Planes, Trains, and Running Shoes

I started my NYC Marathon Training Week 3 post about 17 times over the last week and not only did it never go up, but my blog disappeared into the whirlwind completely, so here's what's been going on.

I Presented my Thesis in DC...and I nailed it. I was really nervous about doing my presentation for reasons completely unknown to me. Public speaking is definitely my forte...I mean, come on, I moonlight as a radio personality. But for some reason, I was incredibly nervous. It turned out to be for no reason at all though because, I nailed it. It was so well received. I presented for just over 25 people and at the end, more than half of them came up to talk to me about my research and my presentation. It was awesome.  

Post-presentation, it was planes, trains and running shoes all the way home as my flight was cancelled and I ended up running across DC to take a train home so that I could leave the next morning. 

I Went to Florida - Thursday morning, The Pilot and I attempted to make our way to Florida for a wedding in the Orlando area...which is where everyone on the New York Metropolitan area seemed to be trying to go. When flying stand-by into Orlando seemed to be impossible, we tried our luck with Tampa and rented a car and drove 2 hours to Orlando. The wedding wasn't until Friday so we spent Thursday and Friday hanging out with friends, lounging by the pool, and getting involved with all sorts of pre-wedding shenanigans before getting all dolled up for the wedding. 

The wedding was awesome. This is the first couple that I met when The Pilot and I started dating and their wedding was exactly like them. It was fun, it was relaxed and it was just perfect. I drank like I was still in college and danced my face off. It was great. 

I Got Stuck in Florida - Saturday morning, The Pilot and I made our way the 2 hours back to Tampa to head home. My plan was to get home, run 4 miles and go to bed early so that I could wake up, watch the Women's Marathon and head out for my own 14 miles before unpacking, catching up on blogs and emails and doing all of those other things you do when you get home from vacation.

The Pilot and I couldn't get on the first flight out...then that flight had to return to the gate and a lot of people decided to take different flights, so we got on, boarded the plane, taxied to the runway...and were deplaned due to a mechanical error which later resulted in the crew timing out and the flight being cancelled. We weighed all of our options for going home...should we try to go to Denver? Oh this flight to DC looks good...before realizing we weren't going anywhere and renting a car and driving 4 hours to Jacksonville to crash with some friends before trying to leave in the morning. 

We got to the airport, boarded a flight...and were deplaned due to a ground stop in Newark...then we were kicked off our flight after a family arrived an hour and a half late and got their seats back. The Pilot and I had to separate since he had to be back at work but because of the delays, by the time I finally got on a plane and we were actually able to get off the plane (due to another ground stop that kept us from getting a gate), we actually ended up landing only 20 minutes apart. 

Despite the sheer and utter exhaustion of it taking over 30 hours to get home, I was so unbelievably grateful to The Pilot for sticking around with me when he could've left on the first flight out of Tampa if he wanted to. I actually enjoyed our time together in the airport(s) and rented cars and it just made the weekend that much more adventurous. 

I Didn't Run -  Originally, I thought I'd be home around 2pm Saturday. In reality, I got home around 6pm on Sunday. I did get in a run in Florida but only the 1 that I had planned and instead of the 30+ miles I had planned for the week, I ran 15. I'm ok with it. It happens. It's part of my go-with-the-flow-sometimes-life-happens attitude toward marathon training. I'll get back out and better than ever this week. 

So that's where I've been. Presenting in DC. Road tripping across Florida 3 times. Airport squatting. Not running as much as I wanted to or should have. As much as I'd like to say that I'm going to stay put for awhile, I'm heading back to DC at the end of this week for another short business-related trip. 

Hope you're weekend was a bit less adventurous than mine! 

Have a great start to the week!