Amazing Anniversary/and some running

Dave and I were married on St. Patrick's Day in Cancun in 2008. This year we had a fabulous day-long celebration. We started with the St. Patrick's Day Dash - Dave actually ran it hard, but I had a longer, tempo run to do so I met up with Jessica, Eliza and Kirk on the Aurora Bridge. I didn't expect the race to start on time (and it was snowing/rain mix), so I missed seeing Dave at the turnaround. :( But I did get there in time to catch the Martins, and it was a lot of fun to see the costumes and all the peeps out there with all their green on (without simultaneously wanting to throw up, which is how I would have felt if I'd been racing ;)). We crossed the finish line at around 31 minutes - I was super proud of my sisters in law and Kirk!

(Yes, I wore my Garmin for the 2 miles I ran with them - what can I say?)

Post race, we made our normal trek to Fado - where it was IMPOSSIBLE to get a server's attention, much less food or drinks. And we were all still freezing, so it was time to get some Irish coffee! Turns out even people who aren't celebrating the end of a race start drinking at 9AM on St. Patrick's Day. So we went downstairs to the Owl and Thistle, where we paid cover, but got to sit down and order. Had some Colcannon, which was actually really yummy, and some Irish coffee, but also got to catch up with our friends and celebrate St. Patrick's Day the way everyone else does.

Home to nap, then get my tempo run on! I have not been feeling super great about my run fitness lately, so it felt really good to get in 1:45 with the last 30 min at half marathon pace. After marathon training, 1:45 still doesn't feel like that long - and I never want that feeling to go away! It was lonely by myself, (Teresa and I have been doing a lot of our runs together lately) but it was actually sunny in the afternoon, and I surprised myself with my tempo pace!! Feeling much better about running and life in general, time to get ready for our anniversary dinner.

We went to Elemental, which is right by gasworks park. The wine bar next door called E.N.D. (Elemental Next Door, appropriately) had a sign that said 'Same food, Less attitude'. Their website kind of says it all. I was glad we had known people who went there and had read reviews. Here are some survivor tips: DO NOT admit any food allergies/dislikes/would rather not haves. You will just piss them off. (If you know me, you know I don't eat: red meat, shellfish or blue cheese. Thankfully, blue cheese only made an appearance during the cheese course, and Dave ate all of that so I wouldn't have to have any.) Also, under NO circumstances drink everything they put in front of you. You just sit down and go with the flow. The food and drinks will start coming! We followed these simple rules and had an amazing night and dinner (and still ended up a wee bit hung over)! They serve wine with every course (at least one glass) and many MANY courses. Corned beef ravioli, beef stew, tuna, salad - everything was amazing! It even seemed slightly Irish themed - and the wine pairings (and Port with dessert!) complimented the food perfectly! I highly recommend Elemental for celebratory evenings and an amazing meal. It was the perfect event meal for our anniversary dinner!