The Joy of the Weekend
Saturday - Cape Cod
Amy, a gal I know through my previous job in Portland (and who recently moved to Boston herself), invited me to come with her to Cape Cod on Saturday. She started her day at the celebration parade for the Boston Red Sox while I was out in Marlborough doing a work thing, and we met up at the Alewife T station in the early afternoon. Her reason for heading down to the Cape was to pick up a Christmas gift for her brother, and I hadn't been on the Cape yet so decided to come along.
Rennie came with us, and I had a really good time hanging out with her and exploring Falmouth, MA. It was a really quaint little town with lots of little shops, most of which Amy and I went into. Everywhere we went we were stopped by people wanting to pet or hold Rennie. (Ironically, the only store we went into where the salesperson DIDN'T comment on her was the 'doggie bakery' place. Needless to say, I didn't buy anything there.) For once in her little life, Ren was content to have me carry her through the shops, because she was a bit overwhelmed by all the new stuff; I have to admit that it was nice getting to cuddle with my usually-squirmy/energetic puppy!
I really enjoyed the drive down the cape, as well as being out there. It is really gorgeous and I'm beginning to formulate plans to head back down there for 4 or 5 days during my vacation in July - Falmouth is in a great place; close to Provincetown and Newport, Rhode Island, and there are ferries that leave from there for Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard. I'm sure I could spend several weeks there exploring the islands and surrounding areas, but I suppose that will have to wait until the next time I'm unemployed! :)
Sunday - Running!!
This morning I got up and spent the day in "Domestic Goddess" mode. There was, of course, the obligatory laundry to be done, but I also reorganized my bedroom and got rid of a bunch of papers I didn't need. The room feels much more homey now and definitely less cluttered. It always amazes me how 'light' and carefree I feel after throwing things out.
Then Ren got a bath, I cleaned her area of the family room and then spent some time figuring out where to go for a run. I'd had it in my head that I was going to drive down and park somewhere along the Charles river for my first run as a Boston-area resident. Well, just as I was getting ready to go, my roommates emerged and mentioned that Memorial Drive (which runs along the Charles) was closed on Sundays. RATS! What about Fresh Pond?, I asked... Well, turns out I could park there as long as I didn't mind getting a ticket. GRRRRRR... So I settled for a run from the house, down to the Minuteman Bikeway. It turns out it's a 5 minute walk from my front door!
So after an hour-long, fortunately successful search for my watch and heart rate monitor, I headed down the street and onto the Bikeway. It really is a lovely time of year in New England. The trees were all gold and red and yellow, and the path is - for the most part - surrounded by very nice neighborhoods, parks and other scenic things.
My original plan was to take things easy and do a 30 minute run - 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back. Well, when the watch said I'd been running for 15 minutes, I didn't feel like turning back. So I continued along for another 7 minutes... big mistake. By the time I turned around my haven't-run-for-a-month body was protesting. So I did a bit more walking than I care to admit, but managed to finish up the run and feel pretty good. I did about 4 miles total and my IT Bands felt just fine! I'm sore now, though. :-(
Hopefully, however, I'll sleep well and be motivated to workout at the gym tomorrow at lunch. On Friday I dropped by the Gold's Gym in my building at work and signed up. I haven't belonged to a gym in about 4 years so this will be an interesting experiment. My thinking is that the gym is so close I won't have much excuse not to go work out. I'll be able to run w/ a couple folks at work on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then do weights and/or pilates on the other days. And, if it's rainy or gross outside, there's always the treadmill! Anyway, we shall see how it works.
Back to the grind tomorrow...
