I am blogging from a super-soft couch in Fire Island and I can physically feel my Crohn’s disease/potential colitis/faulty foot/mental craziness melting away. It’s a beautiful thing.
My goal for this weekend is to stay as unplugged as possible. I’m surrounded by a very very very cool breeze, awesome friends, tons of food and a refrigerator filled with wine and apple cider.
After this evening, blogging is not a priority. Tweeting is stupid. I don’t even know what Facebook is anymore.
But, as always, running is a priority. Some habits I simply cannot — and don’t want — to break.
I talk about my nice friend Lauren all the time, and how she takes good care of me and does kind things all the dang time. This weekend, she invited our group of college girlfriends out to her house in Saltaire. We agreed to take today off in order to take an early ferry out to the island.
Of course, for me, that meant doing some finagling with my weekend running plans. With the Las Vegas Half Marathon rapidly approaching (December 4!), I want to keep my mileage up.
I woke up at 5 am today — on my day off — to bang out 10 miles before Lauren’s very firm “be at my apartment at 8 am” orders. I’m not one to mess with the girl in charge.
I actually hopped out of bed as soon as my alarm went off because I was excited to run. My stomach felt very blech when I got up, though. I spent lots of time in the bathroom before making it out the door around 5:40. This routine is getting a little old, but it’s getting better, so I’m not complaining. Really. I’m not.
Also, this:

Did the 38-degree reading keep me from wearing short shorts? It absolutely did not.




So I leave my apartment, and I start running toward Central Park. I am cold. My legs are immediately bright red. It’s a great time. Also, my stomach is rumbling.
“This is going to be so much fun,” I thought to myself.
And, actually, it kind of was.
I hit up the Reservoir first, which was a massive mistake. The path was still pretty much washed out from all of yesterday’s rain, and I was walk-running on the little step alongside the path. That is a dangerous way to live, by the way. I don’t recommend it. Falling off the step and twisting my ankle and snapping my neck is probably how I’m going to die. I’ll accept that if I have to.
Mid-puddle jumping I made a necessary bathroom stop. The bathroom was warm, so I really didn’t mind it too much.
Then, at precisely 6:15 am, I met the delightful Kelly at Engineer’s Gate. Kelly so graciously agreed to join me for a few miles. I like that she’s not afraid of early mornings and frigid temperatures. We also spotted Katie, and I made her join us, too.




These two girls are the reason I survived my run today. The miles somehow flew by. I didn’t think I’d be able to keep a sub-9:00 pace because I felt kind of empty and sluggish, but apparently once I got off the Reservoir (miles two and three) I did just fine.




I did have to ask semi-politely if we could stop at the Boathouse bathrooms. I was pretty pumped that they were open! Katie and Kelly kindly (alliteration!) waited and then we kept on running. We chatted about the fact that they’re both running the New York City Marathon next weekend, and I assured them that I will be yelling as loud as possible on First Avenue as they both fly by.
The sunrise was stunning and I geeked out about it.




All of a sudden, I had wrapped up 10 miles and it was long weekend time. Wonderful!
Kelly and Katie, thank you thank you thank you for slogging along with me today. You really did keep me going when my legs were sleepy and my stomach was grouchy. I appreciate it.
So that’s what I did this morning, at a very early hour. I ran. Because I didn’t want to head out of town for a long weekend without getting some mileage covered.
That’s my life now. I don’t mind it.
I had roughly 8 minutes by the time I got back from the run to thaw out, shower, pack and get over to Lauren’s. I made it.
And, if I had to, I would have showed up un-showered with a half-packed suitcase if it still meant I did my training run. I’m not sure if that means I’m dedicated or stupid or just plain gross, but while you guys debate that I’ll be sucking down a hard-earned glass of wine. And while you continue debating the order of my priorities, I will move onto glass number nine. Enjoy. I know I will.
Now here I am, blogging in my leg warmers (not the same pair I ran in), feeling very relaxed. Before we got to Fire Island, we made some very important stops.
We went to Target…




We got very important comfort food for lunch…




We rode a ferry…




We bell-kicked on the ferry…








Well, I jumped on the ferry. Not very well, I should add. And the girls keep telling me that my new hat — which I like very much — makes me look, and yes I quote, “a little homeless.” How rude.
Lauren decorated the house for this festive Halloween weekend, and it is fantastic.








We also took a brisk walk on the beach and went on swings and saw many deer. Life is good.
See ya later, Crohn’s. Sorry I have to relax now and get rid of you. Sorry you suck.
A few final thoughts:
- Today is Emily‘s birthday. Go wish her a happy one!
- Tomorrow is Katie‘s birthday. Wish her a rockin’ day, too. Tomorrow.
- Today is the last day to vote for Ali On The Run in the SHAPE magazine “Top Blogs” contest. If you cast a vote, I will appreciate it very much and then I will quit the constant campaigning. I promise.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
0 Responses
Sounds like you had a great weekend! Congrats on the 10 miler….great time! I hope you are feeling back to “normal” today (Monday) with the Crohn’s!
Love the sounds of the weekend! I’ve always thought that if something is important to us, we’ll make time for it…so getting those miles in before the weekend is definitely key! Can’t wait to hear about the Halloween-y goodness!
I love when my fav bloggers are in my hood (I’m used to live on FI and live right by the ferry). Nice job on the run, you are my idol with the early a.m. chilly runs!
I feel like my standard weekend plans always start with, “ok, after my run…”
Glad you got in your 10 miles and have a fun weekend at fire island planned.
I hope you had a great time with your friends! My husband and I went to Fire Island, just the part where the lighthouse is, last September and it seemed really nice.
I’m glad you were able to run before you left!
Any day you ride a ferry is a good one in my opinion!
hope you’re having fun out there and staying warm! And thanks for a great run before you left yesterday – best start to a morning ever. And I only look slightly possessed in the photo…
What a nice post! You are both excellent running buddies! Thank you! Also, I look far from hardcore in that pic. Hehe. Glad you had a wonderful weekend on FI. You deserve it! xoxo
Have a great weekend with the girls! Can’t wait to hear about it!
I love a good themed weekend. My house is all decorated and I love it. As I sympathy gift to myself, I bought myself season 1 of Modern Family so I plan on watching that and hibernating. Someone told me to go deep water running. We’ll see…
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!
Those glasses are seriously awesome! I hope you’ve got some bright orange leg warmers for Halloween! Have a great weekend 🙂
I’ve always wanted to go to Fire Island. It sounds like you’ll have an awesome time! I completely understand the need-to-get-my-run-in-no-matter-what mentality. I frequently go to class in my running clothes without showering because I’ve decided that running and that extra 30 minutes of sleep are more important than the comfort of the people sitting next to me in Econ lecture. I guess they should just be happy I change my shirt and put on more deodorant before showing up to class.
Enjoy the weekend!
Glad you got a good run in and Crohn’s is finally settling down. Enjoy Fire Island!
Okay, that sounds like the most perfect (yet chilly!) run and the most perfect weekend ever. Have an absolute blast!!!!
5am? That’s awesome (and a little crazy!!). I have a question – do you eat before your 10 milers in the early AM? If so what you tend to eat? If not, where do you find the energy! I wanna know the secret!
I wish I had your running dedication! I’m moving to San Diego next week (from Virginia) with my husband and I’m hoping the year round warm weather is going to kick my motivation in high gear. I’m thinking about running my 2nd half marathon next summer 🙂
Have a great weekend with your friends!
10 miles that early in the morning? No, thank you (for me)! But great for you :)!
Love those wine cups! Have a great weekend lady. 🙂
wow!! u r a crazy woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 in the morning???????????? im running my first 1/2 tomorrow…bleh with a cold. have a fun halloween awesome person!!!:)
Unplugging for a weekend away with close friends is the best. No distractions, just fun memories (barf…)Not going to lie, I’ll miss the blogging, but I’ll probably forgive you…..Enjoy! 🙂
[Also- where did lauren get those personalized wine cups?!?!]
Hey! Where’s the marathon picture????? (the one on the right does not count). I am disappointed. But will survive. Happy weekend!