NWMDC | Weekend Fun

 

My NWM DC weekend is going to have to be two posts - so bear with me! Too much fun crammed into 48 (or less) hours. All in good fun! We had a blast gallivanting around on Saturday, thus the need for some extra blog love about this amazing, amazing weekend.

Friday night Heather and I landed and got to our hotel by 9:30, where we met up with Trista and my sister. Trista had been in DC since Friday morning, and my sister had arrived on the bus from NYC not even an hour prior to us landing at Reagan. We headed out to Crystal City Sports Pub for a late dinner, and before we knew it, it was nearly 11:30 and we had an early, early (re: 7:15) alarm clock waiting for us, as we had plans to be at the expotique around 8:30 on Saturday morning.

Saturday morning came way earlier than I think any of us had hoped - but it was Expotique time! I was so excited to check this out. Kasey and Carly were meeting us there for the expo and then for playing at the Nike store for more race swag, and of course, our resulting photo shoots.

Nike doesn't quite do an "expo" in the traditional term. Being that this race caters to women (read: the race is not women only, as we thought learned), the expotique is just that: an expo boutique, featuring the race's major sponsors: Nuun, Luna, and the best of them, Bare Mineral and Paul Mitchell. So if you're the type to get all excited over free swag and true vendors, this expo may not be up your alley. However, if you just like playing around, this could be your sort of thing:

From top left - right: All of us, ready to rock! | Half marathon #10, at the Nike store with light up digital course map | Nike party going on my arm | There I am! On the wall! | Scribble wall at the expotique with comments from Heather and me | Kasey's tribute to all of us!

After playing at the expo-area, we headed up to the place I was second-most excited for: Georgetown Cupcake! While I don't regularly watch the show anymore, I love any opportunity I can get to get my hands on some awesome cupcakes. The store opens at 10, and we were in line by 10:20. I'm glad we weren't there when it opened, as originally planned, because apparently their secret (read: free) flavor of the day wasn't ready yet! Victory for us. We ordered a dozen (two for each of us and then two 'community cupcakes') plus our free one = thirteen fabulously delicious treats that no, we did not even finish come Sunday afternoon. But please note that yes, I finished my two.

Cupcakes! All the cupcakes.

Post-cupcakes, we headed back to the hotel to drop our cupcakes, re-charge the phones (because you know how dead they were post-expo) and get ready for our next adventures...

We first headed to the Nationals/Reds game down at Navy Yard. New ballpark for me and sister, check! Not a super thrilling game, but a clean win for the Nats. From this photo, we were sitting in direct line of the sun and (quickly) bound for sunburn city, so we moved not even in the fourth inning to the other side and enjoyed ourselves a bit more. Baseball, beer, hot dogs... what more could you want in a Saturday afternoon?

Afterward, the adventure continued - specifically, back over to the Smithsonian on the Metro and to gallivanting around the National Mall to get a few memorials in for sister, who'd never been to DC. Washington Monument (scaffolding and all), Lincoln, and a walk all the way back up by the Vietnam Memorial and all the way to...

Michelle, we're here for your cardigans.   - HP

Amazingly enough, Heather had never been either, so at least we crossed off a major item for both of them! After the National Mall fun, up to Pizzeria Paradiso for dinner with all the other crazies. So many folks carbing up for dinner around there, and so much buzz in the city! I just loved it! I think something I loved about the Mall was the fact that there were runners everywhere (not just those folks in NWM gear, but folks out and about). The weather was perfect, and you can tell this city truly loves being active and outside (I imagine especially in spring when it was like it was this weekend, just gorgeous).

After dinner, a pre-race day stop at CVS for an onslaught of all things random and necessary, and bed time with an early early alarm... it's almost race day! And you get to hear more about that on Wednesday!

Happy Monday, friends! Did you race this weekend? How'd it go?

PS. You can also read my sister's recap of her whirlwind weekend - I'm glad she seemed to have more fun than she lets on. ;) Love you sister!

NWMDC | Ladies' Weekend

 It's here!

Our adventure to DC kicks off tonight with mine and Heather's flights from Atlanta to Reagan - we're the last to arrive, but that's okay. We save the best for last around here. ;) There are so many fabulous amazing women I get to go spend my weekend and I'm beyond excited - but before that, I think I need to introduce you to my NWMDC ladies' weekend posse. They're mostly sorority sisters, with two exceptions, but you still need to know how and why they're all important, because let's face it - they are.

Most of these fabulous ladies you'll recognize from other posts and races and miscellaneous sightings, however, they all deserve a proper introduction! Ready for the fun - it'll make you wish you were coming along with us. Promise.

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And then there's me...

Are you running NWM DC with us?

Look for the ladies in the obnoxious citrus-colors - we're all yellow or orange! We figured we'd stand out that way with everyone else in purple or turquoise. Come say hi if you see us! 

More to come tomorrow after the expo & the Nats game!

 

Race Report: Surf City Marathon [The Expo]

On Thursday night, inbetween the constant paranoia of missing my 4:50 alarm, I had a dream. And yes, this is vital to you being able to enjoy this post. Read on. My dream goes as such: It is race morning. I am in my corral, ready to go, though somehow, not in the last corral. When, suddenly, a series of half a dozen tornadoes come ripping through Southern California (Megan note: this was obviously in the wake of the giant tornado that ripped through north Georgia earlier in the week), and so last minute (literally, last minute), they decided to move the race. Where to? Flagstaff, Arizona. Naturally. So we all take off - yes, as in start running to Flagstaff, a mere 500 miles away. Unbeknownst to me, my dearest friend Tina has been conspiring with my boyfriend for some time to surprise me at the finish line of my first full marathon. So here I am, running to Flagstaff, when I get a call from Tina who asks "Where are you? I'm in Chino (my hometown) and I heard the race got cancelled!" and I reply and say "I'm in Flagstaff, in the race!" Not much longer, (at some point), I'm sitting on a bench in Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, and eventually find my way to downtown Flag, where the finish line is... not moments after my parents, boyfriend, Tina and her husband apparently drove from Southern California. We all made it at the same time. Obviously.

Ah, dreams. If only I had known... but that's for later down the road. I'll hold you in anticipation. Katy Beth, Heather, Kasey and I have been planning this for months, to all come together and run Surf City - Kasey and I for the full, KB and HP for the half.  I got in early Friday morning to Ontario, Heather was flying in that afternoon, Kasey arrived Thursday night, and Katy Beth would be driving in from Vegas that evening. Such a great collection of places, love it! Friday night we took my parents out for a thanks-for-letting-us-crash-the-house and happy-birthday-mom dinner to PF Changs. Delicious! Sadly... I forgot the photos.

Views from the top!

Saturday morning my mom convinced us to all go for a walk with my aunt near our home on a beautiful rolling course with some pretty extraordinary views. Since I was prepping for a two-mile shake out run anyway, I figured a few miles' walk would be alright, just to take it easy.

Birthday lady and me.

Me, HP and Kasey on a gorgeous morning walk!

So glad I did that - Katy Beth stayed behind in bed, but oh man, girl. You missed out! Happy birthday to my mom and a great way to kick off the weekend. After Starbucks, showers, and discussion of the day's plans, we were off! ... to breakfast. Many thanks to the powers of Yelp (and not knowing all the places that have popped up in my own city), we found the most adorable breakfast place, The Avocado House, and happily gorged on last carbo-loading efforts of pancakes, omelettes, fruit and country potatoes. Fantastic.

Can you say delicious?

After a stop at Dick's for some last minute race gear, we were finally off to the expo - Katy Beth was particularly antsy. She had ordered a Team Sparkle skirt that hadn't arrived to Vegas by the time she left - lucky for us (her, that is), they are based locally in California and were literally on our way to the expo. Such luck - they left her skirt on the porch! Now that's customer service.

Finally, it was expo time. This is where my nerves really started kicking in - it was real. It's here. I'm picking up my packet to run a marathon. Holy ----. Eeep! Thankfully, I'm easily distracted by photos and all the fun and buzz around an expo that it's easy to forget the nerves for a little while. So we stopped as soon as we hit the entrance for a few photos:

Last attempt at calming my nerves.

Do you see that girl waving in the window of that last picture? Do you remember my dream? That my friends, in the black shirt, is my dearest, bestest Tina. Is your jaw on the floor yet? Mine was. And then the tears just started to pour. Ugly crying. In the middle of the expo entryway. Flattering, surely.

Unbelievable surprise. THEY ALL KNEW. Except me. Tina had been working with Heather for months, who in turn told Kasey, and they eventually filled in Katy Beth and my parents on Friday night. Tina and her husband, Jon, drove in from Phoenix on Saturday morning and had beenwaiting at the expo for nearly an hour for us to get there! Un-freaking-believable. As she says, "I was only 5 hours away! Did you not think I wouldn't be here for your first marathon?!" Well, no. Apparently I just have really scary creepy intuition (which explains why, when I told the other girls my dream, they weren't all that phased by it... and that confused me). .

After lots more tears, it was time for pick up. This ish got real. And we got nervous.

And that was that - bib in hand, lucky number 3609, shirt in hand... it's expo and shopping time! I got a little carried away, admittedly. I got myself two more race things, on top of the race shirt: another race shirt and the finisher's jacket. Hey! You only get one first marathon, right? Make it count. Love my new swag! The expo itself was really well organized, though busy, but not surprising since were there at 3 in the afternoon the day before the race. Tons of vendors, free samples, and all kinds of good stuff. And the best part were the photo opportunities! They know just how to cater to me!

ALL of us!

And then it was beach time... I said all day I wanted a jumping beach photo, since we wouldn't have legs after the race on Sunday to do it, and that I'd have to find a poor schmuck to take the four of us' photo 19 times over until it worked. Well, lucky for us, Jon became our schmuck (thank you Jon!) and got a great shot not long into our photo shoot. Such a fantastic afternoon! 

We headed home, invited Jon and Tina up for dinner (they were staying near the race), and had our pre-race carb runner's fest. Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and an intended movie night with Spirit of the Marathon, that we all kind of forgot about and then ran out of time for. Great friends, boyfriend, laughs, drinks, and food... aaaaah the food.

And just like that... Saturday night. Early alarm clocks (3:50 am). Dear God, just let me sleep...

Race day is coming! Stay tuned!

Surf City: Week 8

I rocked this week on a total high from that 14-miler last week. Isn't it amazing how one really great run/workout can carry you through a whole 'nother week? Yeah, I went for a ride off of that - looking forward to tackling more!

Monday: Rest
Rest
Monday started the slowest 3-day work week ever - students don't have classes but our offices are open. So we all kind of hang out, get caught up on email and life and other mindless things that we just let fall by the wayside during a regular work week when our students are around. Caught up on life, mmhmmm.

Tuesday: 9 x 400s
3.75 mi / 33:48 / 9:00 pace

Headed to the gym after work - after sitting at my desk all day (see Monday - it's slow this wek!), I needed to get up and move, so I was really excited to make it a good, all-out speed sesh. I was also really happy when I realized how empty the gym was because all the students are gone (!), which meant (mostly) having room to go all out as I pleased all over the track. After my 9x400s two weeks ago, I knew I could push it more than I had then, so I wanted to see just how much I could do and pushed myself pretty hard. Check it!

All my 400s are at 2:01 and less, when two weeks ago, the fastest was 2:03. I'm happy with the progress, and happier with how good I felt afterward!

Also, be sure you're joining me and Run DMT for Track Tuesdays (or whichever day of the week you prefer)! Check it out here!


Wednesday: 3-4 miles
3.29 mi / 32:09 / 9:46 pace
I really wanted to get up and get to the gym this morning before work - I think that right after a speedwork session on Tuesday night plus the fast that it was the Friday of the work week made for a really lazy morning. I almost regret it because the sunrise (from what I could see through my window) was absolutely stunning. You live, you learn.

[source]

Instead, I headed out on a lunchtime run - something I've never really done before, but have contemplated, especially as winter comes around, it'll make it easier to get a few miles in. I though it'd also be a good idea given that I'd be sitting at my desk all day (still catching up on life), and it would break up the day (and then kick off a 4-day weekend!). Woot! So I headed to the campus track and field complex, 1/2 mile from my office, did 2 miles, and then ran the 1/2 mile back - all in a good lunch break. Glad I got out there, for sure, even though the first half felt super sluggish, the second half was a lot better and felt a little more 'with it'.

Thursday: MDJ 10th Annual Gobble Jog 10K
TBD

I wanted to find some kind of race to do in Atlanta on Thanksgiving, and gosh knows there's plenty of them, from several 5Ks to the Atlanta Half to this guy, apparently a moderately big deal of a race that gets some good crowds. Heather and I signed up for this one last month, and I was excited to see how I could get down to work - I haven't done a 10K race since Peachtree, but have had a number of 10K-distanced PR runs, so I hoped I could make those count here. Well, obviously, if you read above, you can see... I did! Race report coming shortly - still catching up from this weekend!

Brandi, me and Heather at Gobble Jog!

Friday: Rest
Rest
Busy busy week, followed by an awesome 10K and a day of delicious fattyness.The best part was that it (sort of) continued into Friday, with our host making an amaaaazing breakfast (homemade biscuits, eggs, bacon, sausage!)... we eventually headed back to Heather's around 1 and headed out for Black Friday stuff and got to our first stop at 2. Glorious, being that all the crazies were back in bed at this point. Shopped for longer than anticipated, got a few good deals & passed out on the couches at midnight or so. Fabulous Black Friday!

Saturday: 15  miles
Rest
Unplanned rest day - I stayed at Heather's one more night and joined in for a UGA/GT watch party on the couch... Go Dawgs! Game over, went back to Heather's, and finally came home around 6:30, unpacked from the weekend and promptly did nothing else but watch the last games of Rivalry Week. I was okay with the rest day - wasn't feeling super hot, I think from some pretty significant dehydration over the course of the weekend. Probably for the better!

Sunday: Cross-train
9.01 mi / 1:34:18 / 10:27 pace

At least it was a gogeous day!

Being that Saturday turned into the rest day, I hoped to get in my 15 miles today instead of cross training. Last week I was nervous about the distance (14 miles), because it would be my longest run to date. This week I was nervous because I wanted to be sure I did as well as last week, plus that extra mile. Nothing like a little self-competitiveness to get you through a run, huh?

I got out to the course I had planned in my head, which was a huge 5 mile loop I do near my house. I figured I could run it at least twice and make up 4 miles elsewhere around my area. Around mile 4 I decided I didn't want to do the loop twice, and instead made my way towards another loop that I do instead. This was fine, until I remembered that part of my plan in doing the loops was that I could stop at the house for water and chomps at each 5 mile interval. I figured I'd get on without it and just see how it went. Mile 7 is where I really started to feel crappy and was home again at mile 8.3 - I took one loop around my apartment complex just to round out the 9 miles. Whew. Crappy.

Lessons learned on today's long run:

•  Don't change your pre-planned course mid-run unless you have to.
• If you do have to, pray that you have Gus/chomps/carbs in your hands to compensate.
• Appreciate the good runs even more! 
• Learn from the bad runs (I am, trust me)
• Acknowledge that bad runs will happen. I feel like marathon training has been going really well so far, so perhaps it was high time for a crappy one to bring me back down and remember that it's going to be work.

Total Week Miles: 22.25 miles
Total Cross Train: 0

How did you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, or what's your tradition?

Wine & Dine: Week 12

 

Week 12 -- also known as ZOMG IT'S WINE AND DINE WEEK! I present to you the week leading up to Wine & Dine and will link up my W&D recap as soon as it's done come Monday or Tuesday! But for now, I'm excited to head down to Orlando and get into my first runDisney experience! Yay!

Will update this come Monday... but add those 13.1 on Saturday!

Monday: Rest

Rest

As always, happy smile. I love Monday rest days. Surprsingly, I wasn't dragging from flying in Sunday night, walking through my front door at 10:22 pm and being in bed by 10:26 pm. I kid you not. Monday morning wasn't as brutal as it surely could have been. 

Tuesday: 9 x 400 / 5K pace

4 miles / 35:08 / overall 8:46 pace <-- holy wow!

I woke up at 3 am to the sound of rain hitting the roof and knew there was no way I was getting out of bed at 5:45 am when it was raining outside - my original plan was to get to the gym by 6, do my track sesh, go to my polling station to vote, then go home & shower to get to work at a decent hour. I instead rolled out of bed at 6:35, threw on a hoodie & shoes, got to my polling place at 6:54, waited for a bit, but was home by 7:27 to get pretty for the day. 

With that, track session came after work - the sky cleared up throughout the day but it was balmy and gray by the time I left work. To the gym indoor track I go! I was a little wary about this speedwork day - scheduled for a 9x400 doozy. Rocked it with a 800m warm up, 9x400, and 400m cool down. Splits at: 2:05, 2:08, 2:08, 2:08, 2:05, 2:03, 2:04, 2:08, and 2:05. How's that for (nearly) consistent! I was pleasantly surprised and chuckled for every time 2:08 came across my Garmin. I'm getting somewhere, people! 

Red, white and blue Sparkly Soul at the gym for Election Day!

After the gym, I headed home for a quiet night on the couch - wrong! I had the news going with election coverage, was working online, reading Runner's World and occasionally switching back and forth between Big Bang or HIMYM.When I decide I was going to stay up as late as possible to wait for the election results (I started failing around 10), I contemplated how I was going to get my five miles in on Wednesday (late nights at work). As soon as the election was called around 11 EST, I jumped off the couch, packed my gym clothes, work clothes, breakfast, lunch and dinner for Wednesday. I have a long Wednesday ahead of me. Mmmhmm.

Wednesday: 5 miles 
5 miles / 48:15 / 9:39 pace
I was in bed and alseep before 11:45, so jumping crawling out of bed at 5:45 wasn't terrible it was torture. Woke up to the sound of a softer rain this time, which was nice, but cruel when you just want to stay in bed and sleep ... just a little bit longer. After a few minutes of playing on my phone, I grabbed my clothes and food supply for the day and headed down to the gym for a 5-mile indoor session (they're really not as bad as they seem anymore).

The women's rowing club does workouts up on the track and the rowing machines that are up on the sides of the track. Lemme just say, they don't understand the concept of walking the inside loop, running the outside loop, and not running in a wall! Let people get around you ladies! Oi! Ah well, I passed them more times than I think they cared to count. ;) My splits are all over the place (9:39, 9:20, 9:47, 9:05, 10:17) for the day, but a great run overall! Happy with the overall place and just think if I hadn't walked 1/8 mile in laps 3 and 5!

Thursday: 3 miles
Rest
I had tons to do to get ready for a half day at work on Friday before heading down to the airport and making my way to Orlando (squee!). Laundry, cleaning, finishing packing... you know, important things that require a little more attention. Whoops.

Mmm... fall.

Friday: Rest
2.18 mi / 21:09 / 9:42 pace
Since I didn't make it out on Thursday, I thought I'd hit the road for a shake-out run before I spend the afternoon on a plane (and by afternoon, I mean an hour and a half). Beautiful, cool morning

Friday was also travel day - I worked the first half of the day, then left for an early lunch and headed down to Atlanta for my flight to Orlando. Wine & Dine, I'm coming for you! So excited (can you tell?).

First brutal winter run. It was sunny, but bitter out!

Saturday: Wine & Dine Half Marathon!
13.1 miles / TBD / TBD
My only goal for this race is this: have fun. That's all I've been recommended about runDisney races - enjoy them, stop for pictures with characters, goof off, dress in costume if you want, and just enjoy the entire thing. So I plan on it.  Lots more to come, you know, once I get home!

Sunday: Cross Train
Epcot Adventure Day with Amma & Selby
I love Epcot. Seriously. I can't wait to go for the day! All that walking will make for awesome cross-training. :)

Total week miles (pre-W&D): 11.18

Who's headed do Wine and Dine with me? Is this your first half? Is this your first runDisney race?