May 5: My last day of classes at Loyola.
May 7-9: I was in Houston for my friends' wedding.
May 13-15: I was home, trying to train through a sinus infection.
May 20-22: Loyola graduation festivities.
May 24-26: Romero Center Conference in NJ and food poisoning.
May 27-29: 10th Bryn Mawr Reunion in PA and residual effects of food poisoning.
June 3-4: VA Wine Country Half-Marathon and vineyards trip.
June 5: Practice tri and birthday.
June 10-12: Volunteering at the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing's annual grief camp.
June 16-18: Trip to NY to visit YDS classmates.
June 19: Father's Day, including a Father's Day 10K.
As you can see from the links, I have blogged my way through the May and early June events, but I started getting behind after my birthday week. So, now that my suitcase is unpacked, its time for some catch-up posts! I'll start with this past weekend:
From Thursday-Saturday, I was in Irvington, NY for an annual reunion with some of my YDS (Yale Divinity School) classmates. These reunions (for which much credit is owed to my friend Mindy) are always a highlight of my year, and this year was no exception.
We chose Irvington because my friend Nora is a pastor there and her parsonage is so enormous one can get lost going to the bathroom. It has a huge kitchen (ideal for a weekend of snacking and gossiping), 5 bedrooms, and 4 living rooms which can serve as extra bedrooms. Irvington has an additional appeal for me: great running routes, including one truly stunning quarter-mile hill.
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| See that white truck? Right about there, the hill suddenly becomes an almost sheer drop. |
When I visited Irvington last summer, I did not even think about running this hill. This year, though, I had the upcoming Dreaded Druid Hills 10K to think about. That race is June 25th, and I have not done nearly as much hill training as I should have done by now. So, I decided to make up for some lost time with the Irvington hill. Both Friday and Saturday, I warmed up with a 3-ish mile trail run, walked to the bottom of the hill, and headed back up. It was brutal. It only took about 5 minutes to run from the bottom of the hill to the top, but my heart was pounding by about 20 seconds in both times. In fact, my pounding heart and shortness of breath were actually bigger issues than my legs. San Francisco runners, I tip my hat to you!
I got home from NY late Saturday night and got up early Sunday to run the Annapolis Striders' Dawson's Father's Day 10K. I had moderate expectations going into this race. Thanks to all the travel and eating away from home, I am currently up about 5 pounds, which is enough to slow me down a bit. Also, I was tired and I had consumed a decent amount of wine and beer in NY. Despite all of this, I actually had a really good race! I finished in 1:01:37, 3 minutes faster than my previous best 10K. I think I probably could have shaved another minute if I had started further up in the pack. Many runners have a problem with going out too fast. I have the opposite problem: I start too slow. So, the next time I am looking to run a fast race (not the Druid Hills), I will start closer to the front.
I've had many wonderful adventures over the past few weeks, but I am so happy to be home for awhile! Coming soon: a report on my second time volunteering for the Wendt Center grief camp.
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