I recently went on a 10-day vacation in Oregon. For most of it, I would have very little control over the schedule, as it was a guided nature tour (stay tuned for post about it). I was a little torn over whether to pack any running gear. I am in a base-building phase for my fall marathon, so taking a week off might help, rather than hurt me. However, I figured the aforementioned super-packed stuck-in-a-van with-binoculars agenda may force me out for a little sweaty personal time at some point.

Prior to the trip, one of my running coaches told me this: “It’s vacation. Don’t even take the running shoes.”

I caved. I packed one running outfit & my smaller, lighter Mizuno Inspire 9 shoes. I was headed to a state where if you like to run, you must.

I didn’t run until seven days into the trip. Early on that day I went for an 8-mile run, across a large part of Portland; Dad joined me for the first part of it. I took my iPhone, partly as it contains maps, music, phone and RunKeeper. It also has a camera. This, in collusion with all the interesting things to see on the streets, made my run sort of a slow intervals run. These are the photos I took; enjoy!

 

Two days later was my second run. More fun with camera, on a different route! Dig:

That is all! It’s National Running Day. Do what feels good!