Burritos, Beer, and Boston (and breaking a sweat)

Boston, the greatest and most renowned marathon in all the world, was run yesterday morning. It is tradition for it to be run on Patriot's day each year so it is always run on Monday. Nikki and I, who love to watch any televised race coverage together, had to work but were determined to see it happen. So we shut off our twitter and instagram feeds for the day and planned to watch the race coverage online.

We knew that it was expected to be 90 degrees in Boston so, to get a taste of what the runners would be going through, we decided we had to break a sweat in our own 80 degree city. Because running 4.46 miles is just as hard as 26.2, duh. Like on my hot run in Raleigh, I felt tired and I let Nikki do most of the talking. But we still finished at an average pace of 8:42 and we pushed it for the last little stretch.

Then we picked up beers and burritos and set up the laptop for our race-viewing party. This is far more exciting than the super bowl people!

It was difficult because we wanted to google a million things about the course, the weather conditions in Ethiopia, marathon qualifying times but we were sure any search would give away the results of the race. So we made fun of the commentators and I made the following observations:

1. The Boston course did not look all that pretty. I fell far more in love with New York watching its race coverage last fall than I did with Boston last night.
2. Mutai should have claimed the world marathon record last year, in my opinion. I'm still not sure how it's fair that his time doesn't count.
3. The Boston expo is the coolest in the world and when Nikki runs it (SOON), she is going to outfit her whole wardrobe with gear so she'll never have to go on a run where someone doesn't pass her and know how cool she is for running Boston. If I ever run it (not even if sure if it's in my plans), then I will do the same.
4. Crowd support is kinda lame for the whole part of the race that is not actually in the city of Boston (2/3 of it). At least, that's how it seemed from watching the race.
5. The race runs through Wellesley, where Ingrid's school (Babson, not Wellesley) was and it was exciting to see that familiar territory.
6. Based on everything I've read, this race has far more energy and excitement than I could see on the coverage last night. I think I need to go there to experience it.  I am going to be there to cheer Nikki on when she runs the great race.

You want to know who the winners are, if you don't already? Kenyans across the board.

Watching these races is always great motivation but it is also humbling. I can't even begin to understand how a human being can run 26.2 miles in 2:31:50, let alone 2:12:40. Sometimes it's hard to comprehend how someone (ahem, Nikki!) can do it in under four hours and, since I've never even tried to run that far at all, dreaming about running Boston myself seems a little unreal. But it is still unbelievably inspiring to watch so many incredible athletes give everything they have on a sunny, 90 degree day as their legs propel them forward like a machine.  If you love running or if you just love competition, please watch this and be inspired. Try not to be deterred by all of the ridiculous jargon between the commentators.

If you are a runner, do you dream about running Boston? Have you already run it? Tell me about your experience or about your dreams!

Weekend Recap: Sunshine in Meridian Hill Park

On Friday, I dreamt about the perfect outfits for the Girl Scouts' annual meeting and for a sunny day on the frisbee field. In real life, my outfits weren't quite as perfect as those I dreamed up but I did my best to be classic and bright for the respective occasions. This is what I wore.

The most unique thing about the weekend, though, was my Sunday evening picnic in Meridian Hill Park. 

This park, conveniently located between  15th, 16th, Euclid, and W Streets, hosts a lively drum circle every Sunday evening during the warm season. Two weeks ago, Nikki and Eric stumbled upon this festiveness on a run and, after celebrating Easter there, they were excited to bring a group back this weekend.

The environment in this place felt similar to that on Plaza of the Americas on UF's campus. There were tight-rope walkers, people sitting on the grass eating, and there was a whole lot of diversity.

We sat on blankets drinking wine and eating from our gourmet potluck selection of arugula salad, fresh fruit, orzo salad, and baked chicken.

Sunday nights are my regularly scheduled visits with the Shaws so I can't promise to be back every week but I would love to do this a few more times before I leave this summer. It is a perfectly refreshing way to wrap up any weekend and I highly recommend it to anyone in DC.

Happy Monday! How was your weekend?!

Weekend Style: A Day at Work and a Day in the Sun

1. RL Dress 2. Madewell sandals 1. Tank 2. Yellow Tempo 3. Life is Good 4. Camelback 5. Cleats

It's Friday night and I'm at home on the couch, with my alarm set for 5:15 am tomorrow. I'll be spending the day working at the Girl Scouts' Annual Meeting in Leesburg, VA and I'm required to wear our professional uniform: navy, white, and girl scout scarf. So I was inspired to put together a cute little navy outfit, with comfortable shoes for all of the standing and walking I'll be doing. I think this Ralph Lauren dress paired with these madewell sandals are perfectly classic. My favorite kind of outfits are the ones that make me feel like a french girl, which this surely would.

Though my weekend will be shorter than normal, it will be redeemed by the fact that Sunday's forecast in DC is showing temperatures in the 80s and lots of sunshine. Which means that I will spend the whole day blowing off steam and producing sweat. For my regular Sunday morning frisbee game, I created the best spring-time active wardrobe I could come up with. I think the sun on the hat says it all. And because I just can't get enough, I'm hoping to fit in a bike ride after frisbee and then spend the evening picnicking with some of my favorite people by the drum circle in Meridian Hill Park.

I hope that everyone has a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday to report on my true weekend style and adventure.

Spinning

I know you've seen this picture many times but it is one of my favorites by Josh and when I envision my bike journey this summer, this is a lot of what I see. I will be riding up many two lane, curvy roads and, in the first half of the ride, a large portion of those roads will involve climbing.

The problem is that it's easier to envision climbing mountains and hills for weeks on end than it will be to actually climb them. So instead of day dreaming about the uphill two-lane roads of my future, I'm continuing on my mission to build some legs of steel. Riding an indoor bike for 45 minutes while reading The Hunger Games is great fun and exercise but it's time to step it up a notch.

On Tuesday, Sarah and I spent 75 very intense minutes at Gold's Gym with back to back fitness classes. We did 30 minutes of CXWOX, a core strengthening class and then 45 minutes of spinning. The core strengthening was great but the spinning class changed my life. It is a no-excuses, go big or go home kind of workout that is sure to get me as ready as I'll ever be for 3,000 miles of biking. My plan is to take the class at least 2-3 times a week from now until June and to never slack off.

Do you spin? What have you been day dreaming about recently?

Heat Heat Hills

Last week, Josh and I made a quick mid-week visit to Raleigh, NC for a concert and a visit with my family. We arrived late Tuesday night and left early Thursday but had all day Wednesday to relax and socialize. Of course, one of my first thoughts when I have a day off work is that I am free to workout at whatever time I please. So I slept late, had a leisurely breakfast, used an actual map to map a route with my aunt and uncle, and set out for a four mile run at 10:40 am.

This was my fourth run since the half and I was feeling full of myself. I had my garmin on for the first time since the race and I was ready to go out fast and see some 8:30ish miles on my wrist. But, OMG, the north hills neighborhood of Raleigh, as its name would imply, is hiiiilly. I pushed it at first on all of the uphills but I felt lucky to finish mile 1 in 8:53. Around mile 2, I turned left instead of right and got a little lost. A friendly man in a BMW convertible pointed me in the right direction. But he didn't offer me a ride home.

Those hills felt a lot more beastly than they look on here.

At this point, the going was tough and I was hating life. It was 80 degrees and it felt even worse. How I ran even 2 miles on a 100 degree day last summer is completely beyond me. My legs felt about as sore and heavy as they did on mile ten of the National half. I'm not sure if they're out of shape from so few runs for the past three weeks or if they were overworked from my recent intensity on bikes. They were screaming and I was seeing many 10+ minute miles on my garmin.

I got back to my aunt and uncles street, finally, and turned right in what I thought was the direction of their house. I ran another .32 miles and began walking as soon as I saw the number 4 on my garmin. I kept going and going and eventually reached the end of their street. I had gone the wrong way and was running out of time to shower before our lunch reservation. So I turned and ran.

I finished the run at 4.54 and was very glad to be done. I felt good for having pushed myself but also confused at what was wrong with my legs. Was it the heat? The hills? Are my legs completely out of running shape? Or were they tired from my multiple bike rides in the few days prior? It was frustrating to feel weaker than I think I should be but also enlightening to realize that I don't need to care. Running is hard and the beautiful thing is that, until the fall when I start training for another race, a hard run will do nothing but make me stronger. It doesn't need to stress me out or worry me in the slightest. Because it's only meant to be fun.

My Far Off Race

After explaining how much more important biking will be in my life over the next few months, I am going to share some exciting running news. On Sunday, I registered for my fourth half marathon, the Philadelphia Half Marathon on November 18, 2012. It will be a long time before I even begin to think about training for this race and that is good. But it is an exciting thing to have far off on the horizon. You won't hear me talk much about this race for months but now you know I'm doing it.

Nikki is calling it my "return to running race". So when I officially return to running, I'll be prepared to kick some ass. Get ready!

Let the Bike Training Begin

At my soccer game on Saturday morning, my friend Jamey asked if I've been riding my bike a lot now that the half is over and I've got my summer ride to train for. Sadly, my answer was no. I had had plenty of sweat sessions but only one of them was done on a bike seat. And that one can hardly count as a workout because it was a short little ride down to the tidal basin for a picnic under the cherry blossoms. I did wear my cherry blossom jersey though so at least I was sweating in style.

That afternoon, after the game, I set out with some friends for a 24 mile ride to Old Town, VA and back. The ride out was smooth, fast, and a little too cold. We rode hard and talked little. We picked up paninis at a little sandwich shop and ate by the water.

View from our lunch bench.

On the way back, we rode directly into the wind the entire way and drafted each other. About halfway, I moved to the front and cut the wind off for the group. My legs began to burn hard and it felt good to just keep pushing through that. I got back on a bike yesterday afternoon to ride to a friend's house less than two miles away and my butt was incredibly sore from the seat. All signs pointed to the fact that I need to start training more seriously.

Ingrid and Josh on our windy ride back.

Tonight, because I am a firm believer in pushing through the pain and making my muscles scream, and because I was in the mood for a walk with Joshua, I decided not to run in this beautiful weather. Instead, I walked to the gym to ride a stationary bike for 45 minutes.

View from my bike seat.

The only thing remotely resembling a stationary bike that I've ridden in the past 15 years is my own bike on a trainer so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was somewhat annoying to sit on such a fat seat and I felt a little too upright. But it was definitely advantageous to spend all 45 minutes engrossed in book two of The Hunger Games, distracted from the very real burn in my legs.

Post-workout, kindle in hand

It has been about eighteen months since I've gone on more bike rides than runs in a two week period. But, over the past 16 days, I've run only 3 times, and I've ridden my bike five. Running has dominated my athletic life for the past year and a half and I have loved every minute of it. But I will admit that I was getting a little burnt out by the end of this last training cycle. I was distracted by my next big adventure, my 3,000 mile bike ride, and I'm excited that I'm free to focus my energy on that now.

Next time I get asked if I've been biking a lot, my answer will be "hell yes!". And, in the process of training, I hope to share more of my plans, my dreams, and my fears for this summer's ride on Sweating in Style. Stay tuned!