This weekend, my husband and I will run the Monument Avenue 10k for the third time. We always go out to eat the night before, usually to somewhere Greek or Italian. This year, we’re planning to have dinner at The Grapevine Greek and Italian restaurant, a cozy little spot in Richmond’s West End with plenty of Richmond magazine “Best Of” awards to its name.

To celebrate finishing another 10k, we’re planning to head up to Baltimore and DC the weekend after for a foodie getaway. On Saturday, we’ll visit Baltimore’s Empori-yum, a curated food market featuring prepared food, meals, snacks, food samples, packaged artisan foods and local spirits, beer and wine. I’m looking forward to checking out some of the restaurants and food producers I’ve heard a lot about recently, like Toki Underground, Element Shrub, CakeLove jar cakes and Crude small batch bitters and sodas.  The V.I.P. tickets, which include a swag bag and early admission, are nearly sold out, so get your tickets now!

On Sunday, we’ll be attending DC’s stop on the Cochon 555 tour. I’m so excited to see five of DC’s hottest chefs create a bevy of dishes from each of their heritage-breed pigs. This year, chefs Jennifer Carroll of Requin, Anthony Lombardo of The Hamilton, Louis Goral of Rural Society Argentine Steakhouse, Jonah Kim of Yona and Marjorie Meek-Bradley of Ripple will be up for the top honors as the prince or princess of porc to move on to the national Cochon event for a chance to be crowned this year’s king or queen of porc. In addition to the many pork dishes on the menu, artisan butters, cheeses and seafood will be featured, along with ramen dishes and a pop-up pie shop. In the beverage department, the wines of Germany will be represented, and special beverage experiences will be popping up throughout the event, such as the “Welcome Punch” reception featuring Buffalo Trace, The Perfect Margarita experience featuring tequilas from Don Julio, a tiki bar with heritage rums and the “Chupito” mezcal experience. Tickets for Sunday’s Cochon 555 event, as well as Friday’s and Saturday’s pre-event dinners, are available at Cochon 555’s website.