Author – Grant
Based In – Washington (District of Columbia)
Ran – 10 kilometers
Ate – 10 kilos
Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157611198247359/
Two bipolar events dominated Day 40; a 10k run and a Champagne Brunch…in that order of course…
The 10k run (the brainchild of Kate as a last ditch attempt to squeez
e into her Ted Baker dress for Jo & Matt’s wedding next Friday) was themed “Jingle All The Way” and I was horrified to discover that the race pack included a set of bells to attach to our trainers to run with. Having experienced 4500 people all jogging along with bells on, like some kind of World Record Morris Dancing event, I now understand what it is like to have tinnitus. Anyway, the race started at 8am and a brief glance out of the hotel window first thing this morning showed a blue sky and a big sun…what it didn’t portray was that it was exactly zero degrees centigrade with a minus 5 degree wind chill. As such, I put on three tops and a pair of shorts (remember the mantra “it is never not shorts weather”) whilst Kate would have made a 20 round game of pass-the-parcel.
If you haven’t taken part in an organised race before then take my word for it, they’re great. A huge bunch of people of all shapes and sizes with a single common goal and somehow running in this environment spurs everyone to perform better than they would alone. Either the sum of the parts is bigger than the whole or vice versa – I’ve never really understood that particular phrase. We are perfect example
s of this as we both finished about 12 minutes earlier than we thought we would which was a total miracle given the minimal amount of training we did. Whilst it was unquestionably hard work, there was also a really good atmosphere and there were plenty of fully kitted out Santas, a couple of poodles dressed as reindeer, the obligatory mums running with strollers and the uber-annoying 77 year old looking far fresher than the majority of the under-40s. If Kate was writing this blog then she would tell you the story of her husband who jumped out of the crowd to join her for the final 400 metres only to release some rather vile gas which actually impeded her finish…but as I’m writing the blog I would never paint myself in such a poor light.
And so onto the reward section of the day…the brunch. Allegedly, our posh hotel hosts Washington DCs finest champagne brunch so it seemed rude not to take advantage of it seeing as we’re here. So for $65 (about 40 quid) we got to eat an drink as much as we could (which, from my experience, is about 20% more than eating as much as you like…there’s a distinct difference). Whilst the rest of the clientele in the restaurant were there to have a bite to eat accompanied with possibly a glass or two of bubbly, we are what economists call “loss leaders”. I am equal parts proud and ashamed that they didn’t make a cent out of us but given the amount of lobster claws, shrimp, smoked salmon, oysters, calamari, lamb, beef, rockfish, dumplings, sushi, spring rolls, desserts and cheese we got through (all washed down with copious amounts of bubbly), I can guarantee that we won’t be invited back in a hurry.
Given that we were only up to 2:30pm by this point, the remaining 12 hours of the day were a particularly relaxed (i.e. anaesthetised) affair and, despite publishing a bunch of blogs, watching too much TV and walking Molly, we haven’t really taken any positive life steps forward. Still, it’s nice to just do nothing sometimes.
Based In – Washington (District of Columbia)
Ran – 10 kilometers
Ate – 10 kilos
Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157611198247359/
Two bipolar events dominated Day 40; a 10k run and a Champagne Brunch…in that order of course…
The 10k run (the brainchild of Kate as a last ditch attempt to squeez
e into her Ted Baker dress for Jo & Matt’s wedding next Friday) was themed “Jingle All The Way” and I was horrified to discover that the race pack included a set of bells to attach to our trainers to run with. Having experienced 4500 people all jogging along with bells on, like some kind of World Record Morris Dancing event, I now understand what it is like to have tinnitus. Anyway, the race started at 8am and a brief glance out of the hotel window first thing this morning showed a blue sky and a big sun…what it didn’t portray was that it was exactly zero degrees centigrade with a minus 5 degree wind chill. As such, I put on three tops and a pair of shorts (remember the mantra “it is never not shorts weather”) whilst Kate would have made a 20 round game of pass-the-parcel.If you haven’t taken part in an organised race before then take my word for it, they’re great. A huge bunch of people of all shapes and sizes with a single common goal and somehow running in this environment spurs everyone to perform better than they would alone. Either the sum of the parts is bigger than the whole or vice versa – I’ve never really understood that particular phrase. We are perfect example
s of this as we both finished about 12 minutes earlier than we thought we would which was a total miracle given the minimal amount of training we did. Whilst it was unquestionably hard work, there was also a really good atmosphere and there were plenty of fully kitted out Santas, a couple of poodles dressed as reindeer, the obligatory mums running with strollers and the uber-annoying 77 year old looking far fresher than the majority of the under-40s. If Kate was writing this blog then she would tell you the story of her husband who jumped out of the crowd to join her for the final 400 metres only to release some rather vile gas which actually impeded her finish…but as I’m writing the blog I would never paint myself in such a poor light.And so onto the reward section of the day…the brunch. Allegedly, our posh hotel hosts Washington DCs finest champagne brunch so it seemed rude not to take advantage of it seeing as we’re here. So for $65 (about 40 quid) we got to eat an drink as much as we could (which, from my experience, is about 20% more than eating as much as you like…there’s a distinct difference). Whilst the rest of the clientele in the restaurant were there to have a bite to eat accompanied with possibly a glass or two of bubbly, we are what economists call “loss leaders”. I am equal parts proud and ashamed that they didn’t make a cent out of us but given the amount of lobster claws, shrimp, smoked salmon, oysters, calamari, lamb, beef, rockfish, dumplings, sushi, spring rolls, desserts and cheese we got through (all washed down with copious amounts of bubbly), I can guarantee that we won’t be invited back in a hurry.
Given that we were only up to 2:30pm by this point, the remaining 12 hours of the day were a particularly relaxed (i.e. anaesthetised) affair and, despite publishing a bunch of blogs, watching too much TV and walking Molly, we haven’t really taken any positive life steps forward. Still, it’s nice to just do nothing sometimes.
Last day of sightseeing in Washington tomorrow before tearfully waving off Kate off at Dulles Airport for her week in England. It’s a 2431 mile drive to Las Vegas from here and if I start driving as soon as I’ve dropped Kate off at the airport then I should be there by Wednesday morning…but don’t tell the missus if you happen to bump into her as she thinks I’m touring Delaware.
And here are a bunch of gratuitous photos of us eating too much...
1 comment:
Hello peeps, well I have been slack at jumping on board your incredible journey but alas, I have finally arrived- the blog is fab! Well done on your 10k run...looks like you're having a ball and this reading is certainly helping the time go by at work!
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