Charlotte: Foxcroft Wine Co. Dilworth

I, myself, am tremendously excited about this weekend. My parents are driving up from Atlanta today and I'll be toeing the line for the Thunder Road Half-Marathon bright and early tomorrow morning! To top it all off, we have reservations at Kindred on Saturday for some much needed post-13.1 and spectating refueling.

Like the good RD-to-be that I am (read: I just really love food), I've been fueling all week for race day. The highlight of all of this fueling came last night when Torsten and I tried the brand spankin new Foxcroft Wine Co. in Dilworth!

While Foxcroft has another location in the South part of Charlotte that I've wanted to try for ages, this location is much more convenient. And good thing, because it's AWESOME.

Spotted: a charming patio with twinkly lights! Will be stellar in the warmer seasons. Not a great photo (hey, I was hungry and thirsty and in a rush to get inside!) but you get the idea.

This window is like the adult version of the windows at FAO Schwartz or a candy store. All the wine!

Foxcroft was lively on a Thursday but we arrived at 6:30 pm (the early setting sun has my whole "wait until a trendy time to eat" thing go down the gutter) and had no wait. There were, however, many people waiting from about 7-8.

You can either order wine off the menu OR you can browse the walls and walls of bottles for a wine to uncork. It's a $10 corking fee *unless* you spend over $30 so naturally we found a Pinot Noir (from my beloved Willamette Valley in Oregon!) for $31.99. 

We honestly could have ordered everything on the menu, but after much deliberation decided on the Ricotta with olive oil and olives and toast (they have a more eloquent name for it that has slipped my mind), the truffle fries (because obviously), an amazing Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, soy sauce and chili dish, and the lamb sliders. All were delicious.

I'm so excited to have a place like this nearby! 

So that was my Thursday evening! Tonight will include some pizza and my traditional pre-half marathon beer (carbs and hydration). Send some speedy vibes my way in the morning! Looks like it's going to be a chilly one...

Half-Marathon Training Update!

Hi, I'm Emily. And I'm running another half marathon. I'm signed up for the Thunder Road Half Marathon in Charlotte on November 14th!

That makes the race approximately 6 weeks from today which means that I'm halfway through my training! I guess it's time I give you an update, eh?

This will be my 8th half-marathon and thus far my training has ranged everywhere from nonexistent (for my first half-marathon the farthest I'd ever run was 6 miles... do not recommend) to religiously following Hal Higdon's Novice Half-Marathon Training Plan. Love Hal!

For this upcoming half-marathon I wanted to spice it up a little bit and decided to add some speed work into the mix. I [mistakenly] thought that speed work would be filled with sunshine and rainbows. Ha! I bumped myself up to good old Hal's Intermediate Program and Hal isn't messing around with this one.

So without further ado... A glimpse into the first 6 weeks of training [and trying to run fast] for this half-marathon:

The first week of training! I discovered a new track for my first speed workout. Mindset: I've got this!

Third week of training: Found a pretty park near Winthrop's campus for a morning run. Mindset: this isn't too bad!

Fourth week of training: It's mid-September. Mindset: WHY IS IT STILL SO HOT OUT.

Fifth week of training: Beautiful 7 mile run to Freedom Park. Mindset: It's Fall! I love Fall running!

Sixth week of training: Oh hello, treadmill. Mindset: What is with this rain. Go away rain. This is not Fall running.

So, as you can see, the last 6 weeks have had many ups and downs with running (literally, Charlotte is quite hilly). I'm still holding out hope that the rain, rain will go away and come again another day. While I still don't look forward to tempo or interval runs, I do feel mighty accomplished when they're over. And variety is the spice of life, right? RIGHT?

Anyone else training for an upcoming race? How's it going in your neck of the woods? (Copyright: Al Roker)