Back from Fishing
I'm back. Actually I've been back since Sunday. This has been the longest hiatus I've taken since I've started writing a blog.
So where do I begin. I'll start my blog like I've started my running... and won't take on too much at once.
Me and my kids took a week out in California. A couple of days in San Francisco, a road trip down the Pacific coast, and then for the finale went up to Berkeley where I got to see KJ and his family. The trip was a lot of fun, but this ain't a travelogue so I'll stick to the running parts of it.
I'll have to do this from memory, which if you know me at all is a scary proposition. I purposefully did not try to stick to any training schedule, just to get out for an hour every other day or so. Let's see:
Monday (7/16): ran along the Embarcadero, starting at about Pier 1 and going down past Fishermans Wharf and the military base, but not quite down to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was early morning and the restaurants and other tourist traps were just starting up their day, getting deliveries and the like. I turned around after 31 minutes, and got into a pissing contest with another runner so that I finished in just under 59 minutes. It was a good thing that I ran this route, as it let me scout out the start of the bike trip that we would later take over the GG Bridge and into Sausalito. None too strenuous (I am on vacation); call it 7 miles.
Thursday (7/19): ran from hotel down to the waterfront in Monterey. There was a bike path that I took which led me to the Aquarium, a focal point in the redeveloped waterfront, and through Cannery Row, made famous by John Steinbeck in a novel near and dear to me. There's not much that is fishy about Cannery Row anymore, and the only catch they haul these days are tourists. Instead of fish, all I can smell was the incense wafting out of the boutiques that were cheek by jowl with souvenir shops and galleries. I wonder what Mack and the boys would think. Turned around at about 30 minutes, finished in just over 59. Call it 7 miles again.
Saturday (7/21): KJ and Silas took me down to Oakland. We had dinner with them (and Christine) the night before; it was strange seeing a friend in a totally different context. Silas, always a big kid, is now no longer a baby but a toddler - both in body shape and in behavior. Nothing like seeing kids grow to realize the stealth with which time passes. On the run, Kevin said he'd show me such landmarks as Peoples' Park and the Black Panther headquarters, but I don't remember actually seeing them. I don't know if ultimately he forgot to point them out when we got there or if I just spaced it. The run was a combination of familiarity - KJ and I feel in running just like we were in West Philly again - and a very different place. Afterwards me and the kids went to their digs and they fed us a breakfast that couldn't be beat. Its good to see them doing well. Root for him and Deirdre (the next visitor) as they run the San Francisco Half Marathon on Sunday. Looking at KJ's blog, he called it 7.8 in 68 minutes, I'll round it up to 8 miles as I went a little farther before and after we met up.
That was all the running on my vacation. I have been known to say in the past that its harder to run upon the return from a trip than during the trip itself. The blowback was in full force this week for a variety of reasons. I got in two runs:
Tuesday (7/24) - a very mellow Art Museum loop. Not much to report on this run. Had John Mayer on the iPod to get up to speed on his oeuvre as me and the kids did a little encore vacation and went down to the Shore for the day (Asbury Park) and then saw John Mayer that evening at the PNC Arts Center. 6.5 in about 52 minutes.
Friday (today) - it has been really hard to wake up early after being on West Coast time and with various things going on. This morning I forced myself out of bed and ran Tinicum. It felt like I was picking up where I left things. Wildlife galore and a typical, i.e., beautiful morning run. I obviously had some pent-up energy as I did the last four miles in 26 and a half minutes, just felt natural to do so. Didn't to the extra piece so its 9.5 miles total in 69:38.
There, that updates me. The problem with playing catch up is that many details get omitted. But its important psychologically to get all this down, as it helps me put my past in my behind (who knows where that's from?) to turn to the upcoming days and weeks and get back in the swing of things. I missed some valuable training time, but I'm not feeling too upset about it. I'll leave it to future days to process this, but its reassuring that I haven't been too whiny about it.
Looking to go long tomorrow.
So where do I begin. I'll start my blog like I've started my running... and won't take on too much at once.
Me and my kids took a week out in California. A couple of days in San Francisco, a road trip down the Pacific coast, and then for the finale went up to Berkeley where I got to see KJ and his family. The trip was a lot of fun, but this ain't a travelogue so I'll stick to the running parts of it.
I'll have to do this from memory, which if you know me at all is a scary proposition. I purposefully did not try to stick to any training schedule, just to get out for an hour every other day or so. Let's see:
Monday (7/16): ran along the Embarcadero, starting at about Pier 1 and going down past Fishermans Wharf and the military base, but not quite down to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was early morning and the restaurants and other tourist traps were just starting up their day, getting deliveries and the like. I turned around after 31 minutes, and got into a pissing contest with another runner so that I finished in just under 59 minutes. It was a good thing that I ran this route, as it let me scout out the start of the bike trip that we would later take over the GG Bridge and into Sausalito. None too strenuous (I am on vacation); call it 7 miles.
Thursday (7/19): ran from hotel down to the waterfront in Monterey. There was a bike path that I took which led me to the Aquarium, a focal point in the redeveloped waterfront, and through Cannery Row, made famous by John Steinbeck in a novel near and dear to me. There's not much that is fishy about Cannery Row anymore, and the only catch they haul these days are tourists. Instead of fish, all I can smell was the incense wafting out of the boutiques that were cheek by jowl with souvenir shops and galleries. I wonder what Mack and the boys would think. Turned around at about 30 minutes, finished in just over 59. Call it 7 miles again.
Saturday (7/21): KJ and Silas took me down to Oakland. We had dinner with them (and Christine) the night before; it was strange seeing a friend in a totally different context. Silas, always a big kid, is now no longer a baby but a toddler - both in body shape and in behavior. Nothing like seeing kids grow to realize the stealth with which time passes. On the run, Kevin said he'd show me such landmarks as Peoples' Park and the Black Panther headquarters, but I don't remember actually seeing them. I don't know if ultimately he forgot to point them out when we got there or if I just spaced it. The run was a combination of familiarity - KJ and I feel in running just like we were in West Philly again - and a very different place. Afterwards me and the kids went to their digs and they fed us a breakfast that couldn't be beat. Its good to see them doing well. Root for him and Deirdre (the next visitor) as they run the San Francisco Half Marathon on Sunday. Looking at KJ's blog, he called it 7.8 in 68 minutes, I'll round it up to 8 miles as I went a little farther before and after we met up.
That was all the running on my vacation. I have been known to say in the past that its harder to run upon the return from a trip than during the trip itself. The blowback was in full force this week for a variety of reasons. I got in two runs:
Tuesday (7/24) - a very mellow Art Museum loop. Not much to report on this run. Had John Mayer on the iPod to get up to speed on his oeuvre as me and the kids did a little encore vacation and went down to the Shore for the day (Asbury Park) and then saw John Mayer that evening at the PNC Arts Center. 6.5 in about 52 minutes.
Friday (today) - it has been really hard to wake up early after being on West Coast time and with various things going on. This morning I forced myself out of bed and ran Tinicum. It felt like I was picking up where I left things. Wildlife galore and a typical, i.e., beautiful morning run. I obviously had some pent-up energy as I did the last four miles in 26 and a half minutes, just felt natural to do so. Didn't to the extra piece so its 9.5 miles total in 69:38.
There, that updates me. The problem with playing catch up is that many details get omitted. But its important psychologically to get all this down, as it helps me put my past in my behind (who knows where that's from?) to turn to the upcoming days and weeks and get back in the swing of things. I missed some valuable training time, but I'm not feeling too upset about it. I'll leave it to future days to process this, but its reassuring that I haven't been too whiny about it.
Looking to go long tomorrow.
posted by seebo | 6:05 PM
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