Playing Catch Up

Wow, it has been far too long dear friends.

Well I went to San Francisco, and snap was it fun. The weather was perfect, we went to Alcatraz and Napa, ate some amazing food (and drank some tasty drinks) and I even got a few runs in! And by a few I mean 2. Only 2. Over a full week. A month before my marathon. After 2 weeks of being sick and barely running. I know what you're thinking: yikes. (and you're right)

But before I get into that, some pretty pictures from San Francisco! (hope you like food pictures)

There are like 500 pictures, I edited myself for your benefit
(and anyways, this is a running blog, not a Erica-frolicking-about blog)

So the first day I got to San Francisco (well, second day really, Lindsey—my traveling chum—and I got hit with a bout of food poisoning the first day. The culprit: hot dogs from hockey-themed "SlapShotz Cafe" in the Detroit airport) the first thing I noticed were ALL THE RUNNERS EVERYWHERE. Immediately I had runners guilt (with an extra splash of unrealistic Erica expectation). I originally set this trip up in my mind to be my "cheat" week, only doing 3 runs (one of them being a 16 miler). That was before I got STREP and lost 2 weeks of training.

Here's the difficult thing about running while being on vacation: drinking. It's not so easy to do morning runs (to get it out of the way) when you've been drinking the previous night...and when you're terrified of getting lost in a city you've never been in before (and look like you're 14). So morning running is out. After a full day of tourist-ing about town (FULL HOUSE house), I decided to go for a quick 5 mile run. At this point it had been 4 days since my last run, and I was itching to get back on the road.

Saturday: 5 miles. 6pm. Sunny!
I did an easy (geographic-wise) 2.5 mile out and back, so as not to get lost. As soon as I started running I felt great! It was so surreal running in a backdrop like this, and I even had a route that was flat. I ran past AT&T ballpark and along the water. It took me 19 minutes to run to the Bay Bridge and then I ran just past the Ferry Building (which is where the Farmer's Market is held...and where Hog Island Oysters are..mmm), and then turned around and came back. It was a great run and I felt so accomplished (because I was just honestly surprised I actually ran...that took precious time away from being a tourist, or eating...or drinking). Here are the following modes of transportation I saw while on this run:

• Walking
• Running
• Biking
• Roller Blading
• Roller Skating
• Heely-ing
• Rickshaw
• Unicycle (seriously)
• Tandem Biking
• Dog "walking" (no leash necessary)

Sunday: 8 miles. 6:30pm. Still Sunny!
Today is the day I decided against running 16 miles since I didn't want to devote 3 hours of my vacation day to running. If only I knew how much that thinking would seep into the rest of my week. I did the same route, just 4 miles out and back (to about Fisherman's Wharf). There were dogs EVERYWHERE, and not only were there dogs, but none of them had leashes! There were Charles as far as the eye could see: and they were walking themselves. My people, I have seen the future, and it is tethered dog and bark-free! Who knew? The highlight of this run was at about mile 7 I heard a little boy yelling "run! run! run!" in the most adorable way imaginable. So I smiled over at him and waved. He looked starstruck. I felt like ZZ Top (you know..famous people?). But what really struck me was how easy this run was. I had barely run in weeks, and 8 miles was nothing. Not only that, but it went by really quickly! Mostlikely because I was running along the coast of San Francisco...a little more interesting scenery than Kalamazoo, Michigan. But it really made me realize I need to change up my routes. I may like knowing exactly where all my mile markers are, but maybe it's not the best way for me to run and train long distances? Only time will tell...

And then I just didn't run at all for the rest of the trip. F.

I got back and spent a full day sleeping and watching tv (obviously) and then was ready to hit the road the 2 days I had left before I had to go back to work.

Saturday: 8 miles (kind of). 2pm. Sunny!
So I wanted to get 16 miles in today. That didn't happen. I got to my 1.5 mile mark and had to walk for about 4 minutes. I ran another .5 mile, and then walked 6 minutes. What. Is. Going. On. I had two really great runs on vacation....oh yeah, that was a full week ago. And I've done no training since then. I walked/ran the 8 mile route (I was planning on doing this route 2 times...*sigh*...wishful thinking). I tried to stay positive during the 1.5 hours it took me to get through the route, but I was starting to get nervous. The marathon is a month away. I can't even run 2 straight miles.

Sunday: 8 miles (barely). 1pm. 80 DEGREES!
Oh snap was it sunny outside!!! I think I got more of a tan (read: freckles) during this "run" than I did in my entire week in California. And that was the highlight of my run, getting bronzed like a greek sun goddess (if you have ever seen me in real life you would realize the enormity of that joke). I set out for that unattainable 16 miles again, and did worse than the day before. It took me 20 more minutes this time to get through the 8 miles of walking/running. If only you could hear the negative and awful things I was thinking in my head. I didn't even attempt to run the last 1.5 miles. It was the king of all "Walk of Shame"s. How am I ever going to be ready for a marathon? Why did I let myself waste all my months of training when I'm so close? IT'S BEEN A MONTH SINCE I DID A LONG RUN! But when I break down my non-runnings, they're not terrible reasons. I didn't actively try not to run. I was sick, and then I was on (a much needed) vacation. It's just really hard to swallow that at a month until the race, I physically can't do the runs I need to be doing.

Monday: 5 miles. 6pm. Overcast.
I was not encouraged to go out on this run, but I got John to come on the road with me for an "easy" 4 miles. We set out and right off the bat he was way ahead of me. I felt awful, but kept pushing myself to keep going. Thoughts of "I've been training for months and he never does anything and he's doing better than I am" kept seeping into my head, and making me not only frustrated, but sad. Then around 1.5 miles I started thinking about what if I didn't run the marathon. What if I downgraded to the half marathon? After months of talking (and blogging) about my EVERYTHING having to do with running, I would let everyone down and not get close to my goal. I'd never be able to run in the first ever Kalamazoo Marathon. I could literally feel my eyes start to moisten, and I'd have to snap out of it...only to see John 20 feet ahead of me...slowing down every once in the while for me to catch up to him. We got to the 2 mile mark and John said "let's go to Whites Road" (which would be adding a mile onto our run, making it 5 miles). I wanted to kill him. After acting like a child we ran out to Whites, turned around, and started back. Around mile 3 I started to get a wind in me. I picked up my pace, and started feeling better. By mile 4 I was 1/2 a step in front of John. Stupid John making me run a mile more than I wanted to, making me feel better about myself. Stupid. I left the run feeling a *little* encouraged. Just a little.

Wednesday: 10 miles. 5pm. Sunny!
At work we've recently put "Good Form Dining" menus in all of our restaurants, so I've been talking Marathon alllllll day. Needless to say this made me a bit "pumped" for a run, y'know, to see if I still suck. Well long story short, I'M BACK. I tricked John into running the first 6 miles with me (it was officially the longest he's ever run. I think he NEEDS to run the half marathon if he can run 5 and 6 miles back to back with no training....jerk. His calves are killing him, so that makes me feel a little better, I suppose). After I dropped him off I set out for my last 4 miles. I decided against the iPod for the remaining distance...which I NEVER do. It was so nice out, and I felt so great from that first 6 miles I thought it was too perfect to change. I surprised myself with drifting off into my thoughts, and then realizing how fast I was going. I didn't want to overthink it so I could keep this surprising pace, so I drifted off again. What am I going to wear on the day of the race? Did I just step in dog poop or my own snot? Is that frozen pizza I got from Meijer going to be good? Which Girl Scout Cookie box do I get into first: Thin Mints or Samoas? Am I really going this fast? It was the first time since my vacation I was actually excited about running. I got back and my legs were a bit fatigued but I didn't feel as tired as I thought I was going to. I can't wait for this weekend when I try 17 miles. I know I can do it.

On a slightly different note, I think my middle toenail on my right foot is in the process of falling off (it's already getting pretty black). My feet are really gross.

It's crunchtime people. Less than a month!