Marathon Training Camp Weekend in MI

I just got back from northern Michigan a little while ago and obviously want to share some pictures and fun stories ASAP.  I've decided to call it our Chicago Marathon Training Camp Weekend since Angela, Olivia, and I are all running it and we got in some quality workouts and fun over the weekend.  So first, a picture of the lake/where I spent a few hours napping.  The nap also resulted in sunburn on only the left side of my body.

After the nap, the 3 of us went for a short 4 mile run - short, but hard.  I had done my long run on Wednesday night and then didn't run at all Thursday and Friday.  Angela and Olivia did their 18-mile long run Friday afternoon, so on Saturday afternoon we were all pretty sore/tight.

Wouldn't you want all of your runs to be on a road right a pretty lake?  I would.  Then I realized a lot of my runs ARE right next to Lake Michigan.  But this is way way different since there's not a million people also running the same path at the same time.

After a lot of chips and salsa, an amazing homemade dinner, and a few beachy cocktails at the cottage, us 3 girls headed to the local bars.  They close at 11pm.  A local we met asked us what we were up to for the rest of the night and I replied with "going home to sleep in bunk beds."  Their cottage was so cute and perfect for the northern-Michigan lake-cottage atmosphere.  Their family has been vacation here forever. The cottage actually reminded me a lot of the cabins my family used to stay in when we vacationed at Pennellwood.

Sunday morning we went to Mass, got lunch in town and brought it to the beach to eat, and then explored along the lakefront for awhile and walked to this lighthouse.  I wore this new hippie skirt that I am now in love with.  I practically got it for free from the LOFT since it was on sale and I had a $15 off coupon to spend during the month of my birthday.

We weren't really up for running, so instead Angela and I took out the tandem bike for what turned into a 12 mile ride.  I think we talked about the Chicago Marathon the entire time - what we'll wear, pacing, the course, etc.  I am even way more pumped up now!  6 weeks to go!

Sunday night we went to the beach for the sunset and rock collecting and then had another great dinner at the cottage.  We were all pretty wiped out and had decided we would do a hill workout Monday morning, so we turned in to the bunk beds early.

Monday morning was chilly, but perfect temperature for a hill workout.  And by hill, I mean mountain.  Angela BEASTED up it.  I had my phone in my little running fanny pack pouch thing, so I took it out (while still climbing up) and snapped her picture.

And then do you know what we did?  We ran down it and then back up again.  Each time was close to 5 minutes of straight up.  Angela was ready to do another, but Olivia and I were not as enthusiastic.  Here's the view from the top on the way down...around the curve, it kept going down.

In high school we used to joke that any of the "hills" in Chicago that we would use for a hill workout were actually just "bumps."  This hill was on the other end of the spectrum.  We talked Angela out of a third hill climb and ran straight into town on a few more rolling hills to join their parents for breakfast.  They even brought us clean t-shirts and sweatshirts so we wouldn't have to sit in the restaurant in our sweaty clothes.

Do you like doing hill workouts? - Chicago is extremely flat, so this is the most hill action I've done in a long time, probably since I visited Kristin in Cincinnati.  So this time I really enjoyed the hill workout since I haven't done one in so long.

Where is the most scenic place you have ran?