Running and Road Trips

I should probably think of a different name for this blog, because it's about to take a different turn, at least for this week. Because.....I'm on vacation!!! For those who know me/follow this, you know I've been training for a half marathon, and that's what kicked this whole thing off. Be prepared for a very long blog entry.

I got into Albany around my usual time Friday night and stayed with Ryan until he went to work on Saturday and my parents picked me up from his house. It was great to see them again! Then we went to get me all carbed up for my race at Pasta Pane in Clifton Park.

The meal started with fresh warm Italian bread, which I was able to eat tons of because, you know, I absolutely needed carbs. I chased that with a salad (with a spectacular balsamic dressing) and some pasta with sausage and eggplant in a crushed tomato sauce. Overall, we all thought it was awesome. I stayed with them that night so they could bring me up to Saratoga bright and early for my second half marathon.

It was the perfect day for running and the course was quite a challenge. Lets just say I was pretty happy I trained on hills. The start of the race was uphill, onto the Skidmore campus which was rolling hills, then came downhill through the middle of Saratoga. Then we went through the park (which is awesome), and I ran through SPAC and over a bridge to the 6 mile mark. I was feeling pretty good at this point though I had started out wayyy too fast, and as I was feeling tired, "Firework" by Katy Perry came on my iPod. Instant inspiration.

That was until the 7 mile mark where I practically got on my hands and knees to climb up a hill. I honestly wasn't expecting anything this steep, and I pretty much ruled out being able to beat my previous time after that. I was totally exhausted and my knee started to hurt, and the next water stop wasn't until after the 9 mile mark. I was angry, thirsty, and in pain. Bad combination. And every time we came upon another hill, I almost cried and I did actually say, "are you serious?"

I fought the urge to walk basically the rest of the time. Thank god a little old woman started running next to me around mile 10 to tell me to keep going. I ended up passing her, but I totally needed encouragement at that point. The rest is kind of a blur until after 12 miles where we came across a steep downhill, which believe it or not, is just as bad as a steep uphill. You have to control your body to 1) not barrel roll down the hill and 2) not blow out any muscles/joints/etc.

From going around curves and people, you always end up running more than the actual distance of the race, so when I looked down at my watch as I hit 13.1, I was at 02:02:09. I crossed the finish line having run 13.35 miles, and had a time of 02:04:21. I had a PR (personal record) either way, so I was sooooo happy. My parents and Ryan were there to cheer me on at the finish line :)

After cleaning myself up and feeling like a human again, Ryan and I hopped in the car for our first destination of the trip: Long Lake, NY. We stayed up at his grandma's summer home on Lake Eaton, which is absolutely beautiful. As if I hadn't had enough physical activity for one day, we took the kayaks out on the lake and paddled around, making friends with a female duck who followed us around. Even when she fell behind she flew to catch up with us.

We had Mexican lasagna for dinner, followed by berry cobbler and Stewarts' pumpkin pie ice cream for dessert (have I mentioned how much I love Stewart's ice cream yet? Because I do...), then had a campfire. I actually saw a boatload of stars in the sky, and I haven't seen any stars at all since moving to the city. I definitely miss stars.

Today began with a breakfast of bagels and bacon (win!) while overlooking the lake, then we headed into town with Ryan's mom. We hit up a few local stores, then saw Buttermilk Falls....

I loved it :)

Having just watched a ton of water, we were all pretty thirsty and headed to Stewarts. our cashier, Linda, may have been the worst/best Stewarts employee ever. First she scolded Ryan's mom for cutting in line (she actually didn't, a woman ordered a milkshake and walked away so we took her place), and then when Ryan returned to claim his winnings form his scratch off, she was making fun of another customer while talking to him. Apparently said customer pumped gas incorrectly, and Linda told Ryan just how much she hated when people did that. You go, Linda.

I got behind the wheel on the next leg of our journey. I must say, I also miss driving. I didn't really have to go on any highways, so I was pretty happy about that. Just a bunch of roads with beautiful fall foliage with a backdrop of mountains behind them. No big.

We headed up to Burlington, VT (my first time ever in VT) and made our first stop at the Magic Hat Brewery where our friend Erik works.

We sampled a bit and then went into Burlington to explore Church St. It's blocked off so cars can't go through it, and it's a really nice little promenade! Tons of shops and a few chain retailers (Urban Outfitters, Macy's, etc), and lots of restaurants. We went into a few, and I snagged a jar of Chocolate Maple Peanut Butter, made locally in Vermont.

For dinner we went to Manhattan Pizza (yes, I had to go to Vermont to get "Manhattan pizza") where they had half price wings. Two beers plus 12 wings each cost us a few cents over $20, my kind of place. I also give them the Buffalo stamp of approval. These wings were legit. Totally weren't breaded, fried to a crisp, and served with blue cheese and celery. I got the smokey BBQ ones that had a little bit of a zing to them. Ryan got the Hot Buffalo ones, and his mouth was on fire.

After that we hung out with Erik a bit more, and now we're in for the night! Stay tuned for more travels and adventures in food....