Category Archives: travel

London Marathon Expo

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First, congratulations to all Boston Marathon runners from Monday! Especially my coach and teammates, Brian, Carol, and Amanda who set a new PR! I loved watching all the coverage on TV and tracking everyone virtually.

IMG_2814Sorry for the delayed post. It was a busy week at work. I worked 9 straight days and in the middle of that, I was furiously trying to pack and organize everything for the race (and P.S. packing in a rush is a bad idea, I already realized that I left a couple of items at home). We made it into London yesterday morning and after a short stop at the hotel to check-in, grab some lunch, and a short nap, our first stop was the expo.

IMG_2815I love London and how it easy it is get around. We made it to ExCeL in 30 minutes from Central London. I’m very glad we went to the expo on the first day as it wasn’t terribly crowded. I picked up my bib, timing tag for the shoe, and kitbag easily. We walked through the whole expo and I even partook in some of the picture spots and booths.

IMG_2816I loved seeing the World Marathon Majors exhibits especially the one with the finisher names of those who participated in London and the other World Majors. Someone will need to run the London Marathon next year and send me a picture of the wall with my name on it. I took a picture of everyone who finished all the majors. That’s a big goal of mine, though I’m sure it will be a little while before I make it on that list. Also, there was a booth for a virtual mile on a treadmill for the World Major Marathons. So cool, too bad (or maybe better for me) I didn’t have running shoes on otherwise, I would have accumulated too many extra miles yesterday.

IMG_2817I purchased the jacket that I was eyeing (I will share a picture when I wear it after the race). I even sampled the Lucozade (Gatorade equivalent) and water that will be available on the course. After spending almost 2 hours walking around, we were both exhausted and made our way back for dinner.

What a great first day in London. More to come!

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Seen in Pittsburgh

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Now that we’re back from the weekend, we can talk about where we went. Josh and I made quick trip to Pittsburgh for a surprise birthday party for his aunt.

IMG_2648As seen on our way to Pittsburgh, it looks like LGA is getting the upgrade. The last time we flew out of there was to Chicago and the terminal looked like it was falling apart. Terminal C for Delta is quite the scene. You can order food from an iPad on your table and even put in what flight you’re on so they can plan accordingly. We didn’t end up doing this since they took away breakfast while we were browsing and we didn’t prefer the lunch options. It did look like the breakfast was pretty good and if you were ready to spend $20 per person, then this would be a decent choice.

IMG_2649Now, in Pittsburgh, well technically Monroeville to be exact, I saw this sign at the ice cream sundae station at Max & Erma’s. “Unattended children will be given espresso and a free kitten.” Now had the sign said puppy, I would have found a way to claim unattended children.

IMG_2650I ran on the treadmill with Josh’s parents two straight days! It was because of them that I ran 5 more miles than I wanted to on Saturday. I felt pretty bad for the first 60 minutes of my long run (was supposed to be 12 miles) and was ready to stop but when they came in, I was motivated enough to run another 5 to finish up with 11 miles. They’re not my best 11 miles, but I’m glad I got them in.

IMG_2653After an afternoon of errands that avoided the birthday girl, we were ready for the party. It’s surprising but I do own non-running clothes and I don’t always wear my hair in a ponytail.

IMG_2655The next morning, I was feeling so inspired by all the United NYC Half Marathon runners that I ran a fartlek on the treadmill while obsessively refreshing the race app (I had some very VIP runners that I needed to track!). I don’t typically do a speed workout the day after a long run but since my legs felt pretty fresh after the bad long run, I was looking for something speedier to focus on form and heart rate. On the race front, it was a great day in NYC, all of my VIP friends ran great races and some with amazing PRs. Even though I wasn’t live cheering, I was anxious and excited for everyone.

IMG_2654And then there were high winds in NYC which caused cancellations and delays into the NYC-area airports (luckily that didn’t seem to affect too many of the half runners). Fortunately for us, our flight was just delayed and we made it home in time for our FreshDirect delivery. However, when delayed at the Pittsburgh airport, it is important to treat yourself. And in our case, we had some Pinkberry. When we’re at home, we’re loyal to 16 Handles due to their location but I think I am a bigger Pinkberry fan. I have absolutely no self-control so it works out better for me when someone else has to scoop me my toppings.

And that about sums up our weekend.

How was your weekend? Did you do any running?