Home, Sweet Home

Over the weekend, I took Friday and went for a quick trip home to (drumroll . . .)

The main reason for the trip was my little sister's high school graduation. But I also squeezed in a half marathon 12.7 miler and was able to go to my cousin's graduation party. It was a busy weekend and now I am paying for it with afternoon venti iced coffees. Totally worth it. 

Also, my flight was $108, round trip! Say what you want about them, but I love Spirit Airlines. You can pay a lot for a carry-on, but I can pack for an entire three-day weekend in one so-called "personal item." Not to mention I brought my laptop, my DSLR, and several work documents. I was pretty satisfied with my work and 'grammed it for all to see!

First on the docket was my little sister's graduation. She is basically a Nerdy McSmarty Pants and graduated something like 5th in her class of 250. She was the kid reading novels by book light in the corner of the restaurant during family dinners. So she better turn out smart or we all got problems. Kidding! She's a gorgeous former child star/model and it weirds me out to see her grow up. 

Well, there she goes. Graduating and such. Congrats Class of 2013!

The next order of business was the ZOOMA Annapolis Half Marathon. As you may have guessed, the course was short. It ended up around 12.71 miles, according to my Garmin, but who's keeping track, right? Oh yeah, everybody! The race organizers were pretty quick to apologize for the error (there was a miscommunication with the police department).

Packet pickup was Friday afternoon at the Loewe's Hotel on West Street. I decided to walk around and snap some photos of DTA (aka downtown Annapolis) for my budding amateur photography career. Feast your eyes!

Not all that impressive, I know. I wish I had the energy to walk about a quarter mile and photograph our wedding reception venue. Perhaps during the next trip!

On Saturday, DTA was pretty hot and humid (read Tina's recap for all the deets). I came out feeling strong, under an 8:30 per mile pace, but after about mile 4 (just before the Naval Academy bridge), I realized this course was not going to give me a PR, so I took it easy the rest of the race. It was much hillier than I was anticipating. I finished in about two hours at a 9:30 minute per mile pace overall. It worked out perfectly, because I was able to run about half the race with my old college roomie, Sam, and I had plenty of energy for the day's activities ahead. Here's a grainy photo of the group after the race!  

Me and my madre like to match.

After the race, Sam and I headed to my cousin's graduation party. Congrats to E-Mac on a Master's Degree from Georgetown! The after-party was at Pusser's in Annapolis.

Me and my dad.

I am very grateful that I can make trips home like this on a somewhat regular basis. (Thank you, Spirit Airlines!) I was able to spend time with a lot of important people in my life in addition to eating lots and lots of delicious regional foods (i.e., Utz chips, crabcakes, seafood). Because it's not a trip home without a stop at Ledo's pizza. Ledo's Pizza plus photo-editing app plus tired of reading transcripts at work equals:

I'll leave you with that image and the rage inside your heart you may be feeling toward me since you are now craving Ledo's pizza. 

Until next time!

Training Update: Week 7 (The IT'S HOT Edition)

If you aren't from around here, you may not have known that SUMMER IS COMING to South Florida. You see, in South Florida, we anticipate summers like the Starks of Winterfell fear winter. 

source

Only instead of an army of whitewalkers, it's dreadful heat and humidity. The kind that fogs up your spectacles as you leave your air conditioned apartment into the smoggy haze.

Right now, it's not that bad. It's actually great weather for lounging by the pool. I spent about two hours by the pool with Will on Saturday and had the grizzliest sunburn to show for it. The breezes were so refreshing I didn't feel my very own skin cooking! Oops. 

A clever visual demonstration of some ridiculous sunburn.

Mine was worse than his.

While the weather is fabulous for bronzing by the pool and relaxing on the beach, it doesn't make for the best conditions for endurance runs. 

So here you have it:

• 4M - 37:57/9:12
• 6M - 52:16/8:43
• 4M - 39:04/9:28
• 12M - 2:15:00/11:15

Let's talk about that horrific twelve miler that happened yesterday. I set my alarm for 6:00AM sharp to hit the road for a twelve miler (HAHAHAHAHAHA. No). The dogs miraculously slept in until 10:15. Unprecedented. Smartly, we thus decided to start our run around 2:00PM, the hottest part of the day. I do this all the time. I don't know why.

It really wasn't bad at all at first. We kept a steady pace and were feeling fine. Most of our run was on the El Rio Trail in Boca, our first time running it. The trail was nice, flat, and quiet, but lacked something essential: 

SHADE. 

Photo shoot/water break at mile 6. Don't mind if I do. This was the one spot on this trail that was shady. 

This is right by Florida Atlantic University. In case you are seeking out this landmark of a shady area.

But it is waterfront property!

Nobody has ever looked cool sucking water out of a camelback. But Will Brez comes close.

Here comes the highlight of our run:

Mr. GIANT reptile. He feels the same way about shade. It's pretty important.

Every tiny bit of foliage that provided the eeeensiest bit of shade on your face was like a tiny miracle. The black asphalt trail became pretty unbearable after a while. After mile 8, things just fell apart. We ran out of fluids and there was a lot of walking.

Bright side? I'm not sore today and now Daisy can help me do some laundry.

Nope.

Hoping that training in the heat gives me some slight edge on race day. The average high in Annapolis on June 1 is 81. It was 82 yesterday. So there.