06/11/18 - 06/17/18
My training plan got all messed up this week!
Monday - today was a day off from running. We set off for Ford’s theater after breakfast. We had 9am tickets to tour the museum and listen to a presentation from a park ranger. It was already miserably hot and humid. It was hotter here than back home in FL! After the theater we walked to the Holocaust museum. We had lunch and rested at the hotel for a bit. The heat was just sucking the life out of us. We went to Starbucks and fit in a tour of the Smithsonian Castle, the Native American Museum and the Museum of Natural History. There is just so much to see and do in DC. This wasn’t our first visit and won’t be our last so we didn’t worry too much about seeing everything. We went to dinner and had planned to walk around a little and get ice cream, but we were all beat. We went back to the hotel instead. DH and I started going over our 12 hour drive to Maine for the next morning. We made a snap decision to leave DC at midnight instead so we packed up all our stuff and napped for a little while. Doing that would give us more time in Bar Harbor.
Tuesday - Leaving at midnight was the best decision. We did not hit morning rush hour traffic in any state.
We stopped at a roadside lobster pound in Bar Harbor before heading to the hotel. The place is called The Travelin’ Lobster. The owner is a lobsterman and heads out on his boat at 4am every morning to check his 250 lobster traps. Whatever he brings in is served at the restaurant that day. They open at 12:30 and stay open until that day’s catch is gone. People start lining up before opening like its rope drop at Disney!!! The food was amazing. We got lobster rolls and steamed clams and they were heavenly. I’ve never had such a huge lobster roll packed with so much meat. I wanted some blueberry pie, but I was too full!
We checked in to our hotel. Our view was gorgeous. We had booked a Mountain View, but got lucky and got a room with views of Cadillac Mountain and the ocean!!! I had hoped to run the streets of Bar Harbor after unpacking, but it wasn’t going to happen. We were staying about a 1/2 mile from the town center. I didn’t know there was major road construction happening which meant no sidewalks for me to run to town. Traffic was pretty heavy so I was nervous about running in all that. I was bummed I would have to use the treadmill because the weather was gorgeous. My calves were tight and sore, my hip hurt and my legs were just tired from all the walking in DC and sitting in the car.
- Plan: 5 mi @ 11:47 + strides
- Actual: 5 mi @ 11:41
We drove into town and walked around before dinner. I had speed work scheduled for the next day and was planning to drive into town, park the car and run along the water. From looking at google maps there was a path I wanted to use. Well, there was a path, but it was not paved, uneven, winding and along a cliff. Did I mention there were hills everywhere??? We had dinner and went back to the hotel. I took a look at my training plan and decided to swap Wednesday’s speed work with Sunday’s long run. I was in bed early so I could get up early.
Wednesday - sunrise was at 4:42am. I had set my alarm for 4am so I could get ready and drive into town to see the sunrise and run. My alarm went off and my body was so stiff and sore. My legs were screaming at me as I hobbled around the room. I decided to skip today’s run entirely and went back to bed. We were going to SIL house on Thursday. I planned on moving my long run back to Sunday and doing my speed work on Thursday. We spent the day in Acadia National Park. It was just so beautiful. We got one hike in before the boy decided he was done for the day and wanted lunch.
There is only one restaurant inside Acadia National Park itself and they get very busy. I had made reservations for 1pm. It was only 11am, but it wasn’t busy so we were able to get seated. By the time we finished lunch it was packed and there were people waiting to get in. Nick wanted to go back to the hotel so we did. We dropped him off, went to town for coffee then drove to the top of Cadillac mountain.
We visited more sights in Acadia before heading back to the hotel to pick Nick up for dinner. We got ice cream and hung out at the park for a little while before going back to the hotel.
- Plan: 2mi WU + 4x(300m @ 8:36 + 300m RI) + 1mi @ WU + 4x(300m @ 8:36 + 300m RI) + 1mi CD
- Modified Plan: 7mi @ 11:24
- Actual: nothing
Thursday - i changed my mind on my running plans and decided to do my long run. Woke up at 4am only to find out the hotel gym didn’t open until 6am. I went back to bed and decided to do speedwork at SIL house. We checked out of the hotel and went ocean kayaking in the morning. It was so much fun. We saw porpoises!!!
After kayaking we got some coffee and started the drive to SIL house. We stopped at The Travelin’ Lobster for lunch. I saved room for blueberry pie this time! By the time we got to her house it was 3:30pm. We had a few errands to run and it took longer than I anticipated so I didn’t get back to her house until 6:15pm. We still had to order dinner so today’s run went out the window.
- Plan: 4.5 mi @ 12:36
- Modified Plan: 2mi WU + 4x(300m @ 8:36 + 300m RI) + 1mi @ WU + 4x(300m @ 8:36 + 300m RI) + 1mi CD
- Actual: nothing
Friday - Today we were driving to MIL house. She literally lives in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. The closest grocery store is an hour away! I got up early to go grocery shopping. I went back to SIL house, picked up the family and my nephew and we were off. After we unpacked I got ready to go running. I hadn’t been in two days and was more than ready to get out there! Today was supposed to be my day off. I took a look at my plan and decided to do speed work. These runs are hard, but I really enjoy them.
- Plan: off
- Modified Plan: 2mi WU + 4x(300m @ 8:36 + 300m RI) + 1mi @ WU + 4x(300m @ 8:36 + 300m RI) + 1mi CD
- (1:36, 1:32, 1:29, 1:33) + (1:35, 1:29, 1:29, 1:29)
Running on dirt roads is hard, but the views I have are awesome
We brought lobsters to MIL house for dinner. The shells of the claws and knuckles were so hard we had to use a hammer to crack them open.
Saturday - I slept in today. We are so far north that it isn’t very warm right now so I’m taking advantage of it. Temps stayed in the high 60’s today. I had planned on running 4 easy miles, but I wasn’t paying attention to my watch and by the time I realized how far I had gone I was just over 2.5 miles from the house. Oops. Bugs here are disgusting. The mosquitoes, black flies, horse flies and deer flies are ginormous and eat me alive even though I have bug spray on. If I’m running I’m fine, but the moment I stop they are swarming me. I ran all the way back to the house.
- Plan: 6mi @ 11:47 + Strides
- Modified Plan: 4mi @ 12:36
- Actual: 5mi
- Splits: 12:15, 11:58, 12:01, 11:46, 11:45
Sunday - We we’re leaving at 9am to drive to Québec City in Canada. I got up early to fit my run in.
- 7mi @ 11:24
- 11:01, 11:07, 11:09, 11:02, 11:01, 10:55, 11:01
This was our home until Tuesday - Le Chateau Frontenac (not my pic). We had a suite with views of the city and of the St. Lawrence River. My MIL has dreamed about staying at this hotel for years so we made it happen. After staying here I could never stay anywhere else in Québec again!!!
We had Poutine for lunch and toured a little of the city. MIL was having a hard time (79yo) so we didn’t stay out too long. It was also very cold and windy and started to rain.
MIL rested with the kids while DH and I went for coffee and walked around. It was COLD. I had checked the weather Saturday night before I packed for this part of the trip. Temps were supposed to be in the high 70’s and sunny, but instead it was in the high 50’s and rainy. Ugh. We had dinner and explored a bit with MIL and the kids before the weather and steep hills got to be too much for her. We took a cab back to the hotel and spent the rest of the evening there. We could watch the street performers on the promenade from our hotel room!