Winning at the Weekend: Skiing and Running!

Weekends are my favorite! And this weekend -- involving skiing, long running, and a hedgehog -- was especially awesome. 

It started eaaaarrrrly on Saturday when I got up at the crack of dawn (ok ok, 6:45 am) to load my stuff into a car and get on the road to New Hampshire for the day. A group of eight took the day off homework and reading and Somerville/Medford/Camebridge life and things and escaped to the mountains! 

It was a Saturday in February (dun dun dunnn), so the parking situation was ugly and the lines were a bit long, but by 11ish we were on snow and loving life and sunshine and hero snow. We skied at Loon Mountain (which is not bad at all!) until we were the last ones on the snow and sitting on the very last chair at 4:20. 

We were only out there for a day trip, so we drove back that evening -- a little bit sore, a lot tired, and very pleased with ourselves. By the time I got home it already felt like I'd had a whole weekend...but nope, there's another day! 

After stretching, some quality foam roller time, and a very deep sleep, I awoke Sunday ready for my next project:  LONG RUN! 

Oh hey I have not really blogged about this yet -- mostly because I haven't really been blogging at all, and also because I don't want to jinx the things -- but I'm marathon training again! I registered for The Boston Marathon way back in September and am finally feeling good and on my way. Yesterday was my longest run to date: 15 miles. 

Route details here.

Much like skiing the day before, the conditions were perfect. Warm (50ish) and sunny and not windy. (Dear Boston, Can the rest of winter be like this please? Ok thanks. Love, Mollie) And the miles felt fine! I think we averaged around 7:50 pace, and all felt great until afterwards when post-post-run omelet I lounged on my couch and "reading for class" immediately became "napping."

[One sec -- let's talk about my post-run omelet: Cremini mushrooms, garlic, spinach, jack cheese, adobo sauce, avocado, ketchup, sourdough toast. It doesn't get any better than that.]

And then I ended the weekend eating all the snacks and watching the Super Bowl with a bunch of Seattle fans who have a pet hedgehog THAT WAS DRESSED UP AS A SEATTLE FAN. I know guys. I know. 

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Weekend Report: Birthday Weekend

So you may recall that Saturday was my birthday! For whatever reason, 2/23 is pretty reliably gloomy, so I spent most of my day relaxing, puttering, going for a little birthday run, and getting life-chores done.

I had an conference call scheduled for 2pm (are you impressed by how important I sound?), and by that I mean that LOTR-Emily and I sat on her floor in DC and Skyped with LLC waking up in Hawaii and 6x6 going to bed in South Africa! Four best friends, three continents – aka the best conference call ever.

Then SpeedyKate and I got our hostessing on – my friends came over and she made  an Indian FEAST from her favorite cookbook – Chicken Vindaloo, Amla Chickpeas, Kale, and garlic naan. Yummm. Seriously guys, I'm not a slow cooker person, but this cookbook is amazing. LOTR-Emily made double chocolate cakeballs, and I made myself a Carrot Cake Cheesecake, because why do one or the other when you can do both!? (Recipe tomorrow, I promise.)

The birthday festivities Saturday night didn’t get too out of hand, because Sunday morning I had my second and final looooooong run. Coach George starts every workout proclaiming “it’s a beautiful day for a run!” and Sunday it actually was. The sun was shining, flowers were blooming, I wore shorts, and the air felt like springtime.

We did a 21-mile progression run, starting at around 8-minute pace and working our way down to 6:45s for the last 7 miles. The last part was probably a bit too quick, but it was all downhill. Plus and the gels in my stomach were not sitting well (ugh eating and running)…life rule: the faster you run the sooner you can stop! Think about it.

Sunday post-long runs have become Mollie-reads-somewhere-o’clock, and this week’s location was Union Market, a super-hipster indoor food place in Northeast DC. I sat with a delicious coffee from Peregrine and a semi-disappointing scone from The Bear’s Honeypot (should I quit my life and start a much-needed cookie business in Union Market? Maybe…), and read and people-watched for hours.

Though I was incredibly tempted to stay home for the evening and eat leftover Indian food on my couch, I instead hopped on my bike to go to an Oscars party. Since I’m not a movie aficionado, I definitely did not win the betting pool, but fun friends and good food make it all ok. Though why oh whyyyy do the Oscars have to run so late??

And that, my friends, is that. Birthdays are not a HUGE deal, but they're a great excuse for cake and they also serve as a good taking-stock, goal-setting, sort of New Years-ish life reminder. I'm pretty psyched about this year...GREAT things are going to happen!

Weekend Report: And Then I Accidentally Ran 23 Miles.

Ok so my weekend was good and I did almost everything I’d planned – Wizards game (win! I’m not saying I’m responsible…but they have won every game I’ve been to), and Les Mis (Who am I? I’m Jean Valjean!)

My plan for Sunday centered on a 20-mile training run. I was actually a bit nervous beforehand, since, you know, 20 miles was about to be my longest run ever ever, and 4 miles longer than I ran last weekend. I didn’t actually doubt my ability to do it, but at the same time, how am I to know? Maybe things get cRaZy when I go over 16? 

So anyway, my team (Capital Area Runners) started at Fletcher’s Boathouse to run a looonnnggg loop up through Rock Creek Park, to Bethesda, then back along the Capital Crescent Trail.

We rolled along no problem to Mile 7, where Coach George had snacks and water (oh hello Mocha Cliff Gel!). Then into the next third of the run we began to pick up the pace, per Progression Run rules, along the closed-to-cars-on-the-weekend Beach Drive through Rock Creek Park.

The weather was perfect, Rock Creek is so nice, and everything was going well. Our initial group of about ten dwindled to three as some turning back, some ran faster, and some slowed down.  Three which, had we thought about it, did not know the route (see what I did there? Foreshadowing.).

But we didn’t think about it, we just chugged along, chatting about this and that like you do on any long running experience.

It was me, my friend Chris (who is doing Rock and Roll DC too), and CAR teammate Jamie. Luckily Jamie had a Garmin, and started pointing out at Mile 14 that we should be hitting Coach George’s second water stop any minute…but we didn’t…and we kept running, because what else can you do?

We ran past the covered bridge (wrong), past Connecticut Avenue (wrong), all the way to Rockville Pike (SO WRONG). And we knew it was wrong, but we also didn’t know what was right. As Jamie pointed out, why is it that no one ever gets lost on a run and ends up running shorter? Is this some sort of Murphy’s Law-style running rule? Luckily Chris had shot blocks and gel and water (#prepared), so no one passed out.

As on so many “lost” occasions in my life  – Bodega Beach 1992; Sea World 1997; a Target parking lot in Elko, NV, 2003; every zoo I’ve ever been to ever; etc. –  I knew where I was…the issue was that I didn’t know where the others (in this case, George and the rest of CAR) were and how to get to them.

[From the CAR newsletter this week (thanks George!): And since the technology does exist, I will be looking into the possibility of acquiring some tracking device tags which can easily be stapled to an ear or other fleshy part of the body for those of you who most frequently wander off course. I saw it on the Nat Geo channel....if they can track migrating penguins, we can track migrating CARs....."Whoa! Check this one out! The one they call Mollie wandered all the way up to Rockville while the rest of the flock never got any further north than Bethesda. Interesting."]

We were already at 18 miles when we finally turned south (on the shoulder of a freeway) over a mile north of Bethesda. The knowledge sunk in that it was going to be a 25-mile run, and I was surprisingly ok with that (I think the lack of calories may have affected my judgment.)

(Approximate route.)

Except for a couple less-than-awesome moments, we all refrained from putting on our whinypants. And if I’m going to spend 3:05 running with people, at least they were interesting people I like! We ended up walking the last 2 miles in, like soldiers trudging home from battle (“To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on.”*), discussing donuts and all the food we were going to eat when we got home.

This is the run we were supposed to do. This is the run we did.

By the end I needed a hug, but a bagel from George was pretty good too...and then pancakes and 4 hours of couch-time and lots and lots of ice.

Lessons learned:

• Look at a map in advance.
• Carry food. 
• Also, 5 weeks before my marathon, I can run 23 miles!!!

*50 points for knowing that quote. If you did let me know and we can be best friends. (source)

Avocado Bacon Baked Eggs

Marathon training requires a lot of running, well duh. And a lot of running requires a lot of eating – yay!  My usual breakfasts are entirely unremarkable. But post-long run breakfast? Well that is something I plan in advance and get excited about!

This past Sunday’s run was a hybrid workout/long run. When I first saw it on Coach George’s marathon training plan (2 mi ez, 4 mi tempo, 1 mi ez, 3 mi tempo, 1 mi ez, 2 mi tempo, 1 mi ez, 1 mi tempo, 1 mi ez, 16 total) my thought was, Gah! This is too complicated! I am not smart enough for this! But then a second look showed that it really wasn’t that bad: the workout is a 4-3-2-1 ladder at marathon pace, with one mile in between each tempo. With a 2-mile warm up and 1-mile cool down, it totals to 16 miles. We started at Jack’s Boathouse in Georgetown at 8am on Sunday morning and ran across the Key Bridge, along the Mt. Vernon bike path to Alexandria, and back.

Luckily I was running with people who had fancy GPS watches to tell me when to start and stop, and also to check in on our pace. Running-wise I’m a bit like a wind-up toy: point me in a direction and start me at a pace and I will maintain that exact pace for however long is required. This “skill” comes in quite handy in tempo runs. And it's the same re: eating: put delicious food in front of me and I'll eat until it's gone (not sure if that's a good or bad thing...)

So anyway, the run went well, and by the time I got home around 11:30 am I was starving in the way that only long running can make me starving. Soon enough LOTR-Emily was on her way over with avocado and bacon, and we proceeded to make the best post-run breakfast ever. 

We scraped eggy bacony avocado onto whole wheat English muffins, basking in the warm glory of my living room, watching Big Easy Express. This is a direct quote from Emily: “Avocados and coffee and bacon! Mumford and Sons and nail polish! It literally does not get any better than this!!!” Agreed.

Avocado Bacon Baked Eggs

Printable recipe. 

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 medium or large avocado
• 2 small eggs
• 2 sliced of bacon, cooked then crumbled
• 2 English muffins or slices of toast
• Salt, pepper
• Hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut avocado in half and carefully remove the seed (like this). Scoop out some of the avocado to make room for the egg.
3. In a medium baking dish, try to rest the avocado half inside the edge of the dish so that the avocado doesn't tilt over. We used tin foil to fashion a little avocado nest so it doesn’t tip and spill egg everywhere. 
4. You can crack the egg directly in the avocado, but it might overflow and make a mess…so instead, crack the egg into a small bowl and then use a spoon to scoop out one of the yolks and place it into the hole of the avocado. Then spoon the egg whites into the avocado hole utill it's full. 
5. Salt and pepper the eggs and bake for about 15-20 minutes. Watch the eggs! Ours went from raw to done very quickly. 
6. Cook bacon however you want (we used a frying pan). Crumble bacon on top of your avocado/egg.
7. Enjoy!

Oh don't worry, in actual practice there was extra bacon on the side!

Printable recipe. 

Weekend Report: 16 Miles and Mastering Ravioli

Guys, I had so much fun this weekend!

It started out winning (literally) with a Wizards game – John Wall! 101-114! Woohooooo!

Then on Sunday morning I met up with my team for the first time in a while to do the weekend  long run (putting the tiger in the cat!). Despite the cold and early hour, we got a great turnout and pretty much took over the Towpath and Rock Creek Park bike path.

I did 16.5 miles total: out-and-back from Fletcher’s Boathouse to Peirce Mill/Tilden Street (14.5), then I added on 2 more miles by running along the Towpath to just past where Chain Bridge Road crosses overheard, and back (map here, in case you care). We did it as a progression run, starting at just over 8-minute-per-mile pace and ending somewhere God-awful around 6:30 pace. (I exaggerate, it wasn’t that bad, but I was definitely tired and just barely hanging on for a while there. Basically, it felt like college running all over again.)

The Canal Towpath. Not much water or snow.

Just for the record though, this is the second-longest run I've EVER DONE EVER.

I got home, showered, foam-rolled, and lay on my couch considering what to eat and how much effort I was willing to expend…where is my helper monkey/personal chef/Sister2/Mama when I need them??? Hallelujah for Tortilla Café and pupusas to go!

Pork and cheese pupusa with cabbage slaw,  hot sauce,
and Greek yogurt (mine, I prefer it to sour cream).

Sunday night I took my first cooking class ever and learned to make ravioli at Sur La Table. This was a long-anticipated event/Christmas present and it was so much fun!

We made our own pasta dough (did you know it’s just flour and eggs?), then cranked it through a pasta machine a million times to kneed it and flatten it out.

We made three fillings paired with three sauces: spinach ricotta filling with tomato sauce, mint pea puree filling with tomato lamb sauce, and shrimp/ginger/cilantro filling with béchamel sauce. I think I liked the béchamel sauce best, but the mint pea pure and lamb pairing was pretty awesome too.

We worked in groups of 4 but each got to make our own raviolis. There was a limited amount of filling of course, and I'm pretty sure if I were doing this on my own it would be about three times as much filling and half the pasta...because more stuff is always better, right?

Things that were awesome: The instructor was nice and seemed to know what was what, and plus they do all the clean-up/setup for you! So much cooking and absolutely NO dishes!

Things that were less than awesome: The woman next to me who knew everything (Her: here let me show you how to cut that onion! Me: no thanks I’m good.), plus I recommend eating beforehand (which we definitely did, #win) because even though you get to eat lots of ravioli at the end, you don’t get to that point until like 9 pm. (Me = saving the world from hanger, one step at a time!)

Clearly I spent the time thinking of all the amazing ravioli fillings I could make for some sort of epic ravioli party…Indian ravioli? Dessert ravioli? What will I ravioli next??? Now all I need is a pasta machine...

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Weekend Report: H Street Festival

I had one of those weekends that felt like it went on forever (aka the best kind of weekend!). I did many many things on Friday night and Saturday, so by the time I got to Sunday all that was left was to seriously putter and it was excellent.

On Friday I left work, met 6x6, and lounged on the grass in a park. The weather here is glorious right now and we need to take advantage.

Then we went over to LOTR Emily’s boyfriend’s house [Sidenote: I have a rule about boyfriends not getting blog names...but this is getting ridiculous because "LOTR Emily's boyfriend" is just annoyingly long to write out. So I hereby dub him "Uruk-hai" for the rest of eternity (he knows why).]

Anywho, my friends and I are onto our third year of a super-awesome dinner and a movie tradition. I will write a more comprehensive blog post about this soon enough, but for now let it suffice to say that it is one of my favorite things about us and there is themed food à la this basket of veggies and cheese and bread, raspberry salad, flat bread pizza, and cake (obviously).

Saturday started with a long run (again, GLORIOUS weather) around Roosevelt Island and back.

(See route details here.)

Then my friends and I went to H Street Festival. It was HUGE. There were 12 stages for music, some art and street performers, a ton of food, and lots and lots of people. The best part was probably the people watching – it is unreal what some people wear/do in public! So. Many. Hipsters. The downsides was the sheer degree of crowded…it got to be a bit overwhelming.  I think I prefer H Street at its normal Saturday night level.

“Peregrination” is one of my favorite words. It literally means to wander from place to place on foot, which is exactly what I did on Sunday.

After a second long run (I did 12 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday! Who’s ready for the Ragnar Relay? ME!), I meandered from Barracks Row to the grocery store to Pound. There I sat on the back patio and enjoyed coffee and a biscotti while I tried to be some semblance of productive.

Which I was until the café closed at 4 (!?) and I had to pack up and decide where to wander next. The day was still beautiful, so I peregrinated over to Eastern Market and basked on a bench in the sun. I called my mama  and started a new book, which a bypassing stranger man assured me is excellent…so that’s good I guess.

Hope you had a lovely weekend too!

Weekend Report: The Law of Exercise and Rock Climbing

I believe in the Law of Exercise – if you do it often enough and try hard enough, it will get better/easier/you will improve at it. (This law keeps me going through multiple loooooong and arduous comebacks.) More (/smart) training leads to improvement.  Times get faster and runs get easier and your PRs get faster, etc. etc. 


I did another long run on Saturday. Bad news: the 14 miles FELT like 14 miles (despite the perfect weather it was a bit of a slog); Good news: I did not feel verge-of-death-tired all day afterwards…so I’ll count it as a net win and move on. 


The Law of Exercise applies to things other than running too! Specifically this weekend: rock climbing. I’m getting better at it! 


You may remember that I started climbing again in October. I don’t go often enough – just once every week or two –  so my progress has been relatively slow. But last week I did two days: Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon. And I’m happy to report that I am improving! The nice thing about climbing is that improvement is so obvious – either you make it to the top or you don’t. Climbing routes I couldn’t do a month ago are easy for me now, and I can consistently climb 5.9s! (This is not a climbing blog, so I won’t get into too much detail, but basically there’s a grading system rating each route, 5.0-5.14.) Climbing is a nice change of pace from running. It’s mentally and physically challenging, and works your whole body: arms, core, back, and legs. 


Besides running and climbing, I did a few other things this weekend (I may be a mildly obsessive exerciser, but I try to keep some semblance of a social life going too!). Friday night was a going-away party for my friend and Swahili teacher and her husband at Stoney's (best wings I've ever had). Like all international-focused DC couples, the time has come for them to go abroad. Her husband is moving to Nigeria in 2 weeks, and she will follow in May! I want to go visit…


Saturday afternoon 6x6 came over for some much-needed baking time. We made two things, both of which I thought were major baking fails, but actually turned out ok. Check back tomorrow for some St. Patrick’s Day green food, and probably next week for the most unreal bars I’ve ever encountered in my entire life (good thing they were a gift…otherwise I’d be 10 lbs heavier by now…).


Saturday night I met up with a friend for Ethiopian at Meskerem in Adam’s Morgan. We ordered:

Bozena Shurro (Meskerem's highly seasoned milled chick peas (Shurro) is simmered in berbere sauce with cubes of lean beef.), Misir Azifa (Pureed lentis are served next to a rare combination of finely chopped onions and green chillies mixed in vinaigrette sauce.), and Gomen Watt  (Chopped collard greens simmered in our unique, hot and spicy berber sauce.)


It was delicious! The Misir Azifa is surprisingly cold and tangy and probably my favorite. (Ha, previous blogs tell me that I've ordered it before!) If you haven’t had Ethiopian food, I strongly suggest you do so ASAP!


Sunday was dominated by refugees (preposition practice time!), the aforementioned rock climbing, and dessert delivery. 


And now it’s Monday…can I have another day of weekend please?

Weekend Report: 14 miles and the Oscars

Saturday morning I woke up when my eyes opened up (i.e. 7:30 – ugh why can I never sleep in???) and got ready for my longest run in a while. Fourteen miles. Sounds like a lot. And is a lot. (Unless you’re one of my marathon-ing friends, in which case 14 is a piece of cake.)

But Saturday morning was no time for cake! I ate an English muffin, wired my ipod through my shirt, and was on the road by 8:45. I followed my 12-miler route from a couple weeks ago, but added a loop around the Tidal Basin to make it 14. The first 5-ish miles were going swimmingly, until I rounded the Capitol and was suddenly faced with the most brutal headwind I’ve ever run through in DC. It literally roared in my ears, drowning out my Radiolab podcast, making my eyes water, and whipping my pony-tail into a tangled mess. It was like running uphill, but on flats. There were whitecaps on the Tidal Basin. (The picture is pulled from the interwebs - it's warm but no cherry blossoms yet.) 


But unlike that horrendous bike ride, I didn’t let it get to me. I just cranked up my podcast’s volume, focused on one-foot-in-front-of-the-other, and looked forward to getting into the protected cover of Rock Creek Park. 

Four episodes (2 of The Moth and 2 Radiolabs) and 104 minutes after starting, I was done and feeling pretty pleased with myself.  I stretched, took a shower, and made some 2nd breakfast/brunch/lunch/FOOD-because-I-just-ran-14-miles. And then, all of a sudden, the tiredness HIT. I wasn’t just a little sore and achy and sleepy. No. This was like an I-don’t-even-know-what-to-do-with-myself kind of tired. I lounged on my couch for a bit until I couldn't take it anymore. Then I did what all normal people do mid-day on Saturdays – I got back in bed and went to sleep.  And then I got up and ate some more. And then I lounged on my couch for most of the afternoon.


The ridiculous part is that 14 miles isn’t even that impressive. I’ve run that far before. I’ve run further before. And the run itself felt fine – it was the afterwards that killed me.There will be a time, hopefully sooner rather than later, when a 14-mile jaunt will feel like a breezy walk in the park. But for me, for now, it was hard. 


I imagine other runners are familiar with this feeling I’m talking about? 


Anywho, what else to report in this Weekend Report? Saturday night my birthday celebrations continued. 6x6 and LOTR-Emily made me some of the most – no wait, the most – amazing madelines I’ve ever encountered.

Then on Sunday night I hosted an Oscars Party. I’ve never watched the Oscars before…not exactly sure how I’ve managed that…but it was really fun! Apparently I need need need to see Hugo. And The Artist. And The Help. Movie night anyone? 

My friends all brought contributions - our spread included queso, veggies and white bean Mediterranean dip, white chocolate peppermint rice krispie treats, caramel corn, and this Chocolate Banana Tart (go LLC - this was fantastic!). I want to thank the Academy for awarding me this opportunity to eat such delicious snacks and call them dinner...and hang on, I wrote a speech...and thank you to my friends for coming...and thank you to all of you for watching and reading...and no no! give me a couple more minutes...


And that, my dear readers, is that. Let's hope next weekend's run recovery is a bit better!

Weekend Report: Soooooo Tired!

I had quite the Saturday.


By 8:50 am I was out the door, heading north on Massachusetts Avenue for the first 12-miler in my get-ready-for-Cherry-Blossom training plan. After starting with that out-and-back add-on, I headed towards the Mall to meet 6x6 for the middle part of my run. 

She and I circled the Capitol and monuments, lamenting the Shire-esque look of the lawns and reflecting pool under construction.  (LOTR reference there – I’m talking about the very end of the books when they return to the Shire and it’s been destroyed.)





ANYWAY – the run was great! 6x6 did 7 with me, then left me to finish off the last 3 miles on my own.


I returned home to a hot shower and even hotter cup of coffee (something about the first sip of coffee after a long run on a cold day is the best thing in the world). I only had an hour before I needed to leave to go climbing, so I ate some breakfast – a notable one, I’ll blog about it later in the week – then got ready to go.


Because apparently 12 miles of running isn’t enough of a day for me, I met a few friends and co-workers at SportRock in Alexandria for an afternoon of climbing. The gym is so much less crowded on the weekends than on weekdays! The smaller walls were full of childrens’ birthday parties, but the big walls (where I want to be) were comparatively empty.


I didn’t get home until 5 pm, at which point I collapsed on my couch, completely exhausted. I had planned to go out that night, but after so much activity I knew that there was absolutely no way I was doing anything.


I reminded myself of my Mama when she was marathon training. She would return from a run, lie on the couch, and call out in her pitiful voice, Mollie? Will you bring me something to eat? Being the awesome daughter I am - Sure, what do you want? Her reply - Anything! Whatever you'll bring me.


That is exactly how I felt. But my mama is in CA, so I had to energize-up enough to cook myself some dinner. Womp womp.


But I bounce back quickly (after 10 hours of sleep) and by Sunday I’d recovered. I trekked out to Silver Spring to tutor my refugees, then did some yoga in an attempt to prevent the inevitable soreness of 2+ hours of climbing on top of a run.


Sunday night I went and saw Moneyball. It was very good! It’s an Aaron Sorkin film (writer of The West Wing), but was different from his usual rapid-fire banter. I am a total sucker for a good sports movie. It even made me excited about baseball, which is impressive considering I don’t even like baseball…


Anywho, that is that. Hope you had a good weekend too!

Weekend Report: Chinese food and a long run

FYI: I'm going to take a bit of a blogging hiatus this week. I start my new job today and want to make sure I'm bringing my super-duper A-game. Don't worry though, I'll resume blogging next week once I've settled into my new routine (commuting! morning running! studying! - oh my!). 

But I won't leave you content-less. I'm going to re-post my favorite blogs from Eat Run Read's early days. For those of you who have been reading since day 1 - thank you! And for my newer followers, you'll get to catch up on the smart (-ish...or something) things I had to say back in the day.

But first, before all that, let's talk weekend. Friday night I met LLC and her roommates in Rockville (ugh suburbs - yikes!) to enjoy a night of real Chinese food.  I wish I could tell you what we ordered, but well, the "Chinese Chinese" menu was written in Mandarin and LLC ordered for us in Mandarin - I'm happy to defer to the experts on this point. Let's just say it was plates and plates and plates of deliciousness: pork dumplings, eggplant, spicy string beans, fish in hot oil (sounds gross, tastes delicious), fried rice, and tofu with mushrooms.

The five of us left the hot and spicy feeding frenzy sooooo full. Check out the restaurant's page here.

Saturday I laid low, attempted to trade in my CA drivers' license for a DC one (fail - gah! DMV I hate you), and had a great yoga class. 

Sunday was a bit more ambitious. We're talking 7am-11-miler kind of ambitious. I hitched a ride and met my team at Fletcher's Cove for the weekly Sunday long run. It was long, but good. We ran from Fletcher's Cove to Georgetown, then south along the Potomac, past the Lincoln Memorial, onto Hains Point. We looped around Hains Point, then I peeled off from the group (who were doing 14 and ending up back at Fletcher's) and ran back up 17th street to Dupont Circle. It took me 95 minutes...so that's an average of 8:37 pace.

Post-run I spent some quality GRE math time at MidCity Caffe. It was a very hip spot, but I won't be returning...smallest $2 cup of coffee ever!

Then I rounded out my Sunday by baking a cake, eating it on my roof, and going to the Drum Circle. All in all a solid weekend.

Weekend Report: Lounging in the Park and Easter Eggs

Lying around my apartment all day makes me feel guilty – like a tv-watching lazy bum who should be out and about. But lounging in the park all day is a different story entirely – that’s doing something! 

On Sunday I went to Meridian Hill Park, listened to the drum circle, read a book, finished 2 crosswords, studied Swahili, and worked on my tan – makes me sound productive right? Look at all those verbs! 

(This is the view from lying on my back, looking up through the branches.)

The day before on Saturday I did quite a bit of apartment lounging, but it was after a 10-miler with my team, so I felt totally ok with it. 6x6 and I have been running about 11 miles every weekend, slowly fighting our way into shape. We meet on New Hampshire Ave. and chug along for an hour and 40 minutes. But this week I felt ambitious enough to run with SpeedyKate. That lasted all of 4 miles, at which point I realized that 7:45-minute-pace was not sustainable for me quite yet. I slowed down but still had a good run, finishing my 10 in about 85 minutes.  After the run I returned home and Comcast finally came (hallelujah!), enabling me to watch 3 episodes of Top Model in a row…(don’t judge).

I awoke to a hot Easter Sunday here in DC, perfect weather for church, brunch, and a day at the park. LLC, PhotoMan, LOTR-Emily, 6x6, and I did brunch at Tonic in Foggy Bottom – LLC and I split a mushroom omelet (meh, a bit over cooked), and Challah French Toast (huge and yum!).

Then it was off to Meridian Hill Park – us and the rest of Northwest DC put on some shorts and attempted to do something about our extreme winter whiteness.

And when I got home, exhausted from the sun, I was excited to see my roommate setting up everything necessary for dying Easter Eggs. Easter Egg hunts give me anxiety (flashbacks to my childhood), but egg dying is creative and crafty and fun. 

And Easter Egg dye has come a long way since my sisters and I put a few drops of food coloring in water and created patterns with rubber bands – we had metallic and stickers and marbled egg dye.

I’m almost embarrassed at how proud I am about our results…anyone have a good Deviled Egg recipe? 


Oh, and the Funfetti Cakeballs were amazing. Obviously! (More on those later.)

Hope you had a good weekend too!