After Boston, the plan was simple: rest, walk a bit, and pretend running didn’t exist for a few days. Cape Cod brought quiet (mostly), New York brought chaos (of course), and both served as a short pause before the next big thing: an ultramarathon with nearly 90km of downhill “fun.”
But first: beaches and lighthouses!
We spent a few days in Cape Cod, which turned out to be a great place to decompress after the race. While it wasn’t as rural as I had imagined, it was still calm and relatively quiet. The off-season also spared us things like $25 parking fees and congested roads, so that was a win.
We went on plenty of easy walks and visited a few of the iconic lighthouses, including the one featured on the Cape Cod potato chip bags.
From there, we made our way to Long Island, which turned out to be a decent base for two days in Manhattan. The Airbnb had looked fine online, and reality matched the photos. However, there were some basic issues: patchy Wi-Fi, no top sheets or duvet covers, and a general lack of cleanliness. In hindsight, I should have taken the other reviews more seriously. It was the first time I’ve ever left a negative comment and rating after a stay – but to the host’s credit, he agreed with my feedback, and we avoided the dreaded “public comment war”.
I managed a short run around the neighbourhood, just enough to keep the legs moving.
The two days in Manhattan were a whirlwind: fascinating, a bit much, and everything in between.
Burberry’s scaffolding caught my eye (ingenious), and the flower show at Macy’s was a pleasant moment of calm amidst the noise.
And best of all: I got to meet up with fellow bloggers Darlene and Cari!
We landed back in Cape Town on Sunday. The routine is settling in again – but there’s one thing looming large in my head now: Comrades!
Comrades is South Africa’s iconic ultramarathon, clocking in at 89.98km this year (yes, I’m also wondering why they couldn’t find another 20 metres somewhere). It’s over a hundred years old and attracts around 24,000 runners, making it the oldest and largest ultramarathon in the world.
The direction alternates each year – “up” from Durban or “down” from Pietermaritzburg. This year is a down run, which sounds deceptively easy… until seasoned runners tell you what all that descent does to your quads.
Well. I’ll find out on 8 June!
For now, I’m bracing myself for a 60km group run on Saturday. Because clearly, 60km isn’t hard enough – the forecast says pouring rain. At least my mental toughness will get a solid workout!
Oh – and before I forget: here’s the Boston medal I somehow left out of my last post. It still feels a bit surreal that it’s mine. I brought the shirt along to Cape Town – I’ll be wearing it on Saturday’s long run for some good vibes!
- Have you ever had issues with an Airbnb?
- What’s the longest run you’ve ever done?
I’m joining Runs with Pugs and The Running Teacher’s link-up, Tuesday Topics. I’m also joining Runner’s Roundup with Mile By Mile, Coach Debbie Runs, Confessions of a Mother Runner and Runs with Pugs.
Liebe Catrina,
wow, so viele neue Eindrücke noch zusätzlich nach deinem Mega-Lauf! Ich bräuchte da wohl ein halbes Jahr, um das alles setzen zu lassen, bevor ich wieder bereit für Neues wäre. 😉
Aber du gehst schon mit Riesenschritten auf das nächste Großereignis zu. Wie geht es denn deinen Beinen mittlerweile? Hast du das Gefühl, du bist schon wieder bereit für neue Rennen?
Deine Boston “Mitbringsel” sind super – das Shirt wird dir ganz sicher gut tun. 😀
Liebe Doris
Ich glaube, meine Gehirnzellen haben immer noch Jetlag – vor allem New York war ein bisschen viel. So laut, grell und überdreht… ich habe definitiv genug Reize für den Rest des Jahres gesammelt. 😅
Die Beine fühlen sich erstaunlich gut an! Ich habe seit Boston bewusst wenig gemacht und steige erst diese Woche wieder ein. Ein bisschen Respekt vor Verletzungen habe ich schon, deshalb mache ich nur Intervalltraining “light”.
Leider ist das Shirt nicht Orange! Das wäre noch viel motivierender! 😂
While I do enjoy the joke of 89,98 and playing with numbers, I’m sure that I speak for a lot of runners that we always, always aim for exact numbers. Who hasn’t run an extra block or went back and forth in front of their house just to get those last metres to add up to an even number…
ALWAYS!! 😂 No way you or I would stop at 89.98km!
I’m sure you’ve done your fair share of front-yard zigzags and suspicious parking lot laps too. All in pursuit of that beautifully even number… it’s the only way we sleep at night! 😅
Have a lovely week, Riitta!
Eine wahrlich sehr, sehr schöne Reise, dazu noch der Höhepunkt, dann auch noch eine sehr gute Zeit – was will Frau mehr ?
Sightseeing folgte – im übrigen sieht der Strandaufgang und die See dort aus wie bei uns !
Und nun the next adventure !! Schlag auf Schlag, wusste gar nicht, dass es der älteste Ultra ist !!
Na, dann auf ins neue Abenteuer, pass gut auf dich auf und viel Spaß bei der Vorbereitung, wenn man da von Spaß reden kann. Man darf gespannt sein !
Mein längster Lauf war ein 24-Stunden-Lauf mit 147 Kilometern, denke gerne daran zurück, Herausforderung pur !!
Weiterhin alles Gute – und – weißt ja !! Die Daumen sind wieder gedrückt !!
147 Kilometer bei einem 24-Stunden-Lauf – wow! Das ist wirklich beeindruckend. Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass man an so ein Erlebnis lange und gerne zurückdenkt – auch wenn’s zwischendurch wahrscheinlich weniger „gerne“ war. 😉
Und ja, diese Reise war wirklich ein Highlight. So viel erlebt in so kurzer Zeit, ich glaube, mein Kopf ist immer noch dabei, alles zu sortieren. Die Küste bei Cape Cod hat mich übrigens tatsächlich an die Ostsee erinnert – diese weiten Strände, das Licht, die Dünen… ich habe sofort an deine Laufstrecken gedacht!
Jetzt also Comrades – Schlag auf Schlag trifft es gut. Ich bin gespannt, wie sich 90 Kilometer bergab anfühlen. Aber: ich freu mich drauf! Danke fürs Daumendrücken, liebe Margitta. Ich werde es brauchen!
Whoop-whoop! You’ve got this! I will eagerly dot watch on the day!
Thank you, Birdie! Whoop-whoop indeed – I’ll try to make that little dot move along! 😄 So glad you’ll be tracking – knowing you’re out there cheering makes it a bit less scary!
But of course you’re running Comrades! I would expect nothing less!. I’m excited to follow your training. I’m so glad you made the most of your time on the East Coast. I will admit to a little jealousy that Cari and Darlene were able to meet up with you!
We stayed at an Air BNB in Colorado when my son and I ran Leadville and despite the barraage of emails strongly encouraging me to leave a 5 star review, I could not–they promised a pool and hot tub, which was not open and their were a few other issues.
Wendy, you know me too well! Comrades feels like a good way to make the most of all that Boston fitness – fingers crossed the body keeps playing along. So far, so good! 😅
Meeting Cari and Darlene was such a treat! We could have chatted for hours! I really hope I get to meet you in person one day – we’ll make it happen somehow. Who knows, maybe one day I get to do Chicago? 🤔
And yes, those Airbnb guilt-trip emails… “Please leave us 5 stars or we’ll never emotionally recover!” 😆 No hot tub after Leadville sounds borderline criminal. You were absolutely right to be honest.
Yaah. Finally the medal & shirt!😅💦 But but but. You are not wearing them!😅💦 oh well. Congratulations on Boston once more🎊
AIRBNB. Dirty ones sounds too gross for me. No top sheet nor duvet cover??? What? It would have been impossible to sleep in that bed! Maybe bedbugs there too. I feel the place needs fumigating!😅💦 I would have rather slept in a tent in the backyard tbh. Oh well. I hope no bedbugs hitched a ride w you back home.
Great you enjoyed NYC & Cape Cod. I guess you never made it to Walden’s Pond?
Onwards to Comrades. Yikes downhills are brutal. This requires lots of leg strengthening above your normal running plan. Are you planning a specific leg regime to cope w the abundance of down hills? Good luck in prepping. A new kind of challenge that you will crush!
Haha, the only photo of me with the medal is the one where it’s half-hidden under that glamorous heat sheet! Still, it’s a beautiful medal – definitely a keeper. 😍
The Airbnb situation was… character-building. No bedbugs so far, thankfully! We wore long sleeves and joggers to minimise contact and wrapped the pillows in our own towels. Flashbacks to the Mt Blanc huts where they don’t change the sheets all season…same vibe! 😬
We did make it to Walden Pond, but they wanted USD 30 to park…so pricey. 😳 We opted for Hopkinton State Park instead and it was lovely! (and free)
Only five weeks to go now! We’re back at CrossFit and doing all the squats. A running friend who’s done Comrades three times said yesterday that downhill practice is key. So I’ve got a date with gravity tomorrow! 😅
Liebe Catrina,
die Ruhe in Cape Cod hattet ihr euch verdient! Wie malerisch es dort aussieht! Nur der Ärger mit dem optisch ja auch netten Häuschen hätte nicht sein müssen.
Ok, und dann New York nochmal als Kontrast. Aber für 2 Tage kann man das sicher aushalten und immerhin gab es ein Bloggertreffen dort!
Und jetzt – auf zur nächsten Herausforderung! Im Zweifel wäre mir trotz allem da auch die Abwärtsvariante lieber. Ich bin gespannt, was du davon berichten wirst. Auf alle Fälle würde ich auch mit dem Boston-Shirt trainieren, ganz klar! Gewandet in beste Erinnerungen, das gibt Power für die 89,98 km!
Da ich keine Airbnb-Erfahrung habe, kann ich nichts beisteuern. Und mehr Marathon bin ich auch noch nicht gelaufen.
Liebe Grüße aus dem windigen kühlen Rheinland!
Elke
Liebe Elke
Ja, Cape Cod war wirklich ein Traum – so ruhig, leer und erholsam. Zumindest ausserhalb der Saison. Ich möchte lieber nicht wissen, was da im Juli los ist… Wir haben die Ruhe jedenfalls sehr genossen.
Das Häuschen in New York war dann eher… speziell. Kein Toilettenpapier bei der Ankunft – gut, dass wir noch ein Päckli Tempos dabei hatten. 😅 Zum Glück nur zwei Nächte, das liess sich aushalten.
New York selbst war das komplette Kontrastprogramm: laut, grell, voll. Mehr als ein paar Tage würde ich da definitiv nicht aushalten. Aber das Treffen mit Cari und Darlene war sehr nett. Währenddessen hat Kai Macy’s auf Herz und Nieren geprüft. 😄
Und jetzt Comrades – 89,98 km bergab! Irgendwie klingt das einfacher, aber ich weiss, dass es das nicht ist. Ich werde berichten!
Ganz liebe Grüsse ins Rheinland – hoffentlich bringt der Frühling bald etwas Wärme mit!
Looks can be so deceiving – *sigh*. We once stayed at a VERY sketchy motel. There was a free breakfast the next morning and we usually don’t say no to free food but after the state of the room, we decided to pay extra to eat elsewhere. It was so bad, the whole experience has become a beloved family memory (dead bugs on the floor, the entire room flooded at one point and the front desk wasn’t even phased).
The yellow is so bright and pretty and you earned the right to wear it as much as possible!!!
I love NYC but when we took our kids for the first time a few years ago they hated it. They found the crowds and all the cigarette smoke lingering in the air very overwhelming. I wonder what they’d think now that they’re older?? I think European cities are much nicer to visit, but there is a special magic about NYC that keeps luring me back.
Ugh! That motel sounds epically awful! I love that it’s become a family classic. “Remember the time the room flooded and no one blinked?” Instant legend. 😅 I would have skipped the free breakfast too. Sometimes paying for food is really paying for peace of mind!
I totally get your kids’ reaction to NYC. The first time I went, I was also overwhelmed. All the noise, all the sights, all the people! It’s a lot, especially if you’re not used to it. I prefer European cities, too – they’re so much more walkable, too. And yet, like you said, somehow New York pulls you back in. It’s chaotic, but there’s something magnetic about it.
And yes, I’m wearing that Boston yellow as much as socially acceptable. Possibly beyond. 😄
What a beautiful trip! I love getting to see Cape Cod and NYC through your eyes. Did you get to go inside any of the lighthouses? And yay for blogger meetups!
I’ve had mostly great experiences with Airbnbs but…I will say that there’s usually something a little odd about each unit. Maybe the wifi was their fault and maybe it wasn’t, but missing bed sheets and cleanliness issues are two things that should not have happened.
I’m excited to start living vicariously through your next training block! It’s all downhill from here!
We really wanted to tour the lighthouses, but unfortunately they were all still closed – everything opens up after the beginning of May. So we were just about a week too early… classic timing! 😅
I agree, it’s fascinating how much an Airbnb reflects the host’s personality. The one in Cape Cod was an absolute gem – thoughtful touches everywhere, super generous, and above all: spotless!
The dodgy one, though… no toilet paper on arrival, freezing cold, and the cleanliness left a lot to be desired. The one upside: the host responded really well and promised to address the issues, so hopefully the next guests have a better experience.
And yes! All downhill from here, Birchie! Literally and figuratively. Let’s hope my quads survive to tell the tale. 😆
Again, a huge congrats to you on your outstanding Boston performance!! Your upcoming ultra really sounds tough, but you’ve got the grit. My longest “race” was an overnight 12-hour gig. I passed the 60K mark (and that was with taking a lot of breaks, both walking and sitting intermittently. I’m excited to hear more as you approach this next start line!