A New England Adventure

For some reason it has felt very important this summer to do things and not let the summer just pass me by like it has in the past. Whether this is a result of the heinous winter we just had or the major changes that I'm sure are about to take place in the coming year, I've been filling up the weekends like it's nobody's business. Between trips down to the city to visit my family, the trek to Philadelphia to run the 1/2 marathon, baseball games, fireworks, drive-in movies, in-theater movies, trips to the Hudson, races, and a wedding, I've barely been home long enough to do some much needed laundry. This past weekend was no exception.


Kristin proposed a girl's trip to me at the beginning of the summer, and the original plan was to go to Montauk, LI. Neither of us had been there and thought it seemed like the perfect summer getaway. Unfortunately with all of those summer plans I mentioned, I never really got around to looking at hotels. Kristin, who is even busier than me, also forgot to look into booking a hotel. So with 2 weeks left before our vacation, Kristin took the initiative and looked up some prices. Spoiler alert: Montauk is freaking expensive! I'm sure there are less expensive hotels to stay at if you have the foresight, but if you wait until the last minute like we did, all that's left are $600/night B&B's. Ummmm...no thank you. So we changed gears and looked elsewhere. Our elsewhere happened to be Mystic, CT.

If you read Kristin's post about the trip, she'll tell you that she vacationed in that area as a child, so we knew ahead of time that this area would be more up our alley price-wise. We stayed at the EconoLodge there, which ended up being the perfect distance from everything and had a great view of the neighboring cemetery. I pretty much stole the Prius from Mike, leaving him stranded with my manual shift Kia (which he cannot drive), picked up Kristin early Friday morning, and we were off!

I was a little surprised Kristin was willing to spend the whole weekend with me alone, as in my younger years I wasn't always the most pleasant of travel companions. I feel like I've matured greatly and am now pretty chill to travel with, but I'll let her be the judge. She put up with my constant nose blowing throughout the weekend, as I've been battling my 2nd summer cold, and for that she gets major props. We even shared a bed. 

 

When there's ice cream involved, everything is a-ok.

Mystic was great. The perfect New England town. We hit up the aquarium, which I had been to once in my adolescence, and was definitely smaller than I remembered. There seemed to be more mammals than fish, which is something I actually enjoyed because I think fish are kind of boring to watch. Give me a penguin swimming around any day, all feelings brought on by Blackfish aside. Afterward we walked around Mystic and Old Mistic Village and chatted and ate bad food and ended up in bed before 11. Party animals!

"Stop taking pictures of me, weirdo."

The next day we headed into Rhode Island to go to a beach in Watch Hill. While not that sunny, it was warm enough to enjoy the frigid Atlantic (seriously, when does that thing heat up?) and to get a bit burnt on the shoulders. By 1:30 we were ready for lunch and headed into the little town to eat and browse. We ended up at the Ocean House Hotel, which is so fancy, it has a dress code. At least the bar did. We sat out on the verandah in rocking chairs and sipped our delicious cocktails and pretended we were incredibly wealthy for the afternoon. I loved it. The hotel itself reminded me of how I pictured the White Sands hotel in the Anne of Green Gables books growing up, and I'd love to be able to afford to stay there someday. I mean, they had a freaking croquet court. How Victorian elegance can you get?

This is what I'm hoping my future house looks like.

 

A high tide and a low tide and a hefty bar tap for two drinks.

 

Dinner that night was at Mystic Pizza, which is totally touristy, but felt like a must-do. As some one who loves coming of age movies staring young women/Julia Roberts, of course I needed to hit this place up. We both figured it would be only ok quality, but after shoveling away too many potato skins and half of a buffalo chicken pizza, I can definitely say that this place puts its money where its mouth is. So good! I'm drooling right now thinking about how scrumptious it was. If you're in the area, check it out! Like right now!

It really was.

 

Another early night on my part made way to an early morning Sunday. The original plan had been to do our long Sunday run together, but the cold had moved back to my chest, so running didn't feel like such a great idea. Instead we went to Kitchen Little at the Mystic Marina and I ate scrambled eggs with melted cream cheese. Just as healthy as exercise. A too brief meal lead to driving Kristin to the train station in New Haven and heading home. After an incredibly close call to running out of gas, I made it back to Albany around 1:30. Just enough time to relax before the Bruno Mars concert!

If you don't like Bruno Mars, check out of the videos of him performing on YouTube and reassess. He's freaking awesome! He opened with Moonshine and encored with Locked Out of Heaven and everything in between was pure magic. He's been a staple on my running mixes for the past year, so it was amazing to see this songs performed live. Sharing it with my friends Aprill and Joey was just the icing on the cake.

Tipping my borrowed hat the Mr. Mars

 

So another fun filled summer weekend in the books. Having that time alone with Kristin was so awesome and we talked about so many things and I always just feel better somehow after spending time with her. Maybe a new tradition is in the works? I can only hope so.

Bonus, found a video of Bruno's encore a the show I was at. It makes me want to dance just watching it!

Let the Marathon Training Begin!

This week I begin my marathon training! I'm nervous, but excited and I cannot wait to see where this journey takes me. To really get into the running mindset, I decided to go on an internet dig to see if I could find the results of all the races I've run in the past 4 years. Here are the results:

SPAC Rock & Run 5k 2010 (My First Race!)- 35:13
Freihofer's Run for Women 5k 2011- 35:29
Freihofer's 5k 2012- 39:22
Albany Run For Pride 2012- 36:21
Putnam County 8 Miler 2012- 1:52:53
Freihofer's 5k 2013- 38:18
Firefly 5k 2013- 39:51 
Boilermaker 15k 2013- 1:58:17
Color Me Rad 5k 2013- ???
Troy Turkey Trot 10k 2013-1:15:01
Trot Off That Turkey 5k 2013- 35:20
SPAC Rock & Run 10k 2014- 1:09:19
Freihofer's 5k 2014- 35:15
Half Sauer/Half Kraut Half Marathon 2014- 3:10:59
Take Your Base 5k 2014- 40:18
Team Sarcoma 5k 2014- 33:24 (Personal Best!)

It's nice to see it all laid out and to remember each run. Looking at the list I see easy runs with friends, hard runs alone, injuries, intestinal discomfort, and lots of work. I didn't realize that yesterday's race was a personal best for me, and I'm glad to start marathon training on a high note. In case you're interested, I'll be (more or less) following Jeff Galloway's Training Program for experienced runners who don't have a time goal. I'm jumping in at Week 3, but it's still early enough that I don't think those 2 weeks are going to hurt me in the long run (pun intended).

My main concern, which is not really an issue at the immediate moment, is where I'm going to do my long runs once the cold weather sets in. With the marathon taking place in January, where will I be able to run 26 actual miles in December without having to worry about knee-high snow? Research will need to happen, but any suggestions as to locations/gear for training are certainly welcome.

Let's do this!