VACATION RUNNING SUCCESS

Cue Sarah McLachlan... "I will remember you... will you remember me?"

The last time I did a week long trip with this same group of friends my intentions of running did not get followed through on very well. I did manage one run on the second day but that was it. Things were a lot different two years ago though, I wasn't in the heat of marathon training (I wasn't training for anything really), and I wasn't nearly as determined. I consider myself a much more serious and dedicated runner nowadays and it showed on this trip.

First of all, the trip itself. It was eight days of fun with good friends. We ended up camping in a cabin for the majority of it and I was sleeping on a bunk designed for children that was not comfortable. Add in drinking and not enough sleep and the recipe for run success isn't the greatest, but I made it happen. We kayaked, hiked, golfed, went to Hershey Park, etc. It was fun!

The morning after I flew in I ran just over four miles in the town of Littlestown where my one friend lives. We were meeting up in Philadelphia with other people later that day so I woke up around 9am after a night of drinking and slogged through four miles. Not the best, but it was fun to cover new ground and get the week started on a good note.

The rest of my runs (four of them, so five in total) were from the campground we stayed at. I used my tablet to plot a route that was three miles, so I figured I'd just loop it twice. Just so happened a "square" of roads was this perfect distance. However, I also casually found a road I could do an out and back on that would let me hit six miles without having to loop twice. I didn't think too much about it, but it was an option if I got bored with the loops.

Crazy bug on cabin. Can anyone identify? It was HUGE! (#)

So on my first run, I went out for two loops. However, I recognized the out and back road and decided to do that instead. It was awesome. I have to say, I freaking LOVED this six mile run. Each of the four times I did it I loved it. It was so scenic and the roads were very lightly trafficked. It included rolling hills and flat parts. It really was just a perfect route. I so wish I could transport myself 3,000 miles so I could run this route more often.

I am also very proud of myself for getting all my runs in. I ran 28 miles in a week where I was on vacation getting not great sleep. That's awesome. I woke up an hour earlier than everyone many days so I could slap my clothes on and go for a run. It would have been so easy to say "fuck it" and just sleep more, but I was determined. My fears of having a lost week were thankfully not realized. Instead, it felt like a week where I maintained my fitness but recharged for the final push of training for the Portland Marathon.

Anyways, overall I am very proud of myself for getting in all of my scheduled runs on vacation. It took a lot of dedication! I also LOVED my running route and I was almost more sad to leave it than leave my friends. I'll see them again, I don't know if I'll ever see my beloved Pennslyvania camping six miler again.

Oh, and I got naked and pooped in a corn field.