DC, I'm Coming!

I'm just about all packed up and ready to go for Nike Women's Half Marathon Weekend 2014 and I couldn't be more excited! Once again, I am traveling with the best race partner ever, Heather.

Our tentative schedule:
Saturday:
7:30 am - leaving Delaware for my favorite place ever!
9:30/10:00 am - Packet Pick-up & Expotique
12:00 pm - Blogger Brunch at Sequoia
Afternoon - No specific plans but I have lots of ideas
Sunday:
5:30 am - rise & shine!
7:00 am - #WeRunDC
11:00 am - Hopefully we will be done and headed to brunch somewhere!



I'm trying this new thing called packing light, turns out i'm awful at it.
My biggest problem right now: which Lululemon skirt shall I wear?

I couldn't forget my race-day essentials so I made sure I laid everything out.
I'm using Cliff Shot-Bloks for this race instead of Gu or gel and i'm quite happy about it.
I just can't stomach the texture, I much prefer to eat something similar to candy. I also have Sport Beans, which I have not tested out on a training run so I might not use them.
I have KT Tape packed for just incase, Body Glide because it's a necessity, my hand held water bottle which I also keep my inhaler in, and my SPI-belt for my phone/keys/money/fuel.
For the Princess Half, I made the mistake of carrying Nuun with me, which disinigrated and made a big mess, so i'm so excited that NWHM is sponsored by Nuun and I don't need to bring it with me!
Oh, and how could I forget my Feetures?! Just looking at their color makes me happy.
For pre and post race stretching I have my foam roller, thank goodness I made that investment at Fit2Run in Disney, it's seriously saved me from a lot of pain.

Is anyone else last minute packing for NWHM? I know there's more procrastinators out there ;)


Run Happy, 
Ali 

Nike Women's Half Marathon DC 2014

In less than a week I will be running through my favorite city at the most beautiful time of the year!

However, I do have to admit that I am not prepared for this race in any way, shape, or form. After I got back from Princess Half Marathon Weekend, I had every intention of keeping a legitimate training schedule this time. But once again, I didn't follow through and I am sitting here wondering how I am going to do this race.

Before the Princess Half Marathon I truly had no idea about what 13.1 miles truly looked like. Sure, I was intimidated for my first half marathon ever, especially because of my lack of preparation, but I was mainly just excited to be there! I really can not help but to think of the positives when it comes to doing a race because I really just run for the fun of it.

My outlook has not changed, I am still just as excited. This time around I am curious to see the outcome because although I have not properly trained, I will at least not be doing a 10K before like I did for the Glass Slipper Challenge. I am hoping for a better time that will potentially give me pretty solid insight on my ability to run 13.1 miles at this point in my life. Now that the 10K variable is removed from the equation, I am hoping that my body will be more capable.

For my next race, I need to invest more time and energy into training and actually try to get results out of my hard work.

In completion of the NWM DC, I will just be happy to have my Tiffany's necklace and the satisfaction of another 13.1 miles under my belt - not to mention 13.1 miles in one of the most picturesque places around. The political/nerd side of me is going to be way to excited to be running through our nations capital!

Is anyone else excited to #runDC next weekend?

Run Happy, 
Ali 

Run DC to Eat DC

It seems the only time I can sit down and write a post is late at night when I should be trying to improve my already pitiable sleep cycle. But not tonight; sleep can wait but this post cannot, as it is long overdue!

In honor of the Nike Women's Half Marathon DC 2014 being exactly one week away from today, here is my long overdue post on my spring break expedition to our beautiful capital.

Lo and behold: My experience of DC through food. 

 These are my a few of my favorite places to eat in DC, among some new favorites. I fully intend on eating brunch at Ted's Bulletin next weekend while I am in town, if not brunch, I suppose a Cherry Blossom Pop-tart will suffice. Besides Ted's Bulletin, I am really hoping to try out Founding Farmers, 2Amy's Pizza, and Baked & Wired. Of course I will absolutely need a Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake from Good Stuff Eatery at some point post-race.

Does anyone else get overly excited for post race food like I do? What about strategic planning?

Run Happy, 

- Ali