Monday, April 30, 2012

BIG Carmel Weekend


We've been to the uber-cute, uber dog-friendly Carmel before, but this was a special weekend. This weekend, I ran the Big Sur marathon. Captain and Daddy enjoyed the perfect sunny weather while Mommy got up early to take a little 26.2 mile jaunt up Highway 1 from Big Sur to Carmel...

This was my third marathon, and by far my best. I felt awesome the entire race, truly enjoyed the day, and the views were just amazing. If you are a runner, I highly recommend this race! But enough about me and my weekend, more about the Vizsla!

Our first stop in Carmel the day before the race was Carmel's wonderful, very dog-friendly beach. Captain did more than a few crazy puppy runs, he was so happy to be back at this beach.

A Vizsla was here
Carmel beach: Dog-friendly beach to the max
Who doesn't love getting a sandy nose?
Carmel is full of dog-friendly stores, restaurants, and lodging, and this trip we stayed in the Carmel Country Inn. They had dog treats (and people treats) upon arrival, balls to chase for the beach, and a great fireplace to cuddle by in the room. There were flowers everywhere and the B & B was very cute! The only downside was it wasn't well sound-proofed at all, so our first night Captain was barking fairly often every time someone walked by or upstairs. Something to consider if you are looking for a quiet place to stay (although our second night was better, you could still hear doors close and footsteps, etc). Since I had to get up so early for the race, it didn't matter much.

After 26 miles of beautiful California coastline, Captain and my husband cheered me on at the finish. Captain was also pretty happy to score an entire half bagel dropped by a runner at the finish area- I'm pretty sure he swallowed the thing without even chewing, and was very pleased with himself for gulping it down ;-)

Post-race happy me and happy Captain

Later in the day, we were back at Carmel beach. There was a lot of this for me:


And more of this for Captain:

And my favorite part, some much-needed cuddling:


Hope you had a wonderful, exciting weekend as well!
Posted by KL at 9:25 PM
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8 comments:

  1. Robyn (RedDogGirl)April 30, 2012 at 9:43 PM

    Fabulous - LOVE the sand on his lips and the one running full throttle down the beach. Congrats on the marathon!! And I hope you enjoyed your time with your guys too!

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    1. KLApril 30, 2012 at 9:56 PM

      Thanks! And yeah I loved getting my reds to myself all weekend!

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  2. Amanda @ Click. The Good NewsMay 1, 2012 at 8:17 AM

    Congrats! The Big Sur Marathon is on my short list of marathons I still want to do. How was it? I'd love to hear more. Glad Captain got a little getaway out of all your hard work too :)

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    1. KLMay 1, 2012 at 8:47 AM

      You HAVE to do this marathon!! It was absolutely awesome! The course was breathtaking, it was SO well run- great volunteers and fun bands/drummers/piano player along the way, and the perfect amount of people in the race (never too crowded or too sparse). It starts in Big Sur and you're surrounded by Redwoods, then you run through beautiful green fields filled with cows, and out to Highway 1 where it's just amazingly pretty. We did get a fair amount of very strong headwinds and fog, but you can get through it by drafting in a pack, and being distracted by how pretty everything is. The hills were NOT bad at all. I felt great the entire race! I completely would do this run over again, it was a blast! ...Can you tell I liked it!?! ;-)

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  3. AnonymousMay 6, 2012 at 5:50 AM

    Looks like a lovely time! Wish more places here were dog friendly... I really need to check out our downtown, I hear many of the shops are but I need a tour guide! Great job on the run too! I could never do that.
    Anna
    www.akginspiration.com

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    1. KLMay 6, 2012 at 9:52 AM

      thanks! and yeah, worth checking out what places near you are dog-friendly- have fun!

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  4. KLMay 6, 2012 at 9:53 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. UrbanBodiMay 6, 2012 at 8:15 PM

    CONGRATULATIONS! Big Sur was on my short list until my knees had other ideas! Fun photos - I'm sure Captain would have enjoyed running the course with you had he been allowed to enter the race. Corrine

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