We can drink again!
Anthony and I gave up alcohol for about a month. It was a good experience, but we’re happy to have some booze back in our life again. Last night we went to Veritas and had fun tasting a flight of red wine. We’ve been wanting to go to this little wine bar for over a year — and have tried to a number of times! It’s always incredibly packed with people, though. We were happy to score a seat yesterday. It was fun, but there are definitely plenty of other places around to have a nice glass of wine without worrying about getting squashed by a crowd.
My favorite was the tempranillo. I’m not a big wine expert but I always seem to like tempranillos. Or maybe I just think I like them because they make me nostalgic for Spain. “Tempranillo” is a variation of the word temprano — which means, “early.” The grapes for tempranillo wines ripen and are harvested earlier than other grapes, so that makes sense!
Thursday night got even better when we strolled into Himalayan Heritage, the best Indian restaurant in DC. This place seriously never fails us. The staff is nice, the food is good, it’s never crowded, and the atmosphere is great!
We went crazy and ordered grilled lamb chops. Yes, we were that table that ordered the really obnoxious sizzling dish that smells and steams up the whole restaurant while everyone stares.
We owned this meal. 
Dinner so good and filling that when I got home at 10 pm, I headed straight to bed and slept like a baby. Apparently that wasn’t the case for many people in DC, though. When Miriam and I headed out for an easy 5 miles this morning, we spotted TWO orphaned mattresses at different houses.
We didn’t want to pose too close to them, since DC ranks sixth in the nation for bed bug infestation. I’ve had bed bugs twice in 1.5 years — AWESOME!
But since I moved into my new place in January, I haven’t seen a single bed bug. I do tend to spot my roommate Daniela pretty frequently, though! She’s still training for that half marathon — go girl. We caught up with her at the very end of our jog.
Training for your first race is one of the hardest parts of running, I think. I remember being really scared before my first half marathon — I was worried whether I could actually do it. Looking back, that was ridiculous because I was more than ready. Race day can be nerve-wracking, but it’s really only like 10% of the equation. The actual challenge is training. Choosing a schedule, sticking to it, and not giving up. Sometimes I get more worried about training runs than I do about race days, because I know that the likelihood of quitting is higher on a training run than it is on race day; mental and physical energy levels are so much lower on a training run than they are on the big day. You’ve got no fans cheering, no GU and gatorade stops, no finish line or prizes. But you just have to keep going and know that it will be worth it when the big day comes. I came across this article on mental preparation in case anyone is not tired of reading about this by now.
I’ve got a monster run coming up tomorrow, so I’m glad I got the negative stuff out of the way now! That means I will only be focusing on the positive. For 20 miles. No problem!
Unless you are prone to seizures this might be of interest on a Friday.
Himalayan Heritage on UrbanSpoon: