Earlier this month, when I first started thinking about 2011, all I could think about was the 2 DNF’s I had this year. And then I didn’t want to reflect upon the year anymore. But I’ve had a lot of downtime during this week’s staycation, looked beyond those 2 unfortunate incidents and found that there was a lot of good that happened this year:

I ran my first (and so far only) trail race at the Coyote Hills Half Marathon.

I got a few PR’s:

- The half-marathon distance and didn’t even realize it until 6 months later while on Athlinks.
- The 10K distance.
- The one marathon I did complete this year was 17-min PR.

I embraced yoga, which has become an integral part of my life.

I only had 2 “down” months (June and December) due to injury, which is pretty good for me.

I got an iPad and have read the most books since winning the 2nd grade readathon.

I traveled and was able to spend a lot of time with my family and close friends.

I went to the NKOTBSB concert.

I took stand-up paddle-boarding lessons.

I learned how to ride a bike again.

After being separated for 4+ years, I reunited with Laduree.

I went to Spring Training — twice!…

…then to a lot of Giants games…

…including Opening Day when they raised 2010 World Series Banner…

…and Opening Night, when the players get their championship rings. And I also got a high-five from Brian Wilson during the Giant Race.

I came to understand what nutrition is right for my body, which has completely changed how I eat and what I eat – for the better.

I realized and am grateful that I have a solid team supporting me:

- Smart people who advise me: a personal trainer, running coach, nutritionist, therapist, chiropractor, massage therapist, a studio full of yoga instructors…

- Surrounded by lots of family and friends…

…who love me…

- And a running community who continues to motivate and inspire me. These folks aren’t just “fellow bloggers” or “Twitter friends” anymore – they have become real-life friends and some of the closest ones that I have.

I can honestly say that I am ending 2011 in a much better place than where I was when it started. It was a good year and I am looking forward to 2012 being even better.

Oh and let’s not forget that the 49ers are going to the playoffs!

Who’s Got It Better Than Us?!

I guess I fell off the wagon of my weekly recaps again.

My motto always used to be, “I don’t do Sundays…” meaning, I needed a whole day of doing nothing to psych myself up for upcoming the work week, but lately my Sunday’s (and pretty much every other day of the week) have been so jammed packed. I haven’t had time to blog as much as I would like to, but that isn’t to say that I’m not constantly writing posts in my head. I guess I just need to find the time to get my thoughts written out in some kind of orderly and timely manner.

Week 37, September 11-17
Run: Ran 4 times
- 11 miles
- 6.5 miles
- 6 miles
- 2 miles

Spin: 1 session

Swim: None (sad face)

Strength Training: 1 session of TRX, Kettle bells and Weights

Yoga: 5 classes!!!

Week 37, September 18-24
Run: Ran 2 times
- The disastrous Moo Cow Half-Marathon
- 6 miles

Spin: 1 session

Swim: 1 session for 2000 meters

Strength Training: 1 session of TRX, Kettle bells and Weights (on a Friday night no less!)

Yoga: 5 classes!!!

Week 38, September 25 – October 1
Run: Ran 4 times
- Half Moon Bay 10K + 3
- 5.69 miles
- 7 miles
- 10 miles

Spin: 1 session

Swim: None (sad face again)

Strength Training: 1 session of TRX, Kettle bells and Weights

Yoga: 3 classes (back-to-back classes on a Friday night!)

As you can see I’ve really delved into the whole yoga thing. I was determined to make the most of my 30 days of unlimited yoga for $30. It has been a tremendous help for me, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. I never thought I’d be one of those people who appreciated the Yin side of yoga, but I have definitely evolved into one.

Week 38 was also a low-key week for me. I didn’t fit in as many yoga classes or workouts as I wanted to because I had balance out my schedule with fun times with real-life friends:

• I celebrated one of my oldest and dearest friend’s birthday.
• I had dinner and spent time catching up with former colleagues/friends.
• I took the day off to attend the final SF Giants home game.

I even used this day to splurge on some of my favorite Club Level treats that I won’t be able to have until next season:

Like the Baked Potato:

Or the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Sundae:

Fun times! I admit, I stressed myself out a little trying to figure out a way to still fit in all the workouts and yoga classes that I missed out on, but I finally let it go and told myself – I need the balance. And I was so glad that I did.

Today I got to sleep in (which means waking up at 7 am) and get a few chores and projects done before heading down to San Jose to cheer on some of my favorite Bay Area Runners at the San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon.

We celebrated a bunch of their PR’s and Audrey‘s birthday!

By the time I got home, it was later in the afternoon and I spent the rest of the day finishing up some projects to get ready for the rest of the week. I had wanted to go to a late afternoon yoga class, but decided that I just needed an evening to chill. This was the first day of complete rest where I didn’t do anything active since August 29th. It felt a little weird, but was mentally refreshing.

Looking forward to starting a new week!

This weekend 2 favorites of mine converged – running and baseball = The Giant Race. Here’s how the weekend went.

Friday

ART
I visited my chiro for an ART session. If you’ve ever had an ART session, you know that they are very intense, but fairy short, usually 15 minutes or so. This particular session was at least 45 minutes, if not longer. Dr. Eva started to work on my right hamstring, but it was pretty tight and almost sore to the touch. She had to massage it for a while to loosen it up before she could really get started with the ART. It was so intense that I broke out in a sweat.

Next she worked on my piriformis, which actually wasn’t too bad at all. She did hit a couple of tight spots but it was more relieving than anything else. She had me stand up to do a forward fold and could tell that something was still pulling on my right side so she decided to work on my upper calf. I didn’t think I was having any calf issues but once she started working on it, I realized it was pretty tight too. Funny how the chiros can always find the spots that torture you the most. I left the feeling a little abused but overall, much better.

Orange Friday
The game the night before the race is called “Runner’s Night”. We had the opportunity to buy game tickets, which are usually in the upper deck, in the worst area of the park. Having experienced this last year, Karin and I ditched those tickets and sat in our friend’s Club Level seats.

We had a little bit of an adventure getting into the park, but once we did we spent most of the time combing the club level for “carb-loading” food. I had my usual baked potato (with pulled pork, grilled corn, broccoli, mushrooms, bacon bits, salsa, etc). But you can’t be in the Club Level and not have dessert. So we decided to split some gelato and strawberry shortcake – yum!

Personally, I wish Runners Night was held the game after the race. I had to leave the game early so that I could get a full night’s sleep and be well rested for race day. I was home and in bed by 11 pm but found myself wide-awake at 2:30 am. I was paranoid that I wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep and started having all kinds of doubts float through my mind. I started to feel bruising from my ART session and seriously considered skipping the race and just being a spectator. But I paid a lot of money for this race (it’s quite pricey for a half) and didn’t want to let it go to waste.

Saturday

Pre-Race
I was up at 5:30 am and realized I didn’t have anything to eat for breakfast. I barely had enough cereal to fill a bowl. I had meant to make some oatmeal the night before but forgot to. I found one last English muffin so I threw it in my bag, along with a Gatorade and was out the door by 6 am. Although the race didn’t start till 8 am, I wanted to make sure I got parking in Lot A (closest to the Start Line and ballpark).

I sat in my car for about 45 minutes eating my breakfast. I still wasn’t feeling very motivated until PunkRockRunner reminded me that he was racing an Ironman on Sunday. That was enough to get me over my pity party and I headed over to the start area where I met up with Courtney, Aron and Audrey…

…and my friend Mark.

I lined up in the very crowded starting corrals with Audrey, eating a GU right before the race started.

Race

The GU was a nice pick-me-up; once I started running, I felt quite energized. I needed it too because the first few miles were spent weaving through people. I expected this for the first couple miles because the group I was assigned to was “Group B” which was for 9:00+ min/milers and walkers. But at Mile 3 I was still weaving through walkers.

Though the weather conditions were perfect – foggy and breezy, I still double-fisted through every aid station because I wasn’t sure where or how many they were. Turns out, there were 4, which you hit twice on the out-and-back course. I managed to run up most of the Fort Mason hill and took another GU during Mile 4.

I was cruising down along the waterfront at the Marina, enjoying my playlist when I came upon a large group that was causing a bit of a commotion. I looked up and saw Brian Wilson, All-Star closer for the SF Giants! I whipped out my phone from my belt and threw to the first guy I saw and ran up to him to take a photo.

Apparently he was there for quite a while high-fiving and taking photos with runners. How awesome was it to have a Giant out on the course supporting runners of their own race?! I was stoked and had a permanent smile on my face for the rest of the race!

I continued onto Crissy Field still with a huge grin on my face. The course looped at Mile 7, closest to the GGB. See how foggy it was? You can’t even see the span of the GGB.

{thanks Mark for the photo}

On the way back I started to get tired and this time walked back up the Fort Mason Hill while eating my last GU. One way or the other this darn hill owns me. Actually everyone around me was walking up it as well, until a girl came on by and started cheering us on and telling us to keep going. It was a nice little pick-me-up so I picked up the pace and thanked her for the motivation. We kept passing it each for the last 5K.

Ideally, this would have been a nice race to PR at because the course was mostly flat and the weather conditions were ideal. But after the Brian Wilson encounter where I stopped for a few minutes, I kinda gave up on that idea. But at Mile 11 I ran into Mark. I told him that if I pushed hard I could be close to a PR so he told me that we should at least try.

Unfortunately, the last few miles were spent weaving around the 10K walkers. I understand in a race like this the participants are likely to be more fans of the team than fans of running, but I wished they knew a little more about race etiquette – like how about moving to the side and not walking 10-people wide? Especially if you have strollers. I was seriously hating the strollers.

I crossed the Finish line at 2:15:59, missing a PR by 55 seconds. Had I not stopped for the photo op, I would have had it, but I don’t regret it. Meeting Brian Wilson was well worth a PR. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Best race photo ever!

Post-Race

Up until this point, the race experience was great. Then we got to the Finish Line where I could barely cross it because it was so backed up. It was horrible. HORRIBLE! The same thing happened last year and I was hoping they would have fixed this, but they didn’t. (Check out Aron and Courtney’s race reports for photos of the ugly mess.)

I hopped over the rope just so I could stretch and walk around to bring my heart down. The ushers yelled at me at get back over. I told them that this is how people get injured. I had to push my way to a corner where there was a little room for me to circle around and do a little stretching.

The line slowly moved forward where we were handed bottled water and medals. We crossed by home plate but there was no photo op this year. I eventually met up with Audrey…

…and had to climb the stairs (more cruelty) to get to the bobble head line. If you’ve been to the park, here’s some context to what it was like:

- Finish Line was in front of Left Field bleachers
- Got smushed walking down the 3B line to home plate
- Followed the line along the 1B side and climbed the stairs to the main level along Right Field

It was packed and slow moving. My legs had already stiffened up on me. We proceeded on the Promenade Level back towards the home plate area where we were handed a bag with the typical race expo coupons and flyers.

The line continued along the Promenade Level (so we’re circling back along the 3B line towards Center Field. Along the way we were given bagels, bananas and Safeway shopping bags. That was cool.

Finally, by 1B we picked up our Timmy Lincecum bobble heads, then had to continue on to get our Nike Dri Fit shirts. I actually really like the shirt – I think it’ll still chafe me, but at least it’s much better than last year’s shirt. And to their credit, they didn’t run out like last year.

After getting my shirt and bobble head, I was ready leave. Instead, we were forced to pass by the “expo booths” all the way to Center Field. It was chaotic. The ushers were upset and yelling, “This is so unorganized!” Yes, it was. I wasn’t happy that we were forced to walk through it and not have the option to just leave.

We finally made it to the Marina Gate where we had to walk down the stairs (even more cruelty).

Courtney had patiently waited for Audrey and I. We headed to lunch at Momo’s where I had my traditional burger and fries. I sometimes think the only reason I run races is for the fries, since I only allow myself to eat them after a race.

All in all, there were some nice things that were improved from last year:

- Not running out of shirt sizes
- Giving us a real bobble head and not a mini Lou Seal one
- Mailing us our race bibs and chips
- Parking in Lot A

I still think they need to fix the Finish Line debacle, the whole “forced expo” exit and walkers merging with runners. But overall, it was a fun experience (mostly because of the Brian Wilson sighting) and I think we got a new Giant fan out of it!

Half-Marathon #14 is in the books!

Next up is the Moo Cow Half on Sept 18th!

TGIF! It’s Friday afternoon and I can hardly believe that I survived the week.

The week started off with hours spent at the County courthouse for Jury Duty. Yes, JURY DUTY. It makes me irrationally angry that because someone else decided to commit a crime, others have to be inconvenienced by sitting in a basement rooms for hours on end when that time could be used for more productive things.

I was off schedule, working evenings the rest of the week to attend some international meetings. It threw me off – my sleep schedule, eating patterns, etc. I would come home at 10 pm absolutely starving. I hate eating that late.

So it was no surprise that the miles I ran this week were all pretty crappy. Probably not a good thing considering that I’m running a race tomorrow…yep, another half-marathon. Needless to say I am not feeling it. Sadly, I have a definite lack of excitement for this race versus how excited I was for SFM. I’m sure this will change tomorrow come race day – at least I hope so.

To try and drum up some excitement, I quickly threw together a playlist. It’s pretty similar to my SFM playlist with a few new additions.

Tomorrow’s race is the SF Giants Race, as in my team.

It starts at AT&T Park and runs down the Embarcadero to Crissy Field and back. With the exception of the Fort Mason Hill, it’s a flat course, so as Audrey said, “I’m hoping that I saved all my mojo for race day.” Ha! I’m also hoping for cool weather and that race organizers don’t run out of shirts and Tim Lincecum bobble heads for half marathoners

My motivation will be a big bowl of chocolate salt ice cream waiting for me at the Public House post race.

Here goes nothing!

I’ve known all along that weekends will be the downfall of my attempt to eat a better quality diet. So let’s see how this first weekend went:

Friday Night

My friend Wendy invited me to a SF Giants game in the Virgin America Suite! If you’re unfamiliar with the Virgin America suite, it’s one of the newest suites in AT&T Park that was just built a couple of seasons ago. It’s unique because it sits just above RF. You feel like you’re practically on the field!

{Side note: Wendy and I met when we were roommates 12 years ago! We lived together for a year then completely lost touch with each other. We recently reconnected through Facebook and discovered that since being roommates we’ve both picked up running! She is running the 2nd half of the San Francisco Marathon next month, which will be her very first race!}

One of my favorite things about luxury suites is the food, and this one did not disappoint.

I started off with some Caesar salad, and then chose 2 pulled pork sliders over hot dogs, hamburgers and tacos. I’m not sure that was a better choice but it sure was tasty! When I went back for more salad I discovered an untouched tray of anti-pasta. I loaded up on olives, Portobello mushrooms, asparagus, and artichokes. I wish I’d seen this try before the sliders.

Later in the evening it got really cold so we got Ghirardelli hot chocolates, a staple at this ballpark. It was a lot cheaper than buying (yet another) $50 blanket, and the hot chocolate definitely warmed me up for the rest of the game.

For the rest of the evening I declined the temptation of nachos, as well as a whole basket full of Haagen-Dazs bars which were both major wins for me. Oh, and the G’s won too!

{I said no to this…}

Saturday

A friend of mine had some personal business to attend to in Sacramento so I tagged along for a mini road trip. Actually, I had selfish intentions – I was dying to have lunch at Costa Vida.

If you’ve ever heard of Cafe Rio, it’s exactly like it. And I have a deep love for Cafe Rio so this Costa Vida is the closest thing I have to it. If you’ve never heard of either, they’re both Mexican Grill restaurants.

The sweet pork is to die for (hmmm, sensing a theme here….) so I had the sweet pork salad.

image source

It’s probably not the healthiest thing I could have had for lunch on Saturday, but hey, I only visit this place once a year and the salad was a better option than a burrito. I also said no to tortilla strips.

After taking care of business we decided to catch a flick and went to see the new X-Men movie. It was the very first X-Men movie I’ve ever seen and I must admit – I liked it more than I expected that I would.

As for theatre food, my friend and I got some Dibs. We figured sharing Dibs would be better than each having a Drumstick (another weakness). However, all I ended up having was 2 pieces of Dibs. I got so wrapped up in the movie I forgot to have more.

On the drive back to the Bay Area we stopped for dinner at Tahoe Joe’s in Vacaville. It’s a typical steak place – like Outback or Black Angus. I ordered a Caesar salad with the dressing on the side and char grilled shrimp with a plain baked potato and steamed veggies (although they were buttered). I said no to the calamari appetizer (another habit that was really to break).

After dinner I was tempted to make an inaugural visit to the famous Fenton’s Creamery, but decided I’d had enough for the day.

Sunday

Aron had arranged a meet-up of Bay Area running bloggers! I’d been to a couple of these in the past and met some wonderful people who have since become good friends, so I wasn’t about to miss this one for the world!

We met in the East Bay and went for a nice run along the Ironhorse Trail in Danville. After the run we took over a patio corner outside Peet’s and chatted about all things running and blogging for a good couple of hours. We were there for so long that I even got a parking ticket! Actually, it was just a “warning” (next time they will tow my car), but it was worth it!

After the run I got really hungry so I bought a cranberry almond scone from Peet’s. Tthere’s weren’t a whole of lot of healthy options to choose from, but I figured the cranberry and almond part was healthy, right? But then just as I started eating it, one of the girls shared some homemade coffee cake that she made. Goodbye scone!

Coffee cake is my most favorite thing ever! My sister and I used to make it every Saturday morning when we were growing up. It was so delish that I had 2 pieces (we were there for so long that I considered the second piece to be my lunch). Plus, homemade is better than store-bought, right?!

I love bloggers, especially running ones!

{Here’s Aron’s post with links to each runner’s blog!)

By the time dinner rolled around I was back on the bandwagon with a good healthy, balanced dinner.

While this weekend definitely wasn’t perfect, I think that for my first attempt at a “healthy weekend” some of the choices I made were better than others. There are some definite areas for improvement, but I also feel that there were some wins that I can build upon for next week.

Last night I went to only my third SF Giants game of the season. And I just realized that this is my first G’s post of the 2011 season. How can that be?

Back in April, I went to the season opener (first home game since winning the World Series) and Opening Night (the night the World Series Rings were awarded). I just realized that I never blogged about that weekend. I’m gonna have to do a “flashback” post of it.

Anyhow, back to last night, it was a great night for ballgame. It was cool, but not windy.

{a snuggie kind of night}

The G’s were facing the Washington Nationals with Timmy Lincecum on the mound, just 5 strikeouts shy of 1000.

It was only fitting that I was there with my cousins – Shari and Jeff (and little J).

{Me and ‘Lil J}

Shari, Jeff and I are the biggest Giants fans. We’ve gone to Spring Training together, gone on road trips together, heck, we’ve even gone to Cooperstown together.

We’ve also witnessed some pretty epic milestones at AT&T Park – Barry’s 600th HR and 300th steal, the entire 2002 post-season home games, Game 1 of the 2010 World Series…and now we can add Timmy’s 1000th strikeout to the list.

Too bad Timmy wasn’t his sharpest and the G’s found themselves down 0-4 early in the game. As such, we found ourselves combing the Club level checking out all the new eats that were added this season…

Like the new “build your own baked potato” bar. I had actually bought a beef brisket sandwich, but when I saw Shari’s baked potato, I gave my sandwich away and bought this baked potato instead:

{baked potato + pulled pork + roasted corn + mushrooms + broccoli}

Since the weather was mild (cool, but not windy), I decided I *had* to have a Ghirardelli sundae. I can’t be at a game and not have either a Ghirardelli sundae or hot chocolate. San Francisco treats:

{7th inning special}

The Giants pulled off yet another comeback and tied the game in the 8th inning. It then went into extras innings. I lost 3 hours of sleep because of those extra innings and felt every bit of it today. Thank goodness they won it in the 13th! The torture continues…

Workout: 19-mile run

In thinking about where I wanted to run this 19-miler, I considered a few different trails. But really, a trail can only be so good for so many miles. And with the temperatures climbing considerably last week, I decided the City would be the best place to run.

I have felt an affinity to San Francisco since I first visited it back in the 90′s, while on my way to college. From that very first visit, I knew that this is where I would end up. I love everything about it – the history, the culture, the Giants (and 49ers too), but especially it’s scenery.

I plotted out this plan:

1. Park at the Embarcadero Center
2. Start running from the Ferry Building to AT&T Park.
3. Head back towards the Ferry Building and continue on the Embarcadero
4. Run through Fisherman’s Wharf, Ghirardelli Square and the Aquatic Center
5. Continue through Fort Mason
6. Head to Crissy Field
7. Up and across the Golden Gate Bridge
8. Loop the entire route back to the Ferry Building

I’ve run this route many times for training runs and races, just not the entire thing all in once run. I was excited for it!

But of course, last night was the one night I had a decent night’s sleep and actually slept right up to my alarm. I had to force myself out of bed this morning, but was able to make it out the door before 8 am, as planned.

After parking, I walked to the 24-Hour Fitness in the Embarcadero (I have an all-club membership) for once last bathroom break and to gather myself together. In hindsight, I should’ve brought my gym bag with my swim gear and left it in a locker. I could’ve gone there after the run and used the sauna, steam and whirlpool, as well as the stretching area. Will definitely do this next time.

As I started running, I felt really sluggish, despite having had a good night’s sleep. I decided I don’t like to have a rest day before a long run. It takes me longer to feel comfortable.

I had my iPhone packed in my iFitness belt and wasn’t planning on taking any photos. But then I ran past AT&T Park and saw that they had all new photos in the display windows. I couldn’t resist. As a result, this will be a photo-heavy post.

AT&T Park

{C Buster Posey aka my favorite player}

{Closer Brian Wilson}

{The World Champions}

{The ticker tape parade}

For the record, I took a ton more photos, but I won’t bore you with them.

Embarcadero

I looped around the park back to the Embarcadero.

{This is McCovey Cove, the back side of the ballpark.}

{Bay Bridge}

On the run back towards the Ferry Building, I ran down one of the piers, just for fun.

{View of the Ferry Building from Pier 14}

{Coit Tower}

Fisherman’s Wharf

I continued down the Embarcadero, reaching Fisherman’s Wharf.

{That photo of us on the Bay in my last post? It was on one of these boat tours. For $15/person they’ll take you on a stroll of the Bay.}

{On the front side, you can watch them bake their famous sour dough bread.}

{The famous Ghirardelli Square}

{The Aquatic Center. There was an open-water swimming class that was just getting started. Tons of triathletes in this area.}

Fort Mason & Crissy Field

After the Aquatic Center, I headed down another random pier, which looped to be about a half mile.

{View of the City from the pier}

Then it was up the infamous Fort Mason hill that always kicks my butt! Here’s a photo of Alcatraz from the Fort Mason Hill:

After the Fort Mason Hill, I ran down the Marina Green and onto the Crissy Field area.

{I ran right along side the swells.}

{I took a photo of this boat because “Mako” is my late grandfather’s name.}

{This was still a little early, but on the way back, the beach got crowded! Lots of folks out enjoying the nice weather.}

Golden Gate Bridge

From Crissy Field, I ascended up to the GGB.

{View of Crissy Field from the climb up to the bridge}

So one thing to know about the GGB is that it’s not flat. I guess you could say its “rolling hills?” The inclines go up and down.

Once I got to the Marin side of the bridge, I stopped to use the facilities and refill my water bottles with water from the water fountains. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was because I actually downed several bottles before filling up and heading back.

{View of the City from the GGB}

BTW – there was NO WIND on the bridge! How amazing is that?!?

That was the last of my photos since the rest of the run back-tracked the route.

While on the bridge, my right calf started to hurt again, in the same spot where it bothered me the last 2 long runs, but it eventually went away.

When I came off the bridge I was just starting 13 miles and still feeling pretty good. I had been eating an Espresso GU every 5-miles and I really noticed the impact on my energy level (must be the double dose of caffeine).

I ran back through Crissy Field thinking what a happy place it was – dogs playing, kids playing, people just out enjoying the day.

The temps were climbing and I was wearing a double-layered long-sleeve shirt. Though both were light, I was really warm. I had already gone through both water bottles, so I stopped at a water fountain to refill, again, downing a few more bottles before a final refill and continuing on.

Fisherman’s Wharf had gotten crowded with tourists. As I darted through them, I noted that they do not pay attention to their surroundings at all. Half of them didn’t even notice me trying to manuever around them. I finally copied a few other runners and just ran in the street. Traffic was light so it was a non-issue.

I hopped back on the sidewalk at Pier 39, where it was much wider. I had about 1.5 miles left and this is where I started to battle. Cardiovascularly I was fine. My right hip hurt, but it was manageable. It was my feet that hurt the most. I was so tempted to jump on a trolley and just ride back to my car. But once I hit 18 miles, I told myself to suck it up and finish it.

I had my Garmin set to countdown the miles, so I did just that…9-8-7…you get the idea, until it finally beeped “Workout Finished” and I found myself right in front of the Ferry Building – 19 miles exactly!

I walked around for a bit, stretched a little, crossed the street and just sat, resting, in Justin Herman Plaza for a good 20+ minutes. Once I felt sort of normal again, I made my way back to my car where I had Gatorade and bananas. I waited a bit before leaving, just to make sure my legs felt okay, then I drove out.

No sooner had I left the garage my left calf; i.e., the good one, charley horsed. Luckily I was in the left lane and there was an open parking space that I immediately pulled into. I had to get out and walk it off. I stretched it out and guzzled down another Gatorade. I sat in my car trying to massage out the cramp for about 10-minutes, then prayed to God that I’d get home without it happening again.

I put the car in neutral every time I had to come to a stop, and miraculously made it home in one piece (including a stop for a double-double from In-n-Out.

I survived another long run. The usually cool temps, frequent water fountains, and mix of turns, flat, hills, and sandy terrain of Crissy Field makes San Francisco a great, great running town. I’m doing all my long runs in the City from now on!

As I sat by the pool for 5+ hours on Friday, I kept thinking about the 15-miler I had scheduled on Saturday. I hadn’t been eating very well (I mean, I was on vacation!) and I knew I also hadn’t been drinking enough fluids. Sitting in the sun didn’t help that either.

So after lunch I moved to the shade and took a 45-minute nap under the palm trees.

That evening my cousins Shari, Jasmine and I met up with my parents, aunt and sister for dinner at Don’s & Charlie’s:

It was the only meal I’d have there and the ribs are my absolute favorite and I couldn’t not have them. So I ate half a slab but did have a baked potato. Pretty much the only carbs I had.

When we got back to the hotel, I stopped at the 24-hr shop and got a bagel since Regency Club didn’t open for breakfast until 7 am.

We wanted to be at the ballpark when it opened at 11 am the next day. It would take at least 30 minutes to get there, and I’d need at least an hour after running to stretch and clean-up. Which means I’d have to start my run by 6:30 am at the very latest. Having run here before and experiencing the desert sun, I was more than okay with this.

My alarm went off at 5:30 am but I didn’t get out of bed until after 6ish. I had laid all my stuff out in the bathroom (including that bagel) so as not to wake anyone. I stumbled around and got ready in the dark, downed the bagel and headed to the concierge to find out the recommended running trail.

They gave me the same card as last year and my plan was to do the 5.8 loop three times. I hadn’t packed any fuel belt, water bottle or gels with me so I figured each time back I’d run to the 24-hr shop and get a drink of water from the free water station they kept at the counter.

My first few steps out of the hotel – the sun wasn’t quite up yet:

Just as I was about to start, I saw this little guy hopping around:

I headed out along the main road outside of the resort. It ran for about a mile and was pretty non-descript. A little into the second mile I veered onto the bike/jog path around a man-made lake. It was a mile out and back. Had I headed back to the hotel at this point would have been to repeat last year’s short run.

Instead, I crossed under the tunnel and headed in the other direction to finish the 5.8-mile loop. Only thing is I missed road that I was supposed to take to head back and instead kept running north. I zoned out and wasn’t paying attention to my Garmin. By the time I figured out I had missed the turn; I decided to just keep running and see where it took me. The path ended at 8-miles here:

At this point, I had no idea where I was. I had my phone with me, but the map app wasn’t working right. So I turned around and headed back in the direction that I came.

When I got to this point…

…at around 10-miles, I figured out where I had missed the turn.

I got back to the main road at 12 miles, so had to repeat a little bit to finish out the last 3 miles.

Since I didn’t have any water or gels with me, those last 3 miles were pretty tough. The sun was already out and I envied people I passed who had a drink bottle in their hands. I was almost tempted to ask one to let me have a drink. You’d think in Arizona that there would be water fountains along the path…but nada.

I got back to the resort right before Regency Club closed and was able to snack a few pieces of fruit and lox, and downed 2 huge glasses of water.

When I started out, I honestly didn’t think I’d do all 15. I didn’t feel prepared and told myself I’d be happy with anything between 5 miles and double digits. I’m pretty happy I got all of the miles in…even though those last few felt like death!

Scottsdale, Day 2 AM = Sun. Pool. Fun.

Plan: Get up, have breakfast, hang out by the pool, get to the ballpark by 11 am, enjoy a few innings, come back to the hotel for more pool time.

What Actually Happened:

1. We got up and headed to the Regency Club for breakfast. If you’re not familiar with the Regency Club, its a dining area that serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks all day long. Here’s some photos from snack time (sorry, I didn’t take any breakfast photos because my hands were carrying too much food like homemade granola, lox, ham, toast, fruit…you get the idea.

{at breakfast, this counter has a full spread of bagels, pastries, fruit, meats, cheese, etc. for snacks, it has dried fruit, trail mix, and cookies. i may or may not have had 3 chocolate chip ones}

{at breakfast, this is full of juices, teas, coffees.}

2. We walked to the pool and ate breakfast poolside. Because it was so early, we were the only ones there and got prime poolside real estate!

{a beach at the pool!}

{the 3-story waterslide}

{one of the pools – there are 10 total – devoted to volleyball}

3. We were supposed to leave the pool around 9:30 am to get ready and head to the ballpark. But we were having so much fun and didn’t want to give up our prime spot at the pool. So when the Giants tweeted today’s lineup and we saw that it was the “B”-ish lineup, we made the executive decision to bail on the game. From the looks of the outcome, it looks like we made the right decision.

4. So we swam, tanned, ordered lunch and drinks from the pool boys, napped.

{lunch was a southwest shrimp caesar salad!}

{the palm trees i napped under}

6 hours of bliss, but sadly, I have not much progress on my tan…yet…

Hello from the desert!

We arrived late last evening and picked up our powder blue Crown Victoria car rental which told us it was 91 degrees outside at 9 pm. :/

We headed straight to my aunt’s home in the West Valley where my folks are staying (they happen to be coincidentally visiting at the same time). We had dinner, and then headed to another aunt/uncle’s vacation condo nearby where we stayed for the evening.

My natural body alarm clock woke me up super early and I got to watch the sunrise. This photo doesn’t do it any justice.

I read for a few hours then headed to the pool to get some laps in. I had a few challenges trying to figure out how to get in the pool, and by the time I did, I was only able to get a 35-minute workout in. Better than nothing, right?

We met up with my parents and sister for lunch at the Yard House. I know that the Yard House is a chain restaurant but I LOVE IT! I seriously do. I wish they had one in the Bay Area! The Kona coffee macadamia nut sundae is one of the best things ever!

After an afternoon nap (I mean, we are on vacation), we headed to Scottsdale where we’ll be for the rest of the trip.

{this afternoon’s temp reading}

We stopped at Sports Authority to pick up some baseballs for autographs and I picked up some GU and drinks for my long Saturday run.

Once we got to the ballpark, the temps had cooled down considerably and it turned out to be a breezy evening – a perfect night for a ballgame!

Our original seats were along Right Field, but we were invited back to the seats behind home plate again – the best seats in the house!

It was a quick game with the G’s beating the Angels 4-0. After the game we checked into the hotel and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. We’ve been coming to this resort since 1994 and being here just feels like “home.”

I’ll be heading to the pool again in the morning and will take some pics of the property while I figure out my route for Saturday’s run.

PS Sorry for the crappy iPhone photos. I’ll be using my regular camera for the rest of the trip.