I got in not one but two runs this weekend – what a nice treat!
First up was a run date with my friends Mary and Sokphal on Saturday morning. So fun to catch up with them!
We met up early and it was really windy and chilly, but not as bad as I expected. The sun helped!
The three of us were reminiscing about the CRAZY windy Cherry Blossom 10 Miler we ran back in 2016 – so windy that they had to take down all the race signs, tents, etc! We had wind gusts up to 50 mph.
So now anytime it looks windy and cold we are like, “But not as bad as that time we ran Cherry Blossom!” I somehow managed to PR the race that year, too – maybe someday I’ll be able to beat that time!
As for now, I was pretty proud – this was the first time in years that I’ve seen 8:xx on my watch under average pace!
My second run of the weekend was Sunday morning, in absolutely gorgeous spring weather!
I met up with my friend Grace, who I hadn’t run with in WAYYYY too long.
We used to run together fairly often back in 2012/3, and then kind of lost touch which was a bummer. We ran into each other a few weeks ago out and about in Arlington and decided to get back out there!
Grace has 2 kids now (last time we ran together neither of us had kids – whoa!), so we mostly chatted about mom stuff which was fun.
Looking forward to more run dates with her again – we were talking about maybe training for a fall race together. We’ll see!
Another 4 miler – 4 miles is my sweet spot right now!
Speaking of races – I mentioned awhile ago that I was thinking of signing up for the GW Parkway Classic 10 Miler. Well, I think I’m going to table that idea – I knew it was going to be tight already in terms of ramping distance up in time for the race… and then I got sick in early March and didn’t run for 2 weeks.
So now I feel like I definitely don’t have enough time to safely up my the distance in time for the race, which is in only 5 weeks. I could probably do it but don’t feel like risking the injury, especially since my right ankle has been bothering me lately when I run.
I’ve been wanting to do more trail running anyway, so my new plan is to look for a fun 10k-ish trail race this spring instead. Any recommendations from my local readers? :)
The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying some time with Matt’s parents, who were in town for my mother-in-law to attend a conference. We met them out for pizza on Saturday with Riese in tow, and then on Sunday before they left town we had a nice brunch at our place.
It was warm enough to eat outside – woo!
Other highlights from the weekend included taking Riese to the park to enjoy the weather on Saturday, plus a fun mom + toddler playdate with a couple friends and their littles yesterday.
The kids played while the moms enjoyed snacks and bubbly. ;)
The other highlight from the weekend was dinner out on Friday night!
Matt and I had been trying to make dinner plans with our friends Steve and Clare since their wedding back in November – we finally found a date that worked for everyone and met up at Ristorante Piccolo in Georgetown.
Chicken marsala for me (plus some starter salads and apps we shared) – yum! Good times had by all.
How were your weekends? Any fun workouts or good meals to share?
It’s not a trail race, but the Capitol Hill Classic 10k is well organized and a lot of fun.
I’ve heard good things about that race!
I want to go to your play dates! Bubbly and that snack spread!!!
I know right?! Quite the spread – I brought the bubbly but the food spread was all my friend Lily, who was hosting! I was impressed :)
Not a trail race but I definitely recommend the Across the Bay 10K!
I’ve heard that’s really cool!
I just signed up for my first race in a long, long time: the Virginia Wine Country 10K. It’s beginning of June. I haven’t done it yet, so can’t say what it’s like, but it looks fun! :)
https://virginiawinecountryhalf.com/index.php.
I like the sound of wine country! I’ll check it out – thanks!
I know it’s not the distance you were wanting to run, but the 5k version (with a walk to Sugar Shack afterward!) is one of the DC spring traditions I’ll miss most – I’d definitely recommend just dropping down the distance and going anyway! Nothing like the parkway in spring :)
Oh yeah? I forgot they had a 5k option! I’ll look into that. :)
I love Pike’s Peek 10k! Not a trail race but fun and fast – http://pikespeek10k.org/#sthash.Qci6EX10.dpbs
I’ll check it out! Are you doing it, or GW Parkway? Looks like they are the same day :)
I also had the parkway classic in my spring plans but didn’t ramp up training in time. My husband and I are doing the crystal city 5k series instead- every Friday night in April and includes drink tickets for happy hour after!
Oooo that sounds fun – I always forget about that race series!
Super short notice, and not EXACTLY a race, but Pacers is doing a “Trail Jam” at Lake Accotink this Saturday. It’s free, they have snacks and goodies, and Altra will be there if you want to try out some new trail shoes. It starts at 7:30, but last year I showed up around 9:00 and there were still plenty of snacks and shoes! The loop around the lake is about 4 miles, not super technical, and quite pretty! Plus, with over a week of dry weather, it shouldn’t be a total muddy mess.
Here’s the Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/332478970712139/
I actually saw that in one of the recent Pacers emails and was bummed to miss out – we have our Philly trip re-do this coming weekend! Oh well! Have fun!!
Exciting to see Riese standing up and playing with her friend! And well done on the two runs. A productive, fun weekend. Nice that spring is slowing arriving.
EX2 Adventures has great trail races: https://www.ex2adventures.com/trail-running/
There’s 2 of their Spring Backyard Burn races left and they also have the Fountainhead Half and 10k in June.
I was just looking at theirs – I did one many years ago and loved it!