Marine Corps 10K Weekend

A while back, I decided that signing up for running a 10K road race would be a good idea. I've never run any races before, but have walked plenty of 5K ones. Not really sure why, but I thought a 5K would be too easy for me to cheat my way through...so I signed up with Lelaine for the Marine Corps 10K run in Washington, DC. It sounded like a great race and it gave me an excuse to go and visit Lelaine and Chris!

I got into DC Friday night before the race and we kicked off what was to be a fun weekend with dinner at Zaytina. It's one of Lelaine's favorite places and it also was a restaurant with a chef who competed on the latest season of Top Chef.

Zaytina oil and vinegar

Saturday was a pretty dreary, cold, and wet day but we decided to make the best of it and drive out to Maryland for some touristy fun. We headed out to Fredrick and checked out a great little chocolate shop, Volt Restaurant (also owned by a contestant on Top Chef), and a local Maryland winery. Back in DC, we had a "pasta dinner" in preparation of our run and headed back to Lelaine and Chris' to watch some Gator (Lelaine and Jenn) and Missouri (Chris and Doug) football before Sunday morning's race.

Downtown Fredrick, Maryland

Outside of Volt

This wouldn't be a very "Jenn Blog" if I didn't post pictures of the food! Volt's dining area was booked solid for lunch, but we were able to snag 4 seats at the bar and had a great $20 fixed price lunch. The bartendar was friendly, the restaurant was great (minus the bathroom door layout which caused me to totally NAIL some poor woman with the sliding door as I was leaving...oops!), and the food was tasty!

Ravioli Appetizer

Striped Bass Entree

Textures of Chocolate Dessert

Race Day! I'm such a cold weather wimp! I'm not going to lie...I really thought about not running at all, but with much coercing (and a lot of mocking by Chris!), I suited up and made it down to the Mall for the start of the race.

Pre-Race: Lelaine wasn't able to run the race because of a training injury, but she went with us to provide moral support, carry our stuff, and take pictures.

Post-Race: Chris and I stopped to pose with the Marine Corps Bulldog.

Lelaine channeling The Barefoot Contessa with her Tequila Lime Chicken!