Washington, DC Adventures Continued

Going back to work today was not easy. I had 82 emails when I logged on this morning and immediately started to get stressed. Instead of letting this stress ruin my evening I went on a great run instead!

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I ran for 46 minutes and covered 4.5 miles which isn’t bad considering I had a few lights between me and the West Side Highway.  Due to the absolutely gorgeous weather this evening I passed more runners, walkers, and boot campers than normal. I felt great when I finished my run even though I don’t normally run in the evening. I think it was the perfect stress release after a long day!

I’m already looking forward to Wednesday night’s run club because I’ll finally be able to keep track of my pace. Yup, you read it right. I finally ordered a Garmin Forerunner 305! I found it on Walmart.com for less than $150 and after a few helpful tweets, decided to take the plunge. Hopefully this will be a worthy investment as I start my marathon training!

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One of the reasons that today was so stressful was due to my exhaustion. Yesterday was an amazing day with some great gals but by the time I crashed at midnight last night I was a tired gal.

Yesterday morning, our lovely hostess treated us to a yogurt and fruit buffet! I loved this cute idea and the wide array of fruits Jacquie featured.

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Blog Pictures 2010 391  Isn’t her kitchen adorable? Look at that heavy duty mixer!Blog Pictures 2010 389  Meghann and I split 1/2 of a scone and enjoyed it in our fruit and yogurt. These were more moist than any scone I’d ever had and reminded me more of a muffin than scone due to the cheese. Blog Pictures 2010 390       The fruit was all fresh from the Farmer’s Market and included apricots, strawberries, rhubarb, raspberries, cherries, kiwi, apples, and bananas!

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We walked from Jacquie’s house all the way to the Dupont Farmer’s Market. Along the way we saw some gorgeous parks, Embassy Row, and beautiful rod iron!

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Three smiling gals loving every second of the Dupont Farmers Market!IMG_8891.JPG

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This dog was smart and found some shade. By the end of our Farmer’s Market explorations we were all drenched! It was soo hot on Sunday!

At 11 we were rescued from the heat by the Blogger Brunch at Scion.

Blog Pictures 2010 417 Blog Pictures 2010 418 I’ve never seen a restaurant that features a FREE fresh fruit bar for diners to enjoy before their meal!Blog Pictures 2010 419       Almost everyone ordered the make your own omelets. I enjoyed egg whites, spinach, tomato, mushrooms, onions, and black bean egg white omelet with dry wheat toast. It was delicious and they did a great job chopping the vegetables finely enough to mix perfectly inside the egg whites. Blog Pictures 2010 421  I had a great time getting to know the DC area bloggers and readers. Who can’t use a few more friends and readers especially in a great city like DC?Blog Pictures 2010 422 After brunch we did lots of this as we headed towards the Lincoln Memorial. We all agreed that a trip to DC without at least one memorial wouldn’t be acceptable. Luckily we were only about 1.5 miles from the memorial. Too bad the sidewalk suddenly ended and we were dodging parking meters. 🙁Blog Pictures 2010 423 Blog Pictures 2010 424 Blog Pictures 2010 425 Blog Pictures 2010 426        Megh ann was elated to see at least one monument during her quick trip!Blog Pictures 2010 428After our monument visit we headed back to Jacquie’s apartment to grab our stuff and head towards the airport and the Bolt Bus. Meghann had an evening flight down to Orlando while I had to catch the Bolt Bus back to NYC. We had a great time together in DC and are so thankful for Jacquie’s hospitality!

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This is never a good thing to see on the highway. The red lights of traffic!

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After 4 hours sitting still on the Bolt Bus I was ecstatic to see this sign!

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Breakfast Made with Love

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Leslie’s sweet mother made us all feel at home this morning with a warm delicious breakfast.  She had fresh grapes, strawberries, and bananas waiting for us when we woke up along with coffee, juice, and milk. But then the fun really began. The big question of the morning was how many scoops of chocolate chips was the perfect amount for our breakfast of champions.

Blog Pictures 2010 287 Blog Pictures 2010 288       Two scoops of chocolate chips was the perfect amount for this decadent pre-race breakfast.

 Blog Pictures 2010 291 Behold the delicious breakfast ala Mom! She definitely delivered and has made me miss my mom even more! I’m so excited to see she and my dad next weekend. Blog Pictures 2010 292  Blog Pictures 2010 294

I enjoyed my warm chocolate chip pancakes with some strawberries, bananas, and a small drizzle of sugar free maple syrup. Thanks Mama Patty! You were the best hostess 🙂

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It feels so weird to still be comfortably lounging around Leslie’s house at 8:30 on a race morning. Normally Bo and I are up and out of the house by 6am for races! The marathon relay doesn’t begin until 11am which means my leg should start around noon. I can’t wait to hang out with all the other bloggers and readers. Leslie’s team is Run to Eat while Meghann and I are on Run Bloggers Run.

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Happy Hump Day! Celebrating National Running Day with Lululemon

Holy hump day humidity! After tonight’s 5 mile run I am absolutely exhausted and still dripping even though I just finished a cold shower. I’m with Jess, cold running is so much better!

Today’s eats were very similar to yesterday’s and equally as enjoyable. My goal for tomorrow is to increase the water consumption EVEN more and enjoy at least one cup of tea during the afternoon slumps.

Breakfast was basic but delicious.

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It’s been one month since I unintentionally gave up coffee and I haven’t looked back once! I’ve been enjoying a Venti Iced Unsweetened Green Tea from Starbucks every morning and love the refreshing flavor and energy it gives me.

Lunch was another scrumptious salad though I was a bit disappointed with their romaine today. I prefer green lettuce versus faded white green lettuce. *fail* I think I’m going to go with a healthier salad tomorrow by adding spinach to the mix. Today included sprouts, tomatoes, red onion, shrimp, salt & pepper, carrots, celery, and FF lemon pepper dressing.

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Blog Pictures 2010 207  I saw these crispy treats at Toasties today and thought they may be a good replacement for my normal PopChips. I tried the traditional cheddar flavor as I hoped they’d be the most flavorful. Fail. These tasted like Styrofoam rubbed in artificial cheddar. I don’t think i’ll be buying the Gourmet Basics Smart Fries again.Blog Pictures 2010 209

 Blog Pictures 2010 211 After a long day at work, I couldn’t wait to meet Rebecca at the East 66th Lululemon for a great Wednesday night run. We’d planned to join Jessie and others for the NYRR National Running day event but we realized we had no interest in the drinking/bar or Upper West Side location. Therefore, we stuck with my normal Wednesday routine instead. I was excited to introduce Rebecca to Claire and the rest of the group. We had a blast! Tonight’s workout was as follows: warm up jog from the store to the Central Park transverse, stretching, warm up to the Tavern, 10 minutes out on the bridle path, 1 minutes of squats, 10 minutes back on the bridle path, 1 minute squats, 8 minutes out on bridle path, 1 minute pushups, 8 minutes back on bridle path, 1 minute pushups, cool down jog back to the store for…..NATIONAL RUNNING DAY CELEBRATION!

Blog Pictures 2010 212You know you’re at a Lululemon party due to all the ridiculously bright colors!! 🙂 Girls enjoying some of the healthy treats including grapes, strawberry, hummus and veggies, and Vita Coco!  Blog Pictures 2010 213  Below are two hot and sweaty messes! Rebecca and I were drenched by the end of the run due to the humidity. I can’t imagine summer running with out my luon tee and tanks!

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. When I got home I was clearly dehydrated because all I wanted was fruit. I knew I needed some protein for staying power so I enjoyed a Chobani 0%, blueberries, and some Galaxy Granola. It was delicious, cool, refreshing, and health

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