For the second time in less than a month, several Scoot a Doot chicks (and honorary chicks) are gathering for a weekend of food, fun and fitness.

That’s right, three short weeks after we ran the boards in Atlantic City, the chicks are headed to our nation’s capital for yet another 13.1-mile jog, the Nike Women’s Half-Marathon.

So it’s been months since we learned we’d be heading to Washington D.C. to run with about 20,000 fierce women. Brooke, Meri and I will be joined by a slew of amazing friends. (honestly, too many to name but we’re excited to see each and every one of you!)

Anyway, here’s what we three chicks are looking forward to this fine spring weekend:

I can’t believe this weekend is finally here. When we agreed to try the lottery for this race, my back-up plan if we didn’t get in was to go for the Broad Street 10 miler, and I was already attempting to convince my husband to run it with us- I was that certain that we wouldn’t get in. Needless to say, I am more than a little excited to be heading up to DC in a few days.

My plan for the race is to run at a comfortable pace and enjoy the sights. I’m not feeling any pain during my runs this week, but I’m not up for attempting a PR either (which would be unlikely anyway). It’s a nice flat course with lots to see- I’ll definitely be carrying my camera.

Beyond the race, I’m really looking forward to a weekend away with my husband, doing some shopping and seeing my girlfriends. Oh, and THE FOOD.

Having lived so close to Washington, D.C. my entire life, you would think that I would have visited there more than a handful of times.

That would be false.

I’ve driven through (on the way to and from Florida) quite a few times but haven’t actually spent much time in our nation’s capital. Therefore, I’m really looking forward checking out the sights while running and hopefully I’ll be able to do a little sightseeing besides the race, too.

The biggest challenge of the weekend won’t have anything to do with the race (I hope!) but rather being able to see everyone I’d like to see. I’m driving down on Friday evening. On Saturday we’ll be heading into the city. Sunday the race begins bright and early, and I’ll be back on the road on Sunday afternoon.

Whirlwind trip, for sure! With a race this big, there are so many friends running and I hope to be able to connect with them all. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to spend time with everyone!

Race plan? You chicks are funny. I just learned yesterday what time the race starts (7 am for you kids following along at home.) I know the course starts and ends in the same spot, that there’s some sort of tunnel and lots of landmarks on a route that friends keep telling me is flat and fast. More than that? I really haven’t thought that far ahead, which is incredibly unlike me as I AM A PLANNER.

As a kid, my family went to DC all the time as my eye doctor was there. (Yes, I’m blind as a bat. Yes, I’ve had five eye surgeries. Yes, there’s so much scar tissue in my eyes that Lasik surgery or contacts are both bad ideas. And yes, we really drove to DC several times each year to see my eye doctor.) But as a result, we spent a lot of time visiting DC landmarks, including all sorts of monuments, museums and of course, The National Zoo.

You may know I was just in DC last month to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA marathon and 1/2 with my friend Traci. We had a blast but spent little time on the sights outside our mileage.

This weekend, I’m sure some sightseeing – and LOTS of eating – will occur and I am itching to wander around the Mall and amidst some cherry blossoms, the weekend will hopefully include lots of quality time with a few of my favorite chicks.

Might we be seeing you in DC? What’s your favorite thing to do in our nation’s capital? What can’t we miss? And good luck to all the runners!