On second thought...

The sun is shining so I decided to get my butt outside for a run. We are staying at Dan's brother's house in the Bronx, right across the street from Pelham Bay Park so off I went this morning for an easy 4 mile run. There's a really nice track over there, so I did 2 miles on the track, and about 2 miles there and back. Today and tomorrow we will be somewhere in the Hamptons (!) so I will try and do my long week day run there to start the week off on a good note - Tuesday we fly back to San Francisco.

Wine Tasting is my new sport

Dan's brother and wife Jen were in town so we headed to Murphys for some wine tasting, my new favorite endurance sport. We started tasting at around 11am and went until about 3. You can drive to wineries outside of the downtown area, or choose to just visit tasting rooms on Main Street (mostly free). Everyone was friendly and helpful and there are plenty of restaurants around as well.

The next sport was swimming and lounging in the hot tub followed by eating lots of cheese. These new sports did not make me lose any weight for sure, but I did lose a lot of stress. I promise to get back on the running/swimming/biking wagon this week.

Philly for the last long run before SF Marathon

Oh vacation, you are such a buzz kill to my marathon training plan. Every time! Too much fun, too much drinking, not enough sleep, no set schedule - you think I would learn by now not to have a vacation in the middle of training for a marathon, or marathon training in the middle of a vacation! Ok, I will stop my rant. Just wanted to set the tone of my "boo hoo is me" mood post vacation.

Over the ten days traveling I managed to only skip two runs, which was great. The only problem was planning my last 20 mile pace run. The intention was to run for 12 miles and then 7 miles at marathon pace, followed by 1 mile of cool down. I was thinking I could do this in Watertown NY where my brother lives. He had to work the day after we got there so I thought I could run then. He was able to get the morning off last minute so of course I wanted to spend time with him instead. This caused me to plan the run on Saturday when we'd be in Philadelphia. Friday night we stayed at a hotel and went out for dinner and drinks with family. I went to bed at midnight after carbo loading on beer and pizza. I woke up at 6am and started running at 6:30. It was already hot and I didn't have coffee or toast like I normally do. Instead I ran past a 7-11 and bought some Smart Water (has electrolytes!) and string cheese. I ran along Penn's Landing, down to the Art Museum, along Kelly Drive, to Manayunk and back.


There was a rowing race going on so it started to get crowded on the path along boathouse row and slightly beyond. I did the 12 miles without a problem and managed to get a mile or so in at pace before it got really hot and my legs got really tired. I opted to just finish the run at long run pace. At the time, it seemed like my only option. I also didn't plan it right, and got back to the hotel at 17.5 miles instead of 20. Now I feel like I failed myself in some way. I am hoping this didn't mess up my training and I can still get a really good finishing time on marathon day.

I did an easy run on Sunday and today and have a few quality runs scheduled for this week. I am going to try and do the best I can.

ps. the next few weeks should be filled with sleep, good eating, lots of water drinking, and more rest.

Running in Franconia Notch State Park

Last weekend and the beginning of this week I was in New England, pretty, cozy and sophisticated New England. Me and Dan spent a weekend in Maine with his brothers and their wives and kid before heading to New Hampshire. Sarah recommended staying in Franconia because it was pretty and had spectacular pancakes. Dan and I stayed at the Sugar Hill Inn for two nights. For the first night, his brother and sister in law also stayed at the inn, but the second day Dan and I toured the park on our own. Since I had a hill workout in my schedule, we found a place to run. The recreational trail in Franconia Notch State Park is a multiuse trail and had some very gradual rolling hills. We found a couple of hills to alternate between. It was very warm and I kept looking around for bears, but other than that, it was a great place for a run.


View Larger Map

Running in Vacationland

View Larger Map

We're getting so close to the end of our training plan - one more long run left next week. I am in Maine right now on vacation. Yesterday two Mai Tais caused a little run in between my foot and some kind of sharp object and I woke up with a gash on the bottom of my foot. This mixed with the fact that on Thursday's long run my hamstring was irritated with me and I felt that for sure I wouldn't be able to resist hanging out on the deck instead of running. But, for some reason I ran anyway, from Orrs Island to Bailey Island down rolling hills and over a bridge that didn't have room for pedestrians. Not so safe but very fun.

This was the first week that I didn't manage to run 5 times. I may go for an easy run tomorrow if I am super inspired and wake up early. Next week will involve a lot of traveling so I would like to have the option of skipping a workout without the guilt.