End of Crazy Two Weeks

Ed.: I totally forgot about the Blue Moon Run back on the 31st. Mainly because we left town the next morning for a wedding in DC. I'll make my next post a race report. Promise.

By today, the craziness of the last two weeks or so will, with any luck, abate somewhat, and allow me to breathe a bit. I've essentially been doing three jobs (mine, and two other guys who have been on vacation or who have left our group) since last week, which doesn't sound all that hard. But I was in the office only two days last week, which meant I was doing five days' worth of work in two. Multiply that by three jobs and you see why the posting has been sporadic. Truth be told, I spend a little time at the office taking a break and writing posts, so that spare time was the first to go when things picked up. It was hectic, to say the least, and I was thrilled when the weekend arrived and we got out of town for a few days.

But, that hasn't really impacted my training, for the most part. We were in DC for a wedding for Labor Day weekend and I was able to get my 7 miler in before the ceremony. It was really humid that weekend, which made the run very tough going, much less the outdoor wedding ceremony later that afternoon. But it was a scenic run down the Rock Creek Park Trail, to the Lincoln Memorial and back again.



Red balloon marks the start and end points



We spent this past weekend at The Homestead resort in Hot Springs, VA. It's an old resort out in the mountains that's all about old-school Southern luxury and it was really nice. We had planned to go canoeing on Saturday, but it was rainy much of the day, which actually worked out better. A. and I both went to the fitness center and did our long runs instead. I generally hate doing long runs on a treadmill, but there really wasn't any other option. The resort is literally off a state road in the mountains of southern Virginia, so there are no sidewalks to speak of. And the trails, while beautiful, are steep and not ideal for a slow 8 mile run. For instance, we hiked to the top of a mountain hill overlooking the resort on Friday evening after we arrived. I'll post our pictures from the hike later, as they're on our desktop at home.

So, the treadmill it was. But I got it done without too much trouble, and am on track to hit a nine miler this weekend. And afterward, we changed and relaxed in the heated indoor pool while it rained and temps dropped into the high 50s outside. Then we hit afternoon tea (free hot or iced tea, sandwiches and sweets!) and then went back to the room and chilled until dinner. So, not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

The weather here in Baltimore has broken, at least for the time being, and temps are barely reaching 80 with reasonable humidity. A. wants to go up to the NCR Trail this weekend to do our long runs, so the weather should be ideal for that. We're done traveling for a bit, which is good because we've spent the past three weekends out of town and I'm ready for a weekend at home, frankly.

ArtScape Escape Weekend Review

We made it back yesterday without any trouble after our weekend away from the hipster insanity of ArtScape. We found a parking spot in the neighborhood without much trouble, although we took the first spot we found. It was 10 minutes from our apartment, but better than looking around for 30 minutes. Our street was still teeming with people and the streets were pretty gross, so we were glad we got out of town.

My intention was to do a three-mile run on Saturday and a 4 or 5 mile run on Sunday. Below is the route I had intended to run:

Unfortunately, I ran a hybrid of the three-mile route above and the longer route I had mapped out for Sunday. Instead of turning down Constitution Ave and back towards my sister-in-law's apartment, I ran around the Capitol, as I had planned for Sunday. Running back up Capitol Hill and past the Library of Congress, I thought I was on Independence Ave SE, but a moment later realized I was in fact running down Pennsylvania Ave SE. Not a huge deal, but as you can see from the map below, by the time I figured out where the hell I was going, I had added an entire extra mile on to my route.

Not a big deal, but then I ended up walking about another 4 miles that afternoon going to the Folger Library and then down to the Air & Space Museum. And that's not counting walking through the museum, which, as anyone who's been can attest, is enormous. So, call it 5 miles of walking total. By the time my wife picked me up (she had gone to two performances as part of the Capital Fringe Festival instead), my legs were cooked. And they were still tired when I woke up on Sunday, so I bagged my planned long run and took the dog for a leisurely walk instead.

So, it was not the most successful of training weekends, but I got a decent amount of exercise in for my legs, even if it wasn't all running. And I got to see some exhibits I hadn't seen in a long time at Air & Space and a very cool special exhibit at the Folger. But tomorrow, it's back to the schedule to be ready for the Blue Moon Run at the end of August.



Weekend Training Schedule: July 20-22, 2012

This week's weekend training post is going up a bit early, as I'm taking today off and heading down to Washington for the weekend. This weekend is ArtScape here in Baltimore, wherein ~350K people descend on our neighborhood for the largest free arts festival in the country (I think). Basically, it's three days of art exhibits, performances, food, music, etc. Which is wonderful for the city, but it's terrible for neighborhood residents. We live a block from the festival, and the last few years the whole weekend has been total loss. Roads get blocked off starting the Monday before and going until the Tuesday after; illegal street vendors set up their tents in front of our building and hawk their wares while blocking the sidewalk (a call to BPD usually puts an end to that, yet they return year after year); traffic along our street is jammed for a week, basically; we have to park our car and not move it, otherwise we'll never get a spot. Nevermind the trash and unpleasant people the festival brings in (a small minority of festival-goers, of course, but still it makes things nasty if they decide to hassle you).

So, last year we decided to pack up and get out of town for the weekend to avoid the awfulness. My sister-in-law lives in DC, so we're packing up, taking the dog and spending the weekend down there. I took today off so we can get out before the festival begins at noon.

I was going to run this morning before we left, but just didn't feel like it. I'll get 3 miles in tomorrow, and I've mapped out a nice loop in DC that will take me around Capitol Hill on Sunday morning, which should be lovely. Come Monday, I'll post that route.

In between, we're going to be tourists, of a sort. Having been born in DC and having grown up 90 minutes from the city, I spent a lot of time at the museums, monuments and other attractions in the city as a kid. It's been a good number of years since either of us spent time in the Smithsonians. So, we're going to hit up the tourist circuit in DC. I want to see an exhibit on the history of London at the Folger Shakespeare Library as well and I'd like to pay a visit to the National Archives, which I haven't visited since literally elementary school.

We'll also go to brunch on Sunday at a restaurant in DC with a patio so we can take The Bear. They even have a Pooch Menu, which includes non-alcoholic dog beer in addition to entrees like a raw bone or dog-friendly meatballs in gravy with rice. We'll stick with water and the meatballs...dog beer is a bit much even for this dog person.

Return from the Weekend

After an up and down weekend, I’ve returned to Baltimore with more conviction to get in shape and in withdrawal from not seeing any of the Nats’ games at St. Louis over the holiday.

First, the weekend. When I say up and down, I mean just that. Annie and I went to Shepherdstown, WV on Saturday afternoon to visit a jeweler there who came highly recommended to us. The jeweler was fantastic and we’ll more than likely be buying the engagement ring from him as he’ll be designing the ring just for Annie. So we leave the store, happy as clams and get into the car. We’re taking about the designs and all that as I turn the ignition. The engine turned and turned but wouldn’t turn over and catch. Shit. We just looked at each other in disbelief. Luckily I joined AAA so I called a tow truck, called the local Jeep dealership (where we bought the Jeep years and years ago), and begged them to look at the car that afternoon. After practically offering my first born to the guy, they agreed to take a look and see what was wrong. So, I had it towed to the garage. As a side note, as my car sat atop the tow truck, our luggage for the weekend in the parking lot, the tow truck operator asked, “Are you going to follow me to the dealer?” Yeah, we’ll jog right behind you, pal.

Anyway, long story short, my parents picked us up, they fixed the Jeep that afternoon and everything after that was fine and dandy. However, as I said above, I did not get to see the Nats games at all this weekend. Sad because they’re hosting the Dodgers and Padres next and I am doubting our club’s ability to defeat those teams on a regular basis. On another note, I’ve decided to take up running as a pastime. It’ll get me in shape, give me something to do at the gym other than just pedal on a bike aimlessly, and if I can get fit enough, I’ll be able to run a few races. I just bought a paid of Nike Air Pegasus today so I’m committed to it. It’s also a pretty cheap hobby now that the shoes are purchased. I’ve always wanted to get better at running (I always felt I was bad at it, even when I was in better shape in high school and college), and now I have the time to dedicate to it.
At any rate, tonight I will finally get back to my usual routine of catching at least half of the Nats game each night. I recently got TiVo, so even if I’m at the gym or wherever, I should have no excuse for missing another game…unless my TiVo breaks. In which case I don’t know what I would do.