... until the sun comes down over Santa Monica Boulevard

That song pretty much was the anthem for this weekend. It pretty much rocked my socks off. It had all the makings of a perfect weekend: beach, sun, running, friends, good food, and good music. :)

Lets start at the top, shall we?

Friday Night:
Got home from work, took the world's fasted shower, ate the worlds's fasted dinner, and hit the 101 and PCH towards Malibu with James. We've never made that ride before, but it looks like we might have to drive down again, if nothing other than to check out the gorgoeous views! It's like a painting:


The sunset ride was one of the prettiest I've seen.
Our first destination for the night was Duke's Malibu, which is a Hawaiian themed bar/restaraunt. Duke's in Waikiki is one of our favorite spots, so we HAD to check out the Malibu location and get in the mood for Hawai'i comin' up soon! There, we met up with one of my bestest friends/sorority sister and her man for some drinks and grub. I got my most favorite drink ever, the Hawaiian Iced Tea. Best drink ever. I even drank almost all of it too! (that's kind of a big deal for me. Lightweight alert!)

Being the grandma that I am, I thought that after a couple of drinks and some food we would go to her boyfriend's house and chill.

Boy was I wrong!

After Duke's we drove into Santa Monica to go to this Uber posh bar called Huntley. It was so posh, in fact, that I felt extremely uncomfortable in my rubber flip flops, cheap dress, no make up and straight out of the shower hair that was full of cowlicks. The best remedie to feeling out of place is to drink and get goofy. Case in point:

Yay for frizzy hair....!

The grandma in me thought surely, after two bars we would head back. But no. I was wrong again. We headed to the third bar of the night, called the Palmer or something. I was in such a cranky, sleepy mood by then! I just kind of sat on the chair and people watched, dreaming of falling asleep.
I'm telling you. I am an 80 year old stuck inside a 24 year old body. I was soooooooo glad when we finally made it back and I passed out on the couch. I made it through the night only having 1.5 drinks too!

Saturday:
The boys woke up at 6:30 am for dawn patrol surfing, and the girls woke up at 7:30 am to run down to the beach where they were surfing. I am SOOOOOOOOO glad my friend wanted to wake up early with me and run! I was worried about how I was going to fit in my running, so I am very glad I got to fit in a early morning Malibu ocean run!

It was a very beautiful, warm, sunny, beachy 5K run. 99% was on sand. Not the packed sand I am used to running on in my neck of the woods. This sand was loose, soft, and extremely hard to run on. But it was so pretty, I loved the company, I loved seeing some lobsters washed up on the beach, and I was just loving the fact I was running at all. A perfect way to start off the day.

After all that morning excitement, and a BOMB breakfast, everyone else decided to take a nap. Now, when the sun is shining so beautifully, I absolutely CANNOT take a nap! I just need to be playing outside in the sunshine! So I headed out to the driveway and did a great workout consisting of 8 hill repeats, a lot of lunges, push ups, triceps dips, yoga, etc. All of this while overlooking Malibu Point. Sheer amazingness.

a little kid's first wave.

..... and then just when I thought my workout couldn't get any better, my friend introduced us to his trampoline!!!!
I was giddy with delight. This trampoline was LEGIT, not like some of that janky, shady, collapsible kind. This was a real jumping Machine! We must have been jumping around on that thing for hours! (oh and by the way, trampolining is an Amazing workout! Not only is it challenging cardio-wise, but my thighs, calves, and tummy muscles were burning) We played trampoline charades, trampoline yoga, trampoline basketball, trampoline sumo... haha. I guess we are all still kids at heart. :)

The afternoon was spent shopping on the Santa Monica Promenade. I FINALLY bought some comfy flip flops and some cute shirts for Hawai'i. I even found some Clif bars and Clif shot blocks on sale! Yippppppeeeeee! you can bet that James and I stocked up! I was also able to meet up with one of my friends from High school, whom I haven't seen in over a year, so I was definitely a happy camper.

The radio gods were in our favor for the drive back, and we straight up had a jamming dance party in the car. It was waaaay too much excitement for this little grandma, and passing out was the best feeling ever when we finally made it back to home sweet home.
This stay-cation was seriously the most fun I've had in a while! Thanks James, for driving, and to my amigos for making it the coolest weekend in recent memory :)

Sunday:
Easy 7 miler in SCORCHING heat. Glad to say that knee hardly hurts. I'm still careful about mileage, and taking ibuprofen and stretching. I only did 16 miles this week (although I probably walked about an additional 10 miles) without any noticeable pain. There is some tenderness left after a run, but none of that sharp pain, and the mysterious bruise is gone. My problem seems to originate from the right VMO muscle. When I run, that muscle tenses up and turns as hard as a ROCK, and it hurts to even touch it for a day afterwards. I try to foam roll it up, but I can tell that the muscle fibers/fascia fibers (?) are just shot. Does anyone know any good remedies for VMO muscle issues?

21 more days till Maui Half Marathon. 5 more days till a 3-day weekend. 12 more workdays till Hawai'i. 2 more chances to fit in a long run. The next few weeks are going to fly by!

I hope everyone had a blast of a weekend filled with running and love! Happy Monday!