Away From HO-lloween

I went to San Francisco this weekend for a bachelorette party. I know you might be confused by the title, "Away From HO-lloween," because wouldn't the crazy peps of SF be more scandalous than those in SD? Nope. The Halloween party peeps of San Francisco actually dress in a COSTUME for Halloween! They do not take professions like Nursing or Firefighting and turn them into a "Slutty Nurse," or "Slutty Firefighter" costume. They dress up in the traditional sense--and to top it off--they're SMART costumes that make one think. Like the guy who carried around a bag of pennies to give out for those who write a "thought" on this paper shirt. He was the, "Penny for Your Thoughts Guy." Creative. And then there was the girl who hand sewed dozens of plastic balls to a leotard, wore a white wig, and was Lady Gaga. I felt lucky to be hundreds of miles away from the high school campus where I would have spent the entire day trying to avert my eyes to avoid seeing cleavage, cracks, and bulges... high schoolers are just too much gross at Halloween. (Mothers: Please check your daughter's backpack before she goes to school on Halloween!)

But, the reason for this post is to officially announce that I am in marathon training. San Francisco got me fired up again (I ran a half marathon there this summer). I'm a little jealous of my friend who is training in SF, because the hills are so fantastic in the city. If I could train in San Francisco, I could run any race in any place. The hills in SD are too easy to avoid. Don't get me wrong, San Diego is a beautiful place to train, and it's convenient because morning, noon and night the weather is never so terrible as to impede upon a long run schedule. That is one thing SF doesn't have going for it, but it probably breeds stronger runners. (See the "I Found Solitude" post for the type of runner I happen to be...)

I think the race I'll be training for is the Napa Valley Marathon. I like the race philosophy about running without headphones. In case you aren't aware, there is growing hostility between those who run with headphones and those who consider themselves "purists" and run sans headphones. I happen to be a "purist." But, that's partly because I decided to let my ipod go for a swim in the washing machine....

I'll be using a mix between Hal Higdon's training plan and Bart Yasso's (which I clipped out of a Runner's World Issue). I like these plans because they require only 3-4 days of running a week. I fudge a bit on the "Cross Training" days and usually just go for a short walk or maybe a bike ride. I also do my long runs on Saturdays instead of Sundays. I'll keep a running tally in the sidebar on the right to track my weekly mileage and goals. Tomorrow's goal: 3 miles easy. OH, I forgot. The saddest part about marathon training: saying goodbye to wine. Sigh.

(Picture at top was taken at Dolores Park near Noe Valley, San Francisco.)