Helen and I just got back from our longest vacation yet: 21 days.

Our trip started with the Virgil Crest ultra marathon on Sept 25th. Helen successfully finished the 50 miler and I dropped out of the 100 mile race at about 70 miles due to some bad stomach issues where I resorted to ‘trotting’ into the bush multiple times. Read all the gory details in a blog post here.

Then we were off to New York city for a couple of days where I attempted to walk-off the post ultra leg and foot pains. We took in a Broadway show and then flew to Spain where we spend a couple of days in Madrid, then Barcelona. We met our Backroads cycling tour group in Barcelona and spend the next 6 days touring Spain through the heart of Catalonia which included a spectacular day in the Pyrenees climbing a Tour du France mountain stage, and 2 days by the Mediterranean. We had a wonderful time and made some great new friends.

After the bike trip, we spent another day in Madrid then flew to New York City and took in another Broadway show, then flew home yesterday.

Whew! Makes me tired just thinking of it. So… I am flying to San Fransisco next Friday to run another ultra!

Yep you heard me. After dropping at the 70 mile mark in Virgil, I was really feeling like I had it in me to go the whole way – the big 100 miles. I’m feeling like my training this summer was really good, and if I wait until next summer to give the 100 miler another shot, then I need to put in another summer of training for it. I think I am ready now, so I’m going to give this one more shot before I switch my training to Ironman (registered for Ironman St. George in May).

The race isn’t exactly a hundred mile ultra, it’s a 24 hour race call the San Fransisco One Day. The course is a ONE MILE loop around Crissy Field. It starts at 9:00 am on Saturday morning (Oct 23) and finishes 24 hours later at 9:00 am on Sunday morning. If all goes well, I’m pretty sure I can run at least 100 miles in 24 hours. In fact, I’m so sure that I will succeed this time, that I didn’t book a hotel room for Saturday! As I was booking my hotel room, the agent informed me that they were fully booked on Saturday, so I confidently told him that would be ok because I won’t be requiring a bed, sleep, or hotel room on Saturday because I will be running around in circles. Literally.

So the pressure is really on now – I HAVE To make it. as I have no place to stay if I drop. If I were a believer in fate, then the fact that I can’t get a hotel room on Saturday night must be a good sign!

Helen is smart, and she has decided NOT to participate, so I’ll be going this alone. If anyone is interested in joining me on Saturday, let me know. It could be fun.

Here are some photos from the trip: