Thirty-One…

My thirty-first birthday last weekend was really lovely, which was so nice considering my thirtieth birthday had been a bit of a wash. (Literally, as the torrential downpour delayed our train to NYC, soaked us on our walk to the restaurant, and caused many friends to bail out on the evening.)

Saturday morning started off with setting a PR in the Four Courts Four Miler. That afternoon, Adam surprised me with a trip to afternoon tea at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel. We drank tea and ate little sandwiches and pastries. Scones with lemon curd and clotted cream? Yes, please! Although perhaps not as authentic, it was much more enjoyable than the last fancy tea that I went to, where we were sipping our hot tea in 90 degree heat without any air conditioning! I’m hoping to be able to bring my British grandmother the next time she comes to town – she would absolutely love it!

That evening, my friends Carla and Aaron came down from Baltimore to spend the night with us. We met a bunch of friends out for dinner at Carmine’s. The family-style Italian restaurant is perfect for a large group and has the best eggplant parmesan I’ve ever had. The penne vodka is delicious, too. Actually, everything I’ve had there is pretty good and it seemed like everyone enjoyed their food. We ended up with TONS of leftovers, which Adam gave to a homeless person on our way to a bar to watch the Big East finals. (When she asked him if he could get her any food, I don’t know that she was expecting to receive nearly 5 pounds of spaghetti and meatballs!) I’m glad we found someone to give the food to, because there’s no way Adam would have eaten it all at home.

After dinner, Adam hurried off (with us all following) to try to find a bar playing the Big East finals so he could see UConn play. He was convinced that they weren’t going to win, even though I made a very good argument earlier in the day about how they were totally going to win because they started off the year winning a tournament in Maui while we were there on our honeymoon, and so of course they’d win the Big East final on my birthday. I mean, it only makes sense, right? Right. (And they did.)

The next morning, we hosted a birthday brunch for several friends at our place. I love brunch and think I might make this an annual thing, and when we have a bigger place I might invite everyone over for brunch instead of having two birthday celebrations. (Although, then I wouldn’t get to have two birthday celebrations… ) I mostly followed Smitten Kitchen’s brunch strategy and, in fact, served many of her dishes, alongside strawberry bellinis and mimosas.

It was a weekend full of good food and time with great friends… the perfect way to celebrate.

Race Recap: Four Courts Four Miler

This past weekend, Adam and I ran the Four Courts Four Miler, which is a St. Patrick’s-themed race right in our neighborhood! (It only takes us about 10 minutes (uphill) to walk to the race start… a nice little warm-up!)

One of my goals for this year is to set a PR in every distance race I run. My four miler PR going into this race was 40:54, which I ran in this race last year. I had forgotten to look up what time I needed to beat before this Saturday’s race, but I knew it was 40 minutes-something, so I knew I had to at least run it in at least 39:59.

The course is an out an back, first mile downhill, middle two miles are mostly flat with a few slight rolling hills, and the last mile is almost all uphill. I actually felt like I was taking the first mile a little slow… until I got to the mile marker and saw that I ran the first mile in 8:37. Well, then! I don’t remember my exact splits for the last three miles, but I think they were about 9:15-9:30 and my last mile was around 10:30. I finished at 37:58, taking nearly 3 minutes off my previous PR!

One of the features of this race is that you can “leap the leprechaun” — a local elite runner who starts the race 15 minutes after everyone else and still beats about half the pack! Last year, Adam barely beat him (although I think he only left 5 or 6 minutes after the start) and I was way, way behind. This year, with the added advantage, I beat the leprechaun (by about a minute) and got a water bottle as my prize!

Distance: 4 Miles
Time: 37:58
Pace: 9:30/mile

Next race: The National Half Marathon. I wasn’t able to qualify for it last year, but with my increased pace last year, I actually met the qualifying times for several distances! My goal is to go under 2:30, but I think I may be able to go even faster than that. I’ll be running it with my friend Carolyn, who is actually running the FULL marathon. She’s faster than I am, so she’ll help me meet my goal, and I’ll keep her pace for the first half so she can finish strong! (At least, that’s our plan… assuming I don’t fall behind before we get to my finish line.)