Hi there! I’m still alive, even though it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything at all, and even longer since I’ve written about running. I can’t believe it’s almost February – time is flying by, and yet seems to be standing still (has it only been 10 days since Trump was sworn in??).
After CIM, I decided to take a break from running. I took a whole week off and then returned to short 3-4 mile runs a few times a week. I expected to return to 20-25 mpw by the end of December, but then life continued to get in the way. First, I went to Taiwan for almost two weeks. In the past couple of years, I’ve managed to fit in a 5-6 mile run every other day. However, this past trip, I encountered multiple problems, including a closed pedestrian crosswalk and a packed schedule. I prioritized family time over running (and will *always* do so). Even though I wasn’t running, I was still logging many miles walking around Taipei.
Sunrise run in Taipei
I returned the the States on January 9th. It took me longer than usual to get over my jet lag, but I got a few short runs in the following week. I also signed up for a week of free yoga from Core Power Yoga in Berkeley. So for a week, I only ran twice and went to yoga 3 times! I was soooo sore. My plan is to go to CPY once a week; their Yoga Sculpt class is really intense and builds in strengthening with a bit of stretching and mobility. Perfect for runners.
I managed to get up to ~15 mpw post-Taiwan – not great, but better than nothing?! Then, this past week of work demolished any kind of routine I had established. Our annual conference at work, which my boss and I organize, ran from Wednesday to Friday, so I was working 12-15 hour days. This meant zero running. I’ve spent the last couple of days recovering and sleeping instead of running.
A scene from our work conference – which was held in the historic Berkeley City Club
Currently, the Gypsy Runner are spending a couple of days in Cambria resting and relaxing. Yet again, I’ve been too lazy to run.
My desire to run (in general) hasn’t been overwhelming, though my waistline is suggesting that I should embrace the suck and start waking up early again. 😉 Oh, the other thing that’s sucked recently is the weather. It’s been unusually cold and rainy this January, which made it that much harder to get out of bed at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. The one glimmer of hope came a couple of weeks ago, when I really had the urge to run trails. I ended up spending 90 minutes at Lake Chabot, and it was fantastic. The next weekend, the lovely Cathryn came over to Lake Chabot and I took her on a 6 mile route with new-to-her trails.
The upside of all of the rain: green hills!
Thankfully, February is looking much less busy personally and professionally. I hope to get my trail base back, as I’m targeting Badger Cove for my first real race of the year. Hope your 2017 is off to a great start!
Howdy! My name is Jen and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I like to eat, run, and blog, but not usually at the same time.
Running Tangents 
I love Cambria. Enjoy!
Running is not the most important thing in the world. Do what makes sense given the constraints and responsibilities that you have. Hiking is always good exercise.
Welcome back xx