Moving on and Moving up

So the 4th of July weekend didn't quite go as planned...what are you going to do? Well we did make the best of it for sure! Although Kirsten would disagree with running at noon on Friday and Saturday it was awesome to actually sleep in later than we had for 6 months.

Friday we woke up ready to tackle 100 miles by ourselves and wouldn't you know it...it is raining....MAN! Just our luck, it wasn't supposed to rain until later in the day, but again...what are you going to do? Kirsten suggested we sleep in a little more until the storm system passed (thanks iphone for showing me the weather system!). So we set our alarms for 1 hour. We woke up and was raring to go when she dropped the bombshell..."I am over it...and don't want to ride anymore..." WHAT!!! Oh well...back to sleep it was. We slept in until about 10am...very late by our standards over the past 3 years...and to think in college I was sleeping in that late every day, and even on the weekends when I got out of college. What a waste of a weekend!

So we went for a run around Hains Point (doesn't it seem like we are always there?) and then a swim. I felt awesome on the run, legs felt good, and felt like I could clip off the miles no problem. Kirsten wasn't feeling well so we ran together for a mile or so and I went down the long way to get some extra miles in. Running on the completely closed road was cool. No cars, no pedestrians (not yet anyway, because it is July 4th) and it was pretty funny to run directly through the pedestrian checkpoint and just give the guy there a nod without him stopping me at all. See in DC on the 4th they shut down all roads around the Mall and inspect everyone that comes through controlled points leading into the Mall, talk about freedoms being revoked...but I digress for fear of getting political. It was hot and I was pouring sweat (went through all 4 bottles in less than an hour) but I felt fantastic and picked it up on the way back. Kirsten turned around and ran back on the route to meet up with me shortly before the car and she seemed to be fine at that point (maybe because it was over?).

The swim was uneventful and I started to feel like I was getting my form back finally. The pool was absolutely DEAD. Hardly a soul was there but it made for great swimming in the clouded water (ever time this year so far, come on DC Parks!). After that we headed over to Kirsten's co-workers house who has one of the most adorable cats I have ever met (2nd to ours of course!). It was a relaxing time with some different conversations which was good, but I was pretty tired and eager to get back to the hill before traffic and firework chaos ensued. We headed over to Laura and Dave's where they had some darn good kabobs and announced they were pregnant (no not the kabobs!). Seems like everyone is getting pregnant, but we are looking at 3 years probably, so we don't feel any pressure (right sweetie?) It was a good time with some good conversation but we headed out early and called it a night before the fire works went off (at least the "real" show), but not before our alley became an illegal fireworks festival. Try sleeping through that...although Kirsten did, I swear she can sleep anywhere!

So we woke up late again on Saturday and decided to get a long run in down the 14th St. Bridge and back up the Memorial Bridge. Kirsten was trying to get us to go earlier rather than later but too bad our earlier ended up being about 11am versus 9am. Again it was pretty hot and humid but I felt VERY good, and I was not going to complain after the past couple of weeks. Kirsten gave me a reality check as we got across the river and said "My HR is a race pace right now...we need to dial it back!". I obliged of course. She was feeling pretty awful by the 8-9 mile mark and I did my best to cheer her up and make jokes to take her mind off of it. It worked a couple times, but she is a tough nut to crack when she is feeling down. I know someone else like that too (Looking at the ceiling and rolling my eyes...) Yup...it is ME!

Needless to say we finally finished up and were better for the effort. I was still feeling good at the end and felt like I had some more to give, but definitely was getting dehydrated by that point. We showered up and actually went to Bed Bath and Beyond, Sears, and Aaron Brothers Art Mart in Columbia to get some shopping done. I remembered why we don't go shopping that often, because when we do we end up spending a lot of money...yeah it is stuff we need or have put off, but geesh not THAT much money!!! Or maybe it is because we don't go very often that we end up spending a lot of money...it is a vicious cycle anyway you look at it. We did get a new vacuum which I was VERY VERY VERY happy about. This was my/our first high quality vaccum and I was eager to try it out at home and get all the cat litter and hair off the stairs. Our current vaccum just moved the kitty litter around on the stairs and would occasionally launch it out the back hitting me in the leg and hurting like hell. So much for the mid range vaccum cleaner that can't pick up kitty litter on the stairs!

I had to curtail that though as a stop to Harris Teeter, the new awesome grocery store, was needed for dinner and to pick up a few items for our hosted brunch on Sunday morning. As we were leaving I noticed Kristen behind me with the fruit she had just bought and a double entendre TOTALLY entered my mind and I just had to get a picture...if you get it...good...it is funny!!

We got home and I got to use the vacuum and it is awesome. It was everything I hoped it would be and more! Now what to do with the old vacuum....hmmm.... We headed out to meet up with Christal and Eric on the Hill for some live Brazilian Jazz that was advertised in the local paper only to find out that false advertising is prevalent when it comes to music on the hill. Maybe that is what we need to do, open a jazz bar on the hill...sounds like a great idea to me. We went over to check out Finn MaCools to see if they had live music only to be told that they haven't had it in years, which hearkened me back to the last time I was there this late at night. It was with Eric in fact and we were both single...it was THAT long ago!! The bar was completely dead, so dead we decided not to stick around and just went to the Goetz's for drinks and some good conversations. It was a good time and am glad we got to stay up late and have a good time regardless of the lack of music.

It was up early the next morning (after 5 hours of sleep and a grumpy grape known as Kirsten ;) for a 60 mile ride which TJ so conveniently missed by oversleeping, but I guess we are all allowed to do that since K and I did this weekend. The ride was humid, but not hot, and again I was feeling awesome. After about 20 miles Kirsten started feeling awful again and we discussed how everyone can't be on their game every week all the time. For example the past couple weeks with me, but you reach a point where you break through and you feel even stronger and better than before. But honestly I didn't know what she was/is talking about when she said that she was going slow and hurting. We were still clipping along at 20mph and greater on some of the ride, even towards the end. She might have been feeling bad, but she didn't seem like it.

We got back just in time to pick up some pepper bacon, maple syrup, and some Rugalah (mmmmmm) for our hosted brunch. The timing was just perfect as I was able to cook almost all the pancakes and bacon by the time everyone arrived. Kirsten handled the fruit (aka her melons...hahahaha, see picture above) and the scrambled eggs. In total we had 13 people over and ended up having a great feast and watching the 2nd stage of the Tour De France. We pretty much sat on the couch the rest of the day which was fine with me, I am always up for skipping something to do nothing...it is more relaxing that way.

More on the weeks start tomorrow as this is long already. I will say in total it was a productive weekend and a TON of fun even though we didn't get to go to Shenandoah. It was a great long weekend and an even longer Blog Posting...