Yikes, it’s been a while! Since Chicago, I’ve wanted to blog a bunch of times, but for whatever reason (usually busy, work-related stuff or just fun stuff) it hasn’t happened. I wanted to talk about my running and how motivated I’ve been feeling after the initial post-marathon recovery phase, and even though I was consciously vowing to run shorter distances during the race, I really can’t wait to run another one now. Funny how that works.
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New Jersey Marathon? San Francisco Marathon? NYC Marathon? All of the above?
Part of my itch to plan and start training for the next one is definitely from watching the NYC Marathon from the sidelines. Even though the wind was kind of gnarly, I totally wanted to be out there. I haven’t not trekked over to Staten Island in the pre-dawn hours on the first Sunday in November (aside from the disaster that was 2012) since 2009, and it was weird to see everything happen on TV and in person on First Avenue. Even so, it will still super inspiring to watch pros, friends and strangers tough it out that day. I tried to be a part of race week as much as possible, and volunteered at the Expo T-shirt pick-up on Friday and ran the NYRR Dash to the Finish 5K on Saturday. My sister and I were supposed to run it together (her second 5K and first NYRR/NYC racing experience!), but she broke her foot. So it was just me, a lot of foreigners taking selfies mid-race, rain and some wind. This wasn’t really a good race to “race,” because of the crowds and weird corral system, not to mention the fact that I did just run a marathon, so it ended up being a nice tempo effort and I finished in about 22:48.
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beating waldo, thank god
This week, I’m trying to get back into some light wokouts slowly and planning ahead for my next races. I just came back from an awesome trip to San Francisco and am pretty sure I want to sign up for the San Francisco Marathon on July 26. Despite the hills, the city is far too awesome and I’d love the chance to run 26.2 there (and an excuse to go back!).
When I was in San Fran, I ran three out of four mornings and about 8-9 miles each time. That’s pretty much my sweet spot lately – a decent distance but not too much (for me), and I take it as slow or as quick as I feel like. I’ve always thought NYC is one of the best running cities there is, but oh goodness does SF give it a run for its money. Not only were the runs I took down to Crissy Field and the Golden Gate bridge amazing, but my friend Jo and I took an awesome hike on some trails in the Tennessee Valley. The possibilities or where to go and run were pretty much endless, with gorgeous views wherever we went.
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could this ever get old? I think not
We also had some delicious foods! Like I always tell my weight loss clients, it’s all about balance. We ate at great vegetable-heavy, organic restaurants and had our fair share of beer, wine and sweet treats too. A few of my favorites:
Gracias Madre – vegan Mexican food. Need I say more? I love me a good vegan restaurant, and with a Mexican twist it was awesome. We shared fresh corn tortillas with guacamole, a kale salad and a bunch of tacos with fresh veggies (kale, butternut squash, mushrooms), cashew cheese and black beans. Plus margaritas, of course.
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Smitten Ice Cream – ice cream churned in front of your eyes – definitely the most rich and flavorful ice cream I’ve every had.
Plant Café – veggies until your hearts content, fresh ingredients and really inventive twists on typical foods. I had a “plant burger,” which is a veggie patty made in-house with lentils, beets, mushrooms, cashews and bulgur wheat on whole wheat sourdough bread with roasted potatoes and a green salad. Perfect refueling after our 5.5 mile hike!
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Roam Artisan Burgers - awesome fresh and all natural burgers. Jo and I both had the Farmers Market Salad with mini burger trio (turkey!) added on top and a side of sweet potato fries. It was perfection.
Suppenkuche – German beer hall with traditional German fare, and it was out of this world. My friend Jo and I split some potato pancakes, a salad with beets, carrots, potatoes and pickled cabbage, roasted trout, sauteed venison and spaetzle. And of course, some delicious Hefeweizen. I did not know what spaetzle was before this trip – basically soft egg noodles – but now I think I’ll be wanting it on a regular basis. #carbs
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The Grove – great little breakfast (and lunch and dinner) spot in Pacific Heights with a big menu and perfect thick slices of sourdough avocado toast and poached egg.
Rams Gate Winery – Sonoma winery that’s only about a 30 minute drive from SF with great wine and beautiful scenery. Super relaxing way to spend an afternoon, if you ask me.
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I’ve only been to San Francisco once before, but both times I can’t help but wonder if it would be as awesome a place to live as it is to visit. I mean, I love New York, but…