Day 5 - Lions, Tigers, and Pandas, Oh My

5 days in a row, woohoo!  I just had to get that out.  This idea of seeing how many days I can run in a row may sound a bit ridiculous, but so far it has been a lot of fun.  Some of those hardcore runners out there may contend that the body needs rest every so often and that this project is a fool's errand; however I'm hoping to employ "active" rest days where I'll run a mile and employ other tools like swimming and massage to ensure my legs and joints can sufficiently recover from all the miles.

Today was the perfect ending to a long weekend.  The weather this Thanksgiving break has been unusually temperate for this time of year.  So once again the family decided to squeeze the last bit of juice from the orange that is this weekend and make a visit to the Smithsonian National Zoo in DC, a mere 2.2 miles away.  I met my wife there (she ran) along with my brother and sister-in-law, my niece and nephew, and my brother-in-law's parents, brother and his partner. 

As you can imagine the zoo was abuzz with families taking advantage of the weather to see their favorite animals.  Our first stop was the tiger and lion den.  It was my first time seeing the tigers at the zoo and they are beautiful creatures.  The colors of their coat are second to none; however they were very sleepy.  I chalked it up to a late night out on the town.  The zoo is also home to a pride of lions, that I believe consists of one Papa, two Mamas, and seven cubs.  They are truly the Kings of the Jungle!

King

After the lions and tigers, we continued on to visit the orangutans, pandas, gorillas, and elephants.  After all that animal watching the tribe's hunger grew and we planned our next move, lunch.

Baby Gorilla - Kibibi

We, once again, took advantage of the beautiful day and dined al fresco at Pete's New Haven Style Apizza between Tenleytown and Friendship Heights.  Pizza, salads and my personal favorite sorbillo, Pete's homage to the birthplace of pizza, Naples, Italy.  It's a rectangular shaped pizza filled with Salumi, ricotta, and mozzarella. 

Yum!

After parting ways with the family it was time for some football and perhaps a brief nap.  On to the run, nothing exciting about today's run, same track as yesterday, albeit a slightly slower pace.  I'm not going to lie, I'm sore.  It's nothing terrible, but I'm feeling the last 5 days straight of running.

Today's Stats:

Miles:  5.50
Time: 49:34
Pace: 9:00
Calories: 848

Big drop on the last half-mile, ouch.

I'll also be posting the random tunes that play during my runs.  If you have any songs that you love to run to please feel free to post them in the comments and I'll work them into my Iphone.

1. Lesson Learned - Ray Lamontagne
2. Something's Got to Give - Beastie Boys
3. So Jah Seh - Bob Marley
4. Notion - Kings of Leon
5. Behind Me Now - Kings of Leon
6. You Can't Always Get What You Want (Live) - Rolling Stones
7. I'll Be Your Man - The Black Keys
8. Marrakesh Express - Crosby, Stills & Nash
9. Jazz - A Tribe Called Quest
10. Me & My Bitch - The Notorious B.I.G
11. Silver & Gold (Live) - U2

Tommorrow the real challenge begins....finding time to run during the busy work week.

Until tomorrow, Justin