5Ks, and the Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library

On 5Ks...

This morning I ran my first Cherry Blossom 5K (and my second 5K ever). So fun! Okay, so maybe a little part of me wanted to make a grand escape through the cherry blossom trees, but I managed to keep myself in check. To be fair, I only trained for a couple weeks beforehand. And by "train" I mean that I joined the Gold's Gym in Van Ness and started working out daily on the CrossRamp. Did I mention that I am not (was not?) a fan of running? Anyway, I forced myself to get on the treadmill from time to time. I definitely could not even pull off a treadmill mile without feeling the approach of my own personal apocalypse. Anyway, I tried working on that, and this Wednesday survived three miles on the treadmill, at a snail's pace of 4.5-5.0, for (if I recall correctly) a 13ish minute/mile. Weak, weak, weak. I also forced myself to run outside twice this week (1st: home to zoo and back; 2nd: home to Woodley Park metro and back) - and by "run" I mean "run/walk." I don't like hills (ahem, parts of Connecticut Avenue, ahem). Anyway, I somehow managed an 11:03 pace this morning. I think the culprit here is fact that I did not want to be the last person to finish (especially since it was a 5K Run/WALK...i.e. there would be people walking the entire time). I also think that the momentum generated by being surrounded by tons of other 5K runners combined with the cheerfulness of the volunteers (Keep it up! Good job, ladies! *Cowbell, cowbell, cowbell*) helped propel me along at a faster pace. I would love to reduce my time for future races (National Police Week 5K; Komen National Race for the Cure - JOIN ME!) and look forward to working on it. My shins hurt pretty badly though, ugh?

On the Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library...

Shout-out to the library! I am a huge fan of the Cleveland Park branch. This branch of the DC Public Library system has a respectable collection (including DVDs - films and television shows!) and is within walking distance of my building. FYI, it tends to get hot in the library, so plan accordingly if you anticipate staying for a long period of time (I'm usually in and out in 15 minutes), and the lighting is a bit lacking. Since it is a smaller branch, you won't find everything in it, but (assuming you have a library card) you can request books using the online catalog, and designate your desired branch pick-up location. I recently got Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love this way. I also picked up (in the library itself), Robert Harris' Pompeii (author of Enigma and Archangel - I highly recommend both), Edward P. Jones' The Known World, Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise (have been wanting to read this for ages), and Daniel Mason's A Far Country (author of The Piano Tuner - unexpected find in a used bookstore and a simply exquisite novel; I have a copy if you're interested). I also recently finished reading (and returned) Alice Hoffman's The Third Angel and Gerard Woodward's A Curious Earth.

In addition to Eat, Pray, Love, I'm currently also reading The Feast of Love (Charles Baxter) and A Map of Love (Ahdaf Soueif). I don't typically read more than one book at a time...this is most unusual.

Oh, I almost forgot - I also have Alice Sebold's The Almost Moon checked out. FYI, Sebold is also the author of The Lovely Bones and Lucky: A Memoir. The Lovely Bones is a simply heart-wrenching novel. A film adaptation is due in theaters in winter 2009. The cast includes Saoirse Ronan (who played the young Briony in Atonement), Rachel Weisz, and Mark Wahlberg.