Friday, May 15, 2009

Touched down in London town?

Happy cloudy Friday! After a killer bootcamp workout, I headed to the office to dump some stuff off and pick up the fancy camera and then back out the door I went. Took a few shots of Elephant & Castle that weren’t all that great (stupid moving truck blocked a whole potential shot!) and then stopped at Pret A Manger on the way back. The last time I went to one of these was during a trip to London in 2003 so I figured eh, let’s keep going with the British theme!

Grabbed a coffee (much needed! Why am I dragging so much these days??) and an Egg & Roasted Tomato Baguette. There were a ton of fun smoothies and yogurts, but I just wasn’t feeling it this morning. Got back to the office, opened my sandwich up and um, yeah. I thought I was getting like a breakfast egg sandwich w/roasted tomato. Wrong-o! EGG SALAD! I kinda hate and love egg salad – most of the time I think it’s stinky and too creamy. Other times, like in deviled egg, I think it’s AWESOME. Whatever, I was starving so I ate it. It wasn’t too painful. Lesson learned.


I also learned I want an SLR camera in a bad way. I’ve always thought about it, but I’ve never actually played around with one until today. I love it so much more than my point and shoot! So much more flexibility and control, *sigh* so much more money…


Jamie was trying to get an earlier flight back from Houston today, so I had thought of some potential dinner ideas. Unfortunately he is now trapped in the airport dealing with delays. I was too tired and gross after my 9 hour (should have only been 4!) work day sans shower and run so I was not at all interested in cooking. Considering I consumed a bunch of garbage today (after the weird egg salad sandwich, I had a handful of Goldfish and some homemade hummus w/veggies from a coworker), I decided to walk up to Chop't for a salad. I got the Cabo Cobbo (chicken, iceberg, romaine, black beans, red onions, tortilla strips, corn - duh) with the Avo-peno dressing on the side:

It wasn't bad...the avo-peno dressing was a little too thick and creamy for me. I think it needed a splash of vinegar or something. Definitely had a nice kick though. Sorry for boring food!


I made a pit stop at Potomac River Running (told you it's bad!) to pick up a few packets of my favorite gel:

I got hooked on these right before Chicago and these suckers are hard to find! I might have to just buy a box of them to stash away ;)


On the walk back, I started thinking about the weather and my run tomorrow and I decided that with the onset of warmth and humidity I'd post a few of my hot weather running staples. These are items I rarely leave home without during the summer months. Running with Team in Training during the summer months definitely gave me some good habits and I try my best to pass them on to any of my newbie runner friends :)


Keeping cool is critical (especially when running through the gross, humid DC summer), so cotton = EVIL. It gets so heavy and soggy when you sweat! I love shirts made of wicking material but I'm also really picky about textures. Here's my standard top half ensemble:

Yep, that's lime green and bright yellow - the only loud colors I allow in my closet. Love this Nike Dri-FIT Core Bra. It's supportive and not heinous :) I have the Training Tank in like 4 different colors and it's SO comfy and it keeps me cool!


Once those are on, it's BODY GLIDE TIME!!

This stuff is the BEST. If I could, I'd bathe in it pre-run. Ok, that's kinda gross, but whatever. This stuff goes on like deodorant and keeps the blisters away. You can put it on your feet, thighs, arms...anywhere that might get chafed during your run! I'm so addicted to this stuff, I even use it on my feet when I'm not running - hello, strappy shoes! I think they also make one with sunscreen.


Last, but not least...my fuel belt! (the CamelBak on the left was my first purchase, but now it's just used for friends)

I used to think these were lame and I made it about 4 weeks into training for my first marathon before I finally caved and got one. The folks at TNT were hardcore about water. They didn't say you absolutely needed to buy a belt, but you had to at least have a water bottle on you during the long runs. Three years later, I can't live without it.


They may look stupid, but they come in really handy. There have been so many instances where I've been running on the mall and the water fountains aren't on or there just aren't any on my route. It's also been helpful during races. When they ran out of water and it was unseasonably hot during the 2007 Army Ten Miler, I was SO thankful I had my belt full of water!


Bottoms will be saved for another day. I'm still deciding on those ;)


Promise more food tomorrow! The National Asian Heritage Festival is definitely on my to-do list tomorrow, but I just read on Quinn's blog that the Greek Festival is this weekend as well! I probably would have missed it! There's always good food there so definitely check it out!


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