Manhattan Beach Week

We just got back from vacation. Flew into LAX and stayed with my parents in Manhattan Beach for the week.

I ran over 70 miles in 4 days, ran along the Strand and the Marvin Braude bike path between Redondo Beach and Marina Del Rey, and went south through Hermosa Beach and Redondo up and over the Palos Verdes peninsula in the direction of Long Beach, but didn't go that far over the other side.

The day I was running to Marina del Rey, I saw a Badwater acquaintance, Dan Westergaard, who was so kind as to give me some tips before my road double a few years back. He was on his bike riding on the bike path and I recognized him when he passed me. So he slowed down and we talked for a while.

The day I ran south to Palos Verdes was really beautiful, climbing up the side of the peninsula and running alongside the cliffs that overlooked the ocean and up north toward Manhattan Beach.

Of course I spent a lot of time on the beach, played in the ocean, and we ate a lot of good food. Walked around some, and in general, just relaxed. Made a lot of margaritas in the blender too.

My sister and brother-in-law were there the first 2 days so we got to see them and spend some time with my nephews, who are 5 and 10 years old.

So many beautiful scenes, day and night. The weather was perfect the whole time we were there. I could sleep on the beach, listening to the waves crash. I think I could listen to that sound forever.

Now we're back and life goes forward. Lots of work to do, and a bit more running before taper time for Cleveland.

The way the running went was encouraging, because my legs felt consistently good, even after running 40 last Saturday and only taking one day off to travel on Sunday. I came back with 18, 21, 11, and 21 miles Monday through Thursday.

Now I'm planning to back off just a little this week since I had 90 and 80+ mile weeks, next Sunday I'll be in Spearfish South Dakota for the Leading Ladies Marathon, a training run that I hope to run at a decent pace. Don't ask me what a decent pace is, I don't know. It's anything faster than 9 minute miles, at this point. Any time that makes me feel better about my training. It's a mostly downhill course, so depending on my legs, anything goes.

My body does feel like it wants to fall apart sometimes, but running feels good. I feel better when I am running than when I'm not running! As long as I keep moving I'm okay.

The garden is exploding out of the boxes in the yard, we got some rain while we were gone and everything is green. Usually by now things are all brown and dried up, but not this year. The girls are happy that we're home, too.

I'm happy to be home, though every time I get by the ocean, I wish I could spend more time there. I hope that in the future, we will.