Marathon training week #1

Ruth and Mary

This week kicks off is the start of my training for the Chicago Marathon! When I trained for the Disney Marathon, we were did a four day a week training schedule (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday) which was a lot of work, but having other people to run with made it somewhat tolerable.  This time I wasn't sure I wanted to run four days a week because I would be training alone and because I started having IT band issues when I ran three days in a row.  I have been very vigilant about my physical therapy schedule and only missed two days while I was in Europe.  All of my hard work paid off, at my recheck appointments with my physical therapist and sports medicine doc they both said I had increased the my flexibility and stability of both my hips.  They also agreed that a three day a week running program with cross training (cycling and climbing) was a great idea.  After searching around for different training programs, I decided to go with the Hal Higdon Marthon 3 Program.  We had followed his Novice 2 program for Disney and so I was confident about his training programs.  The Novice 2 program was 18 weeks long while the Marathon 3 program is 24 weeks long.  I am ready to tackle the challenge of training alone for 24 weeks (!!!!!),  but it won't be the same as having Ruth and Mary with me every step of the way.  We had each other through the long runs and the celebratory meals after our Saturday long runs.  I couldn't have done my first marathon without them.  They are both hardcore women, with Ruth getting married and trying to finish her PhD and Mary only 6 months out from having her daughter Lucy when we started training.  Mary even nursed Lucy at mile 14 of the marathon!

I will be modifying the schedule some to fit in the Portland Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon on May 18 and the Peachtree Road Race 10k on July 4th.  The biking will be my work commute.  I usually ride to work three days a week but I am might decrease to only two days a week with one or two days a week of climbing at the gym.

Recovery drink of champions

Although I won't have my human training partners, I will have Endo and Charlie to train with!  They make the best running partners because they are always ready to go, always happy to go, and provide lots of motivation for me.  I wish I could be as excited about running as they are.  My runs always start with running a longer distance with Endo and then back to the house to refill the water bottle and get Charlie.  It is great having Charlie at the end of my run because I may want to stop, but he is so excited to go out running that I have to keep going.  When Sierra was around I used to walk her afterwards while I drank my chocolate milk as a cool down.  I miss having Sierra around for these walks but I still have my chocolate milk.

Running partner #1

I want to thank everyone that has donated to Team Paws.  I am overwhelmed at everyone's generosity.  As of today, I have raised $2750, only $250 more until I am in the 9 Lives Club!  This endeavor has really helped me deal with the loss of Sierra and I am so happy that we are saving homeless animals because of it.

Tourist on the run

White House, Washington DC

Since I started running in 2011 I have grown to appreciate how running is sometimes the best way to see the sights.  I mainly run early in the morning, the weather is cool, the lighting is great, and there are few people out.  I try and make a huge effort to include running into whatever vacation or work trip that I am on.  I have gotten to run in some really great places: Washington DC, San Francisco, New York City, and the backroads of Uganda to name a few.  I tried running in Bangkok, but ended up settling with treadmill runs and a 0.1 mile "running path" at our hotel.

NYC

Korean War Veterans Memorial, Washington DC

San Francisco

When I was in Uganda for work my coworker, Dave, invited me to take part in a 80 or 90 km relay "race" from Kampala, the capitol of Uganda, to Jinja, the source of the white Nile River.  The race was put on by the Kampala Hash House Harriers and included an after party in Jinja.  It was an incredible experience that I was very lucky to take part in.

Me suffering somewhere in Uganda

Spectators along the route in Uganda

I continued my tradition of running while on vacation during my recent trip to Europe.  I fit in two runs in Tuscany, one in Florence, three in Paris, two in Brugge, and two in Brussels.  I was looking forward to running in Rome but ended up cutting out my weekend run because we walked 8.5 miles sightseeing and also because I was feeling a little under the weather.

Florence

Paris

Brugge was a great place to run thanks to a pathway for runners and cyclist that follows the canals around the city.

Spring flowers in Brugge

Brugge running path

Brugge canal

My first run in Brussels was the worst.  It was just busy city streets with lots of traffic and construction going on.  It was highly disappointing.  It was only a 3 mile run and I still had to do my long 8.5 mile weekend run and I really dreading it.  Luckily the route from our apartment near Grand Place to a large city park called Bois de la Cambre made up for my short run.

Palais de Bruxelles

Boise de la Cambre, Brussels

Running tourism has become fairly popular throughout the world, there are even websites on it and many hotels are offering running concierge services!  I guess if this microbiologist career doesn't work out I could become running tour guide (as long as they run slow)!

P.S.  I am getting close to my $3000 fundraising goal for Team Paws, which qualifies me for their 9 Lives Club (the cost of saving 9 homeless animals).  If you want to help me reach that goal please donate at my fundraising page.  Thanks!

Rome Part 2

Las Vegas 2010

For our second day in Rome we got to hang out with my good friends Kenny and Laura Stainback. Kenny and Laura are climber friends that I previously traveled to France with to climb the famous boulders around Fontainebleau.  Nick and I attended their wedding and Laura was our witness when we eloped in Las Vegas (Kenny was out of town).  Kenny and Laura have been traveling the world for the last 18 months for their professional hiatus and just happened to be in Rome the same days we were before they headed back to the United States.

Colosseum

We explored the Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill together.  Nick really did not want to go see the Colosseum (and Kenny didn't really care either) but I really wanted to see it.  Luckily Nick and Kenny spent the entire time we were in line to get in talking camera stuff, so it worked out nicely that Laura and I didn't have to hear them complain at all!  They did spend a little time arguing over who got to be the lion and who got to be the gladiator.




View of Colosseum from Palatine Hill



Roman Forum

Next we headed over to the Forum and Palatine Hill.  Parts of the forum were closed off so we weren't able to see it.  Palatine Hill is prettly sprawling and we weren't being very good tourist, so most of the time we had not idea what we were looking at.  I did see one large, old looking building in the distance and asked what it was.  Kenny said it was a prototype for the Colosseum, but for some reason I don't believe him.  We did get a pretty sweet photo of Kenny and I in action in front of the Colosseum.

I can't really explain what is going on here



Altare della Patria

 After finishing up at Palatine Hill we headed got espresso (of course) and some paninis.  We continued walking and saw the Forum of Augustus, Julius Ceasar Statue, Altare della Patria, and Piazza Venezia.  We concluded our sightseeing at Piazza Venezia with the plans of meeting up for dinner later that night.  Since we are now eating on European time, Malvina had made reservations for all of us at 10 pm to eat at Trattoria da Teo.  Despite our 10 pm reservation we were not seated until 10:45, but they made up for it by giving us free proseco and a bottle of red wine.  The food was good, but it would be pretty hard to match the meal we had at Le Mani in Pasta.  However, the company was great!  It was wonderful to hear about Kenny and Laura's adventures and see Nick and Malvina bond after not seeing each other for almost 20 years.  We finally wrapped up our meal around 2 am and I was exhausted!  Laura and Kenny had to head back to their B & B near the Termini train station, but Kenny assured us that no one would mess with him because he know Kung Fu (and Laura would protect him)!




Fried artichokes and zucchini flowers

Burrata, chicory and crispy flat bread

We took it easy on Saturday and Sunday, mainly just eating, drinking cappuccinos, and exploring Trastevere, the neighborhood we were staying in.  Saturday night we ate at Le Mani in Pasta again.  We had taken a photo of the specials so that Malvina could help us with the translations.  Again, we had another amazing meal.  More sea bass carpaccio, red shrimp, the best broccoli I have ever had (didn't realize this could be a thing), sea bass for two, creme brulee, and more tiramisu!

Can't forget the pizza!



Le Mani in Pasta specials

Red shrimps

Rome Part 1

On March 26 we then headed to Rome on the high speed train.  I love trains.  Nick was looking extra handsome during the train ride in his new jacket and scarf.  Why don't american men wear man scarves?

Nick had a good friend, Malvina, from his childhood days in Beijing that is Roman.  Malvina was nice enough to arrange an apartment for us near where she lives in Trastevere.  We headed to the apartment, got settled in, and then met Malvina for dinner that evening.  The next day our sightseeing plans were slight derailed when Malvina texted us and let us know that Obama was in town that day and we should avoid the Forum and Colosseum.  We then decided to head out to other sights around Rome.  It turned into the most epic day of sightseeing I have ever had.  All in all we ended up walking about 8.5 miles with stops for espresso every hour or so.  No wonder Nick couldn't sleep at night.

Pantheon

Pantheon

Fountain outside the Pantheon

Piazza del Popolo

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

Swiss Guard

St. Peter's Square

Basilica di San Pietro

Basilica di San Pietro

Rome is such an overwhelming city.  The whole city should be a museum.  I don't think I can pick a favorite from the day, but the Piazza del Popolo was an unexpected highlight.  One downside of the day was the two Italian police helicopters hovering over Rome because of Obama's visit.  After such an amazing day of exploring Rome we topped it off with one of the best meals we have ever had at a place called Le Mani in Pasta.  This restaurant was mentioned in a food blog that Nick came across.  We weren't able to get a reservation until 10 pm which I was not thrilled about because I was not quite adjusted to the European way of eating late, but it was definitely worth the wait!

Cacio e Pepe

Sea bass carpaccio with truffles

Grilled Turbot

Nick's mind is blown

Words cannot convey how amazing the sea bass carpaccio was.  We also had the best tiramisu I have ever tasted.  Before we left the restaurant we made reservations for another night because it was so mind blowing.




Next up on the blog: day 2 of being a tourist in Rome with less walking and meeting up with friends that have been traveling the world for 18 months!