy sauce for dressing, yum!

When we finally got home, I had just an hour to relax, shower and head back out for a friend’s girl-night holiday party. By this time the rain was seriously coming down again, but that’s okay after such a beautiful morning. :-) I had a blast chatting with new friends and participating in an ornament swap – turns out the cheap, sparkly teddy bear ornament I grabbed from Crate N Barrel was a hit because it was stolen twice as the other girls fought for it. Sweet considering it was the cheapest one I’m pretty sure. :-) But, aside from some grapes and crackers, there wasn’t much for a vegan to eat. And I had to suck it in when another girl proudly professed she was practically a vegetarian because she only ate chicken and fish, not beef. It was a fun evening of girl silliness and chatting, now I need to find some real dinner!