Weekend wrap up: a trail race, pumpkin carving, coffeeneuring

Happy Sunday superheroes!

Have you had a restful weekend? Are you ready to take on the week ahead like tigers and tigresses? Or does your Monday docket have you feeling like a frightened pussycat?

It’s been an eventful weekend here in marathonsam-land. On Saturday I made a trip to Kenmore for The Saint Edwards Harvest 10k Trail Race.

When I arrived at the check in, I realized that this event also offered a half marathon distance.

I spent approximately 38 seconds of agonizing soul-searching and painstakingly weighing the pros and cons, then decided to upgrade my registration to the ½ and hit the trails hard. I’ll write up a full recap in the coming week. For now suffice to say that the fine folks at NW Trail Runs puts on an EXCELLENT event (you can read my recap of their Cedar River Trail Half Marathon here), there were fig newtons at the finish line, and I had a total blast (even though I managed to run my slowest half marathon EVER).

Saturday afternoon was spent having some seasonally appropriate fun with sharp knives and squashes. Alli and I had a few fine folks over to our house to carve up some Curcubita pepo. 

I had not carved a pumpkin since I started graduate school, it was a total blast to get up to my elbows in pumpkin guts.

We also, of course, roasted up all of the seeds and I’ve been munching on them non-stop. I made one indian-flavored batch by tossing the seeds with safflower oil, curry powder, cumin, and sea salt. The remainder got stirred with sesame oil and soy sauce. At the end of the day our house was full of snacks and spoooooky Jack ‘o’ Lanterns; I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday.

I woke up on Sunday and took myself out for a nine-mile run to shake out my complaining quadriceps. After scarfing down a big bowl of carbohydrates I mounted my trusty steed Velox on an expedition to calm my muscles with yoga, then caffeinate my brain with Coffeeneuring.

As I explained in my previous post, coffeneuring was invented by the blogger behind chasingmailboxes.com. The rules are pretty simple. Every weekend you bike to a different coffee shop, drink your beverage of choice, then share your experience on the social mediums.

For this weekend’s coffeeneuring excursion I opted to patronize Bauhaus Coffee’s Greenlake outpost.

The Ride to Bauhaus from my house is just about 2.5 miles. One of these days I’ll have to get more ambitious in my coffeeneuring distances, but for now short little shake-out rides with a coffee treat at the end have been just my style.The ride through my neighborhood is pleasant. I spotted a house decorated with vintage carousel horses along the way.

The most appealing portion of pedaling was along the shore of Green Lake, where I spotted some beautiful fall foliage.

Bauhaus Coffee is a comfortable coffeehouse. The decor is, of course, mid-century modern. They have shelves upon shelves of classic books for patrons to peruse.

I wasn’t hungry when I arrived, but I eyed the bakery case and was impressed by the selection of exquisite looking pastries.

I thought it was pretty amusing that if high-brow confections aren’t your style, you can opt for a hostess treat at the register.

I ordered my Americano, then took it outside with me to enjoy al fresco so that I could keep an eye on my bike. 

The coffee at Bauhaus is freaking delicious. Full stop. My Americano had BEAUTIFUL creme on top. The drink was smooth, rich, and had undertones of toast and vanilla.

While I was enjoying my espresso, a server came by to offer me a sample of fresh pear tart. This was also very tasty, and a perfect small-sized treat before lunch.

Overall my second coffeenuering outing was a smashing success. I feel like this challenge is making me more thoughtful about an activity that I do almost every day, namely: riding my bike to go drink coffee. It’s fun to turn something ordinary into an outstanding special treat.

All in all it has been a fantastic weekend. I’m winding down my Sunday evening sore and satisfied. I hope everyone out there in internet land is having an awesome October, so far. Thanks for stopping by!

What did YOU do this weekend?

Do you carve pumpkins for Halloween?

I always get Americanos…I love them, but I feel like I’m boring. What’s your go-to coffee drink?