The non-running visit to NYC lit a fire under me, and I made a conscious effort to run along the waterfront in Portland (aMAZing city) and in Seattle (also lovely). I was scoping both cities out as potential future homes, and it was interesting to see how the running community reflected the character of the city. Seattle’s was shinier, newer, and slightly older crowd, and Portland’s was more eclectic, definitely not fancy, and made for great people-watching. Plus, I got to run across two bridges, which was fun.

Then, a mad dash across the country–two and a half days of driving with realllly short stops to sleep–and I’m home in the Midwest! Amazing. I did three miles on Friday, and last night, I ran my first 5-miler in months. It felt fantastic, though I still notice a bit of a hip drop when I get tired. The lilacs are blooming here in the unseasonably hot and humid weather, and my evening run was moonlit and scented.

So, I’m BACK. Instead of trucking over to Scotland for the summer, I’m going to be house-hunting so that my things have a place to live while I’m trotting around the globe. And marathon training starts in a week!

Deal made, I strapped on the iPod, headed out into the steamy Miami night, and slogged out two very comfortable miles. Turns out, my “very comfortable” pace (eg, new long run pace) is about 11:35 per mile. I could have made conversation if there’d been anyone around besides the crazies and the bums wetting themselves as they lay passed out in the sand. (On a side note, yesterday, I WALKED THROUH THE PEE of one such bum. I thought it was WATER on the street. There are few things more revolting than realizing you’ve just walked through another person’s urine.)

How awesome is it that 2 miles can be easy? Just a few months ago, I was doing the C25K program and thinking that running for 10 minutes straight seemed like an awful lot.

Because I end up flailing without a specific training plan, I’ve decided to redo a month of the half marathon program, which will bring me up to a 6 mile long run–the same length as week 1 of marathon training.

Aaaannnd–drumroll, please–exactly one month from tomorrow, marathon training officially begins! That gives me 19 weeks to Chicago (in the interest of working back up gradually, I’m splitting week 1 into weeks 1A and 1B). How exciting is THAT? As it stands, I run my first 10-miler on my 28th birthday and my 20-miler on September 19th. Without a 9 to 5 job or a regular schedule of any kind, it’s kind of nice to have some solid dates in my life.

With the marathon training, I guess I’ll have to get serious about strength training. I dread strength training the same way I dread going to the grocery store–too many options make my head spin. Help! What do you all do?

Next run, Central Park.

After four weeks of the Worst Trip Ever, I was burnt out. As I waited for my (delayed, canceled, delayed, and delayed again) flight from Cali to Bogota, I thought over the possible activities for the coming week with absolutely no interest or excitement. For me, the Most Enthusiastic Person Ever, this was an alarming first. The danger, mugging, robbery, and other miserable incidents left me with nothing but a vague sense of despair and the panicky thought “how am I going to survive another week and a half?”

So, I did the only thing that I could muster up any enthusiasm for, and changed my Bogota-Miami flight.

And now I’m here in lovely South Beach, enjoying the sun and the food and the fact that I can RUN! Run without worrying about getting knifed/pinched/mugged/harassed/killed!

Last night, I ran 3.5 miles on Miami Beach under a full moon, and cooled off by walking along the water in the moonlight. One of my favorite runs ever.

Aaannnd, with my amazing cheap-plane-ticket-finding powers, I managed to add New York to the itinerary before LA. Lots of running in lots of amazing places.

What the hell?

I’m dying to go running, but I suspect that would prompt a bowel incident that would put the stories at Shut Up and Run to shame–something I’m not willing to risk. So instead, I’m going to take the opportunity to avoid any local food, do my gluteus medius PT exercises, and maybe even get some work done before I fly to the coast tomorrow.

Guess I’ll be skipping the trip to the Equator…which, frankly, I don’t mind. I think an hourlong bus ride spent fending off small Ecuadorian men who are out to harass/squash/grope me is more than I have patience for.

Based on my “research” (which consisted of googling “coming back to running after two weeks off” and reading through the Beginner section of Runner’s World), I’ve decided go back a few weeks in my half-marathon training schedule. Since the PT recommended that I cut back to 75% anyway, I’m just going to build back up as far as I can before May 23, when marathon training starts. I’ve decided to ditch the idea of a half marathon before then–there’s no way I’ll be ready, but I might do one during marathon training.

So now I’m back around week 4-ish of the half training, running 3.5, 2, 3.5, and a long run of 5. That feels really, really pathetic, particularly when today was supposed to be a 10-mile long run (according to the calendar reminder email I got today). But if I want my body to last to the marathon in October, I’ll do what I must.

And it’s SO GOOD to be back on the road! I ran on the 14th, took the 15th off, did a big Andes hike on the 16th, took the 17th off, and ran tonight. It’s hard and I have to take more walking breaks, but it’s so darn good to sweat. Here are some pictures from my hike the other day:

Ecuador is ridiculously green

Steep trail

Looking down on the town

Right before I got this shot, I overshot my landing, tipped backwards, and fell headfirst over the edge of the cliff…luckily, a bush broke my fall or I’d have plummeted down the cliff face. Glad no one saw that display of my natural grace.

I was sitting in my hotel room a few hours ago, crabby and headachy, when it hit me that I’m finally out of Quito, where it’s too dangerous to run after dark and where there are too many polluting trucks and horribly obnoxious men to run during the day (the curse of being a blonde in Latin America). I’d prefer to run without getting my ass pinched or a face full of black exhaust, thankyouverymuch.

So I gave myself a “snap out of it” talking-to, put down the meringues, laced up my running shoes, and headed out into the dark for my first South American run. The town is tiny and I wanted to avoid the main tourist drag, so I ran in circles on back streets, past a field where a serious soccer game was going on, past a few machismos–my iPod blocked their “hola hermosa, muy guapa” calls–and through a pack of street dogs. Since it was my first run in two weeks and to avoid irritating my gluteus medius, I kept it to a simple 5K.

And oh my god–Best. Run. Ever. It’s been an hour since I got back, and I’m still reveling in the blissed-out, post-run glow, which is the exact opposite of how I was feeling earlier. The second I hit the pavement, I could feel my muscles rejoicing at being USED, and I couldn’t keep the ridiculous grin off of my face. Pretty sure all of the locals had a laugh at the crazy happy gringa jogging in the dark, but I haven’t been this cheerful in weeks!

SO happy to be back on my feet! And as promised–though admittedly belated–here are some photos of the trip so far.

Hiking just outside of Flagstaff

Hotel pools in Vegas

So this guy laid on the beach in Colombia, and no fewer than THREE different women oiled up his butt for him! It was impossible not to stare.

Sunset in Playa Blanca, Colombia

Cartagena, Colombia

Dancer in Cartagena

Perros calientes = hot dogs

Northern Ecuador is gorgeous, even as seen through a bus window

Quito in a rare moment of sunshine

Another from-the-bus photo, just south of Quito. Now if only people would stop stealing my things, I could really enjoy Ecuador’s beauty!

Baños, Ecuador

Just a quick update this morning. After a 15-hour overnight bus ride (ah, the joys of backpacking), I was absolutely terrified to find that my legs were the same width from lower calf to toes. It was So. Gross. I was so freaked out that I tossed on my one pair of jeans and headed to the movies to hide.

Thankfully, my legs returned to a normal size yesterday, and the more severe parts of the burn look like they’re starting to get a bit better.

So, if things continue to go well, I’ll be running again by Monday! Aaaaand guess where I’ll be? Ecuador! I have another long bus ride this afternoon (20 hours, ew), but I promise to do a trip-so-far post with lots of photos soon. In the meantime, I’m doing my gluteus medius strengthening exercises, to the alarm of my hostel-mates.

I spent Easter weekend on a gorgeous white sand beach on a little island off the shore of Colombia. On my first afternoon, my legs were in the sun for 15 minutes, and they absolutely fried. The next day, I had to take ibuprofen to stop the extreme pain, yesterday they swelled so that I had cankles (CANKLES!), and today the swelling is gone, but they’re starting to look like alligator skin. I imagine the awful peeling is going to come next.

So, until I can walk without pain, I’m going to hold off on running. And I’m heading to more temperate Medellin tonight, so the heat shouldn’t be a problem any more.

It’s so, SO discouraging to be on such a long break. I need your words of encouragement!

I’ll close with two images, one of lovely Playa Blanca and one of the cankles.

But no run ever felt  better.

And since then, I’ve been traveling like crazy, and haven’t had the chance to run. Rough two weeks for running. I did get a lot of walking in, and I cannot WAIT to get my shoes on and run in Colombia tomorrow. After an overnight flight, long layover, and long second flight, I’ll need it!

And yet, I have not run all week.

Seriously. I’m like a super-sloth, working all day (tomorrow’s the last day!) from the couch, eating too much, and drinking delicious wine. I’ve been waiting to run until my butt/hip flexor soreness was completely gone–no sense aggravating it further–and until yesterday morning, I was limping when I walked. Today, my muscles feel great, but I indulged in a few too many cocktails last night and my head spins if I so much as get off of the couch for a glass of water. At least the dancing was a workout, right?

I miss my runs. It’s been 4 days since the last one, and I don’t have much energy, I’m finding it hard to concentrate on work, and I just feel unhealthy (okay, so that’s partly the hangover talking). But seriously. A few days of vending machine crap–which used to be a dietary norm–has me realizing how far I’ve come with healthy eating choices, and how much I don’t want to go back to that college student-style eating. As always, I’m amazed at how strongly my body is affected by diet/exercise choices. Just like being sick always helps me appreciate my health, this mini period of sloth has helped me appreciate how amazing I feel when I’m running/eating well.

On a side note, it’s kind of daunting to find a brand new running route in a new place…I had to drive around for a while to find a relatively flat area that won’t put too much stress on my gluteus medius. I’m going to lay off hilly routes for a while.

I’m running tomorrow! It’ll be a celebration of finishing my job and ditching the slothfulness.  Wish me and my glutes luck.