Monday, May 9, 2011

The Weekend Part 1: Friday Night

It was a busy weekend so this will be a two-part post. First, a re-cap of Friday evening and half of Saturday.

The weekend got off to a strong start with Attitude Adjustment Hour (AAH) at The Roundup. I pass the Roundup almost everyday on my way home from Crossfit.


From the outside it dosen't look like much. A bar that perhaps a "lady" would be uncomfortable in. So when the invitation was issued to me for Friday afternoon drinks at the Roundup, I didn't hesitate to RSVP s'il vous plait! Hollie and I were there before 4:00. After sitting in a training class for two days we were ready for a drink. Another work friend joined us and we bellied up to the bar. Inside, the Roundup was nice -- not the trucker bar I had envisioned, and quite suitable for the ladies.  

My suggestion to you however, should you find yourself in Fairbanks on a Friday afternoon wanting a cocktail, wait until 5:00 when the actual bartender starts her shift. Then, when you order a Maker's Mark Manhattan up, no cherry, that is what you'll get. Not, a shot of warm bourbon with a bit of vermouth from a waitress who was annoyed by your mere presence.

Post Roundup, I rallied and went to Crossfit. Friday had been a gorgeous day. Down right hot when standing in the sun. By the time I went to Crossfit though, black clouds had rolled in, the wind was gusting and the Work Out of the Day (aka WOD) was to run. A lot. Outside. And, this WOD was pre-race day.

Kane, the Crossfit owner had talked a bunch of us into signing up for the Chena River Run on Saturday.

I was surprised then, that he'd have us running the night before the race. I asked him why, to which he said, before turning around and walking away, "Yeah, I programmed this before I knew we were all doing the race." When I protested he said, "You should look at tomorrow [i.e., the race] as active recovery from the stuff that really matters."

Kane doesn't like to run. Kane feels that he has run enough in his life that he doesn't ever need to run more than 40 yards. Kane wasn't participating in the Chena River Run because it would eat into his fast-twitch muscle fibers thereby having a negative impact on his squat. I was going to say something about being a team player, but honestly how do you argue with someone who can do this? You don't.

WOD completed, I fell asleep by 9:30. And so concluded my Friday night in Fairbanks.

Saturday morning I awoke to even colder temperatures. There I was, standing in the Fred Meyer's parking lot waiting for the shuttle bus to take me to the race start. It was 30 degrees with a 12 MPH wind. This, is cold. Not invigorating. I thought my nose was going to snap off. I was wearing long underwear. I never warmed up the entire 3.1 mile run. For the first 1.5 miles my toes hurt they were so cold. Around mile 2.5, I removed my wind block fleece jacket because I-don't-run-Kane, had given me a Crossfit Fairbanks shirt (for free), specifically to wear in the race, so I could represent the gym. 

I wore the shirt. Backwards. It wasn't until I got home that I realized I had put it on backwards. I was mortified. Supposedly there were about 15 people from the gym running that day but I never saw anyone, including Kane. Just as well. I would never have heard the end of it.

Here's the shirt:
How it should look from the front.
How it looked from the front when I wore it on race day.
Three cheers for me!

The good news: I didn't pee my pants.


After an afternoon of icing my knees, I had a manicure and pedicure with Hollie. It was interesting getting services from "John" who was missing his top two front teeth and had thumb nails longer than most women. And not, well kept nails. 

Once home I took a nap and prepped for the evening ahead. Lord have mercy, I should have slept some more. Stay tuned for The Weekend Part 2: Saturday night, where I visit the brewery, a tattoo parlor, an Irish Pub and go dancing at Kodiak Jack's.

No comments:

Post a Comment