twelve thousand strong
April 5th, 2009
The Cherry Blossom 10 miler went off with out a hitch this morning. Some 12,000 or so runners plus associated friends and family, along with a huge contingent of volunteers (thank you!) descended upon the National Mall this morning. The gun went off at 7:40a and the first bunch of runners were done 45 minutes later. That is a break neck 4:36 pace! While Lori and I didn’t go quiiiiite that fast we both got personal records (1:45 and 1:11, respectively) so that is a win in my book.
A good rite of spring indeed.
…here are the photos I snapped mid run with my GoPro Digital Hero wrist camera. They get strangely distorted but it is still fun to take photos mid race.
03:47:06 !
March 23rd, 2009
Matt finished the National Marathon on Saturday, running 8:40 miles, and that is just spectacular. You can see him (kinda) coming in strong in the second picture.
Cole Field House, 6 years later…
October 20th, 2008
While we were out on campus at the University of Maryland this weekend, we poked our heads into a dark Cole Field House just to see it again. It’s been six years (I think) since the Terps last played basketball there, and boy did it seem smaller than I remembered it. Maybe because the lights were out… but in any case, it was cool to sit in those seats again. Look how loved they are!
tailgating really is an art, you know?
October 19th, 2008
Our thanks to Mr. Zack Vogel (check out those sweet glasses) and his generous parents for putting together a delicious Mexican themed smorgasbord of a tailgate yesterday in preparation for the Terps v. Wake Forest football game. We were unable to score tickets (thanks Jill) and watch Maryland stomp on Wake Forest in their 26-0 victory from Bryd Stadium. This was okay though as opted to watch the game from the comforts of Lupos the Thirsty Turtle. The game was a continuation of Maryland’s rollercoaster season that has had them shutting out ranked foes and getting shut out by teams they should have buried.
Now it is Skins time.
HAIL TO THE REDSKINS! HAIL VICTORY! BRAVES ON THE WARPATH! FIGHT FOR OLD DC!
Nation’s Triathletes!!
September 14th, 2008
We did it! Woooooooo, we are triathletes! Here is a photo of the Potomac swim (it’s taken with Matt’s new birthday present ) Congrats to our entire Team in Training Team for finishing this race, and thank you to everyone who cheered us on–parentals, coworkers, Jill, Pat, Jami, Slutsky, JJ, Jessica, Zack, Brigid, Keith, Jayluf, and Kristen, and everyone else (Aine, Carolyn) in my swim corral who helped me stop freaking out. yay, you guys rock! (please feel free to comment on your favorite part of race day.) Here are some of the other photos from the day…
Time results:
Lori/Matt
overall place: 1563/314
TIME: 3:18:04/2:37:31
swim: 39:25/33:53
transition1: 3:03/2:28
bike:1:27:01/1:10:02
transition2: 2:25/1:24
run: 1:06:12/49:45
The course itself was great- the Potomac was less gross/intimidating than we had been thinking all summer, and the water was actually refreshing at 7:45 in the AM. No bodies or Loch Nessies were spotted, though I did graze a piece of driftwood. eeek! Sighting on the back end of the swim was nearly impossible – foggy goggles and the sun directly in my eyes. I had to stop a few times, remove the goggles, and tread water to look for the yellow buoys. But I made it out of the water, and up the ladders, and to me, that was as good as finishing the race because the part where you could drown was over.
The bike course was smooth “these roads are like butter” as Matt would say… and no real hills, up or down. There was, however, a more-than-24-hours-dead deer on the side of the road that stunk like nobody’s business, but other than that, no real issues. AND, most importantly, no flat tires!!
The run was tough for everyone it seemed. By that point in the day, it was getting really humid and into the mid-90s. Black pavement is hot. No shade was unfortunate. But I did happen to look up a few times and see things such as the Washington monument, the Jefferson Memorial, and the place on Hains Point where The Awakening used to be. Pretty!
Now we are looking forward to getting those finish line photos back. I did a standard arm-raised in victory motion, but Matt went for a leaping fist-pump. Sure to not let me down.
Also wanted to point out everything that I ate today, starting at 5am:
pre-race: 1/2 banana, 1/2 whole wheat bagel, 1 bottled water, 1 caffeinated cherry sports beans pack
during-race: 1 orange sport bean pack, 4 bottles water, 1 lime sport bean pack
immediately-post-race: 1 bottled water, 3 powerades, 1 pickle, 1/2 turkey sub, 2 mini packs of Skittles, 1 banana, 1 slice cheese pizza
lunch: a baked potato, steak, cantaloupe and grapes, 1 dos equis, veggies and dip, 12-ish caramel cream candies, cherry-whipped cream pie
10pm: pomegranate fro-yo with fresh pineapple, strawberries, and blackberries
Now time to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep……
3-0
August 25th, 2008
Went to out first DC United game on Saturday night, and we were lucky enough to witness a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rapids. It was a good rowdy crowd, as I’m guessing it is for mostly every home game. We were just close enough to the crazy drum section to get a feel for the energy down there, but far enough away to not get covered in flying beer after each United goal. Depending whether you ask me or Matt, that is either a good thing or a bad thing.
A Wetsuit and a Selby Bay Mustache
August 10th, 2008
If this isn’t reason enough to Donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for Team in Training, then I’m out of ideas! Our friend and coach, Ted, took this shot yesterday morning during our open water swim practice in wetsuits in Selby Bay, in Edgewater, MD. Lots of people came out of the water with murky brown mustaches and jellyfish stings. Luckily, I only had the first condition, which was easy to wash away. I guess it’s only fair to post my wetsuit shot too, so there you go, I’m on the left, mustache only somewhat visible. Following the swim, we completed a 5.5 mile run through the neighborhoods. What a gorgeous day!
Summer Hoops
July 29th, 2008
Ahhhh, kids shooting hoops in Kalorama Park. I keep meaning to go over there myself and shoot around sometime (not with a camera, but with a basketball) and relive my old HoCo Rec League days, but I just haven’t done it yet. The courts are always pretty crowded with pick-up games and tournaments. So do you think this kid is about to make his shot?
Jason Taylor : Welcome to D.C.
July 22nd, 2008
Welcome, welcome, welcome! You are going to love it here. As quoted on WTOP.com: “We have not talked about anything besides football,” Taylor said of his discussions with the Redskins. “There’s no dancing, unless we’re celebrating a big play.” We won’t hold that Dancing With the Stars thing against you, we thought you looked light on your feet.
Watch your back, Donovan!
STOP
July 14th, 2008
STOP sign stickers are funny. It’s such a simple and illegal way to promote an idea. Matt caught this one outside the new Nationals ballpark, where I guess the advocate for not circumcising babies thought there would be lots of foot traffic to view the sticker.
