When you are training for a race for four to six months, you are pretty much bound to be out of town for at least part of the time and/or will have to adjust to training under abnormal circumstances. For the month of August, especially, DC becomes a ghost town- Congress goes out of session, and everyone is out on vacation at some point, fleeing the heat and the influx of tourists. A couple of weeks ago, I went to meet my family in San Diego for a short vacation with a stop in Colorado on the way back. It was nice to escape the oppressive humidity for a while, but training for the marathon when you are traveling has its own set of challenges. It makes me realize how used I am to running certain routes here in DC- I have done all of them so many times that I can basically run on autopilot, without having to think about where I am going, and I know exactly what to expect at every turn (down to which water fountains work, and which don't). When you are in a new place, you don't have that luxury.
There were a few surprising blessings to running in San Diego. For one thing, it was really very cool weather (about 65 degrees in the morning, and never higher than 75). What's more, it was always cloudy in the mornings (sometimes burning off by midday or the afternoon)- all in all, it was perfect weather for running, if not for tanning on the beach.
Trying to find good running routes when you are in an unfamiliar place, however, can be difficult. When we first got to La Jolla (a small town north of downtown San Diego where we spent the first couple of days), I asked the front desk of the hotel if there was a running trail nearby, and they pointed me to the "boardwalk" on the beachfront. My brother, sister and I set out the first (cloudy) morning, walking down to the sidewalk near the shore to do a four mile run. The "boardwalk" was really an extremely narrow sidewalk, with a lot of people strolling around, and it was only about a mile long. My brother and sister and I ended up weaving our way around through neighborhoods, getting lost, running up and down steep hills, and having to stop and start a lot (which can get very frustrating, even on a short run).
My next scheduled run was a 7 miler, and I knew I couldn't handle that kind of stopping and starting again, so my brother researched actual running trails in the surrounding area. He found a running/biking trail that started up on the plateau around the Torrey Pines area near the University of San Diego, which boasted that it was about a 10K round trip- not quite long enough, but had to make do. We couldn't find the beginning of the trail at first, and then it took us at least a half hour to find a place for our Mom to drop us off, so I was getting pretty antsy by the time we actually started running. It was a much better run at first, mostly flat, and there were gorgeous views because we were on a plateau with dropoffs on either side (towards the water on one side, and towards the land on the other). A couple of miles in, though, we noticed that the "trail" was really a road which led straight down the cliff on a steep incline. Sam and I tried to find a trail that stayed on the plateau, but after a couple of failed attempts we just decided to follow the road. It ended up being a steep hill for at least a mile which led all the way down to the beach- and we still had to run further once we had gotten down in order to get to the turnaround point of 3.5 miles. When we finally turned around and started climbing back up the hill, I had to keep my head down. That's one of my tricks for a long hill- I don't look up to see how far I still have to go, because otherwise I lose a lot of mental drive. So I just look at my shoelaces or the pavement in front of me, and try to push my cadence as high as I can stand it (slowing down can also be a killer). We finally made it to the crest of the hill, but we still had a couple of miles to go. It was, all in all, a quite tiring run; I was much more sore than I usually am after that kind of distance. Finally, my mom was out hiking on the plateau and we couldn't find her for a while, so by the time we actually got to have some food Sam and I were pretty much starving (it's best to eat right after a run like that).
Having had enough curveballs thrown my way, I decided to really plan out my 14 mile run, especially since it was the longest I had ever run. I vetted out a location that was a flat, paved bike path (from Coronado island down the Silver Strand highway), and made sure that it was long enough (it was 11 miles each way, more than far enough). Unfortunately I didn't have Flash with me, but I did have the advantage of an entourage (my mom, sister and brother) as support. My family dropped me off, then went to get a lot of post-run sustenance (bananas and larabars) as well as to pick out a place to eat right afterward, then drove to the six mile point. As I ran past, I handed my mom my camelback (water pack) and she refilled it as I ran another mile out and back. When I got back to the car, she passed it off to me as I ran by, and Sam joined me to run the final 6 miles. I was feeling great, because it was flat, the air was cool, and I was extremely well rested- in fact, by the end of the run I was running mid-eight minute miles, below my half marathon pace.
I was lucky that my family was there to support me that time, but that has not always been the case. A few mishaps (such as when I twisted my ankle on a run in Virginia Beach a couple of months ago) have shown me that there are a few things that you should pretty much always have with you when running in an unfamiliar place by yourself. First: a phone, preferably with GPS. Even though it might seem like a pain to carry a phone, I can't tell you how many times I have gotten turned around in an unfamiliar place, and how the GPS on my phone has helped me figure out how to get back. Even if it doesn't have GPS, you can call someone to find out how to get back on track. Second: money (this applies to when you are on a long run at home, too). You may not think about it, but it's very possible that you could get injured an hour and a half into a three hour run and you'll have no way of getting back- since you have already gone so far, you would have to walk for miles and miles to get home or to your car. If you don't have a phone, you wouldn't have any way to call someone to pick you up, and even if you did, there might not be anyone who can come to get you; so it's really important to have some money for a cab just in case. Third: an ID. It's scary to think about, but runners have gotten hit by cars and have no form of ID on them, and the hospital has no way of knowing who you are or how to contact your family.
Anyway, enough serious stuff (ha). Even without traveling, there are sometimes adjustments that you have to get used to. Flash was out of town on vacation for the first week of August, then I was in California and Colorado for the second week, then he was out again for work the third week- in all, almost a month without my running buddy! I was starting to get really tired of running by myself all the time, because it can get pretty boring. We finally got to run together again last week, along with our other work running pal who is training for Marine Corps. We had a 15 mile run on the schedule, so we decided to meet up at 6 am at Flash's house and run on the Rock Creek Parkway- which meant that I had to get up at 5 am. It was awesome to get to run together again, especially since we were all chatting for a lot of the first half. I forgot how much faster the time passes when you have that kind of distraction, instead of being alone with your own thoughts. The three of us are getting amped up for our next long run- 17 miles- this Saturday, again the longest I have ever run. Wish me luck!
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