Chris and I spent the weekend in Portland visiting a dear friend of his who is in her final year at Lewis and Clark law school. I had forgotten that it can actually be relaxing to get away for the weekend.
We stayed at a lovely hotel downtown called The Nines and I just loved it. We slept in, went shopping, enjoyed good company, ate fine food and just had a grand old time.
On top of relaxing, we managed to get in a bit of training each day as well. My friend Dana used to live in Portland and she sent me out to the perfect location for a long Sunday run - the Leif Erikson Drive trail run.
The main trail - Leif Erikson Drive - is a 11 mile long fire road that is perfect for long runs, as it's marked every quarter of a mile and is relatively flat. For those who are more adventurous, there are trails jetting of the main trail for single track adventures in every direction, including the famous Wildwood Trail.
As it was wet and rainy (shocker), a very nice woman I met at the trail head recommended I stay on the main trail. We walked up to the trail head together and ended up running a very pleasant, albiet muddy, five miles together. This woman, whose name I never learned, is a mother of three. One of her daughters goes to the same university where my aunt is a professor and she thinks that her daughter is currently taking a class from my aunt! Small world! We spent the entire way to the five mile marker enjoying a lively conversation, so much so that I didn't notice how fast we were running. When we hit the five mile marker, the kind woman turned around to head back and I continued on to hit the one hour mark before I too turned to make my way back. It was at my turnaround that I realized just how tired I was. It made the run back quite long, but I powered through and was thrilled to have gotten my long run in, as I wasn't sure it would happen as we were out of town.
It was also nice to spend some time on a trail, as this coming weekend Chris and I, along with many friends, are running in a local trail race in Marin County. Most of us are running in the 20K event, Chris is signed up for the 30K event, and our friend Phil, who is racing IM France with us this summer and who will be visiting for the weekend from Boston, is signed up for the 50K event!
Should be an entertaining weekend - if anyone can walk afterwards.
1 comment:
See you guys tomorrow!
I love Portland. I wish I had been a trail runner when my mom lived there for a year. It was however the city of my first marathon. Stayed with a good friend whose wife also went to Lewis and Clark.
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