It's a Beautiful Day

88-89 mins.
12 miles

Words cannot express how excited I was to run with Jilane today. Not so much because of the "running" part, more for the "Jilane" part. Jeff and I were fortunate enough to be able to crash with her in the District last night and spend some quality time out with friends, including but not limited to Owen, Ben Stern and the infamous Tom's brother George. It was a good time but I was pretty exhausted and still feeling under the weather, so Jilane and I called it a relatively early night.


Team MJ rallies for a night out on Saturday

By the time we got up and at 'em on Sunday it was well past 10am and temps were already in the mid 50s. After a bit of deliberation we both opted for shorts and short sleeves, and man was I glad we did. It got really warm out there by 20 minutes or so, and we could not have asked for a more beautiful day for a run. Apparently everyone else in town had the same idea, and I lost count of the numbers of cyclists, dog walkers, runners and frisbee players we saw on our jaunt through Rock Creek Park. My calves were pretty rocked from wearing spikes in yesterday's 5k, so Jilane agreed to take it easy on me and we kept the pace nice and relaxed.


The signature coffee and animal crackers at Open City

Once the run and shower was complete, we continued the day in fitting fashion with brunch at Open City and then some leisurely strolling around the Mall. Have I mentioned it was an absolutely beautiful day? Jeffrey and I were not looking forward to our 6+ hour drive home, but it was hard to leave when we were so enjoying the sunshine and the company. Spending so much time with Jilane and other friends was such a wonderful surprise for the weekend, and I would've gladly driven twice as far for the same opportunity.


Jeff frightening Jilane with his patented overbite dance move

Actually, that's a lie. I would've made Jeff drive.