This weekend, DC couldn’t decide whether it was late summer/early fall or dead of winter!
We took advantage of the late summer/early fall portion of the weekend on Saturday with a hike! It was phenomenally nice out – mid 60’s with a nice warm sun and clear blue skies.
We headed up to Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland with friends Shane, Kathleen, and Zach. Kathleen and Zach brought their new baby (he’s almost 3 months) and their dog, too – party! Luckily their son loves hiking – he was really mellow the whole time so long as we were moving!
We had planned to do a short hike but the weather was so lovely we ended up doing a longer loop and being out there for 4 or so hours! It was so fun spending the day outside with good friends.
I was rocking a new pair of trail shoes that my friends at Brooks sent me to test out as part of my Run Happy Blogger Ambassadorship – the Mazama trail running shoe (affiliate link). I was excited because my beloved PureGrits are getting REALLY worn out after all the adventures I’ve taken them on this year! I’m happy to report the Mazama’s are AWESOME – you’ll be seeing a ton of these on the blog from here on out! Great grip, lightweight, and super comfortable. Two big thumbs up.
I’m also loving the Brooks ombre long sleeved streaker running shirt I’m wearing in the photo below – so comfy and cute! The colors make me happy. :)
About an hour before we finished the hike, winter randomly arrived – the wind picked up like crazy, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees, and the skies turned gray. It was crazy how quickly it rolled in! We were glad we made it back before the rain started!
Matt, Shane, and I said farewell to Kathleen and Zach and headed back to Arlington to feast – we hit up Citizen Burger Bar in Clarendon. So good! We shared a HUGE thing of truffle fries to start which were amazing, and then I had a burger with mushrooms, pickles, and BBQ sauce. Delish! The only thing lackluster was their side salad – iceberg lettuce and grated cheddar cheese for salad is so 1995, Citizen Burger Bar – get with the times! ;)
As for Sunday, I was up early because I went to bed super early on Saturday – that hike wore me out! It was nice to have a leisurely morning – I had my flour free breakfast pancake in microwave form (same exact ingredients but just microwave it about 2.5 minutes – it’s the lazy version – and then I topped it with sprouted watermelon seeds and berries) and some tea while reading the paper.
Then I headed out to meet my track buddy Diane for a run! It was sunny but CRAZY windy and pretty cold – windchill was in the 20’s when I headed out! I basically forgot how to dress for cold weather running – weird!
Another thing Brooks just sent me recently to test out (I’m reviewing all the stuff they’ve sent me the past few months at once because it’s finally cold enough/I’ve been in town enough to wear it all!) is the Cascadia Jacket – it’s windproof (as well as waterproof) so this was the perfect opportunity to test it out! It’s awesome – not too heavy and breathes well, but really blocked the wind. I love this photo with Diane – I have a normal one, too, but this one cracks me up because it shows just how windy it was – we were practically falling over!
We did a 6 mile out and back down along the mall because I wanted to see the Capitol – it was just recently unveiled after years of construction! Looking good.
It was so windy on the way back we did some walking, some running. It’s nice to not be training for anything specific anymore – we were like, sure, let’s walk, no worries!
Final stretch – enjoying the festive Georgetown waterfront!
6 miles – check! On the way back it felt like we were running with a band around our hips dragging us back – good resistance workout with all that wind!
Post-run brunch at home courtesy of chef Matt – style points for the avocado! :) That’s a 2 egg scramble with tons of veggies (green pepper and zucchini) in the mix too.
Plus a whole milk latte and an orange!
Matt and I spent the rest of yesterday at home tidying up and going through our clothes, making piles to donate and reorganizing so winter clothes were up front and center again. We rewarded ourselves for our organization efforts with dinner out in Georgetown at Pizzeria Paradiso – Matt saw online that they have gluten free crust! (Here’s why he’s gluten free for now in case you missed it.)
Pizza + wine + an unpictured green salad to start FTW. So good! We got two small pizzas and shared them. Mine had fried eggs – delicious – and was super garlicky. His had pepperoni, artichokes, and mushrooms!
Have a great day guys!
Any fun fitness adventures or great eats to report this weekend?
lol about the boring 1995 iceberg salad. Can we at least get a piece of arugula?! ;)
RIGHT?! Lol
Georgetown looks so festive and beautiful! I love sprouted watermelon seeds – I was introduced to them at FNCE and I can’t get enough!
Yesterdays wind sucked for the Philly marathon so I was glad to have powered through… such a contrast the beautiful day we had Saturday!
We were thinking of you guys out there running Philly – yikes! Congratulations on powering through!
That’s sounds like a busy fun weekend! I ran my second half marathon the hydration vest worked beautifully my hip not so much, oh well next time!
Congratulations on your second half! Sorry to hear about the hip, but glad the hydration vest was a hit!
Hi Anne, what gloves do you recommend while running in colder temps?
I was wearing an old version of the Brooks Drift Gloves — I love that they have the flip over mitten portion. The additional mitten option is key when it’s super cold or windy!
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chef matt’s breakfast’s look AMAZING :)!
Thanks for such a great run yesterday in spite of the crazy wind! :-)
Ditto! :) See you Thursday for the turkey trot – yay!
Great mug for your latte! Can’t wait to see the capitol sans scaffolding again.
Also ran yesterday morning in Silver Spring in the crazy wind. Couldn’t get the right temperature! With the windbreaker on – too hot! With the windbreaker off – too cold! Call me Goldilocks! :)
We had that problem on the way out when the wind was at our backs! I took off my jacket a few minutes before we turned around, and then we turned back into the wind and I was like… nevermind. Jacket back on!
this weekends weather was so crazy! a bit more drastic here in central ohio- mid 70’s friday (sunny, light wind, so it felt veery warm and nice!) then saturday… 30’s, flurries, windy felt like low 20’s :'( and even windier on sunday, and we had a quidditch tournament from 8am-2pm! :O
Oh my gosh that’s a crazy change! Also — Quidditch?! How fun!
I hiked Sugarloaf last Halloween and loved it! We had some crazy weather changes out here in Denver too – 80 on Wednesday, snow on Thursday, and relatively mild 50’s & 60’s this weekend. Back to snow tomorrow! Oh, “autumn”.
Whoa – that’s crazy!!
The leaves on that hike are beautiful! I’ll have to give the Brooks get a look too – I just love their stuff!
Disappointed… I was hoping for a “bad ombré” joke when you were describing the blue and green long sleeve shirt you wore on the hike. 😋
So awesome hiking with you guys!!! Thanks for a great Saturday!
Hahaha so good! So much fun hanging with you guys this weekend! xo
Oh the leaves! What a beautiful place for a hike! And all of your eats sound delish too! That pizza with the eggs sounds particularly amazing – and I love when you find a place with a reliably good GF crust. We are so lucky that our local pizza place offers them – and cooks them in a woodfired oven :)
Happy running this week!
Love your Starbucks mugs…I collect the same ones, but no Hawaii yet! I’m a Texas girl hanging out in Philly after the marathon…the wind and cold is something I’m not used to!! But weirdly ran my fastest marathon!
We have so many Starbucks mugs now – it’s such a fun tradition to buy one in places we travel to together! Congrats on your fastest marathon – that’s awesome!
Wow, impressive fun weekend. You guys manage to pack a lot of fun stuff into two days! Nicely done! Best for a great Thanksgiving!