Race Review: 2012 Army 10 Miler

Let me start off by saying slow and steady does not win the race...training does (or at least it gets you to finish line at a decent time)!

Let me rewind. This past weekend Justin and I ran the Army 10 Miler. I started the race weekend off by picking up our race packets at the DC Armory, which seems to be a common place for bib pick-ups it seems these days. I went on Friday afternoon and Sargent Vincent Hancock, gold medal winner in skeet shooting at the 2012 London Olympic games was there! I got to take a picture with him. He was the nicest guy and even let me hold his medal! It's heavy!

The expo was pretty typical, except for the addition of military and defense-themed booths. Now for my race review. Personally, I didn't train as well as I should have. This race was kind of afterthought since Justin and I registered for it such a long time ago. But there we were bright and early, ready to do the darn thing.

Here's a pic of the start of my wave:

The race started off at the Pentagon and I don't know why I didn't learn my lesson from the Navy 5-Miler last year, but I should have guessed it would be super hilly since that area is surrounded by on and off ramps. The race was somewhat scenic as we did run by the Washington Monument, however, we also ran by a bunch of federal buildings (e.g.: Justin's work) which didn't contribute much to the running landscape. I started off the race running my usual pace, but as we neared the finish (with about three miles to go) I started to slow down due to the hills. Hills I didn't train for since I didn't train much a all! :( Man, I must have really slowed down because compared to my last 10 miler time (the 2011 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler) I was over 40 minutes slower! Wah wah. Far from a personal record.

Correction! My dear friend N. just informed me that the result times were incorrect for some people, including myself! Instead, of being forty minutes slower than my personal best, I was only 3 minutes slower than my PB! What a huge difference! Now back to your regularly scheduled blog post ;)

The things that I liked about the race:

• Water/Gatorade every two miles
• The Army ROTC swag (with jumbo size grocery bag, water bottles, mini flash drive and t-shirt)
• The course was quasi-scenic, but it was no Cherry Blossom...
• The cause :) -- Another military race coin to add the collection but I don't think I'll be getting the Marine Corp. Marathon coin anytime soon...

The things that I didn't like about the race:

• The hills :(
• The finish line was anti-climactic
• Post-race munchies were sparse (yes, I know I was slow, but can a girl just get a banana?!)

This race pretty much concluded our running season for the year. Although it ended with more of a fizzle, than a bang I'm looking forward to registering for some races next year. I definitely want to do the Inaugural Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC, and maybe another mud/color/zombie run with some friends. Since I'm training challenged, perhaps I might want to focus on my speed work and do a bunch of 5K's? With house stuff, travel, and a full wedding calendar planned for 2013 I'll just have to wait and see!

Weekend Review: Lighting the Night!

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a good weekend! Mine was jam packed with activity so let's start with the bad news. On Friday, my beloved Nats were one pitch away for moving on to the next round of playoffs, but lost game 5 to the St. Louis Cardinals. I had not attended any of first round playoff games, but had reserved tickets to the NLCS in the event that they won, but alas it was not meant to be... #Saditude
 
In brighter sports news, the Redskins had their first home win since last season! Now that's something to celebrate! Yipee!
 
Although, it was a busy sports weekend, Justin and I had a lot on our social plate! Friday night we attended the surprise birthday party of the parents of our good friend, Joos. They flew in from Florida and were completely surprised. The look on her mom's face was priceless!
 
The next day as members of Team Pimp Joos, we participated in the Washington, DC Light the Night Walk.
 

Photo Courtesy of LTN National Capitol Area

Since we raised so much money, we were able to get our tent and in true Pimp Joos fashion, we had to "win" the walk in come in first, LOL. Here's a picture of some of the team with our fearless leader:
 

 

Afterwards, we all ate dinner together which was nice since we all hadn't been together in a very long time.

 

Sunday was filled with errand running and football watching, but in the midst of our lazy Sunday, we managed to join the rest of the neighborhood lookie-loos and checked out the open house across the street. They had been renovating it for a few months now and it had just been put on the market.

 

Here's a shot of Justin in the master suite of the home. I was trying to console him of the fact that we do not have an en suite bathroom, nor dual sinks in our house...wah wah...

 

 

This is what I was lusting after. A garage door, a parking pad, with a bit of green space is all we really need!

 

 



Of course this could all be yours for the simple price of $879,500. Okay, I hope you didn't spit your drink all over the computer screen at that price, as even for DC that price is a little steep (especially for our little Hill East neighborhood), but if it does end up selling for that much (after all inventory is low in the city) it does nothing but bolster the value of our home as well. :) 

 

This weekend will probably be a bit low key since we have a race on Sunday. Until next time!

September in Review

Wow, can you believe that it's October already? The year is almost over. Justin and I haven't been working too much on the house lately but we've still have been pretty busy! Here's a a bit of what we've been up to!

We had some friends over for a Labor Day cookout...

Jill and I saw Volta Bureau at the Black Cat. If you've never heard of them before I suggest you look up their tracks, especially "Alley Cat." Their style is kind of disco/house-y...Their music is awesome for dancing and they're local too!



We got invited by our friends to join them for their company's Kings Dominion Day! Thanks J and V!

You already know about the 5k I did with the family...

One of the highlights of the month was seeing Avicii at the Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore

The crowd going nuts!

Justin and Mike enjoying the music...and the people watching!

I won tickets via We Love DC to see an Independent Filipino Film called, "Busong (Palawan Fate)" a the National Geographic All Roads Film Festival.

Here is a picture of the director introducing the film:

And to cap off the end of a great baseball season, I got to see the Nationals clinch the National League East title! It would've been a bit better if they had beaten the Phillies that night, but seeing them pop champagne in the locker rooms and then come out to great the fans was amazing!

Pleased to meet you Mr. Lincoln...

A packed stadium!

Yay!

September was a whirlwind of events and the fall is just picking up for the Brionii clan...stay tuned!