The beautiful and damned new year

Happy new year, all. The past two weeks have stumbled past in a blur of reunions, snowpocalypses, boozing, and feasting. As we slowly emerge out of our collective holidaze into the cold harsh reality of January, here's a peek at 2010's final debaucherous moments and a few of the culinary gems that emerged amidst all that revelry.

A sampling of every sparkling wine found at Mecca (aka TJ's wine shop)...

This weekend is made of alcohol and win. And running.

Braved the snowpocalpyse and headed down to DC for the long weekend! Although it's definitely been 48 hours of Olympic themed jello shots, NAIMUN sketching, and epic reunions, still managed to sneak in a run yesterday morning at Emily's gym. Possibly the most painful experience of my life - sweating tequila for five+ miles is not fun. FYI, just in case you ever develop a temporary case of insanity and think that sounds like a great idea.

Hungover runs - yay or nay? May not be the most thought provoking question but considering the number of brain cells I killed last night, it's remarkable that I can even type this post. Usually I feel like running expedites the detox process, although I'm not sure of the science behind that... Placebo effect anyone?

Anyways, assuming the snow holds off and the roads are clear, I'll do my weekly long run tomorrow morning along the Potomac River. Really looking forward to returning to my old running haunt and trotting down to Mount Vernon. Also feeling very inspired to athletic greatness after watching a bit of the winter biathlon - cross country sprinting a 10K seems a lot more taxing that my leisurely 11miler.

Paying my dues on the dreadmill...

The best laid plans of mice and men are often COMPLETELY waylaid by alcohol overconsumption and impending snow storms. Waking up at 7am on Saturday morning to meet Greg for our 11 mile run, I was met with the painful realization that I was still entirely drunk and in no way fit to brave the bitter cold without dying. I convinced myself that I'd go for a shorter run in the afternoon when it'd warmed up and I no longer had the bed spins. False. Knowing that the rest of the weekend was guaranteed to be equally shambolic, I rainchecked my long run till Monday.

Well I paid for my inebriation induced laziness last night when I had to run 10 miles on the treadmill. There are few things more mind-numbing than doing a long run inside, in my opinion. I completely acknowledge that the treadmill can be a great tool for shorter tempo runs, interval training, and of course hill work. The ability to maintain a consistent speed or adjust hill gradations is very helpful for completing specific workouts. But running over 5 miles at a turtle's pace? No thank you. However, be it weather or time constraints, at some point every runner has been forced to resort to the dreadmill to get in those important miles during training.

In order to avoid watching the clock tick down every minute of a 2 hour run, I have to find new ways to trick myself into gutting it out every long treadmill run. Awesome iPod playlists are a must; shuffling between Paul's Eurotrash dance mix, angry white girl music, and Lady Gaga definitely makes the miles go by faster. Inside runs are now a chance for me to catch up on reading the Economist or study for Arabic class. Anything to keep my mind distracted...

What gets you through those long dreadmill runs when outside isn't an option?