Kickass 10 Mile Run in TC

This weekend, I got to spend a couple days in Traverse City with my friend, Cat.  We had a seriously activity packed weekend including a fantastic 10 mile run!

Friday night, I arrived around 9:30, and we decided to go to a restaurant called Firefly.  It sits right on the edge of one of the bay inlets where you can launch kayaks or paddle boats.  We enjoyed a huge avocado salad with an incredible lemon basil dressing (I have to find a recipe for this stuff!) and black bean cakes with salsa.  I tried a drink with rum, Kahlua, and ice cream.  Yum!

Saturday started off with power smoothies – yogurt, strawberries, banana, honey, coconut milk, and whey protein.  A perfect fuel source for our 10 mile run.

Cat planned a fun route that started off on a lakeside path about 20 feet from her door.  So jealous of that, let me tell you!  Then we wove through the cute downtown area passing by morning café patrons and dog walkers.  On our way to the bay, Cat started giggling and said that we were about to pass her favorite place in TC so far.  It was the Dairy Lodge!  While Cat is an ice cream lover, it wasn’t the treats that she loved.  It was the ridiculous sign! 

What is this?!  A woman suggestively riding an ice cream cone?  Many phallus jokes ensued.  We later heard from a local that the owners recently touched up the sign to make her bust bigger and her hair blonde instead of brown.  Can you imagine little kids munching on their kiddie cones under this crazy sign?   It’s just wrong!  This cracked us up.  Once on the bayside path, we ran to Cat’s new office and turned around to retrace our steps back home.

We started out at a fast pace, that I did not expect to be able to keep up.  But surprisingly, we did!  All the catch-up chat, the dairy hilarity, and the joy of running with a friend kept our energy and our spirits high.  I haven’t run a long distance at speeds like that in a long time.  It was so encouraging.  It reminds me that I can push harder and longer than I think I can.  I forgot to use my stopwatch to time the run, but judging by the time that we started and ended, we ran close to 8 minute miles!  I’m seriously proud of us.

After that, we got some Mexican food for lunch and took an exploratory drive up to the Leelanau Peninsula.   We stopped at an art gallery and two vineyards to taste their wines and bought some raclette from a local cheese maker along with olives infused with herbs de Provence and cornichons.  We explored the little town of Suttons Bay briefly before taking our snack array to a café back in downtown TC called Brew to enjoy as a pre-dinner appetizer.  Good coffee there!

We did a little window shopping and then made our way home for omelets with veggies cooked in balsamic vinegar topped with some melted raclette cheese.  Yum!

Following dinner, we got dressed up and went to the State Theater to see Moneyball.  The theater is showing a full week of movies for free during spring break.  Then we stopped in at a gay dance club called Side Traxx, which we passed by during our run.  Gay clubs are so much fun!  We expected to check it out and head home after an hour or so, but we met a group of people from a travelling theater group who had performed a show in town that day, and we ended up closing down the bar with them.  These people were indescribably funny, witty, and just a riot to hang out with!

At 3am, we finally walked in Cat’s door and crashed for the night.  Sunday morning came early with a walk for Cat’s little Jack Russel/Chihuahua mix, Emma.  For breakfast, we went to a local co-op organic grocery store and ate some smoothies, baked oatmeal, and breakfast burritos in their café.  One the way out, Cat commented on a man’s University of Michigan sweatshirt, and this sparked a 2-hour conversation that ultimately pulled in 5 people in the café – all of us ex-Detroiters.  What a small world!

Next we went back downtown to check out a doggie bakery, where Cat got some rather tasty looking Easter treats for Emma.  Our appetites re-awakened by the treats (not that we ate them…they just looked good), we stopped for lunch at the Blue Tractor.  Cat had a flavorful veggie pizza, and I had a beef brisket dish from which I ate the hottest slice of jalapeño I’ve ever swallowed.  Holy cow did that make my throat burn!

Aside from all the activities and events, Cat and I had a great time catching up and talking endlessly about hipsterdom, music, running, family, work, food…on and on.

Thank you, Cat, for hosting and planning such a great time and for being such a good friend!  I can’t wait for our next visit!




This week:


Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Run 3, 2x2:00 and 2x2:30 AI's, Run 2 (total 6.25 miles)


Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Walk 2.5 miles with the hubby to the bank and to get dinner


Thursday, March 22, 2012
Dodge ball season 2 game 2 (missed the first week) - We won 12 to 5!


Saturday, March 24, 2012
Run 10 miles - pace around 8:00 avg