Weekend of wonderfulness

After the car accident, not getting paid, etc, a weekend at home with family could not have come at a better time! After a half day Friday, Carolyn, Eric and I got on the road to head to Geneseo, our alma mater (well, not Eric's, but he has an honorary degree after this weekend) for a night reliving our college glory with my sister and her friends. I'll just say it truly was a night back in college, and leave it at that. Wait, I will add that this town has the world's most insane hills and every time we left one adult beverage establishment to walk to another Carolyn challenged Darcy and I to a race so we actually got in a lot of running, which combined with the dancing probably equated to a full workout.


Saturday morning was a bit rough, but my friend Cheryl teaches Zumba in Henrietta (a town in between Geneseo and my hometown) and I have been trying to attend one of her classes for months! The timing finally worked out and I was not about to miss it. She made a special mix just for me and her class was awesome. A perfect mix of dancing and exercise, and there was a song that did Zumba toning, which I had never heard of? I love the idea though, and it was pretty tough - a great workout overall. It reminded me of our old wild days of going out dancing together.

We rushed home after the class for Fakesgiving, aka Thanskgiving a few days early since that's when I was home, and it's actually easier for my mom to take off on a non holiday. SO MUCH delicious food, combined with the usual mix of laughing, yelling over each other, and ridiculous jokes, mainly at each other's expense = the perfect afternoon. I love my family, every time I go up for the weekend I seriously consider not returning. It's just that whole job/paycheck/responsibilities thing that yanks me back. All the food was fantastic, as usual, but my mom's pumpkin-pecan pie with homemade crust was really over the top. It was the best pie I have ever had, even though earlier this year I actually already said that about a Dangerously Delicious pie (a local bakery). This one topped it though. Unbelievable. Maybe one goal for 2011 will be make my own pie crust, although it won't be that good.

Because I am an addict, I obviously had to google "rochester races" before my trip. I noticed there was a five mile race about 30 miles from my parent's house on Sunday morning. I was sort of thinking about it when I realized it wasn't just any race - it was the first race I ever ran! In college, Carolyn convinced me that my casual 30 minute runs whenever I felt motivated meant I was ready for a five mile race. At the time, I called it "the marathon" because five miles seemed so far. I tried to do one or two longer than usual races to prepare, and I was so nervous that I wouldn't make it. I had never been to or even seen a race and had no idea what to expect, what a bib was, etc. We finished with two other friends, and I had fun, but I was definitely not addicted or even really interested in doing another one. Never would have guessed things would turn out as they did! Anyway, since Carolyn was coming up we obviously had to return to the scene of the crime (plus it was super cheap compared to Bmore races), and when I mentioned it to Eric, he said he wanted to do it too! I was shocked, since his PDR (personal distance record) was a 5K in September, and he hadn't been running much due to an injury. The face that we would both have done the same race as our first ever five mile run was super exciting to a huge dork like me.


Sunday morning was RACE DAY! Nothing like preparing for a race by reliving your college days, sleeping on an air mattress, and eating nothing the day before except for one GIANT thanksgiving meal. We met Carolyn at the YMCA and headed to the start. I was totally unprepared for the 33 degrees (feels like 25) and luckily raided Darcy's clothes that were still at home the night before for long pants and a long sleeve shirt. Of course being spoiled Southerners we were way overdressed. The race was great, we chatted a bit for most of it and other than a few small hills it was fairly flat. I came in fourth in my age group at 43:38, and Carolyn was 5th! I so wish I knew our time from 2003 to compare but as I said, I never thought I was running another race at that point so I didn't care to record my time. Eric finished strong at 1:01:44, so about 12 minute miles, which I thought was amazing and am so proud of him. Best post race food - about ten different kinds of soup from all different local restaurants. Hot soup + freezing cold race = amazing. I tried the pumpkin apple and I need to recreate it asap. We headed home to yet another delicious brunch, then it was time to get back on the road to Baltimore. We haven't unpacked a single thing, the apartment is a complete mess, and I am in no way prepared for this week, but it was so worth it!

4th and 5th in our age group!