We haven't written much about our training thus far, but Adam and I had a fun run yesterday that I thought I'd blog about.
So I decided (to keep me motivated and to rack up the miles) that I would sign up for half marathons and full marathons along my training journey to this cross country endeavor. So far I signed up for the La Jolla Half Marathon- San Diego and I'm going to sign up for the Rock & Roll Marathon as well.
Anyways-- I ran a mock of the La Jolla half yesterday to clock in a long run. It was beautiful and it had a couple hills (not as bad as I thought it would be). If anyone is familiar with heartbreak hill- I thought the major hill of the la jolla half was steeper, but shorter and less exhausting. The run starts at sea level and ends at sea level, so every step up has a step down. The up parts of the run felt better on my knee joints, but the down parts were a relief on my muscles. With the cool breeze from the ocean and breathtaking views, the heat of the sun only bothered me a little. I can't wait for the actual race where water and lemon-lime beverages await me at each mile :) A great run for anyone who lives in the San Diego area.
Warnings: 1- Beware the cyclists-- they get pretty peeved if you don't move out of their way...but even if they yell at you, by the time they get their sentence out they are at least 30 yards away and talking to themselves.
2- Beware of drivers who have nothing better to do then yell at exhausted runners- We were crossing a non-busy street, at the exit of a company parking lot, and there was one car leaving the parking lot stopped at a street light. There were no other cars to be seen for miles, and they had a red light. Adam and I crossed the street (running as fast as we could at about mile 11) and their light turned green which really sent them into a frenzy...they immediately honked their horn and screamed out the window-- "what the *#$% do you think you're doing!?!?!!!!!!!" (It's important to note that at this time we had already run past their car and instead of yelling they could have just driven off....). Anyways-- that really upset us..thinking about how rude people can be for no reason at all. I hope our run across the country brings us into contact with friendly folk :/
Sights to see-- Besides the obvious beautiful La Jolla Cliffs- At the end of the La Jolla Half Marathon there is this man who walks around town with his hands wide open to the sky, mumbling something, and not anyone or anything could make him stop. I thought he was praying or a bit delusional, and Adam thought he had won the lottery and was in a semi-permanent state of shock. Either way-- we saw him at the end of our run in exactly the same arms to the sky position as he walked around town..this was nearly 2 hours later...very interesting man. If anyone sees him, I encourage you to say hello--but he most likely won't break his posture for a handshake.
-ash
