So I just got back from a fun weekend visiting some friends that I had shared a house with when I was living in New Zealand. My old 'flatmates'. :-) One of them is American, and lives near Fresno, CA and the other one is over visiting from NZ for a few months and staying there...so the long weekend prompted a trip up there.
Now can I say...I forgot how BIG the states are out here. I KNOW this...it should be engrained in my little head. I grew up in Idaho...you know that state where it is possible to travel approximately 12+ hours (top to bottom) and not leave the state. I am aware of the vastness of these states out west. Its not like living in MA where you can sneeze and find yourself in another state, and then blink and be in another one.
So SD to Fresno area (or at least where I went)...just at 6 hours without LA traffic, 7.5 with LA traffic...now here is where I am scratching my head. I decided to do Vineman 70.3 in July...i'm all signed up and everything...which is another 3-4 hours north of where I was this weekend. The whole point of this particular event was to try to avoid flying with my bike. ARG. I will have to sort that out. Lame. If I had contemplated the fact that it was going to take me 11-12+ hours of driving, i'm sure I would have ended up signing up for another HIM. But...it is what it is.
Sadly this weekend I wanted to get a nice run in...but in my haste of leaving I only packed a pair of running tights. Errr...need a few more items to do any running there. Oye. I did opt for a nice 3.5 mile walk. The full on training cycle will come into full swing in a few weeks...so I"m not too too worried at the moment, but I would like to see how the hip is coming a long with all the wacky PT stuff going on. Tomorrow...lunchtime run fun. We shall see how it goes.
6 comments:
Ah yes, the wide open West. I love it.
Sounds like fun was had bay all.
How'd your run go?
Flat mates from NZ? Oh crap you do get around. Sadly I can't feel you on the 12 hours driving in one State, the worst two over here are New York and Pennsylvania and even then its only 4-8 hours to travese the States.
Good luck on Vineman
If you want I can hook you up with a friend in SF or Santa Cruz if you want to spend the night somewhere half way up and maybe go for a swim/bike/run? Or you could just suck it up and drive, but the I know what hell the San Joaquín Valley can be! Ugh, our own little slice of the mid west right at home in CA.
No worries about the workout - now is the time when you can let your mind be totally relaxed about that stuff - you'll need the nice rest before the big focus of mental energy on Vineman. But it will be fun. NZ, huh? That is at the top of my list of dream destinations - post some pix sometime?!
i am with mindy...lete see some pics of new zealand.
it will be worth the 11 hours ride to have a race at vineman
"How big the states" are out there! impressed us too, when we flew to SanFrancisco and then drove to the Avenue of the Giants Marathon near Eureka last May. Wow.
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