Richmond weekend and James River Scramble

Friday after work Josh and I drove to Richmond. We had dinner at the "neighborhood bar" with Grandpa and Aunt Judy, which was an excellent meal and fun conversation on an outdoor patio.

Saturday I slept in and then drove Aunt Judy to the airport. Then Uncle Richard came to town in time for lunch. We picked up Grandma and went out for Mexican Saturday. After lunch I took a nap, and then it was time to head downtown for a run!

Josh and I ran the James River Scramble 10k Trail Run, which was part of the Dominion Riverrock festival. The course takes you on roads (we started on cobble stone and I thought I'd break my ankle right away, but luckily that didn't last long), over bridges, along the canal path, up stairs, on the flood wall, and on single-track trails with roots and rocks and mud. And the whole things is accompanied by amazing scenery. We weren't trying to "compete," just to keep running at a steady pace and have a good time on a fun route. And we succeeded at that. I came in at 57:58, with Josh just ahead at 57:42. (He stuck with me for the most part during the race, rather than running on ahead, so his time was a lot slower than it could have been.)

On our way to the start.

Waiting at the starting line. There were waves (which weren't really organized) to keep the trails from getting clogged up.

Fun public art.

Crossing the Mayo Bridge.

I took this photo. Josh took the rest...

Climbing the "Mayan Ruins"

I'm not choking myself. I think I was wiping sweat off my face.

Runnin' the trails.

On the bridge back to Brown's Island.

Done!

Sunni and her friend came with us and met us at the finish. Here she's experiencing a sweaty sandwich.

Overall it was a fun event. I haven't done much trail running, and this was my first trail race, but I want to do more. It takes more concentration and work to not trip and fall, but it's a fun challenge.

After we cooled down we enjoyed our free beers (they came with the race registration) and walked around to see the other events. We saw dogs jumping into a pool of water, slackline jumping, men and women bouldering, and freestyle biking. There was also live music and lots of booths. Oh, and I saw my first firefly of the season while stretching on the grass.

egg dyeing

The weekend before Easter Josh and I visited his grandparents for dinner. His grandma was hoping we'd dye some eggs after the meal, but Josh was tired and poo-pooed the idea. We decided we'd dye them with her later though. Because who says dyeing eggs is only for Easter?

So the next time we visited she was prepared. After dinner we got busy on two dozen hard-boiled eggs (one of which cracked). And not only did we dye them, but we created adorable little monsters!

Dyeing and decorating underway.

We all agreed Josh made the best monster. (Of course he spent so much time on it that he didn't want to help much with the other 22 eggs...) (Also, he has had a haircut and shave since this photo, don't worry.)

See how cute they are!

I especially like the blue guy with the mustache (made by me). And the unicorn next to him (made by Gene).

Fun times.

first weekend of the "summer"

Whoah, a second post in one day! That's because I'm finally done with my semester and have time again.

Now let me tell you about my weekend (the more recent one). Saturday I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for most of the day, helping to build two front porches. After that I took a shower and a long nap.

Then I got up, ate some dinner, and headed to a local high school for a two mile race around the track. A co-worker ran it with me. It was a fund raiser run/walk, but there were mostly walkers. I ran it because I'm thinking about joining a half-marathon training program and you have to run a two-mile time trial. Usually you do it at 5:30am on a work day, which doesn't really jive with me, so I picked this 8pm on a Saturday race instead. I don't know my exact time yet, but it was under 16 minutes. That's not very fast in the wider world of running, but it's fast for me and it got me third woman overall! (Plus first in my age group. Like I said, there weren't a lot of runners.)

After the race I went straight downtown (sweaty clothes and all) and went to the Infamous Stringdusters concert. I had wanted to see this blue grass group on New Year's Eve but the show sold out. It was fun.

Sunday after church I drove to Richmond for Mother's Day. My aunt made a great meal and everyone was there, including Grandma. She had a good time, and stayed to take a nap with Grandpa, which was very cute. After she left, I drove back to Charlottesville. Josh had been gone all weekend so I finally got to see him Sunday evening and we enjoyed some homework-free (and guilt for not doing homework-free) hangout time.

An excellent first weekend of the summer!

Montalto Challenge 2012

Last Saturday (the 5th) for the third year in a row, Josh and I ran the Montalto Challenge. That's the all-uphill 5k that is super hard and not fun until it's over.

Since I had that injury and running hiatus, I wasn't back up to speed and knew I wouldn't make a PR (personal record). Sure enough, I finished in 33:49, which wasn't too bad. Josh beat his record by a single second, so that's a PR for him! His roommate Will ran it, too, and he did really well and didn't even have to take walking breaks. That's impressive.

Now for some pics.

 Waiting to start. Notice Will is chillin' with a cup of coffee.

 Josh's over-the-shoulder running shot. (Per usual, he took all the photos.)

At the top and feelin' juuuuust fine.

 Me? Not so much. But I recovered.

See? Energy to spare after a little break and some beautiful views!