Since Sunday was my long run day, I thought it would be fun for the family to go on a picnic. My sister and I would get to run in a more interesting location, while my parents could walk around. I had the perfect place in mind-San Bruno Mountain, a wildlife preserve and park just outside of San Francisco. I did some volunteer work there a few years ago, and I ran on the trail once last year. The views are breathtaking-you can see the whole bay.

I decided to try a different pre-run breakfast-a Thinkthin bar and fruit, plus a small cup of kefir. 

I’m not sure this is going to necessarily be enough to fuel for for 13.1 miles, but I think I’d rather hit a wall than have stomach issues. This breakfast ended up working out quite nicely for me. 

After packing up the car and herding everyone out of the house, we drove up to the park. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we were greeted by this scene:

Now, while fog stinks and would obscure the amazing views, that wasn’t the main problem. The main problem was the 1000 mph winds. I have never seen fog and clouds move that fast before! It was absolutely crazy! Despite the long drive up, it was determined that it was not worth it to run and picnic there. My parents suggested another trail by the reservoir. This is one of my absolute favorite places-it is so pretty! I’ve always wanted to run there, but I had no idea there was a trail!


Sadly, we couldn’t find the trail because there was construction on one of the roads. However, I remembered that there was a road nearby that is closed off on Sundays for bikers (I’ve been wanting to bike there since I ran into the road closure last summer attempting to get someone nearby!). A closed off road right along the reservoir? Perfect!


The scenery was so beautiful! The run was hard. I was with my sister, and she started off much faster than I was comfortable giving I had to run 6 miles. It was also hilly, and I was well aware that the hills and wind were in our favor on the first half of the run (it was an out and back). 


I was definitely playing mental games with myself during this run. I kept up with my sister for the first half, which was my goal because I’m the one with the GPS watch, and I wanted to make sure she turned in the right place. I sent her off pretty soon into the second half (right around where the hills started) because I could tell I was only holding her back. While running with someone faster is good to push yourself, when it is kind of demoralizing when you get to the point where you can’t keep up (hence, some of the mental games). And then I spent a good couple of miles reflecting on WHY I wasn’t faster. Finally I convinced myself that HEY, I was still running 6 miles, and in a still pretty decent time. Hills can really humble you! 

Around miles 3-4, my feet started bothering me, like they usually do at that point. My index toe on my left foot was in a lot of pain…any idea why that would be? It kind of goes numb, but really hurts when I step on it…I think I’m going to try a new brand of running shoes. Towards the end, I also started to get a really painful blister. I pretty quickly realized it was from the slant of the road (the road was crowned) causing my foot to rub, so I took advantage of the fact that the road was closed. 

Hey, why NOT run directly in the middle of the road?? It definitely helped!

The final stats?

Not too bad! I was happy with the run. And tired. 8 miles next week is getting out of my comfort zone. Specifically, I’m not sure how my feet will hold up. If I got a pretty bad blister doing 6 miles, how will 13.1 be? My feet will toughen up, right??

We decided to take our picnic home at that point since there was no where there to set up.  It was the perfect day to eat on the patio though. 


What’s sad is that you guys may not even know that I have a dog. This is Billy. The cats kind of take precedence in our household….

I wanted to try this new chai tea that we got at Whole Foods the other day, and after the run, it sounded absolutely fantastic. 

I added a touch of honey, almond milk, and ice. So refreshing! 

Our picnic lunch was a make-you-own Cobb salad. Mine included chicken, hard boiled egg, artichoke hearts, soy beans, onions, olives, and tomato, all tossed in garlic ranch. 

For dessert, we had frozen eclairs, which thawed perfectly during our run. <a

So delicious! Everything was cool and refreshing-can you tell I was a tad thirsty? For my next long run, I need to take water, and start practicing with gu. Any recommendations?
The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent as a family watching Suits.

I swear, this is the only way she’ll actually sit on my lap! Silly cat. My family may or may not have watched the whole season of Suits in less than the past week…
Dinner was picked up from Fish Market, one of my Dad’s favorite restaurants. I had the mahi mahi with an artichoke, basil tomatoes, and mixed veggies. Plus some sourdough on the side!

Plus this guy-I got this at Whole Foods the other day and these are seriously the best things ever. I’ve gotten it twice before, but never really seen it at Whole Foods since. BUY THIS. Peanut butter+oatmeal. You can’t go wrong. This might be good for pre-race fuel too…<a

I hope everyone was able to spent time with their fathers on Father’s Day! This was the first year in 9 years that I wasn’t at a softball field on Father’s Day!
What did you do for Father’s Day?