Recently I’ve had some discussions about why I run.  That’s an entirely different post, but part of the conversations revolved around how to make running more palatable when the weather is cold or hot, steamy or dry, or when your hips and legs hurt.  I decided it might be fun to do a list of the things that make running more enjoyable for me.  I’m still a novice runner but I definitely have some mad crushes on a few items in my running trousseau. 

1.  The Garmin 305.  When I first started running, my pace was all over the map. I was either crawling on my hands and knees or sprinting, then dying 5 minutes later.  Mr. Garmin helped me moderate my pace, and now satisfies my anal-retentive need to track every single mile or split I do.  I love the software; you can download your runs into your computer and the software will show you a graph of your elevation, heart rate, splits, and map where you went. 

2.  My Brooks Defyance shoes.  Most comfortable running shoes I’ve found.  I always wore Asics; now I’m sold on Brooks.  Unfortunately this model is being phased out so I guess it’s time to fall in love with something else.  They are the first shoe I’ve found that works with my arch exactly as I need it to. 

3.  RunningSkirts.com Run Love Long Sleeve Performance Tee.  I despise their website, but their Run Love shirt is my favorite cold-weather layer.  It’s black with a thumb-hole to keep the majority of my hands warm, and it has a cutesy pink heart on the left sleeve that acts as a reflector which is handy for night runs.  The wicking power of this shirt is awesome.  I never feel damp in it, and that’s great when I’m running on the windy bridges in Richmond.  If the site was a little easier to navigate I could show you a picture of it but instead here’s one of Theresa wearing hers. 

4 Nike GPS for iPhone.  What better way to annoy everyone in your Facebook friends list by having it automatically tell them when you’re running and demand that they cheer for you?  Every time someone comments on your Nike status, a crowd cheers and rings cowbells in your ears as you are running.  It sounds stupid - and yes, it probably is, but it’s oddly inspiring to know that people are cheering for you in their own weird electronic way.  On the performance side, it’s a typical GPS app and tracks where you are running, your pace, maps the route you travel, allows you to enter notes about your run, and plays your iPod seamlessly through the application.  My favorite part are the Power Songs.  As you reach your goal (whatever it is you’ve set), it prompts you to play a power song by tapping the screen.  You set these up in advance, so if “I’m Every Woman” is your power song, it’s going to blast through your earbuds at the end of your run. 

5.  Spi-belt.  Theresa turned me onto these and now I don’t run without it.  It looks tiny but it stretches.  I can fit a key, my iPhone, toilet paper, tissues, my children, and just about anything else I might need on a run.  Plus, they are cute.  Plus, you can attach your race bib to it without putting holes in your clothes and using annoying safety pin.  Plus, mine is very fashionable black with hot pink polka dots.  You can buy your own from Run Like A Girl.

6.  Training teams.  I never understood the power of team training or group runs.  They make you accountable for your runs, and you know if you don’t show up, someone’s going to heckle you and it’s probably going to be on Facebook and then the entire universe at large will know you slept in instead of running or that you had a hangover because you didn’t plan your Friday night properly.  Many of the training team people have become my running friends, which in turn led to just plain old friends.  I couldn’t do it without them.  Even though I can run 7 or 8 or even 10 miles on my own without support, I prefer not to.  It’s a lot more fun when you suffer together. . .

I am FINALLY coming out of the funk of all funks.  I’ve been funking so long, I’ve forgotten that I’m even IN a funk.  It started to feel normal to me.  I don’t like that version of normality.

My kids stepped off the bus today.  I haven’t seen them since Thursday afternoon.  They shrieked and squeezed me and told me how much they loved me; within an hour, they were back to fighting.  However, those initial hugs and the “Mommy, I missed you SO much” comments made it all worth it.  We opened their little gifts from Alabama and headed off to the mall so Lily could get her new earrings cleaned and switched out. 

My trip to ‘Bama helped out a bunch.  First, I went with a friend I’ve known FOREVER.  22 years is a long time to know someone.  Hailing from the same state reminds one of all the weird cultural quirks that are indigenous to your wacky homeland; hailing from the same tiny hometown is just hilarious.  A close friend was getting married; I tagged along because hey, who doesn’t want to spend a weekend in Alabama? Not THIS girl!

A couple of things I learned about Alabama and myself while away:

1.  Northern Alabama is pretty.  Hilly, green, and friendly. 
2.  People in Alabama drive even worse than people in Virginia.  Holy god, it’s amazing we are still alive.
3.  If attending an afternoon wedding in Alabama, do not wear these shoes.  It’s overkill. 

4.  Always ask the person you’re attending the wedding with, “Is this an afternoon or an evening wedding?”  Depending on the answer, adjust your shoe preference. 
5.  Alabama is really.  REALLY.  REALLLLLY conservative. 
6.  Rose and Allen were the bomb.  Their families were wonderful and welcoming and Rose made me cry twice, because she was so kind.  You can see her beautiful photographs here.   I wish she lived closer; I’d actually enjoy having her photograph me and the girls.  She’d make us all look amazing. 
7.  Clinking glasses to make the bride and groom kiss is apparently a very northern thing.  I found this out when everyone stared silently at us, wondering why we were hitting our knives on the wine glasses and making hooting sounds. 
8. Running 10 miles in the rain before a half day of sitting on a plane is generally a bad idea.
9.  Sometimes, people from your past can make the present that much better. 

Getting out of Richmond even for a few days helped me shake the fog off my psyche.  Truthfully, I needed a break from my home and the things in it.  I needed a break from thinking too much about things that aren’t good for me.  I needed to stop being indignant and hostile because frankly SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST SO DARN STUPID AND THEIR STUPIDITY AFFECTS OTHER PEOPLE DAMMIT.  Alabama and my friends helped erase the indignation and help me accept that yep, some people are stupid and really, at the end of the day, it’s me that’s stupid for letting them piss me off.  My friend is going through a wacky divorce process too, complete with some serious depression and sadness, so we’ve alternated being each other’s rocks.  There was a morning not too long ago where I didn’t think I could get out of bed.  I was right; I didn’t get out of bed til close to lunch, but with some conversation and texting I made it through.  Those simple reminders of “this too shall pass” and other trite phrases can sometimes be all I need to make it another 24 hours. 

I laugh sometimes about my “impulsivity”.  It was an impulsive decision to agree to go to Alabama.  But as many times as I regret my impulsivity, 75% of the time the most wonderful things happen when I stop overthinking everything and trust my gut.  Therapist Jennifer tells me my judgment is right on, as long as I’m actually listening to what it tells me.  In this case, my judgment WAS right on.  I went, I laughed, I remembered why people like me.  I remembered why I liked myself, and that was the best part of it all. 

I’m writing from Kitty Hawk, NC.  I’m on vacation with two of my married friends - between us, we have 5 kids and Gina is pregnant with a soon-to-be-6th. 

I spent last weekend in Hot Springs, VA.  Since everything “began” I’ve done nothing but work, stress, fall apart, cry, spaz, work, and stress.  In between there have been moments of happiness but I have not taken more than an hour or two at a time to relax.  Being up in the mountains with crappy cell reception and a laptop that spent most of the 48 hours in my suitcase was just what I needed, plus a massage and a kayaking trip on beautiful Lake Moomaw. 

I slept a lot, too.  I also found that Sam Snead’s Tavern carries Barboursville Brut - so I was a happy camper.  When I die, my heaven will look like The Homestead. 

My training group meets every Saturday morning at 7.30 am.  It’s the one group run we have each week - it’s also the easiest for me because of all the support.  This week, Rachel, our trainer, posted the following message before we met up: 

We have a special visitor tomorrow!  Roger Reynolds, owner of Romp n Roll Mechanicsville and founder of CJ’s Thumbs Up Foundation, will be running with us.  Roger recently lost his 4.5 year old daughter to a brain tumor.  He and his wife began this non-profit organization to benefit other families facing the life threatening illnesses.  In order to raise money, Roger has decided to challenge himself by running TWO marathons in 34 days!  I am honored to be coaching Roger through this challenge and invited him to join us tomorrow.

When Roger showed up at the meeting place, he was so strong and together, I figured it had been a while since his daughter had passed away.  Turns out she passed away in January of this year.  Since then, Roger and his wife have managed to raise tons of money.  His story is inspiring - it’s also heartbreaking.  Running IS cheaper than therapy, and there is rarely a Saturday run that passed where one of us isn’t tearful (with joy or sadness) about something.  I think it’s safe to say many of us were touched and amazed at CJ’s story.  Once I could get over the sadness I felt that his daughter suffered and passed away from something like this, I felt understood.  Roger is coping with his grief partly by running - and running has been one of the best tools I’ve had at my disposal for dealing with my own grief and sorrow. 

Please check out the site and if you want to help, there are many ways to get involved.  It was truly a privilege meeting Roger.  It was even better getting to run with him. 

I’ve written about my friend before.  Soon I’ll even be able to name her because circumstances are a-changin’ for her, and she will no longer be anonymous!  I can’t wait. 

I was told to get ready in 30 minutes, and I really wasn’t told what was up, other than it was a “posh” event.  I have no “posh” clothes. I’ve been a mom for 7 years living in the suburbs.  Posh isn’t in my vocabulary.  She suggested some clothing, then said sternly, “Do NOT wear any pair of jeans you own.  Seriously. I am not kidding.”  She’s a fashion snob.  Apparently my jeans are not tight enough.  I showed up showered and in something that could pass for acceptable if not posh, and a ridiculous pair of shoes I would spend the rest of the evening regretting. 

We headed immediately to the Berkeley Hotel and caught the tail-end of Jason Tesauro (Barboursville Vineyards) talking about food, using sabres to open champagne, and pretending to be a valet in order to “borrow” an unsuspecting guest’s beautiful convertible Volvo.  Appetizers consisted of things hard to pronounce.  Words like “mango mignette” do not appear on the Chili’s Kids Menu.  I’m sure Whine Me will talk in depth about the food, but I committed to tasting everything and anything last night.

My favorite part of the pre-game was the Brut.  Good god, I don’t normally love sparkling wine unless it’s mixed with peach puree or a lot of orange juice, but this one?  I wanted to bathe in it, then take it home and marry it.  I don’t drink much but I managed to inhale two glasses of it while attempting to take pictures.  Jason astounded us all by teaching us what sabering a bottle of sparkling wine means.  It’s exactly as it sounds.  Take one man in a southern hat and orange cuff links.  Add one saber with a tassle plus one bottle of Brut.  Place aforementioned hat half a block away, and cut the top off the bottle with the saber.  Goal:  land cork into hat.  Jason missed, but not by much. 

Notice in the second picture that the top of the bottle is completely gone.  Color me giggly and impressed. 

Also, note to guys everywhere.  If you want to be considered the sexiest man alive, learn a lot about wine, be funny, and drop words like “perspicacious” and “unctuous” into your dialogue.  Jason is taken, unfortunately for Richmond women, but men everywhere would be getting a lot more action if they talked about wine using lover’s language:  voluptuous.  sensual.  complex.  rich.  limp.  Yes, he actually said limp. 

After the appetizer portion, we wandered into the dining room.  My friend has raved about the Berkeley’s chef - and she rarely raves about anything unless she is very, very impressed. 

It was a five-course wine dinner, so every course was paired perfectly with a Barboursville wine.  Again, I’m going to let Whine Me Dine Me delve into the specifics because frankly, I know only slightly more about food than I do wine (read:  nothing!).  I just know what tastes good to me and my unrefined palate. 

First course:  spiced seared scallops with an avocado mousse.  I love any kind of scallop and this was no exception.  I spent a lot of time trying to take pictures without a flash but in dark, romantic lighting, so forgive the end result. 

I even liked the wine - it was delicious and paired perfectly.  Of course it was. 

Jason entertained us as well:

The guests were fabulous, friendly, smart, and funny.  I love meeting new people - so the conversation was on par with the food and wine. 

I mowed through the scallops with less than desirable decorum, and waited for the second course.  Chespeake Bay Crab Cakes in a roasted corn sauce.  I’m old-fashioned (and boring) but these crab cakes were so delicious on their own, the corn sauce just distracted me.  By the way, Chef Ty uses no filler - I think we were told a salmon mousse held them together. Whatever it was, I ate it all. 

Between the courses, Jason would introduce the next wine and teach us about it, how it was made, what the differences are, what makes Barboursville special.  I’ve heard sommeliers speak before, but Jason was the best I’ve heard because he makes it funny.  Whenever I think about wine education, I picture some Donald Sutherland-like character droning in a British or French accent about bouquet and legs and grapes.  Instead, Jason moved around the room switching accents depending on the wine (though at one point, he sounded exactly like Borat instead of an Italian).  I actually retained some of what he said - even after the 4th or 5th glass of wine. 

Course 3 was interesting.  I have never seen a live quail, let alone a roasted one.  I was a bit shocked when it came out to me looking like this:

I started giggling.  My quail looked exactly like it was a miniature chicken, lounging on a hammock of arugula, wings back, legs crossed. It was just chilling out there, waiting for me to pick its tiny bones apart and suck them dry.  (by the way, I’m sure the chef would love my food descriptions, and this is why it’s both a blessing and a curse letting a non-foodie into your restaurant to describe your delicacies as a lounging chicken)

I ate the quail.  All of it.  Not sure I’d ever order it again - I kept waiting for mine to stand up and start dancing - but it was an interesting experience.

Lamb next.  Yeah, I can totally do lamb.  And I did.

Those who know me will not be surprised to learn that the 5th course was my favorite.  A wonderful dessert wine paired with delicious cheese and local honey (the creamed honey was my hands-down favorite - so thick it would give peanut butter a run for its money).  The blue cheese dipped in clover honey can also come home and marry me and the Brut.  Food polygamy for the win!

My personal thanks go to Ken Wall, the catering manager, Tom Yeaman who now made me want to move to Nicaragua with my children, and the general manager from the Omni (Pete) sitting to my right.  Big massive thanks to Whine Me Dine for me bringing a food ludite as her guest, and of course to Jason Tesauro who let someone technically described as a mom blogger take pictures and write about his evening. 

(moving on . . . )

After, we headed over the Juleps to say a final farewell to Jason.  Some of the other wine dinnerites were there as well.  Juleps was celebrating earth day with organic cocktails.  Personally, I’ll take non-organic any day, but I was a good sport and tried something with 100% organic girl scouts in it.  I don’t know - it was something called a Double Thin Mint Cookie or something. It tasted more girl scout than cookie, but thankfully Jeff Green was there to drink the rest of my swill.  Nothing goes to waste in that group of people - if it has alcohol in it.

I finally met - in person - the infamous Nathan Hughes (@rvabusiness).  Chad Brown and Cameron Parker showed up and began buying everyone drinks.  We determined it was time to leave the relatively tame and elegant atmosphere of Juleps for what could possibly be the loudest bar in Richmond - Cha Cha’s.  I was told it was right around the corner.  Remember the shoes?  Cha Cha’s is NOT right around the corner when wearing 3” heels.  NOTHING is right around the corner. 

More drinks.  I watched everyone dance, including one particularly drunk man standing on a table until forcibly removed from the bar.  I’m surprised he didn’t split his head open.  I also witnessed the Richmond Police moving people out of the bars at 2 am.  It was like watching drunk cattle weave from one side of the street to the other.  I was the only sober one there - because my friend was getting her car so I wouldn’t have to walk “right around the corner” to get it with her.  It was a case-study in young, dumb, and full of . . . hormones.  The police officer kept shouting at me, “What are you waiting for?  Move on!”  The third time I said, “I’m waiting on a ride, sir!” he finally got the point and stopped harassing me.  A drunk vision of a sorority girl shouted at him, “Dude, can you tase me?”  He actually made eye contact and said, “If I was carrying one right now, your wish would be my command.”  I nearly peed myself laughing. 

I am without kids for the next few days, so I ended up sleeping at Whine Me’s beautiful new house.  I pretended it was mine for a moment, stole a book from her shelf, and finally slept around 3 AM.  She recently had an encounter with what she called a “rottweiler spider” (i.e., a spider so huge and ugly she said she could hear it barking at her), so I carefully checked under my bed and every wall before turning out the lights. 

All in all:  a fabulous evening with amazing people.  I am not worthy, people.  Truly.