Adventures in climate-hopping.

I've been M.I.A. for a few days, in part because I went on a little trip and in part because I've been holed up at home in the a/c reading Justin Cronin's completely addictive novel, The Passage (http://amzn.com/0345504968). If any of you are looking for great summer/beach reading, look no further. As many reviewers have aptly stated, this is the kind of book that you can't put down, even though you kind of want to because you don't want it to end. I heard about it from a brief mention in a magazine and a friend's Facebook post and only learned this morning (when I went to Amazon to get the link) that it is part one of a planned triology. Hooray! With Harry Potter and Lost over, I need something to spend the next several years theorizing about.

So, on to the weekend: I did marathon training long run #2 on Saturday, then headed straight to the airport for the shortest West Coast trip ever: left Saturday morning, attended/DJ'd a wedding Sunday, flew back Monday. Here are the highlights:

1) The long run. What a difference a few degrees makes! I wasn't really looking forward to this run because I found the same distance (10 miles) so difficult the week before. Also, I had to do it by myself because my running buddy was doing another race and the Striders were setting out too late for me to run with them and make my flight. It turns out that I need not have worried. Thanks to my earlier start time and a merciful break in the heat, this 10-miler was a billion times easier and more pleasant than the week before. I walked more than usual and still finished 10 minutes ahead of my time the previous week. So, that was a great start to the weekend and a nice confidence-builder early in my training.

2) The long plane ride(s). Unfortunately, the weekend took a downward plunge after the run. I went to BWI for what was supposed to be a 12:35 flight to St. Louis and a connecting flight to Seattle, with arrival at 6:50pm West Coast time. I had taken a footlong Subway sub with me, intending to eat half on the first flight and half on the second, saving both money and calories. I also planned to sleep off the early-morning run during the flights and arrive awake enough to spend the evening with friends. Good plan, right?

The cascade of crappy events began with the 12:35 flight being late. By the time I got on the plane, I was starving (keep in mind I ran 10 miles that morning) and worried that I might miss my connection at STL. I ate the whole sub as soon as we took off. Then, 10 or 15 minutes into the flight, the captain came on and announced that there was a problem with the plane and we had to go back to BWI. So, we turned around, but there were no runways clear, so we just circled at low altitude for 45 minutes. Something about this process made me nauseous, so I spent that whole time trying not to throw up the huge sub. I was very thankful when we landed, despite the fact that I had already missed my connecting flight and would need to be re-routed.

I got moved to a flight to Denver at 3:55pm, followed by another flight which was scheduled to arrive in Seattle at 9pm West Coast time, meaning that I would miss time with my friends. At this point, I was out of food, so I (unwisely) bought some greasy Chinese food to eat on the flight and then (even more unwisely) stress-ate half of it before we ever boarded. The flight to Denver was relatively smooth, but I could not manage to fall asleep for even a few minutes. Then, when we arrived (at 5pm CO time), we learned that our connecting flight was delayed and we would be at the Denver airport for 3 hours. So that made me even more tired and cranky. What to do? Grab a snack, of course! By the time all this craziness was over, I had easily undone the 10-mile run and then some. (Mental note: pack way more healthy food than you think you will need whenever traveling).

We boarded the flight to Denver at 8pm. By this point, our best possible arrival time in Seattle was 9:30pm Pacific-time. A few minutes after boarding, the captain came on to announce that we were experiencing a lightning storm and all the runways were closed. So, we waited on the runway for another 45 minutes or so for that to clear. By the time we arrived in Seattle, it was after 10pm Pacific time (so 1am to my body, which had been up since 5:30am). I had been instructed to take a 45-minute bus ride and a 10-minute train ride to my hotel, so I headed for the bus stop. It turned out to be clear on the other side of the very large airport and down several long deserted walkways which looked kind of like this:

When I finally got to the bus stop, I realized that I had already missed the last bus. D'oh! So, I speed-walked back down the scary walkways and found a place where I could book a spot on a shuttle. I had a pleasant ride with a very nice shuttle-driver and finally reached the hotel at about 12:30am Pacific time. By this point, I had been awake for 22 hours. I'm still not sure how I managed that.

3) The wedding. The one good thing about my crazy travel ordeal and the marathon 22-hour day was that I went to sleep at 12:30 and woke up at 7:30 just like a normal day. No jet lag at all. So, I was awake and able to enjoy my friend Angela's truly lovely wedding to her new husband Matt. One of the many great things about going to Yale Divinity School is that the students there are really committed to creating creative, meaningful liturgy. Thus, YDS weddings are pretty much always awesome, and this one was no exception.

My DJ gig was at reception #1: a lovely lunch event at a rooftop venue in downtown Tacoma, WA. I love DJing for many reasons, but I especially love DJing friends' weddings because I'm able to really make the music meaningful for them. The time of day seemed to keep people from dancing much, but I was really thrilled with the cocktail/dinner music, which seemed to please both the bride and groom and the guests.

Reception #2 was an open house at the bride's parents' home, overlooking the water and the annual Tacoma 4th of July festivities. Getting married on the 4th was a smart move on Angela and Matt's part. How else do people who aren't mega-rich get to conclude their wedding with fireworks? Well-played, Angela and Matt. It was unseasonably cold in Tacoma on the 4th. I spent the evening shivering in a sweater and jacket, which made coming home to triple-digit heat a little shocking.

4) The trip home. This one was (thankfully) much smoother than the trip out. The only problem was that I didn't realize that the busses and trains were still running on a holiday schedule and wound up having to take a $60 cab ride to the airport. Also, it was a bummer to leave so soon after my arrival, especially once I realized that most of my friends were staying to hang out an extra day. Oh well.

So, now you're pretty much caught up. I meant to go back to the gym yesterday and get back to training. Yet, somehow, I wound up sitting in my air-conditioned room reading all afternoon/evening. I think the 105 degree heat may have had something to do with that. So, I really need to get back tonight and also to start planning for how I'm going to cope with the heat this weekend. Time to freeze some Gatorade!