Wine and Chocolate
It's been a while, yada yada yada. But you know what's really dangerous? The molton lava chocolate cake fondue at the melting pot. Chocolate lava cake on top, dark chocolate fondue underneath. God, I love our anniversary. Even though (especially since) I still smell like garlic and am feeling the effects of the wine.
Which, despite the post title, was not remotely the point. The point is running. As in, I've been doing a lot of it. I always debate trying to start a running blog, but never get it going. So you guys get it. Oh well, that's what they made livejournal cuts for, right? :)
So I started the season off with the Via Marathon. Well, no. I started it out with the Washington Crossing 15K, which has a really pretty medal. But then I ran Via. My thoughts on Via are mixed.
Via started as a way for people to qualify at the last minute for Boston. The only way I will qualify for Boston is to hold my current pace for another 20 years. Well, that's not totally true- I am trying (as always) to lose weight (as evidenced by our trip to the Melting Pot, I know), and that would help. But the qualifying time for my age is a 3:45 marathon, and I don't know that I even could have run that in high school. But I've got this silly little goal to run all of the marathons in Pennsylvania. In addition, aome lives right around there, and it had been AGES since we've seen each other.
Via's also gotten a bit of a reputation because it was the stage of a scandal. There's this guy Mike Rossi who alledgedly cheated at Via to qualify for Boston. To be honest, I don't think anyone would have noticed, except he sent a nasty letter back to his kids' teachers about taking them out of school for the Boston Marathon that went viral, and that does make people look at your time. After running the course, I have to say, it wouldn't be that hard to cheat at Via. It's a point-to-point course that is largely run through trails- it is very pretty and not very spectated But to be honest, I didn't know much about that before I ran it. What really chafed me was that the course limit is 6 hours, but the finish festival ends in 5. Gee. Thanks.
Anyway, aside from that major lack, it was a really nice course. Very pretty and if it wasn't for the finish festival thing, I really would have liked it. The general opinion seems fairly split on the course because a lot of it is trail, but it's not single track- it's more like rails to trails trail- wide and groomed. That's what I run on anyway when I can, so I enjoyed it. We had a cold snap- it had been in the high 80s/low 90s, and that weekend it went down into the low 70s, which is warm, but otherwise pleasant. The aid stations were at least well stocked, and it was well-organized as far as I can tell. I ran at training pace because it was my least important race of the season, and I was fairly happy with my time.
And although the finish festival thing was annoying, it didn't matter much because, as I said, aome lives right around there. She was there cheering for me at the finish line, at which I grabbed some water and Gatorade and then high tailed it out of there with her anyway, which was far preferable than hanging around a finish festival on my own. She let me take a shower at her house, and then we spent the afternoon having a very, very nice grown-up lunch at an Italian place near her, and then dessert at a Cold Stone Creamery. That part was truly awesome, although I think I'd much rather do St. Luke's half marathon again if I want a running reason to hang out with her, rather than Via.
One of the biggest reasons I kept my pace conservative at Via was that my A race for the year was Wineglass, up in Corning, NY. Wineglass is a small, popular marathon with a distinct theme, and I'd heard really good things about it. So when I didn't get into NYC this year, I registered for Wineglass instead. And since Corning isn't THAT far from Albany (relatively speaking), my sister came out for the night.
I stuck around Saturday morning for Trevor's soccer game (Toby was sick with a horrendous sinus infection), then took off. The one unfortunate thing about this marathon was that it was near-impossible to get affordable single-night housing in Corning, so we were staying in Sayre, which is a little over a half hour away. We met at the hotel, and by the time we got into Corning it was like 3:30. We went over to the Glass Museum to get my packet, but the museum itself closed at 5:00, so we didn't have time to explore it. That was a bummer. But we did take time to check out its very large gift shop, and that was fun. It was also something we could not have done with children in tow, which was a lot of what we cared about. (The way I summed things up to people I work with was, "We're going to a museum filled with breakable things and not worrying. Then we're going to a restaurant that doesn't serve chicken nuggets. Then my sister can sleep in without someone sitting on her chest and prying her eyes open saying, "Mommy, are you awake?")
The expo was small. Packet pickup was a breeze, though. Swag was a drawstring bag, a long-sleeve shirt (very nice and no sponsors on the back), and a small split of champagne with a wineglass. Very cool. There weren't many vendors, but there was a local baker who had AMAZING desserts. I got some cinnamon white chocolate blondies which were to DIE for.
The one thing we were able to do was take a glass class. They have all kinds of classes at Corning- glass fusing, glass blowing, sandblasting, and flamework. We did a flamework class where we made pendants. They ended up coming out really cool, and it was definitely the most hands-on class. (The glass blowing you just got to blow- the gaffers did everything else.) IF you're ever in Corning, check out the glass classes. They're really neat.
After the class we wandered around downtown, but this was the weekend of hurricane Joquiam and it was raining and chilly. We did go into several stores, and definitely eyed up some truffles. Finally we went to get dinner. We had to wait quite a while and the service was less than stellar, but the food was delicious, and we talked more at dinner than we'd been able to the last two weekends we saw each other. I really enjoyed spending time with her. We went back to the hotel and I crashed, and she wasn't far behind.
The day of the marathon was actually quite sunny, windy, and nice. My sis didn't stick around, which was fine, and I just headed straight for the parking. Oh, the organization! Once I got into Corning, it took me 10 minutes (if that) to park my car. In a garage. For FREE. It was awesome! Then I walked over to the buses (it was another point to point), and 15 minutes after I parked, I was on a bus to Bath.
The start line was pretty awesome. Plenty of portapotties (I waited 10 minutes), easy bag check, and a huge shed open for runners to wait in and stay sort of warm. It wasn't that cold anyway, so I wasn't really suffering, but I did appreciate it. There were no official corrals, but there were pace groups, so it was pretty easy to line up where you belonged. I lined up with the 5:00 pace group (I was hoping to break 5 hours), and eventually, we were off.
The course is definitely pretty, but I suspect it would have been even prettier if we had not had such a warm September. Most pictures I've seen before have the leaves changed more than we saw. But it was still gorgeous. Lots of roads, though, and sort of highway. Lot of half road closures. The course was kind of narrow, which was a bit of a pain because of that 5:00 pace group. I have a neuroma in my foot, so I had to stop at most water stations to quick stretch/shake it out. So I'd run in front of the pace group, they'd pass me at the water station, and then I'd pass then back. This went on for about 20 miles. At 20 miles I started getting warm, so when I took a cup of water, I splashed it in my face. Normally, this is a pretty good tactic for me, since I overheat. However, my face was caked with salt, and the water that ran into my eyes HURT. I had to stop for a bit to clear my eyes, and the pace group got a little too far ahead of me. I spent the next six miles trying to catch them, but never did. I never got too far behind- I think they finished about 45 seconds ahead of me, although it might have been 2 minutes. I think it was the first, though. I ended up finishing with a 5:00:26. Not quite a 4-something, but my fourth fastest time. Given that this is my 12th marathon, I guess that's something. :)
Anyway, I finished and got my medal, which is made of glass and very, very pretty. It's probably my 2nd favorite medal, behind the Marine Corps one from last year. They handed me water, and then a Coke, which was AWESOME. Wegman's did the finish line food, and there was chicken noodle soup, cookies, string cheese, bagels, fresh pizza, fruit, and other stuff I don't remember because I wasn't interested. I ate a cup of soup and felt better, and then ate a slice of pizza and hobbled across the bridge to take a shower at the local YMCA. One worker there was very concerned because I was walking so slow- she thought I might faint. It was very sweet of her, although completely misplaced. (I was walking slow because my legs had tightened up a lot, not because of my cardiovascular system, which was fine. And I was bright red from sun- and windburn.)
After my shower I went back and got some food- I ended up getting a personal pizza that was really good. I'd also discovered two 10$ gift cards to local merchants the night before in my goodie bag. One wasn't going to go far, but the other bought some of the truffles my sister and I had been eyeing up. I ate and headed home, and then collapsed. The wine waited to be drunk until after camping the next weekend. :)
I got a weekend off for camping, and then we went to Hershey for my favorite race- the Hershey half. This is one I always go to for the swag- in addition to your shirt and bag, they give you 2 tickets to the park. So we went on Saturday after soccer, and got there kind of late. I was sort of bummed about that, but it ended up being fairly cold, so it may have been just as well. Plus Trevor was right on the line between ride categories. While I was okay with him riding the bumper cars, I was a little nervous about him riding the coasters in that category this year and wasn't too upset that we didn't have time to get to them. He did get to ride the Trailblazer and the Comet, which he loves, so there was that. We spent the day freezing in the park (Toby was fun), and then ate dinner at a restaurant on the way out. The nice thing is I was in bed by 10.
The hotel had a shuttle over, and I claimed the last seat on the 7:00 one. It was perfect- it was 30 something degrees out, so I didn't have to wait long. There was time to hit the bathroom and get to the starting line and then we were off.
Hershey is one of my favorite courses. I'm not sure why. It's definitely challenging- there is not a patch of flat ground on it, it feels like. But the hills aren't big, they're just CONSTANT. And I'm a damn good hill runner. So I kept moving pretty well. The one bad thing was that my iPod had died. Ugh! I also could not get my legs out of marathon speed. Considering I'd run two marathons in less than a month, I suspect that had a lot to do with it. But I also feel like I'm not in the best shape I could be, especially with regards to my weight.
Regardless, I ran the course and enjoyed it. I knew I wasn't going to PR- my PR is a 2:10 (although it is at Hershey), and I didn't hit that pace for Broad Street or Washington Crossing, and they're both shorter. I was hoping to get in under 2:20, but realized that was even a stretch. I finished at 2:23:57. Not my worst time by a longshot, even if it's not my best. On the bright side, I felt like I could have gone several more miles at that pace. So we'll see.
Now all that's left is the Philly full. I can tell you one thing- I don't think I'll sign up to run 3 marathons in a season again. I'm also a little worried about the Philly full- I don't think I'll get my long run in, and I really should. My running has been tapering off. But at least I could just finish the half if I need to.
I suppose there's more other stuff, but it will wait for another time. Hope everyone is having good days, and have a great weekend!
Which, despite the post title, was not remotely the point. The point is running. As in, I've been doing a lot of it. I always debate trying to start a running blog, but never get it going. So you guys get it. Oh well, that's what they made livejournal cuts for, right? :)
So I started the season off with the Via Marathon. Well, no. I started it out with the Washington Crossing 15K, which has a really pretty medal. But then I ran Via. My thoughts on Via are mixed.
Via started as a way for people to qualify at the last minute for Boston. The only way I will qualify for Boston is to hold my current pace for another 20 years. Well, that's not totally true- I am trying (as always) to lose weight (as evidenced by our trip to the Melting Pot, I know), and that would help. But the qualifying time for my age is a 3:45 marathon, and I don't know that I even could have run that in high school. But I've got this silly little goal to run all of the marathons in Pennsylvania. In addition, aome lives right around there, and it had been AGES since we've seen each other.
Via's also gotten a bit of a reputation because it was the stage of a scandal. There's this guy Mike Rossi who alledgedly cheated at Via to qualify for Boston. To be honest, I don't think anyone would have noticed, except he sent a nasty letter back to his kids' teachers about taking them out of school for the Boston Marathon that went viral, and that does make people look at your time. After running the course, I have to say, it wouldn't be that hard to cheat at Via. It's a point-to-point course that is largely run through trails- it is very pretty and not very spectated But to be honest, I didn't know much about that before I ran it. What really chafed me was that the course limit is 6 hours, but the finish festival ends in 5. Gee. Thanks.
Anyway, aside from that major lack, it was a really nice course. Very pretty and if it wasn't for the finish festival thing, I really would have liked it. The general opinion seems fairly split on the course because a lot of it is trail, but it's not single track- it's more like rails to trails trail- wide and groomed. That's what I run on anyway when I can, so I enjoyed it. We had a cold snap- it had been in the high 80s/low 90s, and that weekend it went down into the low 70s, which is warm, but otherwise pleasant. The aid stations were at least well stocked, and it was well-organized as far as I can tell. I ran at training pace because it was my least important race of the season, and I was fairly happy with my time.
And although the finish festival thing was annoying, it didn't matter much because, as I said, aome lives right around there. She was there cheering for me at the finish line, at which I grabbed some water and Gatorade and then high tailed it out of there with her anyway, which was far preferable than hanging around a finish festival on my own. She let me take a shower at her house, and then we spent the afternoon having a very, very nice grown-up lunch at an Italian place near her, and then dessert at a Cold Stone Creamery. That part was truly awesome, although I think I'd much rather do St. Luke's half marathon again if I want a running reason to hang out with her, rather than Via.
One of the biggest reasons I kept my pace conservative at Via was that my A race for the year was Wineglass, up in Corning, NY. Wineglass is a small, popular marathon with a distinct theme, and I'd heard really good things about it. So when I didn't get into NYC this year, I registered for Wineglass instead. And since Corning isn't THAT far from Albany (relatively speaking), my sister came out for the night.
I stuck around Saturday morning for Trevor's soccer game (Toby was sick with a horrendous sinus infection), then took off. The one unfortunate thing about this marathon was that it was near-impossible to get affordable single-night housing in Corning, so we were staying in Sayre, which is a little over a half hour away. We met at the hotel, and by the time we got into Corning it was like 3:30. We went over to the Glass Museum to get my packet, but the museum itself closed at 5:00, so we didn't have time to explore it. That was a bummer. But we did take time to check out its very large gift shop, and that was fun. It was also something we could not have done with children in tow, which was a lot of what we cared about. (The way I summed things up to people I work with was, "We're going to a museum filled with breakable things and not worrying. Then we're going to a restaurant that doesn't serve chicken nuggets. Then my sister can sleep in without someone sitting on her chest and prying her eyes open saying, "Mommy, are you awake?")
The expo was small. Packet pickup was a breeze, though. Swag was a drawstring bag, a long-sleeve shirt (very nice and no sponsors on the back), and a small split of champagne with a wineglass. Very cool. There weren't many vendors, but there was a local baker who had AMAZING desserts. I got some cinnamon white chocolate blondies which were to DIE for.
The one thing we were able to do was take a glass class. They have all kinds of classes at Corning- glass fusing, glass blowing, sandblasting, and flamework. We did a flamework class where we made pendants. They ended up coming out really cool, and it was definitely the most hands-on class. (The glass blowing you just got to blow- the gaffers did everything else.) IF you're ever in Corning, check out the glass classes. They're really neat.
After the class we wandered around downtown, but this was the weekend of hurricane Joquiam and it was raining and chilly. We did go into several stores, and definitely eyed up some truffles. Finally we went to get dinner. We had to wait quite a while and the service was less than stellar, but the food was delicious, and we talked more at dinner than we'd been able to the last two weekends we saw each other. I really enjoyed spending time with her. We went back to the hotel and I crashed, and she wasn't far behind.
The day of the marathon was actually quite sunny, windy, and nice. My sis didn't stick around, which was fine, and I just headed straight for the parking. Oh, the organization! Once I got into Corning, it took me 10 minutes (if that) to park my car. In a garage. For FREE. It was awesome! Then I walked over to the buses (it was another point to point), and 15 minutes after I parked, I was on a bus to Bath.
The start line was pretty awesome. Plenty of portapotties (I waited 10 minutes), easy bag check, and a huge shed open for runners to wait in and stay sort of warm. It wasn't that cold anyway, so I wasn't really suffering, but I did appreciate it. There were no official corrals, but there were pace groups, so it was pretty easy to line up where you belonged. I lined up with the 5:00 pace group (I was hoping to break 5 hours), and eventually, we were off.
The course is definitely pretty, but I suspect it would have been even prettier if we had not had such a warm September. Most pictures I've seen before have the leaves changed more than we saw. But it was still gorgeous. Lots of roads, though, and sort of highway. Lot of half road closures. The course was kind of narrow, which was a bit of a pain because of that 5:00 pace group. I have a neuroma in my foot, so I had to stop at most water stations to quick stretch/shake it out. So I'd run in front of the pace group, they'd pass me at the water station, and then I'd pass then back. This went on for about 20 miles. At 20 miles I started getting warm, so when I took a cup of water, I splashed it in my face. Normally, this is a pretty good tactic for me, since I overheat. However, my face was caked with salt, and the water that ran into my eyes HURT. I had to stop for a bit to clear my eyes, and the pace group got a little too far ahead of me. I spent the next six miles trying to catch them, but never did. I never got too far behind- I think they finished about 45 seconds ahead of me, although it might have been 2 minutes. I think it was the first, though. I ended up finishing with a 5:00:26. Not quite a 4-something, but my fourth fastest time. Given that this is my 12th marathon, I guess that's something. :)
Anyway, I finished and got my medal, which is made of glass and very, very pretty. It's probably my 2nd favorite medal, behind the Marine Corps one from last year. They handed me water, and then a Coke, which was AWESOME. Wegman's did the finish line food, and there was chicken noodle soup, cookies, string cheese, bagels, fresh pizza, fruit, and other stuff I don't remember because I wasn't interested. I ate a cup of soup and felt better, and then ate a slice of pizza and hobbled across the bridge to take a shower at the local YMCA. One worker there was very concerned because I was walking so slow- she thought I might faint. It was very sweet of her, although completely misplaced. (I was walking slow because my legs had tightened up a lot, not because of my cardiovascular system, which was fine. And I was bright red from sun- and windburn.)
After my shower I went back and got some food- I ended up getting a personal pizza that was really good. I'd also discovered two 10$ gift cards to local merchants the night before in my goodie bag. One wasn't going to go far, but the other bought some of the truffles my sister and I had been eyeing up. I ate and headed home, and then collapsed. The wine waited to be drunk until after camping the next weekend. :)
I got a weekend off for camping, and then we went to Hershey for my favorite race- the Hershey half. This is one I always go to for the swag- in addition to your shirt and bag, they give you 2 tickets to the park. So we went on Saturday after soccer, and got there kind of late. I was sort of bummed about that, but it ended up being fairly cold, so it may have been just as well. Plus Trevor was right on the line between ride categories. While I was okay with him riding the bumper cars, I was a little nervous about him riding the coasters in that category this year and wasn't too upset that we didn't have time to get to them. He did get to ride the Trailblazer and the Comet, which he loves, so there was that. We spent the day freezing in the park (Toby was fun), and then ate dinner at a restaurant on the way out. The nice thing is I was in bed by 10.
The hotel had a shuttle over, and I claimed the last seat on the 7:00 one. It was perfect- it was 30 something degrees out, so I didn't have to wait long. There was time to hit the bathroom and get to the starting line and then we were off.
Hershey is one of my favorite courses. I'm not sure why. It's definitely challenging- there is not a patch of flat ground on it, it feels like. But the hills aren't big, they're just CONSTANT. And I'm a damn good hill runner. So I kept moving pretty well. The one bad thing was that my iPod had died. Ugh! I also could not get my legs out of marathon speed. Considering I'd run two marathons in less than a month, I suspect that had a lot to do with it. But I also feel like I'm not in the best shape I could be, especially with regards to my weight.
Regardless, I ran the course and enjoyed it. I knew I wasn't going to PR- my PR is a 2:10 (although it is at Hershey), and I didn't hit that pace for Broad Street or Washington Crossing, and they're both shorter. I was hoping to get in under 2:20, but realized that was even a stretch. I finished at 2:23:57. Not my worst time by a longshot, even if it's not my best. On the bright side, I felt like I could have gone several more miles at that pace. So we'll see.
Now all that's left is the Philly full. I can tell you one thing- I don't think I'll sign up to run 3 marathons in a season again. I'm also a little worried about the Philly full- I don't think I'll get my long run in, and I really should. My running has been tapering off. But at least I could just finish the half if I need to.
I suppose there's more other stuff, but it will wait for another time. Hope everyone is having good days, and have a great weekend!