Here's for you Daddy!

Hobby of the Day: Running

Sooooo this is Meg and T's first run/race ever.  They have been super nervous. These are some things I heard this weekend:

 "My run is basically a walk."  "What if I pass out?"  "If I fall down, just keep going." 

"I only ran a mile recently."  

However, my ladies did GREAT! We ended up leaving around 8:20 metro tends to run super slow on race days and the metro did not disappoint. We ended up with a 15 minute wait and of course we had a bag to check and didn't know where that was. 

 We were sporting our homemade t's, purple nail polish and purple bows.

Pre-Race: Smiling So far

 All the runners started had already started before we made it up to the line and then we had to dodge all the walkers, dogs, children and strollers.  I will say that many a stroller ran past me.  Gary took off and we never saw him again, until the end. T, Meg and I stayed together in the beginning. T took off maybe a little faster than she should have, could have been the adrenaline.  You do also seem to use a lot more energy dodging around people.  We stayed together for a little over a mile and then we lost Meg.  I felt bad because I was supposed to be pacing them, have NEVER done that before. It's kinda hard to pace two people at the same time when they don't run the same pace.  I ended up sticking with T. At about 2 miles there was a water station, I didn't really need it, but I grabbed a cup, pinched it and drank down a few sips.  Right around the Capital T kind of hit her wall, but she never stopped running.  I kept looking back and asking her if she was ok.  We hit mile 3 and we had .1 left. I told her we were gonna "push" it to the end, sprint it out for the last tenth.  SO proud of her! Once I crossed the line Gary was waiting there for us,  I sprinted back over the railing to go back and find Meg.  She really wasn't all that far behind us.  I found her and we sprinted over the finish line together! 

Still Smiling even After.....

We didn't get timing chips for this race.  Gary ran about a 27 and T and I did around 33/34 and Meg did 37.  This was their first PR which means next time they will do even better.  It means so much to me that they all ran this with me, especially since Gary and T have never met my dad.  I hope I am making him proud!

Then we got some nummies, Pop chips, water, bagels, banana, Dole yogurt/fruit bites and popsicles.  I think we forgot that we had brunch reservations.  We hung out for a little while and then we headed up to The Hamilton for brunch.  

Cheers to our Victory!

Fried Chicken with bacon and sausage gravy on a biscuit

Quiche with asparagus and mushrooms

Breakfast burrito

If you pace, do you run in front of them or behind? Isn't their job to try and keep up with you, or do you push them from behind?

Besties Part 2

Cinco de Mayo vs. Avengers

Saturday was a ridiculously fun filled packed day from the time we woke up until the time we got home at around 1 am! I know, for some of you 1 is nothing, for this chica it's crazy. I am usually a 9:00-9:30 during the week and 11:00-12:00 on the weekends. If Gary is playing hockey and I don't go I'm in bed by 11 or earlier depending on how I'm feeling.

We got up Saturday and immediately started to make our t-shirts for Race for Hope. The Race for Hope is to raise money for Brain Cancer Research.  This is a race near and dear to my heart since my father passed away from one when I was 15.  T and I had bought pink sparkly iron on numbers for the back of our shirts. We bought purple puffy paint and additional iron on paper.  Purple was one of my dad's favorite colors.  I ironed on all the numbers, 19 for T, 83 for Meg, 2 for Gary and 97 for me, the year my father passed.  I wrote my maiden name at the top of the numbers, Maxwell.  Gary made breakfast while all this hulabaloo was going on. He made pancakes and Meg made the sausages, while T cut out all the numbers for me.  

We had planned on going to the phillies game. Go PHILS! They were playing that Washington Nationals, who are doing surprisingly well this season, so far.  I should have bought the tickets earlier, stupid me, we got to the ticket window and the guy goes I have a nice boxed air conditioned seat for y'all.  Cost=$540....um, NO Thanks! There was nothing for less than 100 and while I love my Phils, I don't love them THAT much....so off to a bar. This was ok because the Capitals were playing the Rangers too at the same time, so this made Gary happy and we were among fans.  The results- Phils lost and Caps won, so I guess it was good that we didn't go to the game, plus we saved a lot more money too.

Dinner was at Lola's another Barracks Row favorite. We had wanted to go to a Mexican Restaurant, after all it was Cinco de Mayo.  There was a great Mariachi band playing on the street at the two Mexican Restaurants, but the wait was waaay too long. Instead we got cupcakes and macarons at The Sweet Lobby, if you watch Cupcake Wars you will know this name because they won that episode!  I got the salted caramel macaron (melts in your mouth yummy!) and the spicy chili chocolate (the spice gave it some extra heat but it worked so well together-as if they would sell something that didn't). T got the pear and goat cheese (I did not get to sample this).  Meg got a s'mores cupcake, me hazelnut and T got the Asian Spice that had a chocolate surprise in the middle and also won on Cupcake Wars.  While I LOVE their macarons, I am not 100% sold on their cupcakes, I guess I will just have to try them all:-)

We had had margaritas at Lola's, can you guess which one is mine? 

Then after we headed to see the Avengers. If you haven't seen it, GO! While I don't really follow comics I do enjoy the super hero movies.  I don't really like Spiderman, but maybe that's because I didn't like who starred in the movie. The new one does look a little interesting, but not necessarily movie worthy.  Movies are so expensive, we have to be very selective.  The teens there and some of the adults spend some serious money though, snacks, drinks, hot food, candy, it's super crazy.  There were some very humorous parts in that movie. I guess I can do a movie review later.  

When we got home at like 11:45 we still had to finish our t-shirts. Add something to the fronts and finish our iron ons.  I ironed on a picture of my dad and black eyed susans (what he used to call me "his little black eyed susan"), T ironed on cherry pie, one of my dad's favorites, Gary ironed on a fractal (he was a physics teacher) and Meg ironed on an ice cream cone (because he took us out for ice cream) and a skink (because he taught her about them) if you don't know what that is, look it up.   

We also added the verse: Isaiah 45:5

We ended up going to bed around 1:30-2:00 which is crazy if you have a run the next day and have to be up at like 7:30, but since it wasn't a long run and it wasn't supposed to be too hot and I wasn't going for a PR, I guess it was ok.  Was I tired the next day? HECK YES! 

P.S.  Run like Grl is giving away Aspaeris Pivot Shorts which are AMAZING! Check out her site and enter!

Running

Hobby of the day: Running

I have never been much of a long distance runner.  When I was in middle and high school I did run track and play field hockey, but I tried as much as possible to stay away from distance runs.  I chose to be a sprinter, it kind of chose me too I suppose.  Running the mile for the President's award was a necessary evil..... Treadmill running was also of no enjoyment. I was more of a elliptical kinda girl. 

I never enjoyed running at home either.  About 2 years ago I looked up some easy 5k races, the one in particular was The Race for Hope, the fight against brain cancer.  This was a race that really hit home, since my father passed away from one.  I signed my husband and I up for the race and began to "train." I use the term loosely because I didn't really do it very well.  My husband can run for miles on the treadmill, but doesn't really interest me.  Unfortunately the day of the race was very hot and humid, but I did finish and Gary stayed with me the whole time which was really nice.  

I  have also had trouble with my feet falling asleep, they typically fall asleep at around 2.5 miles, but since I have been doing more and more running they fall asleep later and then they eventually come around again, thankfully!  

Since my first 5K I have run one other 5k, a 10k, 10 miles and an 8k.  My next "big" run that I am currently training for is a half marathon.  Just typing it gives me shivers.  But, I figure, I've done 10, what's 3.1 more miles?!  I will also be slapping that 13.1 sticker on my car too! People have asked if I would do a full marathon. I just don't really have a desire too.  My before 30 goal was to run a half so I have about 2 months to get ready for it, but that shouldn't be too hard.  It's the Rock N' Roll half after all in my hometown. 

I love living in the city and I love city running, especially in the Nation's Capital, always something to see and always people out and about.  The only thing is, it's winter now.  So Gary and I only get to run in the dark, which isn't too bad, but it's also cold. It's hard to come home after work, then wait until Gary gets home and then go for a 1-2 hour run.  Thankfully Christmas break is coming up, so hopefully we will get some daylight running done.