May 31, 2013

Friday Finds

1. "25 Signs You're Addicted to Books" - Not on this list: When you're so engrossed in a book that you miss your stop on the Metro and show up to work late. Not that I did that this morning or anything...


2. "This Kid Just Died. What He Left Behind is Wundtacular" - I absolutely hate the title of this but the video is incredible. It's a bit long and I promise it will bring you to tears, but if you do one thing with your weekend, watch it...and listen to his song a few times. It's beautiful.

Clouds by Zach Sobiech

3. 'Best Wedding Photo Ever' - Seriously. 

4. The Pinterest Drinking Game - This is a recipe for alcohol poisioning.


5. "The Questions People Get Asked About their Race" - Oh I could contribute to this for sure. I get this one all the time:


6. 30 Foods You'll Never Have to Buy Again - I've never found a substitute for Nutella that is anything like the real thing but this is a solid list of how to make some of your favorite foods.


That's that! The Pilot is on vacation and I'm excited for a fun weekend of recovering from Texas and doing all sorts of DC things!

Happy Friday!

May 30, 2013

Three Things Thursday

1. I haven't run in over a week - I haven't run since Cleveland. I haven't laced up my sneakers and headed out for a run...nor have I wanted to. I was way more sore from CLE than I expected and was still struggling to walk down the stairs on Thursday. So when it came time to pack my bags for Texas, I did something I haven't done in 3 years...I didn't bring running clothes. I took the entire week after Cleveland off from running, did some yoga on Monday, biked home from work yesterday and am finally planning a run for tonight after work. It'll be fun, it'll be easy and it'll be with a friend that I'm long over due for a catch up with. I'm looking forward to it. I'm not training right now. I'll run when I want to and take advantage of the fact that I'm not training to just mentally reset before training for Marine Corps starts up.

2. Dieting - Starting Saturday, I'm going on a diet...a financial diet. For the most part, I'm really good about making lunch and snacks and bringing it to work, but the last two months, with all the traveling I've been doing, I've gotten lazy and my bank account is taking a hit from it. So, starting Saturday, June 1, I'm going on a financial diet. I won't not spend money, but I will spend Sunday doing some serious meal prep. If I'm going to spend money on food, it needs to be because I'm going out with The Pilot or friends, not because I was too lazy to make lunch or to buy groceries. I'm hoping to take start taking some more surprise vacations and I'd like to have a little extra in the bank to be able to do so.

via
3. June - I'm insanely excited for the month of June. Aside from my financial diet, I'm also planning to majorly tackle some of the things on my 2013 goals list, one of which I'm actually afraid to bring up here on PTRS because I'm afraid I'll jynx it! I'm excited for The Pilot to be on vacation, the Mets to be in town, Mom to come visit, lounging by the pool, riding bikes ALL over DC and avoiding the Metro as much as possible. Last summer sucked and I'm ready for this summer to be great!

Tell Me: 

  • Have you taken a self-imposed break from running/training? 
  • Have you ever gone on a financial diet? What do you use to track your finances? Mint? Excel? Paper and pen? 
  • What are your summer plans?

May 28, 2013

This Weekend...

...my brother got married.

The wedding was beautiful but the weekend was epic.

Yes, epic...as in grand in scale or character; or adventures covering an extended period of time.

The Pilot and I flew into DFW on Thursday night. After insane flight delays, we landed in Texas and my little sister Sammi picked us up. We popped over to my dad's house to say hello and then headed over to my sister Nanette's to crash.

Friday morning, we got up and headed over to my dad's house where The Pilot got put to work with my two brothers-in-law to build the dance floor. The wedding was at my dad's so there was a lot of work to be done. I made myself look busy by eating crushing 185 oreos for the dessert I was making.

We all headed back to my sisters to get ready before the Rehearsal Dinner...which was finally the first time that the 7 of us all got together in 1 room for the first time in 13 years.


My brother hired his wedding photographer for the Rehearsal Dinner so that we could get pictures of all of us without taking time away from the wedding on Saturday, which was absolutely genius because we were taking pictures for close to an hour. Here are some of my favorites:

The 7 of us with our Dad
I LOVE this picture. The 6 of us girls holding the Groom!
Shortly after, we dropped him. 
After the Rehearsal, my sisters and I kidnapped the Bride-to-be and brought her back to my sister's house where we drank way too much wine and kept her up way too late. It meant the world to me that she cared to spend all of that time with us...despite the fact that she probably should have been getting her beauty rest. We told her all about the craziness she was marrying in to and she still walked down the aisle the next day!

After staying up until 5am, we all slept in the next morning, had breakfast brunch at 1 and started getting ready for the wedding.

The ceremony started at 5. We were all seated shortly before the ceremony started and my little brother walked out in his little tux and I started bawling! I NEVER cry at weddings but oh my gosh, seeing him standing there just made me lose it.


The ceremony was short, sweet and beautiful.



After the ceremony, it was time to party. Since the wedding was at my dad's house, there was no shutting down the party and we didn't stroll out of there until 3:30 in the morning.

Me, The Pilot and my sister Sammi
My little sister and I exchange cake at every family party. I'm not really sure why.
There was cake, salsa dancing, and jello shots. There were laugh-so-hard-you-start-crying-and-can't-breathe moments. There was an insane appreciation for all of us being together and we had so much fun. 

My handsome brother!
My dad and my big sister, Zuzy, salsa dancing 
Me, The Pilot, my brother and my new sister-in-law, Bri.C.
<3
So that's that. My little brother...who's not so little...got married. I had an amazing weekend and have so many blessings to count this week. It was absolutely wonderful to get the whole family together and I can't wait to do it again.

Hope you all had a fantastic Memorial Day Weekend!

May 22, 2013

Ballpark #20: Progressive Field

20?!

Woah! I started this ballpark journey 3 years ago having only ever been to 2 parks and here I am with 20 down, 10 to go! I'm so close!




Saturday morning, I went for an easy shakeout run around downtown Cleveland. I was staying about half a mile from the ballpark so I ran down to the stadium, picked up a ticket, finished my run and headed back to get changed for the game.

It was a 1:00 game and I got there around 12:15 with plenty of time to walk around the stadium. I made my first stop at the Team Store to buy my collector's pin that I get from every stadium and then walked around.


Formerly the Cleveland Molly McGuires, the team became the Indians to honor baseball's first Native American, Louis Sockalexis, who played in Cleveland in 1897-1899. So, I guess that kind of makes up for the whole...controversial name thing. Though I very much appreciate that true Cleveland fans just call them "The Tribe."

Anyway, Cleveland pays true testament to their history all throughout the ballpark which is really cool.


The Market Pavillion is an area with food and beer that leads to Heritage Park, Progressive Field's Hall of Fame which was one of the nicer ballpark Halls of Fame I've seen. 



Emily and I had planned to meet up at the game and just as I was leaving Heritage Park, she texted to let me know she had got to her seats so I made my way over to meet her. 


We had great seats! Right behind home plate, which was a lot of fun! The game was pretty exciting with Cleveland winning 4-2...blowing the lead in the top of the 9th and then winning with a walk off. 


I really liked Cleveland. They automatically get a point for the fact that you can walk around the whole stadium. I love that in a stadium. I can't comment on the food since I didn't have any (I know!) but the game itself was a lot of fun. They do a Hot Dog race which is similar to the Sausage Race (Milwaukee) or the President's Race (DC) or the Taco Bell Hot Sauce Race (Houston)...which...I don't know why because they're so ridiculous, but there is something about people dressed as mascots running around the warning track tripping over each other that cracks me up.

via
This brings me to my biggest issue with Progressive FIeld...or rather the Cleveland Indians as a whole. When I think of the Cleveland Indians, I think of this guy:


So apparently does everyone else because a Google Image search of "Cleveland Indians" yields about 9,573,583,381 images of this guy...who I thought was the Cleveland Indians mascot...until there I am, sitting in my seat, watching the game when this guy shows up:


What is that thing? It looks like the what would happen if Wally the Green Monster, the Philly Phanatic and Barney all had a baby together. Apparently his name is Slider and somehow, somehow he was elected to the Mascot Hall of Fame with Mr. Met (Baseball's ORIGINAL mascot and the future officiant at my wedding). This is unacceptable. I'm sorry but I don't know what that thing is. While it would probably be racially insensitive and piss a lot of people off to have a red Indian running around...he's still their 'mascot' or logo or whatever the hell he is, so just go with it, Cleveland.

#endrant

So, there you have it. Ballpark #20. I had a blast with Emily and her husband and I think I should start incorporating day games at the stadiums I haven't been to yet with races because it was the perfect way to relax before a race...and it must have worked because I still managed to PR! Here's where I have left to go:

Seattle (Mariners)
Oakland (A's)
Los Angeles (Dodgers and Angels)
San Diego (Padres)
Arizona (Diamondbacks)
St. Louis (Cardinals)
Minnesota (Twins)
Detroit (Tigers)
Miami (Marlins)

20 down, 10 to go! With tentative plans for two more in July, I'm getting close!

May 21, 2013

Cleveland Half Marathon Race Recap

I have a confession to make. I hate race morning. As much as I like to try to pretend I can be a morning person, I'm really not. With a 7am start time for the Cleveland Half, I had my alarm set for 5am.

For the first time in my life, I actually went to bed early. I had my feet up by 7pm, took a warm bath and spent the night relaxing in my hotel room before crawling into bed around 8:30. I slept like a baby and actually woke up about 2 minutes before my alarm went off so I started the morning without the usual I'm groggy and tired and hate this shit feeling that usually accompanies race morning.


Holly came up to my room to get ready with me and we headed down to breakfast. I had half a bagel (one half with PB, one with cream cheese) and really couldn't get much else down. We headed to the Start which was at the Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Let me tell you, BEST start set up EVER. No porter potties (port-a-potties?), but the overwhelming expanse of toilets available in a stadium designed to accommodate 3x the amount of people that would be there on race morning.



I decided to check a bag with my phone, sweat pants and a pair of flip flops for after the race. Bag check was up in the luxury suite area and moved really quickly.


After checking my bag, I made my way over to the starting corrals with Emily who I randomly bumped into in the stadium. I lined up with the 8:24 pacer, stretched for a couple of minutes and just relaxed. The corrals weren't too crowded and I felt very calm. I did get insanely pissed off though at the 2 guys behind me who refused to shut up during the National Anthem OR the moment of SILENCE for the Boston Marathon victims. 

The start was pretty exciting, they played some good music ("Cleveland Rocks" and "Let's Get It Started"), had one of the Cavs wish us all luck and I was over the start line within a minute. 

The first mile was up hill and I was running a good pace. As much as an uphill start sounds like it sucks, it's actually a great way to ensure that you don't go out too fast. By the time the first Mile came though, I felt tired and sluggish and really didn't think it was going to be my day. We were running on concrete which is just so much harder on your body than asphalt and I was worried the whole course would be like that. 

I focused on some advice Gia had given me before the Philly Rock 'n' Roll Half - don't weave, just run in a straight line for the first 3 miles. I actually kept that going through Mile 5 before weaving a little but, but pretty much ran in a straight line the whole race, which led me to some pretty even tangents.

It was hot outside. By Mile 3, I could already feel myself heating up and I was grateful that it was cloudy and that I was carrying my own water. I was running in the mid 8:40s at this point and planned to pick it up, but decided against it since it was so hot out. "Don't be a hero," I told myself and kept the pace. 

Mile 5 rolled around and I started getting hungry. I took some Honey Stingers but was having a hard time getting them out of  my pocket, taking them with water, etc. I slowed down pretty significantly in Mile 5 and had a really hard time recovering. It's amazing how much the heat can affect your energy levels. It took so much out of me to run and take down some gels with water. By Mile 6, I felt my energy increase and I started to pick up the pace to 8:25-8:30. 

Between Miles 6 and 9, I started thinking about my training (or lack thereof) for this race. My last 10 miler was 4 weeks ago...before I went to Colorado. I hadn't done any speed work and had run minimally since then...taking almost an entire week off from running after coming back from Denver. My PR in the Half distance was 2 1/2 years old...I really wanted to run a new PR and I was on pace to do that but by Mile 9, I started fading again. 

Mile 9 wasn't quite the wall for me, but it was that angry mile where I start questioning things. I had my music on and would occasionally turn it off to listen to the crowds, but for the most part, I was in the zone. I wasn't paying attention to anything around me, I was just in the zone. I started doing the math...if I run this pace, I can PR by this much. At this point, I really thought a PR was out of reach. I took some more gels and almost immediately felt a burst of energy that carried me through Mile 10. 

At Mile 11 we started going up over the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge which was a brutal climb. The sun had come up at this point and felt the PR slipping away. I actually didn't lose too much time and I powered up the bridge pretty strongly, but I was getting hot and knew I would start to slow down.

via Cleveland.com
But alas, what goes up must come down and the descent from the Bridge was glorious. I came through Mile 12 and was running about a 7:15 through Mile 12.6 when *bam* side stitch. I felt like someone stabbed me in the side. I have never gotten a side stitch so badly. I looked at my watch and with half a mile to go, I knew I was in shape to come in with about a 1 minute PR but I was in so much pain and I was slowing down significantly. I needed and wanted to stop so so badly but I wanted a PR even more and as I turned the corner that led to the Finish Line, I could feel tears streaming out of my eyes. I had my hand on my side and my teeth clenched and I took one last look at my watch and saw the seconds slipping away. 

MarathonFoto caught this gem of me fighting through tears to the Finish.
I gave it one last push, with everything I had and crossed the Finish. I looked down at my watch. It read 1:54:11. A 3 second PR. I just laughed. I had done it. I was so unbelievably happy. 

Cleveland.com got this photo of me (in the background) at the very moment I realized I had PRd.
My official results shockingly showed a faster time - 1:54:09, for a 5 second PR. 

I couldn't believe I actually managed to pull that out. 

I'm insanely happy with the race I ran. I had a strong base built up from when I was marathon training, which is why I was able to run a good race, but I really didn't run the race I'm capable of. Beating a 2 1/2 year old PR (no matter by how little) just goes to shoe me that with actual training, I'm capable of running a much better race. 

My thoughts on the course overall? It was fast and incredibly well organized, probably one of the most well organized races I've done. There weren't a tremendous amount of spectators but that didn't really bother me. The only complaint I have was the elevation. I don't typically shy away from hills, but as I said yesterday, the course advertises "one of the flattest and fastest courses in the country." This is the elevation profile they had on their website:

NOT FLAT (the red-dotted lines are the Half)
However, this is the elevation profile according to my Garmin, which more accurately reflects (based on look and feel of those hills) how the course went:


HUGE difference...and that was frustrating. 

Post-race, I went back into the welcome air-conditioning of the Browns stadium where I got to use nice bathrooms and had ample room to stretch (something you don't find too often post-race). Once I had cooled off, I headed back into the sun and sat in the stands of the stadium talking to my Mama before heading back off to wait for Holly to finish her FIRST race.

It took 2 1/2 years but I finally nailed a half-marathon PR. Here's to the next one being even better. 

May 20, 2013

The Weekend, In a Nutshell

Hello! I'm back from Cleveland and surprisingly very well rested!

This weekend was the BEST. I kind of love Cleveland a little bit...except for their public transportation...although I had the same issues getting out of Cleveland as I did getting into DC yesterday...so maybe I can't complain.

Oh well.

I flew in on Friday night and Holly picked me up from the airport. I got to her house and promptly fell asleep. Saturday morning, her family treated me to the best blueberry pancakes I have ever had.

Then if was off to Cleveland where I checked into my hotel (hello upgrade!) and took off for an easy peasy 3 miles around Clevleand...stopping along the way to buy tickets to the Indians game for that afternoon.

I got back to my hotel, showered and headed to Progressive Field for a Tribe game with Emily and her new hubby, Jim.


After the game, we headed to the Great Lakes Brewing Company for dinner. I had pretzels at Sarah's recommendation (which were amazing), pizza (which was ok) and their Amber Ale which was amazing.


I got back to the hotel around 7, took a bath in my giant jacuzzi tub and was in bed by 9. I miraculously woke up 5 minutes before my alarm and was ready to race!

I'll have my race recap up tomorrow but I have just a few things to say.

First, the race was not flat, as advertised. It wasn't exactly rolling hills but there were some significant inclines which, you really don't expect when the race advertises "one of the flattest and fastest courses in the country".


Second, it was hot. I felt myself overheating by Mile 2 and really didn't think I was going to have a good race. If you follow me on Twitter, you already know how the race went. If not, you'll just have to wait until tomorrow. =P

Third, the Cleveland Marathon gave out Miller Light at the Finish Line (gross) which was only permissible because they had these awesome koozies on hand to accompany your beer.


Fourth, Holly RAN HER FIRST HALF-MARATHON! I was so so so happy to be part of this race with her! We've been talking about this weekend for months and I'm SO proud of her for crossing that Finish Line with a smile on her face. Go send her love and congratulatory notes because she is *awesome.*


So there you have it, my weekend in a nutshell. Stay tuned this week for my Cleveland Recap and my recap of Progressive Field, which was my 20th BALLPARK!!!

I'm unbelievably excited for this week. Thursday is my Friday because after work, I'm headed down to TEXAS for my little brother's wedding...aka family reunion of me and my 6 siblings who haven't all been together in 13 years! I couldn't be more excited. This week better flyyyyy by!

Hope you all had a GREAT weekend!
Any races this weekend? Any PRs? Let me know so I can give you a shout out!

May 17, 2013

Friday Finds

One of my favorite things about the internets on Fridays is all of the blog posts compiling the random shit that people find on the internet throughout the week.

Seriously, I love them. It makes Fridays go by so much smoother. Those posts and Cookie Fridays. (Yes, my office building management makes cookies for all of us every Friday).

Every week, I try to start compiling a list of my favorite internet finds and fail miserably. Either I lose the post it note, don't find interesting things or forget. This week though, I think I have enough to merit a decent post.

If you're interested in spending your Friday the same way I will though, here are some of my favorite random Friday bloggers: Running Off the Reese's, (Never)HomeMaker. Check them out at 3pm today when you hit the inevitable OMG-HOW-IS-IT-ONLY-3:00 slump.

So, without further ado, here are my random finds from the internets this week that I wanted to share:

1. "Real Women: Forget the Disney Princesses" - When it came time for her daughter's 5th birthday, photographer Jamie Moore looked to the web for inspiration for portraits for her daughter. Overwhelmed by the images of little girls dresses as Disney princesses, she decided to give her daughter some real inspiration and photographed her as 5 different historical women. I love this. She ended the post on her website with the following quote "Set aside the Barbie dolls and the Disney princesses for just a moment, and let's show our girls the real women they can be."

via
 2. "I Hate Engagement Photos" - WHYARE THEY ALWAYS IN A FOREST/ON A BEACH/IN A MEADOW? Don't get me wrong, some engagement photos can be really nice. I just don't get the point. In this day and age, when we photograph everything, why not just use one of your favorite pictures to slap on the Save the Date? To each his own, I suppose, but they just aren't for me. This post echoes some of my sentiments.  But let's not get me started on maternity photos...or even worse... photographing the birth of your child. Goodness no.

3. "30 Excuses to Leave Work Early and Enjoy the Sun" - Because hey, the weather is getting nice and sometimes, you just want to go outside and play. My personal favorite is #8...though I'm pretty sure if I told my boss I needed to leave because 2ge+her was getting back 2ge+her, he would have no idea what I was talking about. (Related: Can BBMak please make a come back?)


4. Maid of Honor Speeches - First, we had the bride-and-groom-have-an-original-not-so-original-first-dance trend. My guess, is that Maid of Honor (and/or Best Man) speeches like these two will start to make their rounds across the internet. Personally, I think they're awesome and may have to start auditioning people for the role of Maid of Honor if/when I ever get married to see if they're up to the task (kidding...seriously, I would never.) These two are my favorites. The 2nd one is a little long (TWSS) but it's funny.



5. "21 Most Swoon-Worthy Moments of Prince Harry's Visit to America" - Goodness, when did Prince Harry become so unbelievably good looking? He was most certainly not the cute one when he was a kid.


So there you have it, Happy Friday. Enjoy the weekend. Go do something crazy and good luck to everyone racing!

May 16, 2013

Three Things Thursday

1. Cleveland - I'm getting pumped for a weekend of running, baseball and being touristy in the city that Ted Mosby hails from. Wooooo! I'm oddly excited for the Cleveland Half this weekend (I'm not sure why it's odd, but just go with it) and even more excited to hit up a game at Progressive Field! I really want a shirt that says "Wahooooo Baseball" because "Wahoooo" is just about my favorite expression...especially when it comes to baseball. I'm hoping to hit up the West Side Market, Great Lakes Brewing Co...and I probably won't have time for much else, but it's still going to be an awesome weekend!


2. Capital BikeShare - Add this to one of my new all time favorite things in DC. Long gone are the days where I didn't cross train. Here to stay are the days where I forget that riding a bicycle is a legitimate work out and that riding up Capitol Hill is no freaking joke. Yesterday, I left work and rode a bike to the Lincoln Memorial to meet up with The Pilot (I love that that's where we met up).  We rode to Metro Center to do a little wedding shopping for next weekend at H&M. Then, we rode home. Spotted along the way, this guy who decided to turn the BikeShare into a stationary work out. 


Seriously though, come to DC and ride the bikes. It's the best way to get around this city. I bought an annual membership ($7 a month vs. $7 a day without a membership). 

3. #hollychallenge - This is the hash tag I've dubbed for the challenge that Holly and her coworkers have come up with for their 12 week personal improvement challenge. First of all, I love that she has such an awesome support crew at work that will partake in something like this. Second, it just seems awesome! Each week, there is a different challenge. The idea is to incorporate all of them as you go through the challenge so that you adopt a more healthy lifestyle. I consider myself pretty healthy to begin with but these are great. This week's challenge: Drink at least 8 cups of water a day. This one is tough, not because of the water itself, but because I have to pee all the time. Oh man. You can check out Holly's blog for all of the challenges. Next week's task: Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Considering I live on the 9th floor, this will be a blast. 

Not sure how much water to drink? Here's a good rule of thumb to follow.
via
So that's what's going on this Thursday morning. What's going on with you? Any races this weekend? Have you ever been to Cleveland? What should I add to my list? Does your city have a bikeshare program?

May 15, 2013

May: Strengthen Your Brain

If you've been reading along this year, you know that I'm been following Runners' World's Guide to a Fitter, Faster You. It's a month-by-month guide put out by RW back in January to help you have your best year running. Following it has been really beneficial. I feel like I'm definitely becoming a much smarter runner and healthier eater and I've definitely noticed improvements in my running - both physically and mentally.

The actual plan for May is to "Sneak in Speed," but since I've been pseudo-tapering for Cleveland, and since I'll be base training for Marine Corps in June, I figured it would be best to switch up these two plans.

So, May is about strengthening my brain. The Guide's recommendations are:

  • Follow a training plan
  • Find the race in the workout
  • Take small bites (i.e. focus on one part of the workout at a time)
  • Relax
  • Repeat a manta
Well, I'm definitely relaxing...and I'm definitely taking small bites. As I mentioned yesterday though, I think that the biggest part about strengthening your brain and becoming a better runner is knowing when and when NOT to follow a training plan and right now, I'm being much smarter by NOT following a training plan. 

Since I'm not following a training plan, I've very much enjoyed following the 'race' in the workout and pushing myself at certain points during a run...up hill, for a mile, to a tree, whatever it is. As a result, most of my runs this month have been steady progression runs. 

And as far as a mantra goes, this one popped into my head earlier this year and has really just stuck.

"Be Great Today."

I love it. It's simple and it motivates me to make every run great. 

So Tell Me: What's your mantra? How do you work to make yourself a better, smarter run?

May 14, 2013

On Running Lately

This morning, I walked into work, opened up my work email and had this from my boss: 12 Ways to Not Sweat the Small Stuff with your Running. If you're a runner, please go read this. 

Boy, I needed that. I haven't talked about running on this blog in quite a bit. I haven't really had much to say and haven't really wanted to talk about running.

There isn't anything wrong, I still love running just as much as I always have but lately - I just haven't felt like running.

My mini injury that left me to opt out of the Potomac River Run Marathon was such a blessing in disguise. I needed a break. I ran 3 marathons last year and jumped right into training for one this year.

Last Thursday, I didn't really feel like running. It was hot out and it had been down pouring, but I headed out and had a fantastic run. On Sunday, I didn't really feel like running and I had a horrible run. Sometimes that happens.

I decided against running my spring marathon back in March, right before Cherry Blossom. I had a great race at Cherry Blossom and ran a decent amount of mileage in April. This weekend, I'm running the Cleveland Half-Marathon. Initially, I wanted to make this a big PR attempt...and then I just didn't feel like running.

For the last few weeks, I've absolutely hated the feeling that I have to run. So, I've thrown caution to the wind, ignored any semblance of a training plan and run when I wanted to. I'm excited to hang out with Holly and Emily (and hopefully Sarah) in Cleveland and while I know I'm in great shape to have a strong race, my A goal for this race is to have fun.


Sometimes, you just need a break. Training for Marine Corps won't start until mid-late July and after this Sunday's race, I'm going to run when I feel like it, make use of my pool, do lots of yoga, ride Bikeshare bikes all over DC and otherwise, continue being fit, active and healthy and not be a slave to any sort of training plan.

And believe me, with my type A personality, by time time Marine Corps training rolls around, I"ll be begging for a regimented training plan and that will be great.

In the mean time, I'm just going to run. Get ready Cleveland, we're about to have a little fun this weekend. 

May 13, 2013

Love/Don't Love

1. Another weekend of doing amazing DC things is in the books! I'm starting to wonder if The Pilot is getting sick of me always raving, "Hey, guess what?! We live in DC!!!" I doubt it though because he has also started raving about it too. Love.
2. The weekend kicked off with a Nationals game (my first of the season, finally!) with Andrea and some of my favorite people. The Nationals won (Yay! Boooo!) Love.



3. The Pilot and I were the perfect picture of a fit couple this weekend. We both bought annual memberships to the Capital Bikeshare and rode bikes from my office to the stadium on Friday night and then again on Saturday from home to the Newseum where we went to check out the JFK exhibit. Love.


Pretty sure the Newseum is my favorite place in DC.
4. Speaking of the Newseum, I love that place. The JFK Exhibit was incredible. It was absolutely fascinating and I read every single piece of information available. One of my favorite parts was this board where people could stick post-it notes telling where they were when they learned JFK had been killed. Love.



5. Yesterday, I really didn't want to run and ended up having a pretty bad run. Getting stung by a bee UNDER my sock (2nd time that's happened...how? I have no idea) and having a bug fly into my eye while wearing sunglasses just made for a not so great 5 miles. Don't Love.
6. I rearranged the furniture in my apartment yesterday and moved the couch up against the window so that Peyton could look outside all day. While I'm not sure if I love the new set up, I can safely say that she is one happy dog now and spent all day yesterday staring out the window barking at the people below. Love.



7. My little sister met Kenny Chesney this weekend. I am insanely jealous. Don't Love/Love.
8. I went and saw The Great Gatsby this weekend. While I'm of the mind that Baz Luhrmann can do no wrong (he's my favorite director), I was surprised that he didn't take greater risks. I think he played it safe with this one. That said, I reread Gatsby before seeing the film and he followed the book verbatim, which I appreciated. Love.



9. After seeing Gatsby, I am now finding ways to turn my dress for my brother's wedding into as much of a 1920s spectacular as I possibly can, without being overly dramatic of course. We'll see how it goes! Love.
10. I'm pretty bummed I didn't get to see my mama yesterday for Mami's Day. I spent forever on the phone with her though and sent flowers via my cousin (because 1-800-Flowers wanted to charge $45 for 1 tulip stem and I just don't roll like that). So, Happy Mami's Day, Mama. I love you to the moon and back.


11. Yesterday, I totally vegged out and did nothing. I ran a little bit, did some light cleaning and stayed on the couch. It was wonderful. Love.


All in all, it was a fantastic weekend! How was your weekend? Did you see Gatsby?

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