It's been a long time since I've run a race. I'm pretty sure my last time racing was the Hot Chocolate 15K back in the beginning of December.


Since then I've been enjoying the off-season, taking it easy on my runs and mixing things up with cycling and swimming.

But this weekend I'm signed up to do a 5K with some of my friends and I'm super pumped about it.

It's a Valentine's themed race, so my original plan was to wear every bit of pink running gear that I owned.


But then I checked the temperature and realized the real feel temp at the start of the race is only going to be 10 degrees. (Thanks for that, wind chill factor.)

So my plan to dress like Cupid puked pink on me is going out the window in an attempt to dress warm enough so that I don't suffer hypothermia while waiting for the race to start.

I honestly don't think I've ever run in weather quite that cold so figuring out what to wear is going to be a fun experiment.

As far as time goals, I have none.

I know I'm not going to PR and I'm totally OK with that.

I just want to go out and have fun with my friends.

I'm pretty sure it's my friend Abe's first race ever and the last time I ran with Ryan was way back at the 9/11 Memorial 5K in September. I think Ryan will probably destroy his time from our last race this weekend.


And after the race we're going to warm up and celebrate Ryan's new PR with a delicious brunch. I really can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday morning!

On Friday, I had a chance to get together with some of my favorite DC blogger ladies for our first book club meeting.

Gretchen and Claire thought it would be a fun idea to get us together to discuss books while eating delicious food and drinking wine.




For our first meeting we read the Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. I had heard mixed reviews on the book going in, but I actually ended up really enjoying it.


The story is about a race car driver and his family told from the perspective of his dog. The first half of the book deals with Denny's wife's struggle with brain cancer. The second half looks at how Denny's life is literally turned upside down after she dies (not a spoiler, the dog tells you she dies on page one of the book).

The book is an extremely fast read. I tore through it one weekend in between watching football playoffs.

It was a lot of fun to hear everyone's perspectives on the book, what characters people loved and who they hated. What they thought of a story being told from the perspective of a dog and what people thought of the ending of the book.


Not to give too much away, but the general consensus seemed to be:

• No one liked the wife and we weren't even that sad when she died.
• The dog's point of view was interesting, but sometimes seemed to be a little too all-knowing.
• And there were completely mixed feelings about the ending. I thought the book could have done without the Epilogue.

The last time I really analyzed a book like that was probably back in one of my college English classes, so it was really fun to read a book with such a critical eye, for more than just enjoyment.

Next month we're going to be reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I'm kind of loving that book club is introducing me to books I don't think I would have picked up to read on my own.

Major thanks to Gretchen for hosting us (and for sharing all her photos with me!). I'm really looking forward to next month!

Earlier this month, I was chosen as one of six bloggers to take part in the EmpowHER BodyMedia FITness challenge. The challenge will track six bloggers over a six week period as we try to reach our fitness goals.

If you were paying really close attention, you might remember back around the holidays when I included the BodyMedia Fit band in my gift guide.


The BodyMedia Fit band is a really cool tool that captures all sorts of information about your fitness like calories burned, number of steps taken each day and how much deep sleep you're getting each night.

Here's a look, straight from the source, at what the BodyMedia Fit bands can do:

BodyMedia FIT automatically tracks the calories burned during your daily activities — from pumping iron to using an iron — and monitors the quality of your sleep, an important factor in weight loss. Add in the easy-to-use food log and you have the information you need to improve your weight loss. The 3 part system includes:
1. An Armband that automatically captures data
2. An optional Display device or free downloadable mobile apps that give you up-to-the-minute readings throughout the day
3. An online Activity Manager* that analyzes raw data, allows you to log food and presents info in an easy-to-understand way (*subscription required)

As a fitness metrics nerd, I'm really excited to take part in this challenge and get a better idea of how much I actually move and burn throughout the day. This challenge is six weeks long and I'll be updating you on my progress once each week.

I've been wearing the armband for just about a week now doing my normal activities, and I have some baseline metrics to work with.


On an average day:

• I get about 7 hours and ten minutes of sleep
• I burn about 1879 calories
• I take 5590 steps

Based on what I've learned this week, I've decided to set some mini-goals for the remainder of this challenge.

Track what I eat each day: Yes I'm absolutely terrible about tracking food and I despise doing it, but for the sake of this challenge, I think it will be really enlightening. Plus the BodyMedia Fit system actually makes it pretty easy to do, so we'll see if I stick with it.

Stay on top of my sleep: Averaging around 7 hours and ten minutes of sleep each night is great, but I'd love to be able to bump that to a solid 8 hours each night during the work week. During the weekend, all bets are off.

Drop five pounds: Yep, I put on a little bit of weight during the off-season, and by the end of this six week challenge, I'd like to be back to my normal racing/training weight. With training starting up again and tracking what I'm eating, I'm hoping this won't be too much of a problem.

I'm really excited about this challenge and I think it will be a ton of fun. I can't wait to see the kinds of numbers my armband gives me once training is happening in full force.

If you're curious you can check out the other bloggers participating in the challenge and read about their experiences. If you want to get involved and take the challenge with us you can find out more from BodyMedia.

And per the FTC regulations, here's the standard legal language about how I got my armband for free:

Disclosure: Device and accompanying online Activity Manager subscription was provided by BodyMedia via EmpowHER. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of BodyMedia or EmpowHER.