Saturday:
Plan: 3 “easy” miles. Completed: 3.09 enjoyable but hilly miles.
Sunday:
Plan: 30 minutes of cross-training. Completed: Two hours of walking around Monterey Bay Aquarium, hoisting a 30-pound preschooler.
With a view like this, I could (almost) run forever.
When we planned our impromptu trip to Pacific Grove on Friday afternoon, I had initially planned that I would run at home before we hit the road for the Monterey Peninsula. My husband — brilliant man that he is — suggested that it would be much more sensible to get on the road early and then run in the afternoon while our son was taking his nap. Genius. Pure genius.
The beauty of Asilomar State Beach trail.
We were staying about a half mile from the ocean, and I got to run along the best trail ever, the packed dirt, sand and gravel trail that’s part of Asilomar State Beach. It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful venue for running. We’re already working on plans for a return trip in late September or early October so that I can do a long training run all along the hilly coastline. Pacific Grove is so insanely gorgeous that I can’t understand why anyone would fight the crowds in Monterey proper.
I did my three miles at an “easy” pace, as requested by my training plan. Strangely, though, it seems that my per-mile time always nets out to something more or less the same, regardless of my intended pace.
Sunday was spent at Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of the coolest places in northern California. I knew that I was supposed to do cross-training (non-running), so I left the stroller in the car and used my 3-year-old for weight training. I didn’t count actual reps, but I’m sure that we achieved at least 50 “Mommy, pick me up/Mommy, put me down!” moments, plus two hours of walking through the Aquarium and down Cannery Row.