Vacay

That’s right folks, this weekend is another one of those much needed trips out of DC and back to a familiar city. This time I’m headed up to Boston for the first time in a year to watch my Boston College Eagles take down my childhood dream team – Notre Dame. Since graduating from BC, this is the longest I’ve been away from the city and the campus, making this trip that much more worth it.

But what does all of this mean for training? Not too much. Although I am extremely excited to get out and run a couple solid routes in my old stomping ground. Truth be told, the entire time I lived in Boston, the most I ran in one session was probably on the soccer field instead of on the roads.

To make up for it, I’m going to visit all of the cliché Boston and Boston College sites:

Skipping Workouts Like It's My Job

I’m back. And for those that wonder where I’ve been, to be brutally honest, my blogging is directly related to my training. Now I’m not saying that my training is completely non-existent like my posts, but the intensity and commitment are at about 50% of where they were during Ironman training. I’m ok with this though.

I spent six months of this year dedicated to one thing and one thing only. I skipped countless happy hours, watched what I ate, and passed on way too many other fun activities. So now I’m taking a much more laid back approach. If I feel like forgoing a workout to play soccer, so be it. If I have to rearrange my run because of a spontaneous happy hour with friends, great. And if I want to eat six Subway cookies in one sitting because I have a terrible sweet tooth, don’t judge me. I still hit my long runs and most of my speed work. It’s just those pesky low-intensity and minimal-reward runs that I tend to leave out.

Which brings me to today – approximately four and a half weeks away from the big race. As you may remember, I said that I would spend the better part of a year attempting to qualify for Boston. I conservatively planned to shave a few minutes off my marathon time each month and figured it would take a few tries before completing the goal. But in reality, I have bigger and bolder goals planned for 2011 and as difficult as success will be, I’ll still be disappointed if I don’t qualify for Boston at the Marine Corp Marathon.

But ultimately, as frustrated as I may be with myself, I can’t be too upset because as a good friend recently told me – I shouldn’t get too sucked into endurance training and neglect other aspects of my life or miss out on some of the other passions and goals.

Hopefully I won’t have to do this but in case I do fail on October 31, I’ll look back to this post to remember all the other activities and fun I had when I could have been training:

Soccer - it wreaks havoc on my legs and body but those bumps and bruises are well worth it
Beach Volleyball – easily the best way to spend an entire weekend afternoon
Happy Hours – sometimes it’s either feast of famine but it’s always nice to catch up with friends
College Football – so trivial but so nice to waste an entire Saturday in front of the tube and have no regrets
Vacation – Greensboro, Virginia Beach, Boston, San Diego, Las Vegas; six places I couldn’t really visit during Ironman training
Sweets – during the beginning of this 50% marathon training, I didn’t exactly focus on getting too many “well balanced” meals

Greensboro

Talk about a recharge. In 2010, the only times I’ve been away from DC and the ever-exciting Mid-Atlantic were the trip home for Valentine’s Day with the family and the Ironman in Idaho. Compare that with 2009 - about a half dozen trips to North Carolina, a couple treks up to Boston, and a few fun-filled weekends in Seattle and Chicago – and I’m overdue for a few days away from the District. Thus, I decided to cure my homesickness and head south for the weekend to spend some quality time with my parents.

Don’t worry though, I was still able to brave the deadly heat here and fit some training/suffering into my schedule. On Friday morning, I planned a nice long run that would take me on a journey through my childhood. I visited my grade school, high school, rival high school, and a few different spots where I played soccer. The idea of the run was a great one. The execution on the other hand was not so much. Who knew it was possible to get lost in your own hometown? Sadly, my quick 19 mile jog turned into a run-walk around mile 12 when I got lost around the god-forsaken neighborhoods of my stupid rival high school. I probably should have ran those miles until I found the right way but I was just so frustrated and was in no mood to run.  Plus, my asthma was kicking in and I wasn't feeling too hot with regards to my breathing (see video below). In the end, I finally found my way by using the expressway (at the time, I valued convenience over danger) that connects the different parts of the city and made my way home in time to take a quick ice bath before visiting my Mom’s fourth grade class.

So from there, the rest of the weekend has been a combination of relaxing with my parents, joking about my inferior siblings (it’s ok to say because it’s true), catching up with some of my favorite people at home, and eating more junk food than I can handle. Ohhh, and watching that little thing called the first weekend of college football season.

Yep, this trip could not be better. I’ll go into the ebbs and flows of my training later this week. For now, I’m just enjoying the last 36 hours at home before it’s back to the District and some excited weekends ahead.