London Marathon Training Update - 17 Miles, Done!

Well things are going quite well with my London Marathon training. Almost £1300 has been raised for the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home (thanks everyone for donating). I am slacking a bit in my training, but that is my M.O. (come on, I had a nasty stomach flu THEN a cold). Also, I am exceptionally lazy. However, I only have 2 months to go so this is really time to push the mileage up.

Today was a major milestone, 17 miles! It was my longest run since my last marathon a few years ago. I ran wayyyy out in northwest London with the Gade Valley Harriers. They organize a series of  three training runs for the London Marathon, which I HIGHLY recommend. The races cost £5 to enter and include marshals, cheering, water, gummy bears, and post-race juice, tea,coffee, and cake. Talk about getting bang for your buck, er pound!

So here is a summary of the run:

Miles 1-4: Can't feel my hands, wish I had another layer on, the course is a bit slippery from the light snow falling - but I am feeling strong and continually pass people the first few miles.

Mikes 4-8: Yay, I have hands again. And holy crap where did all these hills come from? Feeling a bit tired around mile 8 but must push through! If I slow down I will get cold, and if I stop I'll freeze to death.

Miles 8-12: WTF A CASTLE, am I the only one that thinks that is super cool (apparently yes, it is Ashridge Castle for anyone that wants to know).

Miles 12-17: Cold hands again, if I run faster it will get better. Gummy bears handed out at mile 15 save my ass, never underestimate how 100 calories of pure sugar can boost your mood and speed. At mile 16 I catch a train of 8 women speeding by, I duck in with them and finish very strong and very happy

The next Gade Valley Harriers London Marathon training run is 20 miles on Sunday, March 24th. I will be there.......

We are skiing in Zermatt, Switzerland the first week of March, so my running will be lighter this week. I need to be recovered and rested to keep up with Dave on the slopes because he will ditch my ass.

Barcelona - Yup, As Good As They Say

Well, Barcelona lived up to it's high expectations. Seriously, every person we talked to about traveling in the last year told us we had to go to Barcelona. So we did, and it was gooooood - the food, the architecture, the super mellow people, the wine, the excellent transportation system, the history.......everything.

Once again photos say it best.

View of Las Ramblas from our balcony.

The Gaudi house.

Sagrada Familia.

Love me an old church.

Oh and the race! I completed the Barcelona Half Marathon in 1:43. I felt good the entire time and maintained a steady pace throughout the race. It helped that the course markers were in kilometers, so I couldn't psych myself out over how many miles I had left the way I normally do. I just ran at a consistent effort and enjoyed the day.

As an aside, the Spanish are really mellow racers. First of all, everyone was just so polite - and there were lots of men with colorful neckerchiefs running. Why not be stylish! True to stereotypical form, none of the Spaniards lined up until about 30 seconds before the start. Everyone was simply smiling and chatting away, and there wasn't a mass pushing rush when the start cannon fired.

Also stereotypical perhaps, after the race you got an orange, a banana, and a bottle of water. No corporate sponsors pushing weird BS supplements, no bagels with cream cheese, no burritos, no bags of chips, no pizza, no beer (OK I missed the beer part) like you get in the US. It was refreshingly simple and nice.

You eat at MEAL times in Spain, not ALL the time. This is something we should all try to emulate for the sake of our waistlines.

Dave chose to sleep-in on race day. The bed was adjustable, who can blame him.

After the race, we accidentally stumbled upon the La Laia Festival, which is a celebration of the feast day of Santa Eulàlia - the ancient patron saint of the city of Barcelona. The festival is a few days long and is Barcelona’s biggest annual event for kids. They all dress up and parade down every street in the Gothic Quarter with drums and instruments and weird gigantic Papier-mâché statues that honestly freaked me the eff out. 

Weird and creepy gigantic statues.

Also, there were lots of Catalan cultural events, dancing, and music associated with the festival. It was a nice weekend to be in the Barcelona, and normally I really hate festivals and the hype and crowds that go along with them. It is just too many effing people for me. But February is low season in Barcelona, so it was pleasant and mostly locals.

Dancing, man I wanted to join in.

Old ladies making lace in the square.

More creepy festival weirdness.

This was Dave's favorite part of the festival, the fireworks marking the end.

You can do this shit when you have national healthcare, can you imagine the lawsuits in the US.

Now, these are not the professional kind of fireworks you see 100 feet in the air, but rather the halfass kind buy at the store and light yourself and hope not to set your own limbs on fire in the process. Seriously, I have never seen anything like it - check out the video below. And these are little KIDS all having the time of their lives with discount fireworks. The entire square just exploded as everyone lit their fireworks at the same time. It was crazy, I thought my hair was going to catch on fire......

I do feel like you need some time in Barcelona and the surrounding area to really figure things out, a long weekend was NOT enough. There is just so much history and culture, you barely get a sense of it in a few days. I definitely hope to make it back for a longer trip at some point in my life.

Marathon Training Update

Uhm OK drama queen Amie, sorry for that last post. In case no one has noticed, I am mercurial. That is just how it is.

What a difference a day makes. My head-cold is almost gone. Today it is bright, sunny, and a balmy 46 degrees outside - no really, that is warm for London lately. It was a perfect day for a run through Hyde Park. I had the pleasure of catching the changing of the guard with all the horses and the band, which is really only cool to catch during a run in the winter. In the summer there are 15,000 douchebags crowded around Buckingham Palace taking pictures with their Ipads (will y'all cut that out, you look redic holding up a giant Ipad to take a photo), and generally being in my way.

Anyways, I ran 5.2 miles at a moderate pace, with a few pick-ups in there for good measure. I am tapering for the Barcelona half Marathon, which is on Sunday, February 17th at 8:45 a.m. Woo hoo!

We are leaving for Barcelona today. Neither Dave or I have ever been, but everyone we meet here in London has told us that Barcelona is the shit. And there is nothing like training for a marathon/running a race while traveling. I never have to say, "no I shouldn't eat that, I want to be hungry for dinner". Guess what, I'll be hungry in 5 minutes......gimme. And what better place to be hungry than in Barcelona!

The course looks like it will give me an outstanding tour of the city. We are staying about 1K from the race start at the Hotel Montecarlo in the Gothic Quarter, so I can just jog to the start. Easy-peasy. Something tells me Dave will be sleeping in.


As far as a goal for this race, I suppose I'd like to finish around 1:40. The course is flat and I know there will be official pacers for a 1:40 finish. I am just not sure how many people are racing. There could be 30,000 people out there and I will never even see the 1:40 pacer.

But really, I will be happy just finishing strong......hopefully, stronger than I did at the Watford Half Marathon 2 weeks ago. The photo below says everything about how I was feeling at mile 12.5 during that race: head down, shit form, the elastic waste drawstring hanging out of my pants, struggling not to barf - fun. I did that race after a nasty bout of the stomach flu where I couldn't eat anything for a week before. Probably not my smartest move, but I finished nonetheless.

So happy running! I'll post an update on the trip next week when we are back.

A Low Point

Break out your World's Smallest Violin for me.
 
I am sick AGAIN. I have never been so sick in my life as I have been living in London. I feel like a 2-year-old kid. I have had severe stomach flu (not that 24-hour shit, like 7-day shit) at least 4 times in the last 18 months. I have also had countless colds/bronchitis/flus. I am not kidding. I just got over a heinous stomach flu last Monday and managed to pick up a cold this Monday. WTF. I blame the Tube, the cold, and all these effing people everywhere. My immune system went soft living in the Bay Area for sure.

It is ass cold out. I will NEVER live in a cold climate again. NEVER. EVER. Period. EVER. OK small caveat, I would live in a ski town if I could ski everyday - but that's it. Your quality of life in the cold is ridiculously awful if you are an outdoorsy person who lives to bike, hike, swim, and run outdoors (like me). I also have a serious problem in that I am not naturally warm-blooded. I would kill to have that thyroid problem where you are hot all the time. Bring on the hot flashes, I'll take menopause now - please.

I am reminded of my friend JB (not because of the thyroid or menopause thing). She grew up in San Diego, moved to deathly cold Massachusetts for a few years, then ended up in balmy Charleston, and finally moved to eastern San Diego County where she lives happily surrounded by glorious avocado and orange trees. Anyway, a few years ago, she GAVE me her and her hubby's cross-country skis and boots. No - I must pay you, I begged. She then looked me in the eye and emphatically said, "I will NEVER live in the cold again. I never want to be cold. Take them."

Now I understand what she meant. Cold sucks, unless you are in the mountains. And let me tell you, those skis get put to great use in Tahoe.

I haven't seen the sun for weeks. This goes with the cold. But at least if it was sunny, I could have that comfort.......but it isn't.......so I don't. And I want to cry.

I will have to remember how lucky I am, this dark cold February:

• I was in Paris last weekend.
• I am going to Barcelona this weekend.
•  I am going skiing in Switzerland in March. 
• My skin is actually getting younger since I am never in the effing sun.

But I cannot wait to be warm, and not be sick, and go biking, and bake my skin in the sun in the Bay Area again. June will be here before I know it. xo

An Uncommon Paris Agenda

Sooooo you've seen the requisite priceless works of art at the Louvre and the D'Orsay. You've been awed by the Saint Chapelle and Notre Dame.You've trekked out to Montmartre and climbed to the top of the Sacre Coeur, and had your senses assaulted in every way at the Rue Mouffetard market. 

What's next? Here are a few less conventional things to do in Paris. Each are worthwhile in their own way. Monkey commentary included since we were just there again last weekend (yes, you can hate me)......

Take A Boat Ride Along the Canal Saint Martin
Who wouldn't want to take a lovely boat tour through the canals of Paris. If you have seen everything along the Seine, head over to the Canal St. Martin for a boat ride though som non-touristy neighborhoods of Paris. Canauxrama has a good tour from what I have heard. You get a historical commentary as you pass through the locks along the canal. You start the ride at the Parc de la Villette and end near the Bastille. 
Monkey Commentary: It was effing snowing and freezing over the weekend. You can bet your ass I was not on a boat. Maybe in May.

Visit Paris's Most Famous Flea Markets
Paris has feast-for-the-eyes flea markets. The best of which is the Clignancourt Flea Market in the north of Paris. It is the largest flea market in the world, with all manner of furniture, antiques, books, clothes......anything you could want. Here is a decent Paris Flea market website with info.
Monkey Commentary: Yeah so see above about the canal boat ride. I had long underwear on under my clothes the entire weekend (sexy) and I still didn't want to wander around outdoors. Again, the flea markets can wait till May. 

 
Visit the Musee Marmottan-Monet
Well this was a nice surprise. The Musee Marmottan-Monet is located in a hoity-toity neighborhood on the west side of Paris. I have a penchant for bite-sized art museums, and this one is perfect. It is located in a stately 19th century mansion with just a few rooms of art, so you don't feel overwhelmed or in a rush to see everything. The museum has quite a collection of Monets, as well as a few noteworthy Cezanne and Sisley paintings - if you are into Impressionism and such. 
Monkey Commentary: I read that this museum was "the best kept secret in Paris", I wouldn't go that far. But still, it was worth the trip. 


Trek Over to the Basilique Saint-Denis,
This random church on the outskirts of Paris is the burial place of nearly all the past kings and queens of France, including Clovis, Marie Antoinette, and Louis XIV. It was also once the burial place for martyrs from the earliest centuries of the Catholic church, including St. Dennis - who was beheaded. Statures ALL over the church will graphically remind you of said beheading...... Definitely do the audio tour so you get an appreciation of the gruesome details on all the spooky graves that are there.
Monkey Commentary: Too cold inside the church for me to really enjoy at the time, despite the long underwear. It is worth the Metro ride to see all that history though.

Learn About Parisian History at the Musee Carnavalet (and Shopping)
The Musee Carnavelet is smack-dab in the middle of the Marias area of Paris, west of the Place de Vosges.The museum has lots of random bits, furniture, and pieces of art relating to the history of Paris, including the French Revolution - which I know very little about, I realized. Admission is free and the surrounding neighborhood is great for shopping and/or lunch.
Monkey Commentary: The museum had really hot radiators in each room that were waist-high so I could put my legs in full contact of heat as I walked through the exhibits. OK the place seemed not well curated (I wasn't sure what I was looking at most of the time), but they do have a really impressive art collection. Or maybe I was just warm......whatever, this museum is free and located amongst the outstanding boutique shops in the Marais. So definitely worth a trip, if only to shop after gettin' cultured and warmed.

Francophelia - 6 Reasons Why I Have It Bad

Wikipedia defines a Francophile as:

.....an individual who has a strong positive predisposition or interest toward the government, culture, history, or people of France. This could include France itself and its history, the French language, French cuisine, literature, etc.
 
That's me for sure, a Frencophile. I effing love France. I love learning French and speaking it when I visit. I love their food, wine, tiny apartments, and snooty-proud ways. I am hooked. We are headed down to Paris tomorrow on the Eurostar = stoked. I am enjoying being 2 hours from Paris to the full extent, I have been there twice in the last 2 weeks......

Obviously, the French are not prefect and they have their issues with economics and unemployment, as well as immigration and cultural integration. But overall, they do a lot of things right (per the A. Ashton standard of "right"). Perhaps we could learn a few things.......

1) Cafe Culture: I love that sitting for 45 minutes with an espresso watching the theater of the street, maybe with a book - maybe not, is considered a worthwhile pastime. And OMG and the variety of beverages (beers, krieks, lambics, ciders, syrups for sodas, juices), all there for your sitting and drinking enjoyment. And don't you DARE get your effing cell phone out while you are at the cafe - très gauche!

2) Food Food Food (and Wine): There isn't much to say here that you haven't heard before. The French know food and wine. They are serious about it in a way that seems so foreign to Americans, except San Franciscans, I imagine. France must be the only country in the world where a warm croissant or a glass of Burgundy can move me to tears. And I love that food is worshiped in France. Animals are generally treated well for no reason other than a happy pig tastes better. A non-stressed out, pasture raised (NO CORN) cow makes tastier milk for your cheese. After all, I grew up in the Midwest where poor quality food is generally consumed in large quantities without much thought as to where it came from or how it was prepared. Perhaps I find the French food and wine obsession so intriguing because it seems so different to what I learned about food growing up.

3) Architecture: Much like the food/wine-thing, this also goes without saying. Unless you hate Beaux-Arts......but even if you do, there is still Gothic, Baroque, Neoclassic, and Modern to choose from. Bordeaux, Amboise, Paris, and Avignon are my favorite cities as far as architecture. I cannot wait to see MORE of the country to add to that favorites list. 

4) Qualité de Vie (Quality of Life): In the U.S., a discussion of quality of life generally revolves around how much money you make. There isn't much of a discussion beyond that, political or otherwise. Really, what does quality of life mean to Americans? I am not sure a lot of people have ever even thought about it. This is markedly different in France, where 5 weeks of vacation per year is the minimum people receive (talk about quality of life). Let's not mention the gloriously humane maternity and parental leave policies. In fact, the current French mayor ran on a platform of improving the quality of life for Parisians, including more civic events and activities for people to enjoy, less vehicle traffic in the city, and better transit. 

5) The Little Things Are Important and To Be Enjoyed: The French believe that life is to be enjoyed, of course you will have a champagne apéritif before dinner on Tuesday, because it's Tuesday. Yes you will take a proper lunch break EVERYDAY! Of course you will have dessert, because that's what you do.

6) People Read: There is a respect for culture, philosophy, and serious literature. On the Metro, it is normal to see people reading Sartre, Camus, and Dumas. Being intellectual is highly valued in France. In the U.S., it seems as though who you are = what you do at work. To be cultured means that you are quirky or pretentious, or you are a New Yorker. I remember going to a friend's house in Paris. This guy works with my husband at a tech company, you would think that was his life - working full time at a big company. But no, in addition to having 2 beautiful children, he also is a writer and has a book collection that covers an entire wall from floor to ceiling. And the books just astounded me: art, philosophy, architecture, politics, theater...... It gave me a whole new level of respect for my the French culture that finds such value in an life.

In any case, off to Paris tomorrow. We are going to try and do some off-beat things that don't involve major tourist attractions. I'll report back in a few days.

5 Ways You Know It's February in London

1) You need your Sunglasses: I just got mine out for the first time in 2 months. The sun is finally high enough in the sky that it rests above the surrounding buildings during the day. How did civilization ever develop in northern Europe......

2) Restaurants are "easy" to get into: If you want to eat at Zucca, Dabbous, St. John, Hawksmoor, or any of the other insanely hot-right-now-band-wagon restaurants, make your reservation today! Everyone is recovering from Christmas expenditures and it is less touristy this time of year.  I am getting into just about anywhere I want to go right now. The whole less-crowded thing holds true for London's best galleries and attractions also. The National Gallery and Westminster Abbey will never be as quiet as they are this month.

3) There is lots of vacation talk: All the talk on the Tube (since I am an eavesdropper) is about getaways and trips, what sort of package people are booking, and where people are planning to go. After two months of short days and crap weather, everyone is antsy and seriously vitamin D deprived. I imagine the Canary Islands are positively overrun with really white Brits in Speedos on cheap package tours right now.

4) The barf slicks are back: "Dry January" is over and London has a lot to make up for. You think I am kidding about the barf, I'm not. It is everywhere from the banking district to Battersea. Seriously, my dog would have a FIELD DAY cleaning up this town. EW.

5) The days are gloriously longer: This should really be filed under point number 1 there about the sunglasses. But I am so excited, I am giving it its own heading. On the shortest day of the year (December 21st), we had 7h 49m 43s of daylight. Today (February 4th) we had 9h 21m 52s of daylight. I know all you people in SF are going, "whatever, is it that big of a deal". Yes the eff it is a big deal. It means the sun sets around 5:00pm now, instead of around 3:30pm. I'm sorry but a 3:30pm sunset is freaking vampire and shit. At least with a 5:00pm sunset you feel human.

Watford Half Marathon - 1:48

This was my first race since moving to the UK, which was 18 months ago. I cannot believe it! I have never really gone this long without racing since i started running. I forgot how much I missed it! Plus, races in the UK don't start until around 10:00a.m. - LOVE. You have to race criminally early in the morning in the US because everyone is such a freaking pantywaist about the roads being closed. Get out of your effing car you whiny jerk (sorry, I am tired of unhealthy cars dictating everything in the US from urban development patterns to environmental policy - getting off my soapbox now).

All that car bashing aside, I had a bit of a harrowing journey out to the start in Watford on this cold February day. The Tube is undergoing a lot of work right now so many lines are closed on the weekend, including the one that went right to the race start. Grrrrrr. I had to take a bus to a random overland rail line. I knew I was on the right train when I looked up and realized I was being enveloped by neon and spandex (seriously, ALL running clothes here come in black, neon green, or neon orange). It was at that moment that I felt I was with my people, the runners and not the neon spandex, that is.

OK so 1:48 is definitely NOT my fastest time, but this was a HILLY freaking race. I know what you are thinking, yeah right "hilly" - you live in England where the highest "mountain" is like less than 3,000 feet tall. Have pity people. I train in Hyde Park, which is flat as a pancake. There are no foothills for me to work on speed and strength like in the Bay Area, hence the rather slow pace. Plus I am wussy.

I also blame Typhoid Dave. I really haven't been able to eat properly all week. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I couldn't eat anything at all. I didn't run all week either. At least I was well tapered......

Anyway, I actually was cranking for a sub 1:40 for the first 9 miles. Then I fell apart from about 11.5 until the finish. Such is life. Better racing in 2 weeks at the Barcelona Half Marathon!

Two things I noticed today, 1) the Brits are very reserved spectators and racers. Aside from the occasional "well done" (the weird encouraging words of choice here), the course was silent. And there were 2,000 runners on a very narrow course. The runners didn't really talk to each other, or joke, or yell encouragement. If I run a half in San Francisco, I will end up running a few feet in front of the guy that talks about himself the ENTIRE race. 

And 2) I miss my tri/running friends. I have never done a race in the Bay Area where I didn't know someone on the course or where I didn't hang around after the race to chat. Except for that one race where I had to lead the crowd in the freaking Star-Spangled Banner (yes, it was an Envirosports event) thank god no one I knew was there that day.......Well, I didn't know a soul today. I talked to quite a few people in the warming tent, oh thank god for the warming tent, but otherwise it was just me at the finish line looking for a familiar face in the crowd that I never saw. Boooooo.

More running action to come. Stay tuned!

Paris - With Friends and Typhoid Dave

Describing winter in Paris, Ernest Hemingway wrote:

When we came back to Paris it was clear and cold and lovely. The city had accommodated itself to winter (...) there were braziers outside of many of the good cafes so that you could keep warm on the terraces (...) on the streets the winter light was beautiful. Now you were accustomed to see the bare trees against the sky and you walked on the fresh-washed gravel paths through the Luxembourg gardens in the clear sharp wind. 


Not much seems to have changed, the light, trees, the damp gravel paths.....all still there and still as inspiring. 

Yes we went to Paris AGAIN. Because you can do that when you live in London. Just 2 short hours on the Eurostar, and there you are - in the land of croissants, cheese, wine, and beautiful men wearing scarves.

This trip involved a specific mission: a visit with friends from the U.S. who were in town for work. Sweet! As if I needed an excuse for another visit to France, but this was actually a great excuse.

My dates for the weekend.

The Benefits of January Visit
There are no crowds at all. We went to the Louvre and waited for about 20 minutes inside to get a ticket, but otherwise - we were good. Even restaurants were relatively quiet and we managed to snag a table at Les Cocottes and Le Bistro D'Henri (both in San Germain and both recommended) without a reservation.

Big time "SOLDES", which means "sales" in French. In Paris, they really only have large sales at retail stores twice per year. Generally the sales span six weeks, falling at the end of June and the beginning of January. And holy crap if you are brave and willing to fight through the crowds, there are deals to be had - even on the really high end designer stuff. The entire city is half off. I am just bummed I have to go home before the June sales.

You can find really cheap hotels. We stayed at the Hotel Palm Opera for 91€ a night and it was perfect; lovely staff, cool and modern, insanely clean, and just a 10 minute walk from the train station (Gare du Nord).

Yes that is a hot dog, and yes I had a bite. I still feel dirty.

 
The Downside of a January Visit
Bloody COLD, I live in London and get enough of that shit.

Some attractions are closed for maintenance. We tried to visit the super creepy underground Paris catacombs and the viewing tower at the Sacre Coeur, both closed. Definitely check websites before you head out on whatever activity you have planned, because it felt like arriving at a closed Wally World a few times there. I thought there were going to be tears. Luckily, we were able to console ourselves with a cocktail in the face of adversity.



Let me point out something about the photo on the right. Dave was NOT OK here. He spent the night before barfing his lungs out in our hotel bathroom. And when Dave barfs, which he rarely ever does, he goes for it. There is a lot of voice and force behind his ralfing.

He couldn't find the light switch so he could see where he was barfing. And let me tell you, the man has bad aim.

The bathroom looked like a murder scene because of the red wine he had been drinking all night. I thought he ruptured his stomach. Nope, just red wine and poor clean-up skills. EW.

Dave was christened "Typhoid Dave" for the rest of the weekend by our group. Though, he put on a brave face and pretended he was OK, he clearly wasn't. I know this because I got whatever he had 2 days later. I could barely stand up without wanting to die.

So after that story, I'll leave you with a few photos from the Louvre to cleanse your mind. Happy travels.

The guy in the red in the middle was playing a cello, ridiculously perfect moment.

Oh come on, this is just stupid.

Just don't barf on me, man........