Pre - anniversary, Yee Haw!

I did it, I totally deserve credit for something most people do without even thinking twice about it. I completed my two swims for this week. So now it's Tuesday, and I've ran zero miles, yet swam more than two miles. It's like the battle of triathlon training vs. ultra training.

In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have signed up for next month's tri and focused on upping my mileage for JFK. But I got all hot and bothered about tris after the Half Ironman, this one is put on by the same group, and I'm still really really excited about it. It's not like I was going to place in my age group or something, so maybe this will just be for fun.

So today marks the anniversary of the day before our wedding, or as I like to think of it, the day Eric got more mad at me than anytime before or since. He got really upset because I interrupted him on the phone, and freaked out and started yelling and hung up on me. He called back about 15 seconds later and felt really bad and apologized, but it was so out of character it’s seared in my memory (as a hilarious example of the one time he ever got stressed out, not in a “I’m still wounded and whining about it way). We were dealing with all sorts of last minute wedding stuff, and both of us had tons of family members and friends arriving from out of town. Plus Eric's car broke down about an hour before the rehearsal. Weddings can cause tensions to run high.

The only rehearsal dinner pic I could find was with my 
Gram, but she's adorable, so it's cool.

We try to take a trip for our anniversary every year as our "gift" to each other, except for last year when I ran a 50K and made Eric run the 10 mile option. I'm not sure he enjoyed that gift. This year, we decided to take a trip to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee for some hiking. 

Engagement photo - taken a whole 4 days before the wedding

What with our holiday filled weekend, and having to work both jobs Monday, I finally got around to packing for our Tuesday trip around 11pm Monday night. I couldn't find my trail shoes anywhere. I freaked out a little bit because we are coming back Saturday, and I'm running a 50K with Ashley on Sunday. No trail shoes for a week of hiking and then a 31 mile trail run was a bit of an issue in my mind.

While I was in San Diego a few weeks ago, Eric had decided to surprise me by cleaning and organizing the bedroom, which was a hot mess of crap. Apparently he threw away my trail shoes - wow he's coming off great in this blog post! In his defense, they were in a shopping bag, so covered with mud that they were barely recognizable as shoes, and probably should have been trashed long ago. 

I figured I'd just have to buy new shoes the night before the race while I was at work. This was a wise idea. I've already planned really well for this race, and I'll be spending the day before in the car for 9 hours then going straight to work and closing. You know what would make things even more fun? Wearing brand new shoes and breaking them in for a hot 31 miles. 


In the end, we delayed our trip until the running store opened so I could get a new pair to break in this week, because if there's one thing I need, it's more running shoes.

The only time they will be this clean and pretty.

I also picked up a little treat for myself, as you can see. I'm overdue for a 70.3 sticker on my car.

We got into Sevierville, Tennessee around 8pm, and after going to two barbecue places that came highly recommended on Yelp! and then turned out to be closed, we went to the next logical dinner option. 

A Japanese buffet. Believe it or not, it was amazing. Or maybe I was just starving. Either way, unlimited sushi and ice cream brought me so much happiness. No pictures, partially because I was too busy stuffing my face, partially because it tasted a LOT better than it looked.

Does being in weddings cause you stress? I wish I could say no, but I've really only been in one wedding that didn't raise my blood pressure. It wasn't my own.

Ever eaten something that should totally be disgusting but was actually wonderful? My expectations were low for a sushi buffet in rural Tennessee.