Those without a strong continence should stop reading now. It’s gonna get gross today.
It’s Sunday. My supposed long run day. Before my run I had planned on meeting up with #ladyboss Cindy to grab brunch with her husband Jason, kiddo and their friend David. Cindy had decided on brunching at Voyager du Temps, a quaint European style bakery and cafe located in Los Altos. Insider’s tip for Silicon Valley folks, this establishment was founded by Rie Rubin, also known as Andy Rubin’s wife. She really missed the high quality bakeries and cafes that she was used to frequenting in Europe and Japan, and wanted a place that she’d like to eat at and thus this delicious bakery and cafe was born. I digress.
Once I arrive, Jason and Cindy are already there with adorbs baby Enzo. Cindy’s drinking a guava mimosa and I decide immediately that it’s what I will have as well along with a brie and pear sandwich and a side of bacon. David arrives a little later having come from a workout at Soul Cycle and orders eats at the counter as well.
Yes, I know, I haven’t gotten to anything about running yet… wait for it…
At lunch we start talking about marathon running. Fancy that! David trained for the Napa marathon 2 years ago and was of the “one and done” mentality. I feel pretty much the same way about this marathon, I only want to complete it to know that I can and then maybe go back to my habit of doing one half marathon every year. David only wanted to see if he could do it and now that he knew he could, he was satisfied and honestly never wanted to run another marathon again. Our conversation went something like this:
David: Today’s probably your long run day. You should get a running mate for those long runs. I didn’t, and felt like it was super boring doing them all by myself.
Me: I’m so slow, I’m not sure that I can run with anyone else quite yet.
David: Well, running with someone also helps you pick up the pace.
Me: Hrm… I’ll consider it.
After lunch we parted ways and I was intent on going home to switch into my gear and head out for my run. I didn’t want to do the San Tomas trail again today, so instead I searched on Strava for paths that were run frequently in my area and found that a plethora of runners do the perimeter of Santa Clara University, which is just a short drive from my house. I grab my Garmin, shake my head annoyingly thinking of the other “thevalue” user on Garmin and head out.
Once on campus I park and start off. It’s a beautiful day and I’ve never walked around the campus or ever been this close to it. I’m feeling super grateful for the weather and glad that I picked this course when… I take a deep breathe and inhale some kind of pollen that just gets lodged in the back of my windpipe.
Running is hard when you have something stuck in windpipe. It scratches and irritates every time I inhale. Immediately erupt into a fit of coughs to try to free myself from the pollen’s grasp to no avail. Trying to continue, but every breath I take, every move I make, it’s bothering me. Eventually I’m coughing so furiously that my guava mimosa and brie and pear sandwich make a reappearance. Oh yes. I stopped by a nearby bush to um, fertilize some plants with fresh compost from lunch. I’m such a green individual.
*sigh* After puking didn’t dislodge the evil from my windpipe, I decided to walk back to the car and go home. Any more miles with fits of coughing and I felt like the rest of my lunch would be left on Santa Clara campus grounds.
I guess I did take David’s advice and brought a running mate today. Thanks nasty pollen thing, you kept me company and cut my long run short, but at least I found a cool new spot to run along today. One other thing I did confirm, I’m pretty sure I’m not ready to run with a buddy yet, at least not of the pollen variety.
Days till Marathon: 214
Mileage: 1.3 miles
Pace: 13:20/mi
Met Along The Way: David, proponent of the buddy system