Weekend Runs

Saturday

Saturday morning Drew and I ran a 5K to support The Horizons for Homeless Children. The race was the 3rd annual 5K put on by the organization, and happened to Start/Finish 5 minutes from our apartment. After we picked up our bibs and goodie bags (great T-shirts!) we had some extra time to drop off our bags and apply an extra layer of sunscreen!

The route took us along the Southwest Corridor with two hairpin turns at Jackson Square and Forest Hills. It was quite crowded for the first mile or so which made passing people hard (especially with all the strollers), but after a bit the field spread out and I was able to run a "comfortable" 5K pace. I say "comfortable" because I realized yesterday that I really do not enjoy the 5K distance as much as I like 10k's or half marathons. 3.1 miles is just too far to sprint the whole distance, and not far enough to really find that comfortable race pace. Instead it's more of a grit your teeth and feel really uncomfortable/awkward about your speed until suddenly the race is over. Luckily I accomplished the "comfortable being uncomfortable" side of running yesterday and finished in 25:40! 

We passed on the post-race party to go yard sale-ing up the street and came home with two new lunch boxes ($1 for both!),  a wooden hot plate, and new dish drying rack. Quite an exciting morning indeed. 

Sunday

This morning we had our last long training run for the Keybank Vermont City Half Marathon which is just 7 days away!!! We took it slow and headed around the pond, through the Arboretum, up to the top of Peter's Hill (great views of the Boston skyline), and returned home via the same route. It took us just over 90 minutes with some water stops, and was ~ 9 - 10 miles. It was a beautiful morning and almost perfect running conditions. There has been just so much sunshine these days I just can't get enough!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and was able to get outside and really enjoy this great weather we're having!

Pizza Pizzaz!

Things that happen when friends gather to make pizza: 

1. Posture adjustments

2. Steak & hoisin sauce

3. Obligatory awkward family photos

Porch time

Some exciting things that happened this week (in no particular order)

1. I got a BIKE! Yes! Turns out it takes 15 minutes to get to work by BIKE and 40 minutes to get to work by T/SHUTTLE. I can't believe it took me this long to make this ground-breaking discovery. The only downside is biking home is all. up. hill. I'm hoping for quads of steel within a week, I'll keep y'all posted. 

2. You know those people who you see everyday, wave/nod to, maybe chat with sometimes, and after a few months of these types of situations realize that "HEY! I don't even know their name! (And it is far too late to ask what it is)" Well "neighbor" is one of those people. I see him at the gym almost every morning, know what he does for work, when he moved to JP, his fiance's name, and yet still refer to him as "neighbor".  Drew and I always joke that he was definitely a Todd, Paul, or Mike, but really, it we had NO idea. Low and behold...he's a...

LANCE!

Can you believe it? Me neither. Didn't see that one coming.

3. Thursday nights are usually my "eggs for dinner" nights. I only have ~20 minutes to cook and eat dinner before I have to head to my tutoring gig and eggs make the perfect delicious, protein packed, easy meal. Tonight I sauteed some onions, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, added a fried egg and some goat cheese, wrapped it in a whole wheat wrap and voila! Breakfast burrito! It was quite delicious and I even had a couple of extra minutes to sit on the porch and enjoy the fading sunlight. 

“when life gives you a rainy day... play in the puddles”

So it's been pretty rainy over here these days. 

But that doesn't stop the Forest Hills Runners! Tonight was a very wet run through the Emerald Necklace and around Jamaica Pond. Did we get drenched? Yes. Did we care? No. Did we play in the rain afterwards and take these very awkward jumping photos? Yes. Bring it on spring, your rain won't get me down!

Mother's Day Benefit Bike Ride

To celebrate Mother's Day this year we participated in the Lund Family Center Mother's Day Benefit Ride. It was a perfect day for cycling and I had a really great time! We opted for the 30 mile (55 or 16 miles were the other options) ride and finished in ~3 hrs. It was a very scenic route that took us through South Burlington, Shelburne, and Charlotte. I rode as part of the "Pie Chasers" team ("We Lust for Crust"), and although we didn't find any pie along the route we had quite a successful turnout. The highlight of the ride (besides the KILLER hills in the last 10 miles. I swear my quads are still on fire!) was definitely the spread of post-race treats waiting for us after we finished. (Not pictured was Ben&Jerry's ice cream, Cliff Bars, and Pirate's Booty).

A surprise weekend in VT

I decided to surprise my mom for Mother's Day and made a weekend trip north to Vermont! 

Besides the Caps loss it was a close to perfect weekend. And the good news is I will be back in just two weeks for the Vermont City Marathon (even though I'm only running half).

I hope everyone had a great weekend and remembered to call their Mom's on this very special day!

 

 

Sisters

Shirt: Banana Republic, Pants: LOFT, Bag: TJ MAXX (Anne Klein), Necklace: Gift from Costa Rica

Sometimes living with your sister can be quite comical. Example: when we come out of our rooms only to realize we're wearing very similar outfits (see above). This is beginning to happen more often than not. Other times living with Drew has great benefits. Example: having easy access to another closet full of scarves (like the one above that she knit herself. Clearly I didn't get the creative genes in this family), jewelry, and much more exciting clothes than my own. But probably the best thing about living with Drew is that she is such a GREAT cook. Head over HERE to check out the delicious dinner from last night!

Happy Hump Day Everyone!