Travel Plans

So today I have some good news and some bad news to report.

The bad news is that it looks like the 54 miles I had planned for this week is not likely to happen. The reason? Well, that’s the good news. I’m taking an impromptu vacay to northern Cali this weekend to watch a cousin of mine walk down the aisle! This is so exciting for me on so many fronts. First, I get to hang out with extended family and cousins who I haven’t seen in quite a while. Second, I get to escape the brutal heat/humidity of NYC, where it’s expected to be in the 90s for the rest of this week. Third, I get to continue my annual pilgrimage to San Francisco, where I’ve been at least once a year for the last five years. And last but not least, I’ll have an opportunity to repeat my epic run from the Ferry Terminal over the Golden Gate Bridge again (I’m hoping anyway!) Yeah, I’m really excited. I haven’t gone traveling in so long that my frequent flyer miles would have expired had I not use them for this trip.

There is no true itinerary for this vacay except for Sunday when the wedding ceremony is taking place. Otherwise, the rest of the time is free for us to do whatever we want. Since most of my family members aren’t as familiar with the city as I, there will most likely be a lot of tourisy things on the agenda. This works for me because then I can sneak off while everyone else is preoccupied and get my miles in. Since I have approximately 33 miles on the schedule for the time I’ll be away, there will be plenty of running adventures to be had, time and weather permitting. I also purposely scheduled a return red-eye flight back on Monday night (instead of Sunday night like the rest of the people) just so I have a backup day for my 20-mile epic run if I can’t find time to get it in over the weekend. Yeah, I'm overprotective of glorious long runs like that.

While we're on the subject of summertime vacays, as I was arranging last minute travel details yesterday, I got a little overzealous and scheduled my next running vacay after San Fran as well. Although it’s been in the works for a while, I finally overcame my own commitophobia and registered for the Honolulu Marathon yesterday as well as a bunch of local (Queens, Staten Island) and not-so-local (Philly) halves. You heard right folks. I’ll be traveling to Hawaii in mid-December and running in yet another marathon with my female counterpart, FL. This year, just like it was at Vegas last year, she’ll be racing her marathon while I’ll be taking mine easy after NYC (although a challenge from a club member has already been issued…sigh!). Either way, we hope to be hitting the beach and consuming lots of fruity alcoholic beverages in celebration right after the finish. Heck, I might even start the celebratory drinking before the finish...you never know. Omigosh, it’s going to be such a blast! I can hardly wait. (For all the Philly people who I was intending to meet at your ‘thon, don’t fret. I’ll still be there, running the half, and cheering all of you on. Party at Broad Street anyone?)

But first things first…so how many sets of running clothes will I need for my trip to SF if I’m going to be there for five days? I’m going to bring four hoping to use three. With each set, I guess I’ll have to bring matching bandanas. And shoes? Probably just one pair of runners although two would be ideal. Should I go with the older pair of NB that can double as trail shoes or my newer Brooks pair that I haven’t quite broken into yet? Gosh. I’m having such a tough time deciding what to bring that I don’t know how the frequent business travelers among you all do it. Seriously, I think I’ll need to hold a marathon packing session just to get going!

Hope you all have a great rest of the week and weekend. I’m going to work on a series of posts on speed training for marathoners (tailored individually for newbie, intermediate and veteran ‘thoners) while I’m on the plane so look out for that. I’ll talk to you all when I’m online again on the other side of the country! Happy Running!