Training for 6/30/15

Today, I took Pepper to the trail for a short run. This was the look I got when I stood up from the couch:

“I really must ask you to reconsider what you’re doing.”

I took him anyway. He didn’t seem too into it. We did a very leisurely lap around the 3-mile route.

And with that, June is over, so it’s time for my monthly summary.

Mileage:

• Week 1 (June 1-6): 20.3 miles
• Week 2 (June 7-13): 11
• Week 3 (June 14-20): 22.5
• Week 4 (June 21-27): 31.2
• Week 5 (June 28-30): 10.3

Total: 95.3 miles

This was the first month this year I didn’t break into the triple digits, but, considering that entire week where I only ran 11 miles, I can’t be too surprised. On the bright side though, that puts me at 732 miles for the first half of the year, which means if I only run that many again in the second half, I’ll run about 250 more than last year, which would be the first time since 2011 that I ran more miles than the year before.

It was also a pretty down month for racing! I ran three 5Ks, ranging from 24:32 (one second slower than my first 5K ever in 2004) to 23:01. At least my times are moving in the right direction.

In July, I have one final 5K to qualify for the summer series, this coming Saturday, and then OBX Marathon training starts two days later. Hopefully, being on a real live marathon training plan, I won’t have any more 11-mile weeks.

Training for 6/29/15

I lobbed another chunk off my 5K time this weekend. I still have a ways to go before I get back to the paces I was running a year ago, but I’m getting closer!

Saturday was this year’s Jungle Jim’s 5K Splash in Rehoboth, the race that starts and ends in the water park by the same name. Unfortunately, after suffering through a few hot, nasty 5Ks already this summer that didn’t have a lazy river waiting at the finish line, we got a cool, overcast and drizzly morning for the only one that does. Boo.

TK and I got to the water park about a half-hour before the 7:30 a.m. start. Someone got this exciting action shot of TK and me picking up our race bibs and T-shirts:

I did a mile to warm up, hit the bathroom one last time and then got in the starting pack. This race always attracts a lot of families with kids because of the water park. There weren’t quite as many runners this year because of the weather, but it was still a pretty healthy turnout. Nearly 300 people finished, and it seemed like half of them were under 10 years old.

I started way too far back, behind a lot of those kids. We took off and I was pretty boxed in, especially getting around the couple of tight turns on the way out of the water park.

Then we got on the road outside the park, the crowd started to spread out and I started to pick people off.

The course isn’t anything exciting, just a simple out-and-back along some residential streets. Near the end of the first mile, I was coming up on a big pack of runners ahead of me, and I kept hearing, from up ahead, a very loud retching sound. Like, I was scanning the side of the road ahead for someone puking their guts out on someone’s lawn. I didn’t see anyone though.

Then I came up on the last runner in that pack, an old guy, and I heard that noise again. It was him! Every now and then, in a race, I’ll come across someone who breathes really loudly, or grunts, but I have never heard someone run while sounding like they’re vomiting. It was bizarre. Just after I ran past him, he stopped for a walk break, so I was able to get far enough ahead of him I didn’t have to hear it anymore. But TK said she later saw him before she got to the turnaround, and she heard him make that noise too, and then noticed the guy right behind him roll his eyes haha. I guess he made that noise the entire way!

Anyway, I hit the one-mile marker in 7:12 in spite of the slow start, and really didn’t feel that terrible!

Just past that marker, I ran up on two guys running in matching U.S. flag shorts, and I heard one say in a very hopeful voice, “Are we coming up on two miles yet?” The other guy, who I think was pacing him, was like, “Um, no. We’re not even that close to the halfway turnaround yet. We can back off to a recovery pace until two miles if you want.” Poor U.S. Flag Shorts Bro No. 1. I don’t think he was enjoying himself very much.

Eventually I made it to the turnaround and started on my way back. I think I ran the second mile in 7:18. I knew I was in pretty good shape to improve on last week’s 5K time if I could hang on for one more mile.

The third mile sucked, but they always do in a 5K. Unlike two weeks earlier though, I wasn’t tempted to walk even once, let alone three times. Progress! I even passed a few more people in that last mile.

We passed the third mile marker just before the turn back into the water park — 7:32. And then I could see the finish line arch.

I crossed the line in 23:01, a 7:19/mile average, 34 seconds faster than last week, more than a minute and a half faster than that particularly horrible 5K two weeks ago and only about a minute slower than this same race a year ago!

I ran another easy mile to cool down, bringing the day’s total to 5.1 miles. TK finished and we changed into our swimsuits. Even though it really wasn’t hot, we paid for this race just for the water park, so we were going to use it, dammit!

After we did a couple laps around the lazy river, they started announcing the awards. When they got to the F 30-34 age group, I found out I got beat this time — by three seconds! Oh well.

Annual awards-shot-in-a-bikini needed a beach towel this year because I was COLD.

Later I was looking through all the finish line pictures, and I found one that shows what those three seconds looked like. The woman in the black tank top and shorts crossing the line is the one who beat me.

I also found this finish line shot:

This is exactly why I run shirtless all the time. I hate when it gets caught in my teeth!

Obviously Saturday wasn’t much of a beach day, so after TK and I got our customary iced coffees, we went to the outlets instead, and then home. I spent the rest of the day napping and lazing about with Clark and Pepper while it rained off and on outside. That evening, Clark and I went to dinner in Salisbury.

Sunday, the crappy weather had cleared out and the surf report looked great, so instead of running in the morning, I went to the beach with Clark and Pepper. We loaded up the surfboards and paddleboard on the Jeep and went to the Indian River Inlet. Clark’s dad went too.

The beach was packed, and so was the water. The waves were about as good as they’ll ever get here, and there were a ton of surfers out there.

The best waves were right by the jetty, so it was the most crowded there — you can see four surfers on that one wave on the left alone.

There really was no empty space in the ocean though, even looking north of the jetty.

Clark went out surfing first, while I sat on the beach with Pepper. There was a family nearby that had a boxer with them. She was really interested in playing with Pepper, so we let both dogs off their leashes. The boxer was only a year old and still had all that puppy energy. Pepper took a couple half-hearted swipes at her, but she pretty much just ran circles around him, trying to get him to chase her, while he clearly wished she would just leave him the hell alone and let him nap under the umbrella in peace haha.

When Clark came back in, he said the waves were good, but it was so crowded he never really got much of a chance to ride one. He said he much preferred freezing his off in January, when the beach was empty.

I took the paddleboard out. Not gonna lie, I had a tough time getting it through the breakers, partly because the waves kept ripping the 12-foot board away from me (and once, the paddle, which I had to chase after) and partly because of all the damn surfers! Once, I was almost through them, about to push the board over one last incoming wave, and then a stupid surfer came cutting across right in front of me. When I pulled back to let him pass, the wave crashed before I could get over it and the board started flipping in the air, and landed right on my head. I almost gave up and went back in after that, but my head really didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would after a paddleboard came crashing down on it. I finally caught a break in the waves and got the board out past them.

When I got out there, the wind was pushing me out to sea, like that first time I ever took the board out in the ocean and almost got stranded. This time though, I was a lot more experienced on it, so I was able to paddle back closer to shore. After I got tired of fighting the current and wind, I had a tough time, again, getting the board out of the ocean. I would say the conditions yesterday were right on the upper limit of my skills on a paddleboard!

Clark went out on his board again, and then we reloaded the Jeep to head back to the beach house.

Surf Jeep with the perfect Surf Dog, if only he didn’t hate the beach!

After lunch, we took a nap. Later that afternoon, we took Pepper to Dogfish Head for a few beers, and then Clark and I stopped by Indian River again to see if the waves were still good and the crowds had thinned. It was a ‘yes’ to both.

I took a surfboard out first. It was fun but I wasn’t having any luck and the sun was setting, so I went in to take over watching Pepper so Clark could try.

I wanted to get a picture of Clark out in the ocean. Turned out I decided to do so just as he caught his best wave of the day, and I got some pretty good pictures of him actually surfing.

Pepper was so excited, he took a huge dump right there on the beach haha. Luckily, some little kid had forgotten their sand shovel, so I buried it.

And then I got some pictures of the Indian River Inlet bridge at sunset.

Pepper on the rocks.

The moon over the jetty.

We went back to the beach house, got some carry out for dinner and got home late last night.

Today is another very pleasant summer day. Pepper and I did a lap around the 7.3-mile loop together. I can’t remember the last time he ran that far with me.

Training for 6/26/15

I’ve done a little running since I last posted. Yesterday, I did a lap around the 6.5-mile loop first thing in the morning, when it was actually a teensy bit chilly, for the first quarter-mile or so. It was a really good run, one of the most enjoyable I’ve had in a while!

And today, I took Pepper out for a leisurely lap around the 4.5-mile loop. We hadn’t gone very far down the road when he got really interested in this one lone tree growing next to a field. He wasn’t sniffing it though, he was just staring at something. I got fed up waiting on him so I yanked his leash. When he moved, so did the thing he was staring at — a huge groundhog, right there in the middle of the tree. He’d probably gotten nose-to-nose with that thing! The rest of the run was pretty routine.

Tomorrow morning is this year’s Jungle Jim’s 5K Splash, the one where we get to play in the water park afterwards. Naturally, it’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow. The one time I’d like a hot, sunny day for a 5K, and it’s going to rain! Oh well.

Sunday, I’m planning to run something, and we might go surfing.

Training for 6/24/15

We got some really strong storms here last night, and today was about 20 degrees cooler than yesterday, and much less humid. Which meant I slacked on getting my butt out the door and getting in my run.

Around 3:30 p.m., I finally put Pepper’s harness on him and took him out. It was a pretty unremarkable run around the 4.5-mile loop. It felt so much better than running at 7:30 a.m. yesterday did though! I wish every summer day felt like today.

Training for 6/23/15

I have been waiting for today for a very long time! Look what I got this morning:

This is Breaking Benjamin’s fifth album, and their first since 2009. A year after the last one was released, the band went through some drama — the lead singer, who was already dealing with health issues, sued two of the band’s other three members over some boring contract stuff — and for a long time it looked like Breaking Benjamin was done for good. But then, in 2013, there was a small sign of life on the band’s Facebook page, which had not been updated in three years:

I remember that day! It was huge! I wasn’t the only one who almost choked on her own excitement either, judging by the nearly 800 comments on a simple cover photo:

Since then, the legal crap was resolved, the lead singer found some new bandmates and started touring, writing and recording again, and today, a little more than two years after that stupid cover photo appeared on my Facebook news feed like a mystical double rainbow, it’s here! Their first studio album in six years.

Last night, Clark jokingly asked me if I was going to buy the CD at Sam Goody, which is now a Shoe Dept. in the Salisbury mall, and I realized I had no idea where to even buy CDs anymore! I can’t remember the last one I bought.

I thought I remembered seeing a few in Walmart, so, after I dropped off Clark at work this morning (he left all his vehicles’ keys at the beach house yesterday), I went to Seaford to check. At first it looked like I’d struck out, but then I noticed some boxes with “time sensitive material” on the side, full of stock waiting to be unpacked. Since it was 9 a.m. the day the album was to be released, I thought maybe they just hadn’t gotten it on the racks yet. I was right!

I’ve listened to this album straight through at least four times now, and I’ll just say it was worth the wait. Anyone who liked any of Breaking Benjamin’s earlier music is going to love this album too. The only thing that would make me happier right now is if Bobby Labonte finally won another race. After listening to this awesome album I thought would never exist, I think I believe that can happen again too! Life is beautiful! Everything is possible!

Anyway, enough about that. Back to what I normally ramble about here — running.

I ran the third of five 5Ks in the summer series this weekend. I’m still slow, but I’m not as slow as I was! Maybe I’m starting to make my way back.

Saturday, I just did an easy 3-miler here at home. Unfortunately, I waited until about 12:30 p.m. to leave the house, and it was sweltering outside. It was not a very easy run at all. When I got back, I put some air in my bike’s tires and rode it around the 4.5-mile loop, for the first time since last summer, probably.

Clark and I went to the beach house that evening. I was relaxing on a lounge chair on the porch, until Pepper decided he wanted two thirds of it:

Sure, Pepper, climb on up! I’ll just fold myself up here.

The most exciting part of my evening was when Clark left in my car to pick up a carry out order, and I heard a ton of fire and police sirens about 15 minutes later, so I sent him a half-joking message asking if those were for him. He sent back a message that said “I’m OK but your car isn’t. I’ll call you when I get everything straightened out.” Then he waited an inordinately long time before sending this response to my panicked “WHAT???”: “I’m talking to a bunch of cops right now.” And then, FINALLY, I got the “punchline”: “Just kidding!” He really sold it! I admit he got me pretty good there.

Clark and my car came back in one piece after all, we ate our dinner and then I tried to get some sleep, since I had the Father’s Day 5K first thing the next morning.

I didn’t sleep that great. The torrential downpours and thunder and lightning of Tropical Storm Bill passing through woke me up around 2 a.m. and I just tossed and turned for the next four hours until the alarm went off.

The thunderstorms had moved on, but it was still raining a bit when I left the house in Fenwick just before 6:30. Personally, I was hoping it would keep raining right up through the race, which started at 7:30 in Rehoboth. Since it was going to be 100 percent humidity as usual, the rain would feel good.

After I got my race bib and T-shirt, I did an easy mile along the boardwalk to warm up. The rain had stopped, but the humidity was still there. I was already soaked in my own sweat at the end of that 9:03 warm up mile. Another perfect summer day to race a 5K!

There was a pretty healthy turnout for this race. Almost 400 people finished it. Here’s the starting crowd, just off the boardwalk:

The dude right in the center on the starting line, in the blue shirt and shorts and bright green shoes, is Michael Wardian, joining us for a little road race again, which he won, in 15:59.

Nowhere close to the front in this picture is me. While I was hoping to do better than the 24:32 I ran the weekend before, I knew I had no business starting in the first few rows.

We got the start commands and took off. Either I way underestimated myself, or a lot of people in front of me way overestimated themselves, because I was super boxed-in and getting held up by much slower runners right from the start. It was a little frustrating!

I never really broke free of everyone slower until we got into a little neighborhood, near the end of the first mile. When I passed the first mile marker, the Garmin showed 7:32, 20 seconds slower than my first mile last week.

That was annoying, but I hoped the slower start would help me not completely die in the last mile. The second mile was unremarkable. I ran it in 7:42, faster than my second mile last week and not far off the first mile.

Still, I felt pretty worn out as I started the third and final mile. Unlike last week though, when I stopped to walk three times before the finish, I was able to make myself keep running the whole way. The third mile was 7:36.

Since I managed to run the whole way, I took about a minute off my time from last week, crossing the line in 23:35. Which is good, but as you can see, I was still annoyed with myself for running this race two minutes slower than last year:

Womp womp haha.

I did another slow easy mile to cool down, to bring the day’s total to 5.1 miles, and then I waited for TK to finish. By that time, the damn rain had come back! Where was that when we were running?

Before I forget, when I was looking through all these finish pictures after the race, I found this one:

I’m pretty sure Enos is stopping this guy, who just ran an 18-minute 5K and probably came across the finish line with a big head of steam, so he can tear off the tag on the bottom of his race bib, and not punching him right in the stomach, but the picture makes me laugh anyway.

The post-race party was at this bar and grill called Zogg’s. It was pouring again by the time they did the awards. Everyone was trying to squeeze in under the roofed part, but it didn’t work very well. I was a little wet again by the time I was called up to accept my first place age group award.

Once again, no one faster showed up Sunday, and I’m now 4-for-4 on age group wins. Two more 5Ks to go!

By the time TK and I got iced coffees at Dunkin’ Donuts, that last rain shower had moved on and the sky was clearing. We both changed into dry clothes in a public bathroom. She left Rehoboth to head home, but I just moved my car to the Dogfish Head parking lot, where I met Clark and his dad for their Father’s Day brunch.

Brunch was really good. I had eggs Benedict with braised short rib instead of the usual ham, and they had some special beers and beer cocktails. There was even a Randall bar, which allowed you to run any on-tap beer through a Randall Jr. with either hops, coffee beans, oranges or granola. I had Indian Brown Ale run through coffee beans, and when we left, I finally bought Clark the Randall Jr. I meant to buy him for his birthday… in January. Better late than never, right?

Clark and his dad after brunch.

Those two went back to Fenwick, and I went home. After a nap, I took a shower and went to see my own dad. My grandparents were there too. My dad was showing off the 2008 Ford F-150 he just bought. It’s in really good shape and looks practically brand new. Ever since I can remember, my dad has just driven around in old Fords, first the 1970 Torino he bought for $500 before I was born (“The best $500 I ever spent — did I ever tell you Bill Elliott once tried to buy it from me?”) and then the 1994 Aerostar they’d bought brand new for my mom but didn’t trade when she bought a new car because they weren’t offered much money for it.

That Aerostar, which we nicknamed the Boomstar back when my mom was still driving it, has 340,000 miles on it and is about to fall apart completely where the rust has taken over on the driver’s side. My dad has this little route he drives every day, to see what’s going on. He always says he’s doing “this and that.” My younger sister said yesterday it was weird to see Dad driving something so not creepy. Which made me laugh, but she’s right! That’s the perfect word for that van. It’s creepy, especially if it slowly passed my house for no apparent reason at about the same time every day haha.

The old ride. This is its good side.

The new ride.

After I left my parents’, I went back to the beach house. The surf report looked good for Monday, so Clark wanted to go surfing in the morning. His dad stayed in Fenwick so he could go too.

The next morning, we loaded up the Jeep with three surfboards and my paddleboard and went to Indian River. The surf report wasn’t entirely accurate, unfortunately. Clark and his dad were able to catch a couple waves each, but it wasn’t that great. I just paddled around on my paddleboard when I wasn’t sitting on the beach with Pepper.

Clark and I took Pepper to Macky’s in Ocean City for lunch, and then we all went home, because I had some last-minute work to finish up for this week’s paper, as usual.

Last night, we took Pepper to Abbott’s Grill for dinner. I stopped to use the bathroom on the way out, so Pepper and Clark were already in the car when I came out.

“Get in, loser! We’re going to 3rd Wave!”

If only Pepper really could drive! He’d be a great DD because he doesn’t like beer.

We wanted to go to 3rd Wave to try their new beer brewed with cherries and chipotle peppers. On the way out of Laurel, we saw this, and had to take a picture to send to my brother, who works with my dad and uncle on the farm. Every time he asks my dad to do something with him, my dad skates out of it by saying he has to go do “this and that.”

If there was a way to get someone personalized plates for their vehicle without them knowing about it, Dave and I have talked about getting Dad plates for the van (now truck) that say THSNTHT haha.

Next stop was 3rd Wave, where the chipotle beer was a little… busy. There was just a lot going on in it! Then we drove to Cheers, where Bell’s, out of Michigan, is finally on the shelves. They just started distributing to Maryland and Delaware recently. I got a six-pack of Oberon.

The last stop of the night was Coldstone. Every time I go in there, I think I’m going to try something new, but I always wind up with Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip. And it never disappoints!

This morning, I knew it was supposed to hit almost 100 today before the humidity was factored in, so as soon as Clark got up to shower for work, I went out for a run. I was only planning on the 5.5-mile loop, but I took my 22-oz. water bottle with me, and boy was I glad I did. It was already super hot.

By the time I finished the loop, I’d almost drank the entire bottle, and when I went to rinse out and hang up my running clothes to dry out, I was able to wring out an impressive amount of sweat from my bra.

But the run didn’t totally suck! I’m definitely getting a little more acclimated to this crap with every run.

Training for 6/19/15

I’ve not been slacking quite as much on running as I have been on updating this blog over the last few days.

Wednesday, I ran an easy 3-miler first thing, and then I did some strength training later in the morning. Yesterday, I waited until the evening to run a lap around the 4.5-mile loop.

And today, I took Pepper to Trap Pond and we ran a lap around the 4.5-mile boundary trail. It was a warm day, but Pepper seemed to do fine with it. No puking!

Tomorrow, I’ll run something, and Sunday, I have another 5K in Rehoboth first thing in the morning. Then I’m meeting Clark and his dad for a Father’s Day brunch at Dogfish Head. At some point in the afternoon or evening, I’ll go see my dad too.

Training for 6/16/15

Today, it was supposed to be another hot one — high of 95 — and I had my usual Tuesday morning meeting to get to, so I got up early and ran first thing, when it was still only 80 degrees… with 90 percent humidity.

I did a lap around the 4.5-mile loop. It was the best run I’ve had since I got back from California, but it was still slow and sucky. I might be getting just a little used to this gross weather. I have a long way to go though.

Training for 6/15/15

Well, I somehow managed to run an even worse 5K this weekend than I did two weeks ago! Boy do I suck at running right now.

Saturday morning, TK picked me up at 6, and we were parked at the race site at Rehoboth Elementary School an hour later. Her car’s digital thermometer showed it was already 79 degrees at 7 a.m., the sun was out and the humidity was in full force.

It was such a gross morning for running, the race director decided to run both the men and the women at the same time; usually, we run this race separately, and the men’s race starts a half-hour later than the women’s.

Since the race director had just made the announcement about the change the day before on Facebook, he held off on the race start in case a few men, still thinking their race didn’t start until 8, showed up a little late for a 7:30 start.

I was really glad the men were running with us. Usually, while they’re waiting for their race to start, the guys will come out to the water stop just after the 1-mile mark and cheer for all the women running by. I knew I was going to suck, so the fewer people to witness the carnage, the better!

I think I ran about three-10ths of a mile as a “warm up,” and then got in the starting pack, nowhere near the front. Honestly, if I wasn’t going to be in Rehoboth that day anyway, for the Dogfish Head tasting later, I probably would’ve skipped this race. I’d run a total of 7.5 miles in two terrible runs all week, it was hot as balls and I was still a little messed up from the time zone changes.

Too late to back out at that point though. We got the starting commands and we were off.

I felt like crap from the start, which wasn’t a shock. It was so hot and humid! I could already feel my breathing getting heavy before we’d even left the school grounds.

We ran into a neighborhood. Right around the 1-mile marker, I could feel all my fingers start to tingle. The hell is that? I shook out my arms and it went away. I passed the mile marker in 7:12. Faster than my first mile two weeks ago, but I could feel the next two miles were not going to go well.

Around the halfway point, we hit a U-turn, and I counted all the women in front of me, to see if I still had a shot at finishing in the top 10 and getting one of those New Balance gift certificates. According to my eyes, I was woman No. 9.

I think my second mile was just over 8:00? I don’t know. I didn’t care anymore. Somewhere past the second mile marker, it happened — I had to stop to walk in a freaking 5K! My legs felt like lead, my heart felt like it was going to explode and my head felt like a popcorn kernel about to burst.

One woman passed me. OK, I’m 10th, still inside the gift certificates. That last mile was awful. I ran as much as I could, but I had to stop to walk twice more. I don’t know what my third mile time was, but I crossed the line in 24:32, a 7:53/mile average.

Coming to the finish.

I was so damn happy to be done with that crap! They had some misting fans set up near the finish. I lingered in front of one for quite a while.

After a bit, I decided to do a little cool down jog, but when I saw TK’s car a 10th of a mile later, I said screw it and stopped to exchange my shoes for my flip flops instead. When I got back to the finish area, a guy who also runs a lot of these races asked me if I was OK, because he’d seen me walking near the end of the race. I told him the heat had gotten to me, but I felt fine again. I didn’t feel like explaining I just suck at running now!

When they announced the awards later, they called up the fourth overall woman, and I realized I’d forgotten to count her at the turnaround. Which meant I’d been in 10th at the halfway mark, not ninth, which meant that woman who passed me in the third mile had put me back to 11th, and thus out of the gift certificates. Oh well. She deserved it more than I did! Who walks in a freaking 5K anyway?

Somehow though, I still won my age group. I don’t know what’s up with the F 30-34 age group at these summer series races this year, but there is no one else running faster than a 27-minute 5K. Good for me, I guess. I can walk all I want and still win my age group.

TK and I got iced coffees from Dunkin’ Donuts, as usual, and then she dropped me off at the beach house in Fenwick. Clark, Chad and my cousin Corey were getting back from surfing just as I was finishing up with my shower. After they’d all gotten cleaned up, we drove to Dogfish Head’s brewery in Milton for the Analog-a-Go-Go tasting.

There were “only” 10 samples on the list this year, but it was more than enough. I’d volunteered to drive, so I spaced mine out and then didn’t drink any extra pints. I also guzzled plenty of water. All but one sample was being served outside, in the sun. It was hot!

At some point, they unveiled a new piece of art right outside the tasting room entrance. I don’t know who made it or why. All I know is it looks like a winged robot woman straddling a keg, and beer comes out of the nipples. They were serving Theobroma.

I like how Corey paused to pose with it, but Clark was all “GIMME THAT BOOBY BEER!” haha.

Anyway, after we left Dogfish Head, we stopped for dinner at the Pickled Pig Pub in Rehoboth, straightened up the beach house and went home.

Sunday, I didn’t run. It was 9:30 a.m. before I got out of bed, and thus way too hot again to run. So we cleaned our disgusting pig sty of a house instead. It was definitely needed!

The NASCAR race was in Michigan, where it kept getting delayed for rain. Then we got our own very heavy rainstorm at home, that kept knocking out the satellite signal. Around 5:30, the power went out. Yay! A half-hour later, Pepper was panting and Clark and I were sure the temperature had already gone up 10 degrees in the house. When he checked the thermostat, it hadn’t gone up at all yet haha.

The power came back less than two hours later. We also got to see a rainbow over the back yard, while the sun was out and it was still raining.

Today, I went out early for an easy 3-miler. I hoped the storms last night had blown away some of the humidity, but when I stepped outside, it actually felt even worse somehow. Dammit!! It was another sucktastic run. At least I got it done though. I did some strength training with the adjustable dumbbells downstairs too.

Training for 6/12/15

I’ve had a bit of a tough time getting used to East Coast time again, but what else is new? Wednesday, I just did some strength training in the evening, and yesterday, by the time I got around to thinking about running, it was so effing hot I just forgot about it.

Today, I was able to get my butt out the door relatively early for a lap around the 4.5-mile loop, but it was already pretty damn hot again. It was a miserable “run.” I have to put that in quotes because I walked a whooooole lot of it. I just kept getting so hot, and out of breath, and my legs felt like lead even though I’ve only run one measly 3-miler this week! Just awful.

But, it was done. Pepper looked mad at me for leaving him home when I got back, but he really should’ve been thanking me. He’d probably still be panting and puking up entire stomachfuls of water.

Anyway… tomorrow, I have the second 5K of the summer series, in Rehoboth. This is the one they give the New Balance gift certificates to the top 10 women finishers. I’m really not feeling so great about my chances of getting one of those gift certificates! I’ve hardly been running since the last slow 5K I ran two weeks ago, it’s supposed to be hot as hell again tomorrow, and I still feel like it’s three hours earlier than it actually is when I wake up in the morning, so a 7:30 a.m. 5K is going to hurt. But, I already told TK I would go, and I’m going to Dogfish Head’s brewery for a tasting event after. Maybe it won’t be as terrible as I think it’s going to be. And even if it is, it’ll all be over by 8 a.m.

Sunday, maybe I’ll run again. Depends on how early I can get up and how hot it is, I guess.

Training for 6/10/15

I’m back! I had a nice little impromptu trip out to California. I ate a lot, I drank a lot and I even ran a little.

I got to San Diego around 7 p.m. their time last Wednesday and took a short cab ride to the hotel, where I had just about fallen asleep by the time Clark finally got back from work. We went to Ballast Point for a couple of beers first, and then our favorite bar in the city, The Waterfront. By the time we went to bed, I was beat.

Thursday morning, I got up with Clark and ate some breakfast. When he left for work again, I left for a run. The hotel was a few blocks from the waterfront, so I ran down there and then along the edge of the bay. There were plenty of nice boats parked in the harbor.

After my run, I had plenty of time to kill while Clark was working, so I went off in search of Dunkin’ Donuts. It just expanded into California last year; before now, the lack of Dunkin’ Donuts was the one thing I most disliked about California. (Well, that and most of the city of Los Angeles.)

It took me a while to find it, because it was inside another hotel, but I was in and out in no time, with my favorite iced coffee in hand. I spent most of the rest of that afternoon just wandering along the waterfront some more. When Clark got back to the hotel that night, we met a couple of the guys he’d been working with all week first for beers at The Waterfront, and then for dinner at Spike Africa’s Fish Grill, where I had some really good rare albacore tuna.

Friday, I did the same thing in the morning — breakfast with Clark and then a run after he left for work (for what would finally be his last day there.) This time, I ran toward Balboa Park. It was about 1.3 miles to get there, a lot of which was uphill. Once I got in the park, I ran around exploring all the gardens, museums and trails.

Art Institute.

Rose garden.

Cactus garden — with more uphill!

By the time I got back to the hotel, I’d run about 5.1 miles, which would turn out to be my longest run the whole time I was on vacation.

Once again, I ventured off to Dunkin’ Donuts in the afternoon. Since it was National Donut Day, Dunkin’ was giving away a free donut with any beverage purchase, so, extra incentive.

Since there had been absolutely no other customers in the store around the same time the day before, I was a little surprised to see a line out the door when I got there Friday. I wasn’t expecting it to be empty, because of the free donuts, but I wasn’t expecting that many people. Still, I didn’t think it’d take too long. All the Dunkin’ stores here at home are pretty efficient, even when they’re packed.

Hahaha. It took foreeevvvveeeeeerrrrrr. The line was crawling along. Half an hour later, I was still standing there, wondering how it could possibly take so long to get people a freaking coffee and whichever donut they wanted.

When I got close enough to the front of the line to see the actual transactions taking place, I finally understood. The customers were morons.

Actual quote from the guy in front of me, who, like me, had been standing in line all that time, presumably figuring out what he wanted:

“So…. what can you order?”

The cashier looked like she’d been dealing with that question all damn day. What can you order? ANYTHING ON THE MENU BOARD THAT’S BEEN IN PLAIN VIEW THE WHOLE 40 MINUTES IT TOOK YOU TO GET TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE, YOU FREAKING IDIOT. It’s like this guy didn’t want to have to bother with reading because he was on vacation or something. Too much work! The cashier patiently listed off all the drink options, right down to the available flavor shots. It was incredible. Even more incredible was the fact no one else in line near me seemed to be annoyed by it. What the hell is wrong with you people? This is coffee and donuts, not a ride at Disney World!

Four hours later, when that guy was finally on his way, I got another iced coffee and a blueberry cake donut to go with it. I’ve never had to go through so much just to celebrate National Donut Day!

Worth it! That’s the USS Midway in the background, an aircraft carrier that’s now a permanent museum.

More wandering along the waterfront, more people watching. I was back at the hotel when Clark got back. He’d been out in California so much longer than he expected, he’d run out of clean clothes. We found a laundromat near the hotel so he could wash everything. I do believe that was my first time in a laundromat.

While the clothes were washing, we got some food at a little Mexican restaurant. I had this quesadilla with grilled chicken that was so good I woke up this morning, at home, swearing I could smell it. Then after the clothes had been moved to the dryer, we went in the nearest bar for a drink. It was this dingy little dive bar called Cherrybomb that only dealt in cash and had two beers on tap — Budweiser and another keg of Budweiser haha. They had some decent bottled beers at least.

Anyway, with all of Clark’s clothes clean, dry and folded, we went back to the hotel and then to the Queenstown Public House for dinner and then to The Waterfront. (Sensing a pattern yet?)

Saturday, Clark didn’t have to go to work! Finally. So, after breakfast, we went for a run together. I felt like poo from the first step. We only did 3 miles.

But, that afternoon, we drove up to Encinitas, rented surfboards and wetsuits and went surfing. It was a beautiful day for it too. Clark even caught his first Pacific Ocean wave, so now he can say he’s actually surfed in both oceans. I still suck in both oceans haha.

After we returned the rentals, we walked to the Encinitas Ale House for a late lunch. They have a very impressive beer list and good food, which, Clark and I were talking about, always tastes so much better after you’ve been in the ocean. We got to see American Pharoah win the Triple Crown, for the first time in our lifetimes. After we ate, we walked back down to the beach.

View from the top of the steps leading down to the beach.

Clark!

I was there too.

Back in San Diego, we got cleaned up and then left for dinner. We were going to eat at The Fish Market, until we remembered it was closed because of a fire. Womp womp. So we went to The Lion’s Share instead, which turned out to maybe even be a little better. We both got chicken-fried quail on a waffle, but the best part of dinner were the fancy cocktails. I had one called the Rosa Sparks which had a little rosebud in it:

And Clark ordered some absinthe, which was a bit of a production:

After heating a sugar cube in that slotted spoon over an open flame, they dripped exactly 40 drops of water through the sugar cube, into the Absinthe, before Clark could drink it.

After dinner, we went to — guess where! — The Waterfront. The place is always pretty full, but it was packed Saturday night. For some reason, there’s only one stall in the women’s bathroom, so naturally there was a line waiting for it. I got in there just in time to see two girls come out of the stall, and one of the other girls in line, who thought they’d taken too long in there, almost start a fight with them! I’m pretty sure the only reason she let them go was because she had to pee so bad. She was in and out of the stall herself and then ran out the door, I assume to continue confronting the other two about how inconsiderate they were.

It really made me feel better about myself, to see someone else react so strongly to other people’s mildly annoying behavior! I may glare daggers into the back of someone’s neck while they take 30 minutes to order a damn coffee, but at least I just keep it bottled up! I look like Mr. Rogers next to that girl.

Sunday morning, neither of us felt like running, so instead, we got up late and then drove over to Coronado. We had lunch at the Hotel del Coronado, a very fancy resort on the ocean side of the island.

The resort, from the beach.

He tried to move his sandals in front of his face to block the picture, but I was too quick.

There are rooms in that hotel that cost twice as much as our mortgage payment. Think about that — for the same amount of money, you can either live in a house on a decent-sized piece of land in southwest Delaware for two months, or in a suite inside a hotel in Southern California for one night. Crazy! There are cheaper rooms in that hotel, sure, but still waaay out of our price range.

After we were done wandering the grounds of the resort, we went to Coronado Brewing to try some of their beers. I got a flight:

I really liked the second one from the left, Senor Saison, which was brewed with jalapenos, so we bought a growler.

We drove back to the hotel, and then laid out our plan for our last night in San Diego. We started with more beer at Stone Brewery’s tasting room near the hotel, where Clark defeated me in a game of Battleship. Boo! Then we hit up Extraordinary Desserts, which is exactly what it sounds like.

There are two huge display cases of desserts inside, and you can write down whichever ones you want, sit at a bar and wait for them to bring them to you. There are full-size portions of everything, but I got three mini ones, because why choose just one?

At the top, in the center, is a lemon cheesecake. The one on the lower right is some kind of peanut butter chocolate bar. But my favorite is the one in the lower left, blueberry coffee cake. You know how sometimes coffee cake can be a little dry and crumbly? Well, if you look real close, there’s a little bit of cream filling in there. Not too much, but just enough to keep the cake perfect. It was SO GOOD. I loved every bite I had in that place.

After dessert, we went back to Ballast Point for a couple of beers, then a tapas restaurant for dinner, and, finally, The Waterfront, one last time. No bathroom confrontations that night!

Monday morning, Clark had to go to Stone’s brewery, but not for drinking; they’re building a new East Coast brewery in Richmond, and Clark’s company is trying to sell them refrigeration equipment. While he was gone, I did a slow 3 miles along the water.

When he got back, we checked out and took off for Phoenix, where he had to take a contractor’s license test the next morning.

It was about a five-hour drive. As soon as we were out of the city, civilization fell away, real quick. It was all desert. A couple hours into the drive, we came up on El Centro, where we made a stop everyone has to make in California:

I’m not a big burger fan, and I never go to fast food restaurants to order one, but In-N-Out is amazing. I have to eat at least one every time we go out there.

Not long after we left El Centro, I started noticing a lot of Border Patrol vehicles. And then, along the highway for a brief time, we could clearly see the actual border fence:

Over there is Mexico!

For the most part though, there wasn’t much to look at for the entire drive. A whole lot of this:

In Gila Bend, we passed the Best Western Space Age Lodge:

(Google image search result, but this is what it looks like now.)

Apparently, this is the last remaining of five futuristic-themed motels opened in the area in the ’60s. The rest of the town is pretty run-down, but then we came up on this time capsule-looking place. We didn’t stop to look around ourselves, but the inside is supposed to still be pretty on-point with the space travel theme too.

When we were almost to Phoenix, we took a detour to a little suburb called Avondale, home of Phoenix International Raceway. It was closed to visitors for the day by the time we got there, but now we know where to go when we decide to check Phoenix off our race track list.

We spent Monday night in Phoenix. We weren’t in a very exciting part of the city, and had dinner at a little restaurant near the hotel. It was still 106 degrees after the sun went down. It’s true about it being a “dry heat,” as compared to the stifling humidity here at home, but still. That’s pretty damn hot.

I had to leave early yesterday morning to fly home. I had the bigger bag, which meant I should take the growler, but it was full. I could have chanced leaving it full of beer, but I really didn’t want to worry the whole way home that all of my clothing was getting soaked in jalapeno saison. So… Clark poured it down the drain. Two liters of perfectly good beer, gone! Oh well. The growler made it home in one piece at least.

My flight home was fine. I didn’t have to wait to get back my checked bag, or even to get on the shuttle back to long term parking. I thought I was home free! But it can never be that easy, so someone caused a huge accident that shut down all lanes on southbound 97 before I could get through. Sigh.

I did eventually make it home though. I made myself go to bed at a reasonable time, because I had to be up early this morning to cover something for work. I was worried I’d sleep through my alarm, since I’m now on West Coast time, but I had plenty of help getting up — this little jerk stood like this over me for more than an hour, between when the sun came up and his actual breakfast time:

WHERE MY BREAKFAST AT.

He’s lucky he’s so cute!

Clark passed his test yesterday, and should be home soon. Finally!