I have *EXCITING NEWS* to share today! But let’s start with yesterday first.
Since it’s launch week for our fitness classes at my gym, I can bring a friend for free. So Louisa joined me for Body Combat class last night. She had a rough day and I think it was a productive use of her pent up frustrations 
. I LOVED the new launch by the way…so much fun! I’m really glad I can enjoy it for many weeks to come.
After showers, we walked over to Dupont for supper. One thing I really have been wanting to try are some of the many gourmet burger places in DC. I’ve never been to any! I don’t particularly love red meat actually but I do very much enjoy a well-made burger now and then. Last night we went to The Burger Joint for stop #1 on my tour-de-burgers .
Here is the description: Our exclusive, award winning blend of prime, dry-aged, all natural, hormone free, grain-fed beef. All of our burgers are served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun. The buns are baked exclusively for us and delivered fresh every day. Please be patient as each item on our menu is cooked to order.
I could not believe my little eyes as I browsed the menu. It is as if they had made a burger just for me!! Louisa actually saw it first and said, “I know what YOU are getting.” hehe.
The Wellington - Roasted mushrooms, truffles, caramelized onions, garlic with a touch of mustard seed and blue cheese all atop our burger. Served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun with our mojo sauce.
That picture does not do it justice, it was divine. We also split an order of sweet potato fries three ways. My one issue with sweet potato fries is that they are often soggy. But not so with these! They’re double fried to order which made them all bubbly and crispy and yummy. I am officially a very big fan of The Burger Joint .
Now for today’s *EXCITING NEWS*!!!
I
signed up
for my first
HALF MARATHON!!!
Eek! You see, since culinary school has been over, I feel like I have no purpose in my extra-curicular life. (Only a bit dramatic). I have been bumming about it for the past few weeks and trying to come up with ideas of things to do with myself that are more goal-oriented than usual leisure time activities. I mean I enjoy those too and all but you know.
Then yesterday I received a sign! I was looking over potential half-marathons and emailed myself a list of ones to consider titled “Half Marathon”. A few hours later I got an email from Joelle titled “Half Marathon”. I was confused, like did I send her my own email by mistake?? But no! She emailed asking if I wanted to train for one with her! WEIRD. Later that night I brought up the one I had been considering to Louisa and she was like, “Oh yeah, I signed up to run that a few days ago.” It all just fell into place!
So this morning I signed-up for real. It’s September 12 which doesn’t give me a ton of time (8 1/2 weeks) but Louisa assures me I’m being crazy and that really it will be plenty. So here we gooooo!
Question: I don’t have a Garmin. Do I need to get one to track distance? How do you track distance if you run without one? Louisa tells me I can just “guess”. hehe. I need advice!
- Beth
That’s awesome! I don’t think you need a Garmin to train (but they are really great), I used to track it online with google map pedometer before I got my husband one for his bday.
That burger does sound divine! Congrats on signing up for a half marathon!!
I am not a runner, so can’t help you on the Garmin thing – but I think they are coming down in price if that helps?!
Good luck on the 1/2 marathon!
I’d give anything to have that burger in front of me right NOW.
that IS exciting news!
good luck, my dear! i am sure you’ll do great! that burger looks pretty scrumptious!
Hey Beth, have you heard of this restaurant before?
http://www.sweetgreen.com/blog/
They have locations in Washington, D.C. and Virginia area.
I have! It is right next to that burger place I went on Wednesday actually. It is really delish!
Oh that’s so exciting! Woohoo! I wish you the best of luck the next 8 weeks!
And no worries if you don’t have a Garmin. You can do mapmyrun.com or go for something cheap- I have a Nike+ that works just fine!
Ah, thank you for those tips, I shall head to Google and look them up now
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Congratulations on the half marathon!! It really does seem as if everything just fell into place for it. Meant to be, I suppose!
That burger place looks ah-mazing. And the one your ordered??? Omg- it just looks too good
So I’ve been meaning to try out the Burger Joint for awhile and you just CONVINCED me. That burger sounds perfect!
I just started reading your blog and I’m loving it! We have a lot in common…I lived in Cleveland for 10 years when I was younger and finished up culinary school in January. Oh, and I live in DC, too
Congrats on your decision to run the half marathon!
Ah, kind of freaky…we DO have a lot in common! Thanks for stopping by and saying hello!
Congratulations!! How exciting! I can’t wait to hear how your training goes!!! I’m totally impressed! Running a half is one of my goals to accomplish someday!
Is there somewhere online that you can go through to get distances, etc.?
A couple of people have suggested google maps…I think that might be the way to go!
ohhhhhhhhh……. can I train with you guys???? I was just thinking about signing up for one but was not sure if I can make it!!!! I just moved to DC and I’d love to do a meet up!!!
Totally! The more the merrier! What part of DC are you in? We should meet up for a run!
I’m in Rhode Island and 15th, so I guess we’re close by.
Do you want to meet this weekend for a run? or anything?
How fun!! You will do GREAT!!
Garmins are fantastic, but you can use gmaps-pedometer.com to map your route. That’s what I always used until I got my Garmin this past Christmas!
Good luck!
Congrats on the run.
Maybe get your little sis to map out a distance in her car for you.
If not, just estimate how many mins you take to run 1 mile and estimate distance based on time.
Should be good enough to start at least.
Yes, Louisa suggested estimating based on timing for miles too…I think that is what I’ll do! So now I just need to buy a cheapy sports watch to time myself…don’t want to get sweat on my pretty watch from Santa
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Dude! CONGRATS!!! That is awesome. You will do great!
You’re going to do awesome! My Garmin honestly worked wonders for me when I was running. I did use mapmyrun.com before I had it, but of course the Garmin was more accurate. This is exciting!
oh my goodness how exciting!!! You’re gonna do awesome.
You can always map routes on google maps before you run them to know the distance and just time yourself. I don’t have a garmin either and was going to do a half marathon this October until I found out I was pregnant. ha
Hey! Glad you loved the launch
The new stuff is always a lot of fun. The sweet potato fries look fantastic- now I’m craving some!! Congrats on the sign up too. I have a Polar F6. I have driven a bundle of different routes to get estimated distances for various runs. I also use mapmyrun.com sometimes. Good luck with the training
Congrats!! I’m running my first half in November! I don’t think you need a Garmin, I didn’t have one when I trained for my first race. I used mapmyrun.com alot to map out my routes.
Mapmyrun.com is one I use…and if you have an iphone you can download a pedometer app!
Good luck on the half, so excited!
Courtney
adventures in tri-ing
Beth!! I am so excited for you! You’re going to be amazing, and can help me train once you get finished with your half!
I use the Nike+ system, I have both the armband and the ap on my phone. Its not ideal, but gives me a good idea of my mileage and time. I think it would have been worth the investment to spend an extra $50 on a basic garmin model.
aw, thank you alex! talking to you about yours kind of inspired me!! we will have to run together sometime for sure
Congrats on signing up for the race! I think the half-marathon is such a great distance!
I love the Nike+, although it’s not 100% accurate for tracking distances, it has some extras so if you like running to music, it might be right for you. It can be quite motivating since it tells you how far you’ve gone/have left to go, and you can set your “power song” so that whatever song you designate as your “get me through this hill” or “get me to the end” song can be played quickly just by hitting one button on your nano.
Whatever you choose, enjoy training and your race! It will be a great experience, I am sure!