Swan Lake & Six Miles

Yesterday was a perfect Saturday packed full of things that I love.

First up, Marcey and I hit up the Richmond Ballet's production of Swan Lake at Richmond CenterStage. Ever since I learned that Swan Lake would be one of their productions this year, I planned to go.

It was a 2:00 pm matinee, and being chronically early to everything, I got there before Marcey, so I took the opportunity to take a few shots of the Carpenter Theatre.

The sky was sapphire blue - so pretty.

Elaborate plasterwork on the ceiling of the lobby rotunda

Lights on the underside of the marquee

This production was the most stunning ballet I have ever been to. The dancing was awe inspiring, there's nothing better than live orchestral accompaniment, and the costumes and sets were lovely. I mean really, is there anything prettier than 20 ballerinas in shimmering white tutus performing to music by the ballet score master (and my personal favorite composer) Tchaikovsky?

Slightly illegal photo during curtain call. Sorry, Richmond Ballet,
I couldn't resist.

If you want to see some seriously ripped legs, look no further than the male dancers of the Richmond Ballet. WOW. And of course the grace, elegance, and flexibility of the ballerinas had my jaw on the floor for much of the 3 hour production. The pure athleticism of the entire company was just amazing, as was their emotional performance. I got goosebumps so many times that I lost count, and yes, I teared up at the end when Odette and the Prince were reunited.

So, bravo, bravo, BRAVO, Richmond Ballet!

I left the Carpenter on a serious high whose energy transferred itself to my 6 mile run, which I took immediately afterwards.

This was my longest-since-August run and I meant to take it easy. Thanks to Swan Lake, this is what happened instead:

Good Lord. Outside of stopping after Mile 3 for about 1 minute to stretch and the usual pauses for traffic lights, I didn't take any breaks and apparently never slowed down. I don't know where this speed is coming from... but I'll take it.

When we signed up for the 10k, I told Greg the only way I'd do it was if we ran as fast as we could for the entire time. So, we signed up for the 49:00-49:59 seeded group, which we both qualified for based on previous 10k times. This finish seemed a bit of a stretch for me (it's a 3 minute PR!) but after yesterday, it seems possible!

My speedy ways seem to be having a bit of an adverse affect on my foot - it was sore yesterday. But I'm not entirely sure that it's just the speed - I have also been running pavement and the medians of Monument more often. To be on the safe side, today was a pool day and I'm going to take care Monday and Wednesday's runs on the vita course before tackling the Love Rox 10k on Saturday.

Meanwhile, I'm seriously considering enrolling in beginner adult ballet classes. Mainly so I can wear a tutu again.