(Comeback) Week in Review

70 miles
2 doubles
0 (!!) days off
4 days in DC
2 hours of dancing at the Holder-Robbins wedding

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm back! Yes, I feel embarrassingly slow. Yes, every part of my body hurts. No, I can't even wrap my brain around the idea of attempting a workout, much less a race. But it's a start.

Despite hitting "the wall" on practically every run this week--an unavoidable hallmark of the first few weeks back from injury, I've discovered time and again--I was just thrilled to be back out there. Not to mention, I had the pleasure of taking in some pretty awesome runs: an early morning trail jaunt at Renaissance with my friends Ben and Casey, a plethora of runs around DC that included everything from the Mall to Rock Creek to the C&O towpath and all places in between, and possibly the world's largest Dowd YMCA-CRC run on Saturday morning in honor of Jay's wedding day. (Me: "There's gotta be at least 50 people here. Biggest Dowd run ever?" Matt: "I'm pretty sure this is bigger than some years of the Dowd Half-Marathon.")


Three OT qualifiers and the Thunder Road Marathon champ.
Clearly we're more talented at running than at seducing the camera.

Speaking of awesomeness and of Jay's nuptials, well, let's just say a good time was had by all on Saturday night. A little too much of a good time in some cases, judging by the splitting headache that knifed through Caitlin's and my temples with every footfall as we wearily trudged back up to the church to retrieve her car on Sunday morning. I will say that if I logged my workouts on Athleticore and if I were Billy Shue I would definitely record two hours of "alternate activity" on Saturday night which consisted of one of the most vigorous dance parties I've ever participated in. What we lacked in rhythm and skill we made up for in enthusiasm, and thankfully AJ was the only (token) black guy in attendance to make fun of our inherent lack of coordination. The MVP award of the night must indisputably be awarded jointly to Larry and Kathy Seavers, two of the most amazing runners and people--and, as we found out, dancers--I've ever had the privilege of knowing. I've said it before and I'll say it here now: if I am blessed with half their energy and zest for life at their age, I'll consider myself fortunate.


My heroes, Larry and Kathy Seavers. Nope, that's not water on his shirt.

There's not much more to report on the running front as it pertains to my own fitness (or lack thereof), but I can't close this post without giving a shout-out to the most impressive Charlotte performance of the weekend (heck, maybe the entire year), Alana Hadley's stunning 1:17:14 at Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach. Not only was she the first American, but she also shattered the national 15-and-under age group record. That's right, she's 14. Huge congrats to Alana and to her father/coach, Mark, for this breakthrough performance. If that doesn't serve as a kick in the pants for me to get back in shape, I don't know what will!