ATL-LAX

Thursday – arrived into LA & drove straight to lunch at Urth Cafe. On to Peets on Sunset Blvd & then to hotel in Studio City/NBC Universal.  After check in process, etc…got my bearings, slipped on shorts, &  shoes and headed out the door. A short 3-3.5 miles from hotel through the neighborhood. Finished at a small park with towering Eucalyptus trees & some people practicing some kind of martial art on the greens. At approx 4pm, it was a very comfortable & refreshing 70 degrees.  It was not easy to go from about 7 hours of total travel time to hitting the ground running, but I had to get started. On route back to hotel, I ran up the incredibly steep hill that lead to front of hotel.

Friday – awake by 7am and in the hotel lobby for a very expensive $3.00 mediocre coffee! Drank half of it along w/ my Clif Bar. Went back up to room, changed & hit the pavement for another 6 miles, culminating with that damn hill leading to hotel. (I mapped the hill portion; .37 of a mile)  I would have loved to have run somewhere else..perhaps one of the many places that Josh mentions in his blog, but I just did not have time. Most of the short route was run along Ventura  Blvd, where I luckily located a Peets Coffee to hit post-run. After dragging my 2 friends/ travel partners to Peets in Studio City, I was on Hwy 101 for my jaunt up to Santa Barbara. The drive was a swift 1.5 hours north to the local airport where I picked up my best friend who had just flown in from San Francisco. A massive infusion of a bunch a good stuff in seeing her; humor, spiritual -realness connection, friendship of 18 years connection. I was so glad to see and to spend a little time together among the beauty of the Santa Barbara shoreline. Our hotel was literally across the street from the beach. Woke up Saturday & Sunday mornings and sipped coffee while looking out at the Pacific Ocean. The cool air refreshed my body, my spirit.  Saturday night, we had a delicious Lobster tail dinner.  We dined outside as the sun was setting, slight breeze off the water, and the intermittent faint sounds of the docked boats in the harbor. ahhh…i could definitely put that evening on repeat, repeat….

View from hotel

Back track to Saturday morning. I only was able to get in another 4 mile run. Afterwards, I had to head back to LA for an event.

Sunday morning was my long run, almost exclusively along the Santa Barabara Shoreline and then the tail end of it into downtown. Running parallel to the water on a quiet Sunday morning. Ahhhh….HEAVEN!!!!! What more can i say. I needed to see the water. I am not one who likes beaches for the purpose of going and laying out in the sun. For me, the water  is essential for grounding, for quieting, for healing. And for Hope. I always find some measure of Hope in just being near and watching the water.  Hope for what? Nothing in particular, and everything in general. ..hope for practicing non-attachment and hope for a better  existence for all those who suffer. Hope for my ability to be a good friend, a solid listener & hope for better education and greater compassion from us all.  As I ran alongside the shoreline these were some of the thoughts as i took my breath in the unbelieveable 60 degree temperatures. With the running, I felt rejuvented physically & mentally . It’s amazing how much of a MENTAL drain running in the stifling heat can be…It’s easy to notice the physical drain, but the mental drain is much more evident when going from one climate to another. Anyways. I ran a very solid 12 miles and felt like I had more in me, but had to stop and get on with the day.

Heaven!

Stretch!

Goofiness!

Me & Best Friend, Holly

Sunday Morning – ahhh–

We went for a wonderful breakfast at a cafe. Incredible sunflower wheat toast with 2 poached eggs. Yummy. I never get poached eggs! Then, off to drop friend off at airport and i made my way down to Santa Monica and LA. I specifically went to Santa Monica simply to visit the K-Swiss store and pick up a new pair of shoes. I got another pair of the K-Onas. This is my 4th shoe of this same type. Enough said. The only bummer was that I had to get a color I already had as the other 2 options were sold out in my size!

While in the store, I spoke at length to Michael, who was helping me. He is training for Malibu Tri and we got to talking about training & nutrition etc…I just love that…swapping stories.  Also, while I was there, another K-Swiss employee showed up, Joe. He had actually  helped me when i visited the store back in March for LA Marathon. He remembered me and asked me how the race went…how cool is that? The three of us talked for a bit; i shared with them my 40 mile run plan and they gave me a 15% discount on my purchase. I was thrilled!!  To be able to share about your passion with like-minded others is priceless. Thank you Joe and Michael and K-Swiss!

( i will most likely be purchasing the other color i wanted via online…i will need it with all these miles)

Earlier in the day, I had initial hopes of getting in a second run even if it was just 3 miles, but I just could not fit it in…however, all in all, I am really happy with the running I did get in on this trip.

Train hard, train smart and as K-Swiss says, “Have an Awesome Day!”