I went out of town last week for work – hence the lack of blog posting. Even though I’m entering my 8th week at my new job, I’m still considered quite a newbie and doing lots of training. Last week, we had beginner and intermediate training in our home office located in the suburbs of Philadelphia. It actually wasn’t that cold for the first couple of days, but there were zero pedestrian-friendly areas near my hotel, plus we were in training during the daylight hours. So, to the treadmill I went! I only managed 2 runs while I was there (out of 5 nights), but I also walked (on the treadmill) on the days I didn’t have the time or energy to run.
My return trip to CA was much longer than anticipated, thanks to a sudden snowstorm Friday, blanketing the Philly area with several inches of snow. We knew we’d have to deal with Friday evening rush hour anyway, but add snow to the mix and a rental sedan with bad tires… I’m just glad I got to the airport without incident, even if it did take us 3 hours to go 30 miles. My colleague MG drove and he did a fantastic job — he managed to avoid a major collision when our vehicle wouldn’t brake at an intersection, and also got us unstuck from a few steep hills (thanks for nothing, waze). Because it took us 3 hours to get to the airport (3.5 hours if you include the rental car drop off), I missed my original flight, so I had to rebook to get on the last flight back to California. Then there were additional delays… by the time I got to SFO, it was 2am PT/5am ET! I was finally in my own bed by 3am. Woof. I’m only complaining about it here because it’s why I’ve been so tired the last few days and a bit unmotivated to run. (Also because I like to complain. Haha.)
I spent Saturday mostly recovering from my week of work and travels. On Sunday morning, I had a trail running date with 3 great ladies at Lake Chabot. Even though my body didn’t feel like running, I knew it would be fun. It turned out to be just what I needed — almost 2 hours on the trails with friends in great weather. Afterwards, we stopped for donuts and coffee at a place I recently discovered. They’ve got the best crullers!
I’m pretty sure we were walking up this hill until DD pulled out her phone to take a picture. Then we started running! LOL
Anyway, all that brings me to this week, which is technically Week 1 of Kaiser Half Training, out of 7 weeks. I’m following a plan from Runners Connect, which I used almost 4 years ago to break 2 hours at Kaiser. For now, my goal pace is 8:50-9:00/mile, but I know training over the holidays will be challenging, so I’m happy to adjust as necessary. I leave for Taiwan in a week, and the idea of running HM pace in Taipei humidity? UGH. But it will good mental and physical training, right?? Also, I’m already registered for a back up half marathon (Oakland) in case training and/or weather conditions don’t work out. Tomorrow is my first workout: 2 x 2 miles at HM pace, with 4:00 recovery. Wish me luck!
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 
Lots of good donut places near there but… Rudy’s?
I haven’t been to Rudy’s! The place I was talking about is Donut Express. Our friend’s parents used to own CV Donut, but they recently sold it… so now we’re free to try other shops. 😉
Ha! That could be a fun little project in of itself. I’ve popped into Donut Express on occasion but it’s definitely not in the league of Rudy’s (On Castro Valley Blvd, pretty close to Redwood). It’s a very old fashioned 50s type place. Also if you take Lake Chabot Road over to San Leandro, which seems like a long way but is really only about five minutes Lucky Donuts on Dutton is really very nice, especially the quirkier donuts, they get them all right (crullers, old fashions, that kind of thing). Those would be my two go-tos near Lake Chabot.
I’ll definitely have to try those out! Thanks for the recommendations!
I always have a sympathetic ear for tales of travel woes. 😉 Nothing like flying back home from the east coast in the dead of winter (well…maybe not the DEAD of winter, but you get it)!
Already looking forward to both post-Kaiser & post-ORF bRUNching but hopefully I’ll get to run with you before then as well!
I was actually thinking of you and all of your work trips while I was in PA. I’m definitely already looking forward to the post-race brunch(es)!!
Glad you made it home okay!
Thanks! Me too!