weekend adventure

skirt statements
wow! a lot of response to the skirt. loved all of the comments! it’s funny how an article of clothing can bring out such passion and mixed feelings among runners. i have to admit i have no plans to make any sort of girlPOWER statement with my outfit, i just think it would be cute. plus, a welcome flashback to my cheerleading days. there, i said it.

anyway, i will definitely post pictures whether or not i end up keeping it! it will be a fun experiment, either way.

CVILLE!
so anyway, it’s friday! and unlike many of my recent fridays which have featured me, myself, and i hanging out with a glass of sauvignon blanc or a beer at home while waiting for my overworked husband to return to me (sad imagery? sorry), i actually have some exciting plans! we are headed to charlottesville, VA to hang out with vickie, fellow williams alumnus and science nerd extraordinaire (she’s in pathology residency . . . enough said).

we have been emailing back and forth like overstimulated schoolchildren, discussing the merits of pedicure vs. no pedicure (decided on no — didn’t want it to cut into our shopping time) and working out other details like where to go out for drinks and dinners. i can’t wait to have this time with her AND josh.
picture from city-data

charlottesville’s downtown mall . . . likely in bloom by this point

lofty charlottesville goals
☑ catch up with vickie (of course)
☑ drink some great wine and/or cocktails
☑ have a super-fun time at the half marathon
☑ shopping: look for a cute spring going-out top, a wallet, and some unnecessary stationery
☑ eat some arch’s
☑ take lots of pictures!
☑ buy a new mud house coffee mug

yay! i need to find something to occupy me on the 3.5 hour drive up, though. i am possibly thinking of downloading one of the malcolm gladwell books i mentioned yesterday to listen to en route. outliers perhaps?

non-race
you may have noticed that despite the 13.1 miles planned for saturday, there has been no taper, no carb-load, and very little anticipatory buzz. that is because while there will be a lovely, scenic, invigorating long run with company, i am not racing — just running! this definitely deflates the excitement-factor, but is much less stressful.

my only goals related to the event are to enjoy the thing and feel strong. i am guessing that i will run around a 9-minute average, maybe a little bit faster as adrenaline from the day gets the best of me. but no PR — not that i even could do so if i wanted to. i am just not trained for that sort of speed right now.

i’ve actually run this race twice before. in 2005 it was my 2nd half marathon ever, and i ran it in 1:53. this was 18 minutes faster than my first half (i was VERY cautious for that race) and was so proud of myself. incidentally, josh came in 3rd place OVERALL that year — what a badass! in 2006, i attempted to run it while sick with some sort of virus, and had my first — and so far, only — DNF. it was ugly.

i signed up for the race in ’08, but couldn’t run it due to hip issues. so the cville half and i have a long history, and i relish the opportunity to cover the hilly grounds again, this time without viremia or PR dreams, but just for pure fun.

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4.16.09

workout: 5 miles in CH, average 8:43/mi. josh joined me for 3 of the 5 miles — i was so proud of him! maybe he will come back and reclaim his c-ville trophy next year. i also shredded, level 2. i will note that josh was extremely impressed watching me do this. before seeing me execute plank after plank, i don’t think he appreciated how hard it is!

he also noted that it seemed like jillian like to touch natalie, and did so often. personally, i hadn’t noticed. boys.

doin’ time: this dinner didn’t sound hard to make, but it was one of those that created a HUGE mess in the kitchen. on the plate are some sauteed shrimp and an asian-themed carrot-sesame salad, but the star of the show was the cashew curry dip, shown above. i used arugula instead of cilantro (hate cilantro) but otherwise followed martha’s recipe faithfully. it was creamy and had great curry flavors, but tasted fresh and bright from the arugula and yogurt. i think it would also be great used as a dip for veggies or rice crackers.

reading: i spent an hour writing up a journal-club-type outline for the adenoidectomy/weight gain article, to be presented next week. i feel so on top of things!

flossing: yes. and nail-biting: no.