Hello. My name is Allie Burdick and I’m an addict. I’m a running addict. I need to move fast and sweat once a day. Part of my recovery plan was (for the first time ever!) leaving my magic running shoes at home *gasp!* when I left on a five day vacation. I was still glowing from my triathlon win and thought it would be nice to just take a break and sleep in everyday of my vacation. And, by “sleep in” I mean wake up at 6:30am instead of 5am since my boys aren’t much for sleeping in either. I have no clue where they get that from?! I should have stayed on the couch eating pizza and watching Breaking Bad while I was pregnant with them. Instead I was running, walking, lifting weights, swimming and teaching fitness classes all while listening to Jay-Z and Eminem. I think it adversely affected their energy levels.
So I waved good-bye to my magic shoes and off we went to Hershey Park, PA. The first day was pure bliss. We went straight to the pool and I quickly ordered a watermelon mojito because I was on vacation and not running in the morning.
The second day, we went to the park. It was about 2000 degrees out and the sweat was pouring off me. It was truly disgusting. I figured that was about the amount I would be sweating during a 10 miler on a 70 degree day so I broke even…if only in the sweat department.
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By day three I was starting to show signs of withdrawl. It didn’t help that we had to pass the fitness center every single time we went to our room. The fitness gods were really testing my willpower. The fitness center doors were adorned with class schedules, a map of the 3 mile running trail, and info on the indoor pool…oh wait, that was it! I have several bathing suits…I could sneak down and swim laps in the morning! No. I will be strong! I will rest and relax and do all the things normal people do on vacation. And then I had my spa treatment with Dexter.
Not helping!
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Now it was Sunday and I was on the home stretch. I had been eating and drinking and relaxing…and taking a lot of pictures with chocolate bars which is really just weird…even if you’re not into healthy eating.
By the end of the 5 and half hour drive home on Monday I was chopping at the bit to run. I wanted to get out of the car and run home by the time we got to Jersey! But, when we finally arrived home, my anal retentive radar was in high gear and I had to immediately unpack everyone, do laundry, organize the fridge, water the plants and give the kids a complete scrub down!
I finally went to sleep around 10:00 and had sweet dreams of rising with the sun and going on the longest run I could in 1 hour. My alarm went off at 4:50am, I jumped out of bed, rushed downstairs and stopped dead in my tracks. Where the bleep is the sun? And what the bleep is that sound? It was pitch black outside and raining. I shit you not. I quickly googled “what time is sunrise in CT?”, it reported back 5:26am. Dammit!!! I was still under the delusion that the sun was up at 5:00! Had it been that long since my last 5am run? Apparently. I hate running in the dark and there have been reports of bears in our ‘hood lately so I did the only thing I could…grabbed my pepper spray and headlamp and headed out the door!
Best 7.5 miles ever!
Do you run or workout on vacation? Do you run in the predawn hours? Are you freaked out by people dressed as giant-sized chocolate bars?
