Mike Goes on a Field Trip

Many people assume that because I am in the Navy, I have had the opportunity to do some "real" military training.  This is mostly false.  This past Friday, however, I had the opportunity to go down to Quantico for some training simulations.  I'm hopeful that nothing I learned will ever be useful to me in a practical sense, but it was a humbling experience getting a slightly better idea of what some of my clients might actually have to go through.

First, we got to go to a weapons simulator where real weapons had been modified to fire electronic signals at screen projections.  As these were enormous machine guns and rocket launchers, I was okay with the modification.  They were terrifying enough as-is.

And really, if the lawyer needs to know how to operate a grenade launcher, things are not going well.

The RLSO representatives.  All rifles are plastic.  Heavy plastic, but plastic.  Behind us is a vehicle rollover simulator which we were very bad at escaping.  Protip: the quick release seatbelt buckle must be facing outward, away from your body, in order to function as a quick release seatbelt buckle.

Convoy simulator.  Probably one of the more advanced driving simulators that exists.

I got to be the turret gunner.

Today Kels and I continued our marathon training by running another 12 miles.  At some point I expect they will get easier, but I suppose not this week.

We started at the marina and then ran down Mount Vernon trail.

Made it!

Trip to Cumberland and Marathon Training Updates

This past weekend, Mike and I headed to Cumberland to see his family and celebrate Leslie's birthday. On our drive up Friday night, we stopped by an El Salvadorian restaurant for dinner. I'd been wanting to try "pupusas" for a while. They are a signature dish of El Salvador that is a handmade corn tortilla stuffed with beans, cheese, and sometimes pork. They were so delicious!

Pupusa Pic.

The next morning, Mike and I had a long run the next morning, so we woke up early to beat the heat. It was a beautiful 10 miles along the C&O canal, but still very hot and sweaty. We made sure to do plenty of stretching and cooling down after.

This was when I took a walking break:)

The Cumberland

Amphitheatre at the start of our route.

We look much better than I felt.

Later that day we went to the mall and went shopping. And Leslie, Linda, and Rachel rode around on these little automatic zoo animals that you could ride around the mall. You'll have to go to Leslie's Facebook for those gems. That night, we went out to The Henhouse which has amazing crabs, fried chicken, and of course, chicken noodle soup. I know Mike already posted about this, but the table did get to witness how ineffective I am at ordering. 

On our drive home, we ended up passing several vineyards in a row and ended up saying "alright, if we see 3 more, we have to stop at the 3rd one". And we did, so we did. 

I made Mike take a picture with a view of the mountains in the background. 

It was our first wine tasting together.

This was the point where we wanted to move in. 

Grapes!

As for marathon training updates, we're up to 13/14 miles on the weekends and are trying really hard to 1) eat a lot of good running fuel, 2) drink a ton of water, 3) rest and recover. I've also started putting my personal training knowledge to good use in designing exercises that will support our marathon recover. The kick I'm on right now is exercises that focus on the glutes (butt) and hamstrings (back of thigh) that will help support us during our longer runs. Mike even agreed to come with me to the gym on Monday so I can practice training by taking him through a sample workout:) I know my mom gets worried with me running such long distance, but we are staying as cool as possible, drinking lots of water, and running in areas with lots of others runners:) Let's just hope we can stay injury free for another 2 months!

Will and Adam, Sur La Table, Etc...

Alright, where did we leave off?

The weekend after Hamilton, Our friends Will (second from right) and Adam (not pictured) celebrated their 30th birthdays in DC at a place called the Bier Baron. I do not know where the rest of the pictures from this night went, but I'm sure they existed.  Was wonderful to catch up with some of our W&M friends!

And speaking of W&M friends...

Meimei came back from China!

I can't believe it has already been a year since she left.  Josh and Kelsey and I took her out to Lavagna, where we had pasta and meats and cheeses and other things that are sort of harder to find in China.  

And speaking of food...

Kelsey and I went to a couple of cooking classes at Sur la Table.

We learned how to deep fry fish...

and also how to make this stuff, which was probably better than the fish.

And we've been running a lot, even though it is very very hot, because we are still training for our marathon in October.

We also ran up in Maryland, where we went last weekend to celebrate Mom's birthday.

And we saw Nanny and Papa Buck at a restaurant! I'm so glad they got to witness Kelsey's patent-pending ordering technique.