My super busy weekend started around 4:45 on Friday afternoon when I left home for the first of the The Fit Foodie 5K Race Weekend events. I allowed a little extra time because I was expecting to get caught in Friday afternoon commuter traffic, but I was pleasantly surprised that I got to the Mosaic District in Fairfax with little trouble.
My phone was exploding with tweets from my fellow ambassadors as I approached the parking garage. We were all arriving at about the same time and were more than ready to meet each other and start a weekend of fun!
I wanted to arrive by 5:30 so I wouldn’t be driving during the #FitFoodieTweetUp, but as soon as I got there, I heard that they had canceled it. Instead they were asking questions and giving out prizes to the people hanging out at packet pick-up.
Celebrity yoga instructor, Kristin McGee
I quickly and easily picked up my race bib and shirt at New Balance, and turned around just as Sue of This Mama Runs For Cupcakes was arriving! We took our packets back to our cars, found Lauren of Run Salt Run along the way, and rushed off to find Courtney of Eat Pray Run DC.
Just after we stopped in Swirl and Sip for a wine tasting, Erika of MCM Mama Runs found us and we gathered for the first of many group pictures of the weekend!
L to R: Lauren, Courtney, Erika, Deb, and Sue
Our little group of five ambassadors headed down the street to the Light Up The Night VIP Cocktail Party. We arrived a little early and hung out getting to know each other better while waiting for Cynthia of You Signed Up for What?! to join us.
Once inside, you’ve never seen so much picture taking, tweeting, instagramming, and facebooking. We had a job to do, and we wanted to do it quickly so we could enjoy the rest of the night!
Each guest got two raffle tickets and could choose which item to try to win. Items ranged from beauty products, to kitchen items, to fitness equipment…
The BOSU, foam roller, yoga mat, and assorted fitness equipment seemed to be a hot item with lots of tickets in the jar as the night went on.
Our DJ seemed both surprised and pleased that I wanted to take a picture of him. Did you notice that his sound system has MARATHON written on the back of it? How appropriate for a running event!
We worked up a thirst taking so many pictures, so we all stopped for a drink. We had a choice of three different cocktails, wine, or beer. I tried an interesting cocktail, but only took a few sips because I had to drive home and had a race the next day.
Of course having Cynthia join the group called for another ambassador photo!
L to R: Sue, Deb, Lauren, Courtney, Cynthia, and Erika
The food was fancy and delicious. I made sure to thank these ladies from Sartori Cheese for the delicious package they sent to each of the ambassadors last week.
They also hit a home run with the lemon and basil/blueberry waters! With a race the next morning, I turned to it early and often during the course of the evening.
Chef Katsuya Fukushima Daikaya treated us to a totally new twist on the pimento cheese sandwich. He placed huge pimentos covered in cheese sauce on buns. They were very tasty!
This chef served a cucumber and watermelon finger foods.
These chefs from Cuisine Solutions served a salad in a jar. The concept was great, but I wasn’t a fan. In all fairness, I am not a fan of roast beef, especially served rare. All of my friends loved it, but a couple mentioned that there was a little more dressing than they would have preferred.
I think it’s kind of funny that I’m showing a close-up of the only dish I didn’t like, but like I said, I love the concept. There’s a layer of vinaigrette dressing, then a layer of seasoned roast beef topped with arugula. When you’re ready to eat it, you simply shake the jar and enjoy!
Here’s my dinner minus the finger foods I noshed on…
The various chefs and celebrity trainers got together for a picture. Patrick Goudeau, the boot camp instructor, is in the “You Can’t Be Serious” shirt, and Kristin McGee, the yoga instructor, is in the striped dress in the middle.
Once Amy of Twingles Mom arrived, we were able to take our own celebrity ambassador picture!
Prior to arriving at the Fit Foodie Friday events, I’d only met Sue and Courtney briefly before a race back in March and had reconnected with Amy at a race expo last summer (we worked together at a gym about 16 years ago). I left with six new friends that I would love to hang out with again whenever the opportunity arises!
Be sure to come back tomorrow for my race day recap!
- Questions:
- What would be your favorite food from the ones served?
- One of the questions during packet pick-up (that replaced the tweet-up was, “How old was the oldest person to complete a marathon?” What’s your answer?
- Do you read the blogs of any of the other ambassadors? If not, check them out!
The food looks delicious! I would say the cheese sandwich would be my favorite. Sounds like it was a very fun weekend.
Jennifer recently posted…B.A.A 10K Race Recap
And race day was even more fun! Hope to get it recapped tomorrow.
It was such a great time, so glad we got the chance to hang out! Can’t wait until next year!!
Sue @ This Mama Runs for Cupcakes recently posted…How do you deal with an injury? My picks for staying in the game during recovery!
Me too!
love this post! it was the best weekend and it was nice getting to actually spend some time with you and all the ladies!!
Courtney @ Eat Pray Run, DC recently posted…Fit Foodie 5K Race Recap
Yes! It was the best weekend!
I wouldn’t have tried the salad since I don’t like red meat. Some of the appetizers sounded good but I would have been hard pressed to find an actual meal there.
I believe the marathon answer is either 98 or 92.
You all look so wonderful and are dressed so cute!
Carla recently posted…Go To Breakfast: Banana Blueberry Smoothie
I was hungry when I got home and quickly made some homemade sweet potato fries baked with a little olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper. I needed more food to make sure I was properly fueled for the race the next morning.
Fauja Singh was 100 when he ran the Toronto Marathon in 2011.
LOVE this recap and all these pictures! (Seriously are we not a photogenic bunch? Gorgeous ladies!)
We definitely all have to do this again next year. And get together again way sooner than that. It was so much fun meeting you! (And CONGRATS on that AG WIN! You ROCK, Deb!!)
Salt recently posted…Recap: Sunrise Yoga with Celebrity Trainer, Kristin McGee {Plus a Jamberry Winner!}
Thanks, Lauren! Let’s plan on it!
That looks like a fun event! It’s so neat to me that they had that in conjunction with a 5K, since I typically think of 5K’s as more low key as far as the “frills” go. But I guess that’s because most of the 5K’s I do are smaller races. I thought it was funny to see Cuisine Solutions was there! I know of them through work. Did you know their head chef is from France? He still splits his time between France and Cuisine Solutions here in VA.
Meagan recently posted…Weekly Workout Roundup – June 23 – 29
I have not tried Cuisine Solutions other than at the Fit Foodie party. And yes, most of the 5K’s I run are on the smaller side with basic post-race food; although the Firecracker 5K had about 2,500 runners last year.