I made us a quick breakfast of whole wheat toast, almond butter, honey, cinnamon, and half a banana. I’ve eaten a variation of this before every race, and didn’t want to jinx myself by changing it up! Right after I took the photo, I misplaced my camera somewhere in the apartment… after a few minutes of mild panic, I found my old one in a drawer. Excuse the recycled photo and poor quality of the images to follow!
We got to the park and caught up with Danielle, who looked far more stylish than I did. Good thing I didn’t check the weather- 17 degrees!- but we both layered up anyway.
We stashed our bags and coats and headed to the starting line (where we bumped into Caitlin, who was right next to us!).
As this was Ari’s first race- and the first time he would run more than 2 miles at a time- I looked at today as our first race together, and just a fun way to spend a Sunday morning. If we had to walk the whole way, so be it!
It was really cold. My legs were completely numb and my hands hurt before we even started running, but we started off at a steady pace and held it all the way through. I asked Ari multiple times if he wanted to stop- or even slow down- but he kept moving. We maintained at 10:39 pace the whole way!!! We finished in 42:38; I was so proud.
Total distance: 4 miles
Total time: 42:38
We made the frigid trek back across the park to claim our bags and catch up with Danielle (who finished in 36:58!)…
… then headed over to Arte Cafe for brunch with a 14 lovely ladies (an 2 gentlemen).
It was fun to catch up with so many bloggers… I don’t know if I’ve been in the company of so many like-minded folk at once since the Summit!
Among them were Ada, Melissa, Heather & Mark, Ashley, Meghann, and many more. Ari and I got to catch up with our favorite college gal before she jetted off to triathalon club.
Before she left, she gave us Chobani’s new kids’ yogurt! I can’t wait to try these guys.
Instead of bread, we were given berry muffins. This was probably my favorite part of my meal (other than the company)… the black coffee wasn’t so great.
I ordered an egg white omelet with spinach and goat cheese; the muffin really filled me up so I didn’t have any of the toast or salad (quite unlike me!).
Thanks for a fun time, everyone! (Photo courtesy of Meghann.)
After we all went our separate ways (with plans for future meetings), Ari and I made our way home. We took a little pit stop at Grandaisy Bakery for a small hot chocolate, which we split on the subway ride.
After I was showered and warmed up a bit, the rest of the day was devoted to work. What else is a Sunday for, eh? 
For some reason, I was hungry all day. Only a little after we got home, I tore into the 18 Rabbits Belle Bananas Foster bar (review to come).
And some grapes to keep me going:
Ari had plans tonight so I ended up eating an early dinner with him. I made Tomatoey Spiced Chickpeas which has easily become my go-to quick dinner (it requires almost no active cooking time) when we eat together. Ari is a die-hard meat lover, but for some reason he’s really taken to this vegetarian dish. I served it with Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains Pilaf and steamed cauliflower (which also was consumed without complaints!).
Later, I made a chocolate peanut butter cup for Ari and a dessert plate for myself using dried fruit, a macaroon from Gina, and chocolate hazelnut spread from Liz (more on that later).
Now it’s off to bed… it’s going to be another 5AM morning for me tomorrow. Tomorrow I’m going to clean out the closet and find my camera… until then, please be patient with the fuzzy photos!
Hope you had a great weekend, and have a very happy Monday 
