Every year, in preparation for whichever fall marathon I am doing, I run the Philly Rock n Roll half. The weather is always perfect and it's a fun run through my city. However, this year, due to the Pope visit, the Philly half was postponed until late October, so I signed up for the DC Navy Air Force Half with Andrew and Dan. We decided to make a fun weekend of it so we reserved an Airbnb and piled into the Civic.
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| Air BnB Brownstone |
We got into DC early Saturday afternoon so we could spend the day exploring. Our AirBnB was super cheap and in a perfect location for being a tourist, right by the White House. We spent the beautiful day walking around the city and seeing the sites.
The half on Sunday was the kind of half that makes you reconsider ever running again. I felt terrible, I ran a much slower time than I expected, and just didn't have fun. Since the half, I have gone on a few runs and am feeling better, but it did not make me feel optimistic about the marathon in November.
We got back to Philly and the city was in full prep for the Pope's visit. The parking was beginning to get blocked off and the anxiety was high for residents. We had tickets to the Madonna concert on Thursday night so my mom came into Philly on Wednesday night and we spent the day exploring on Thursday.
For all the hype, the city was fine and we had a really fun day together! We took the subway to the concert with no trouble at all and had an awesome time at the concert. My mom got us really great seats and Madonna is a true performer. It was terrific.
It was really amazing to stay in Philadelphia on such a momentous weekend. It's a shame that the city scared away all the locals but I am so happy we stayed around to witness it all. Seeing the city so empty and the streets I walk down every day shut down was just so cool.
On Saturday Andrew and I went on a run around the city and ran up and down the empty streets. We picked up bikes to shop around the city and go even farther around the city. We decided to go through security so we could see the Pope parade!
After seeing the Pope, we biked a huge loop around the city to visit friends in Fairmount. We passed an entry ramp to 76 and went up it to see the empty Schuylkill. So so cool and eerily quiet.
After visiting with friends, we went to pick up an Indego bike for my sister to ride home and there were none left! I had to hop on Andrew's back and we rode through the city - it was insane. So many people laughed and made comments about us but it worked!
We spent Sunday preparing for our trip to Europe! We fly out of JFK on Wednesday and head to London - we cannot wait! I packed this afternoon and am bringing quite a colorful suitcase...
My next post will be all about our trip - yay!!
It's been awhile since my last post! We have been sneakily busy - traveling for work, day trips, races, and lots of long runs. Last weekend we finally had a weekend at home so we spent Friday night with friends, starting our very own South Philly bike crew. We hopped on our hogs and headed to Gennaro's for pizza and a chill night to prepare for a busy Saturday.
One of the biggest surprises I discovered when buying a new house was the cost of windows. Our windows are about 40 years old and our house is freezing all winter because they are so leaky. When we first moved in, we almost went through with buying all new windows from a big name brand guy $12,000. That's insane! We found a local contractor who was able to give us an awesome deal to replace all 12 of our windows and Saturday was finally install day.
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| Before |
This was our only free Saturday until November but, unfortunately, Andrew had a triathlon in Jersey so I was stuck at home with three big Russian men watching the install. After an hour I got called to the third floor - our old windows didn't drain properly and we had water damage that rotted the wood down to the floors. Not good.
Fortunately, our contractor was able to fix the windows, it was just going to cost a bit more money. Sure... why not!? The Russians worked their butts off from 9am-4pm, ripping out the old, repairing, and putting in the new windows.
Meanwhile, Andrew was in Jersey, crushing souls and winning the Pine Barrens triathlon. I was sad not to be there but super proud of him completing and winning his LAST triathlon of the year.
We kicked the Russian window crew out of the house around 4pm to head to a wedding in Wilmington, DE. The weather was less than fantastic but it was a fun night with Andrew's work friends.
On Sunday the window crew was back to finish up but I headed to Kutztown. We found a cat in our back yard about two weeks ago and I just fell in love with her. We named her Petey and I spent every morning and every night fattening her up and snuggling her. Since we already have two cats, and one is a diva, we really didn't want to bring her into our house and I was devastated.
Since we couldn't take her, my mother, the only person who loves animals more than I do, decided to adopt little Petey. I drove the hour and a half home with a screaming cat in a crate in the front seat. It was pretty terrible and she was very scared, but it was definitely worth the quick trip home.
I left Kutztown assured that Petey would have a good life but a little nervous about how she will get along with the other cats. Thank you again, mom!
When I got back to Philly, the windows were complete! The outside of our house doesn't look too different but the inside definitely feels upgraded. It was a lot of money but we know it will be worth it this winter. Next project - a new front door.
This weekend we head to DC with a full car for the Navy Half Marathon. Looking forward to seeing if all this training has paid off!
