Mini Vacation

Last Wednesday I got a pretty desperate call from my mom. Seems she was having some problems dealing with her 2 granddaughters, a 3 1/2 year old and a 1 1/2 year old, after having them for a week. I don't see what's so difficult, the former is extremely head-strong and the latter is into EVERYTHING. Using my incredible intuition, I asked "Do you need me to come down now?" (instead of Friday with my husband). With no hesitation she replied "yes". So I did a quick pack job, loaded the bikes and headed south to the central coast to rescue my folks.

I love long drives, especially by myself. I'm really into books on CD and I had a whole stack of them to get me down the road. Pat and I recently saw Into The Wild about a 22 year old guy who gets rid of all his possessions and explores the country on foot. Unfortunately, he met with some bad luck in Alaska. We really enjoyed the movie and I mentioned to Pat I would really like to get the book (by Jon Krakauer) in the hopes it would answer some questions that the movie raises. So on the way down I-5 I stop at a gas station and they have a rack with lots of books on CD. I gave it a quick glance and first thing I see is the unabridged reading of Into The Wild. I had to buy it. It's great and the rest of the miles flew by. Before I knew it, I had 2 incredibly excited little girls jumping into my arms.

Pat and Sara enjoying the beach

It's not a bad thing, spending a couple extra days at the beach in gorgeous weather. Playing with the kids, taking them to the park, walks on the beach, bike rides, and exactly ONE run. By Saturday, 7 days after Helen Klein, I felt fat and lazy so I got up in the pre-dawn hours and hit the quiet streets with Yuba for an easy run. I felt great. Ran out to Morro Rock along bike paths and city streets then back to the house along the beach for a 6 mile total.

Anxious birds awaiting a snack

The next day my mom was generous enough to watch the girls again so I could (selfishly) join my dad and husband on a bike ride. Thanks mom. Other days the girls joined me on some easy rides around the neighborhood in the bike trailer.

We're ready to go

Nana and the girls (and Yuba)

First time with both girls in the trailer

One enjoyable day was spent feeding the birds near Morro Rock. Caitlyn loved feeding them bread, Sara just loved eating the bread herself.

In the shadow of Morro Rock

Tasty bread

Finally it was time to head home. The nice thing was that I got to finish listening to Into The Wild. I recommend it.

Too big for me?

I've now been on a couple more runs and it's obvious I haven't recovered from the 50 miler. I ran the Loch Leven trail to Middle Lake (6 mile round trip) with lots of climbing and the heart rate was quite high. Today I ran the Emigrant trail to Prosser Creek (4 miles round trip) and the perceived exertion was just way too high for the speed I was going. So I'll stick to some easy runs and cross-training. The off-season can be a lot of fun.