All we had to do was finish without straining any muscles or getting sick, and we'd be able to get on with our amazing European adventure. Our plane flight was leaving Logan for Heathrow just about 12 hours after our anticipated finish time. Thank goodness we made it through unscathed!
The Providence Half was beautiful. The weather was nicer than any of our training days, and the race took us through many nice areas of Providence. My only gripe was with the hills that plagued me through the first 5 miles. The final 8 were much more friendly. Although, the last 0.1 miles was uphill, which just seems cruel!
I finished in just over 2 hours and 16 minutes, ultimately running 10:27min/miles. Not exactly where I wanted my time to be, but considering my big goal, I think I did just fine. Another notable finisher was my friend Eung-Mi! I convinced Eung-Mi to run her first half marathon against her better judgement, and she did really well! In the first 2 miles she blew by me, not to be seen again until the finish line! Go Eung-Mi!
Now that half #9 is complete, I'm super pumped to be training already for half #10! I don't think I could have picked a better half marathon to celebrate getting to the double digits than that December 2nd Rock n Roll race in Las Vegas! I'm already signed up, training started. Let's get ready to run on the "flat and festive" strip at night!
Here's my updated map. New England, CHECK! Nevada is next!
Ok, enough about running, let's talk about my new friend, Leffe.
One of the three cities we explored in Europe was Brussels, Belgium. Oh, man, did I love it there. Belgian Waffles, Belgian Chocolate, Belgian Beer! So amazing!
One of the most amazing things about Brussels was the great selection of Belgian beer everywhere. There was always a great selection on tap at every small eatery, there were beer bars every where, and the corner store next to our hotel had a better selection than any liquor store I've visited.
Even though there were so many to chose from, I became a fast friend of Leffe. Leffe Brune and Blond were on tap nearly everywhere. Not only that, it was cheaper than getting a water or a glass of juice! (They don't sell tap water. 300ml of Leffe was often cheaper than a bottle of water). Leffe Blond is a Belgian pale ale with 6.6% abv. It's unoffensive, and by that I mean drinkable. It had more flavor than a Hoegaarden, but not a ton more. The Brune, however, a Belgian dark ale is super flavorful. I'm salivating.
I noticed that Leffe Blond was for sale, bottled, at our local liquor store, but I'm afraid of having the bottled version. What if it spoils my Belgian experience!
Look! Here we are with a Leffe and a Kwak!
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