Taste of Fall

I had great expectations for the weather today.  For the past week the weatherman has been predicting a rainy Labor Day with temps in the low 70s.  In my mind, I had conjured up visions of a lazy day at home in sweatpants, enjoying the cool rainy day, and making a crock pot meal.  Well, let me tell you, that weatherman was wrong yet again.  I woke up to 80 degrees, sunshine, and 100% humidity.  Not exactly what I imagined, but I went about my day as planned regardless (except for the sweatpants).

Last week I heard the first advertisements for Starbuck's seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte.  My heart may have fluttered with excitement!  The official release date was set for September 6th.  I, however, had a coupon for a free Starbucks beverage of my choice that expired today, one day shy of pumpkin greatness.  In my sneaky ways and absolute requirement to enjoy a pumpkiny latte TODAY, I attempted to convince the barista to break out the pumpkin spice syrup one day early.  Imagine my excitement when I was presented with this:

Venti Nonfat Extra Hot 3-Pump Pumpkin Spice Latte.

And with that, all was right in my world.  It's the little things in life that mean so much!

After prying myself off the couch and out of my pajamas, I took my caffeine-high self to the Y for a swim.  Solid swim workouts are few and far between recently, but this was a good one.
Warm up:  400 swim, 300 drill, 200 pull, 4 x 25 single breath
Main set:  4 x 100 single arm with fins, 100 timed (1:21), 4 x 100 on 1:30, 300 timed (4:20), 6 x 50 (25 sprint, 25 easy)
Cool down:  200 (back/free by 25)

Then I hit Earth Fare to stock up on a few ingredients for my planned crock-pot meal.  While I was there, I couldn't resist the salad bar that was calling my name.  The combination of a grumbling belly and an empty refrigerator at home sealed the deal.  I enjoyed a mix of curried "chicken" salad, soba noodles, slaw, sun-dried tomato pilaf, and a mixed greens salad.  Paired with an extra-large farmers market peach it became the perfect lunch.

Since my workouts have been suffering with my schedule as of late, I decided to make up for it with a second workout for the day.  I hit the indoor trainer and spun my way through one of the The Grind power + torque short-course workouts.  Killer!  1 hour and 20 minutes later I treated my sweaty self to a much needed shower.

And then it was time to reveal the creation that had been simmering for hours.  

The final product was Moroccan Vegetable Soup served with a side of Okra Fries.  DELICIOUS!!

Can you sense the theme to the day - eat, swim, eat, lots of ortho reading, bike, eat.  It doesn't get any better than that!  While the cool-temperatures and all-day heavy rains didn't quite materialize, I enjoyed the day none the less.  Great food, good workouts, and time spent on the couch = happy Crystal!  And with that, the weather has now suddenly decided to get ugly.  Tornado warnings in September . . . really?!?