I spent the last week in San Diego visiting Penguin – not only was he finally back from Antarctica, but it was our Anniversary, and I figured spending that on the phone would be lame.
I was excited to absorb some serious Vitamin D, to get some serious running in, and to get some serious time with Mr. Antarctica. SO SERIOUS.
After a week of no running, sidelined by the cold that wouldn’t quit, I was a little anxious to get back on my feet. My new racing flats arrived just in time to pack, so I got to break in the Gouda Two Shoes with a hilly 6-miler around La Jolla.
The running in San Diego was an incredibly different switch from the wintry path/treadmill of Chicago. I spent 36 miles running around places like this:
Historic Highway 1
The old Highway 1, which runs through Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, was my Lake Shore Path for the week. I stuck to the paved historic highway,
but there are a bunch of beautiful trails to choose from as well. And while I didn’t RUN any of those paths, Penguin and I did HIKE them. Too bad the view was horrible.
In all seriousness, this was the first week (week 9 of my training cycle) of which I completed all of my workouts and all of my mileage (the final 8 miles of my week were an icy reminder that I don’t live in the land of the sun and hills). Spring training has been HARD. Yes, I’ve been sick (A lot. Ugh.), and yes it’s been dark and cold and icy, but this is also the first (serious) training cycle I’ve ever done while working full-time. I’m realizing how much more mental fortitude and planning it takes to make things work. No excuses. Just time to put my head down.
When I wasn’t running and Penguin wasn’t working, we spent a lot of time eating and drinking:
Oh, this? That’s just a couple of people making delicious tacos-to-order at a house party. Nothing to see here.
For our anniversary dinner, we ordered approximately 15 servings of brussels sprouts on accident. We have a bad habit of over-ordering, and that night was a new high. To be fair, ALL of those brussels sprouts were billed as a “half and half” single order (half veggie, half bacon-y). This was followed by entrees of leek “fondue” mac ‘n cheese with pancetta and a brined pork chop with an insane black garlic romesco. We finished nothing but the wine, and even that was a struggle.
In case you thought that our eyes were rarely bigger than our stomachs, I give you exhibit B (C, D, E, ZZ?):
Again, to be fair, this is three people’s worth of beer tasters at White Labs Tasting Room, a yeast production company that basically supplies every beer maker ever with the yeast for their beer. In the tasting room, you can choose to try a bunch of the same type of beer made with different strains/flavors of yeast. We chose basically the entire menu: six milk stouts, six IPAs, a few ESBs, a saison, and two hefeweizens.
Lest you think we stopped there, we followed that up with a trip to Green Flash Brewery, where we met up with Team Race With Us member Scott and had dinner courtesy of the New York on Rye food truck. (Um no, I didn’t eat two roast beef sandwiches in one day. Nope.)
Delicious imagery courtesy of Scott Shroyer
Also involved this past week? Shaving Penguin’s field beard, a BADLY-needed massage, a sunburn in February, and the purchasing of two airport books (Gone Girl and Prague Winter), among other things.
Descending into Chicago’s clouds
All in all, this week was a badly needed vacation for so many reasons. One of these days, I won’t have to fly 2,000 miles to make my heart whole. Until then, I’ll have to suffer through vacations in beautiful locations…
Sounds like a wonderful vacation. And happy anniversary! I’ve never had to do the long distance thing — I can’t even imagine how tough that must be.
I’m so jealous of your warm weather runs!
Ahhh! totally jealous of your sunshine-y, beer-drinking ways (not so much the brussels sprouts…blech) One of these days Manny and I will get out there & you and Matt can show us around. So happy you had a good time, Ralphie!