Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Head Over Feet

Yesterday I was still feeling icky and not very productive, so I decided to take care of a few lose ends, such as making sure all of our accounts had the new address, etc. While filling out forms with the new address, it occured to me that I didn't update my current ID, so, I updated my shoes. Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting I meant to say that I bought an ID tag that attaches to one of my running shoes, so if I can't speak for myself, people helping me will know who I am. I purchased one for hubbie too. I usually run with my driver's license in my mini fanny pack thingy, but I always have to remind myself to put the license back in my wallet. Which reminds me, my drivers license is now obsolete...



Now, I have to update my driver's license. I wish it were as easy as ordering the id tag on the internet...

Peace
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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Red Rain

Tired.

I think my body is just trying to tell me to take a break. I can't really remember the last time I felt this exhausted. Even my hubbie made a comment to how tired I looked... I know there's a bunch of colds and flu's making the rounds again, so maybe that's part of it. I sorta-kinda did a workout yesterday but it was nothing to get pumped about. I just putzed around. Watched TV. I also IM'ed a friend (from high school) who I haven't corresponded with in about a year, that was cool. Even though I still have a case of the tireds , I'm gonna at least move around today, unless my body rebels. Maybe there was something to how I was feeling last Thursday. I dunno.

It's also raining today. It hasn't rained here in well over a month, so it's really nice to hear the rain hitting the roof in the sun room -- It's spooking the dog, though... She has to go outside through the sun room.

It's just one of those days... It's all good, though. It's a good day to make a huge pot of soup.

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Peace

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Traveling Without Moving


1:08 for my LSD run of 10K at the lake (by the now, old house) on Saturday. I didn't punch it up, just kept it easy. The weather was perfect for a long run... about 60 degrees F, a cool breeze from the lake and peaceful.

No rest for the weary... Hubbie and I went to the old house and moved more stuff. Someone suggested a garage sale but I just don't have the energy. Goodwill is more than happy to take our thing we no longer need. Somehow the stuff we no longer need is finding the path to the new house -- That's not supposed to happen!

There's more moving fun today!

Peace
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Thursday, January 25, 2007

Shock To The System

I woke up today thinking it was Friday... Rats! It's not. I also woke up with an upset stomach and I'm kind of waiting around for it to settle, or do what ever it's going to do. I'm not sure if it's a stomach flu or something I ate at dinner last night. Running is not an option at the moment.
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I also had a realatively clean meal last night, out with my dad, skipped dessert.

My quads and hammies feel pretty good from yesterday's workout -- strangely, it's my calves that are sore, but it could be DOMS from the run in my neighborhood on Tuesday and taking on hills.

Peace
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Monday, January 22, 2007

Surfin' USA

Running Stuff:
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I've been surfing the web looking for a marathon training plan. I've taken a look at Smart Coach on Runnerswold.com, which is cool because I can plug in a previous race time (and other pertainant info) and it will give me a training schedule based on that info. My initial goal is to run a sub 5 hour marathon. I think there's at least one in me. Even if I do one second faster than last year's time, which was 5:13, that would make me giddy. Finishing on my own two feet is reason enough to celebrate. I am not trying to sell myself short. It's one of those personal "goals " that I'd love to achieve. I'm not being unrealistic. I just have to train, and train smart. I realize I have my work cut out for me, but that time goal is my Mount Everest. Back to Smart Coach, I plugged in a 4:50 marathon, just to see what the training would look like, and it's not treacherous, provided I don't get hurt, sick, or slack off the training. I've also taken a look at their Less-Is-More Marathon Plan. It's less days of running per week, including speedwork, tempo runs, long runs, etc. It's sort of what I ended up doing (by default) for marathon #1 in 2005 when I was diagnosed with arthritis. I may end up doing a combination of the two plans. Since I'm starting up things this week I do need to add a couple of weeks to the plan. I'll just do shorter runs this week, two 2.5 milers in the neighborhood and one 6 miler this Saturday at the bay, and I'll just duplicate that next week as well. Marathoning For Mortals by John Bingham is what I sort of followed for the last two marathons, and that's a 20 week program. I'll be okay with the 16 or 18 week plans since I'm not starting from scratch this year.

Workout Stuff:
Monday's workout was upper body circuits with resistance bands, high reps.

Other Stuff:
My dining room looks like a UPS warehouse... My kids moved tons of boxes from the other house yesterday while we were out. Yay, they did it, but the boxes were supposed to go in the storage area at the other end of our yard, which is like a small garage but big enough to put all of our things we can't go through at the moment... We had come home from a fun evening out, watching the Colts/Patriots game with friends, IN THEIR CLEAN HOUSE... We came home to a gazillion dusty boxes in my once clean dining room. Just one more thing to do and clean. (I keep telling myself that it's good that they moved the stuff, so it won't seem so overwhelming, and that they worked their butts off...RIGHT???? My kids are great... My kids ARE great.) I just wasn't ready.

Peace

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Friday, January 19, 2007

Freeze Frame

Here's more pictures from the half marathon...

Chuck looking happy during the race...



Sylvia (in blue) is happy to be finished!



Here's hubbie Michael about a mile towards the end (I think)



Say "FREEZE!"



Me making that last ditch effort towards the end...



Hooray!!! It's done!!!



Say "Freeze!"

PEACE

What I Like About You

Katie-feld-mom tagged me for this ABC meme about me. Here it goes...

A- Available or single? Neither

B- Best Friend? Linda

C- Cake or Pie? Cake, but I love a really good, home-made apple pie.Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

D- Drink of Choice? Water, fresh made lemonade

E- Essential Item? BE Mineral powder that works just like concealer. It covers EVERYTHING.

F- Favorite Color? I have no real favorite color, since I like all colors depending on what context they're being used, which makes it difficult when decorating, but I am in a green phase right now.

G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Both

H- Hometown? San Diego, CA

I- Indulgence? Bubble bath in a giant spa tub.

J- January or February? February - Valentine's Day

K- Kids and names? Renee, Erik

L- Life is incomplete without? My family, air, music.

M- Marriage Date? December 11, 1982

N- Number of Siblings? Two

O- Oranges or Apples? Apples

P- Phobias/Fears? Traffic

Q- Favorite Quote? "We're having keys and parrots with dinner." -- My son Erik at age 4, mixed up the words peas and carrots.

R- Reason to Smile? Evan

S- Season? Summer

T- Tag three people! Who ever wants to do this, go for it!

U- Unknown Fact about Me? I went to Catholic school for 12 years. Years 1 though 8 were comical... (I'm being sarcastic) Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

V- Vegetable you hate? Peas

W- Worst Habit? I wiggle my foot/feet when I get nervous

Y- Your Favorite Food? Pizza, dark chocolate

Z- Zodiac? Gemini

Peace

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PS
The AZRNR Half Marathon time-keepers changed hubbie's time AGAIN. It now says he finished in 2:45. Chuck and Sylvia now finished in 2:52. My time remains the same.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Cold As Ice


The Arizona Rock N Roll Half Marathon is now one for my history book! I didn't train as well as I should have, but I did finish!

Let me start at the start...

Hubbie and I were invited to stay at a fellow BFL'ers home when she found out we were thinking about running in the Arizona Rock N Roll Half Marathon. I had known Sylvia from an online, women over 40 Body For Life support group. We've been corresponding for the past 7 years, but we never really met. I know it does sound a little weird to stay with people we've never really met, but we did connect because we had the same sort of weight loss and work-out issues, so we related well to each other on line. Once we all met on Saturday afternoon, we really hit it off. Our husbands even got along well. Sylvia and Chuck definitely rolled out the red carpet for us and I hope we're able to return the favor someday. We did our carb-load at one of their favorite Italian restaurants, and went back to their house for an early bed time.

The next morning we woke up at the crack of dark to FREEZING temperatures. To say that it was unseasonably cold would be an understatement. It was 24 friggin' degrees. 24 degrees Fahrenheit. 24! It was much colder in some areas... Arizona has not seen cold temperatures like that in well over 10 years. Perhaps if you're from the some place that gets snow for the winter, 24 degrees seems like nothing, but the coldest I've ever trained in is probably 50 degrees, and that's really not all that cold in the big picture -- I'm just not used to it. We had to park near the finish line, per the race instructions, and take a shuttle bus to the start -- Fine, if we only had to wait a few minutes, but we had to wait for more than 45 minutes in the frosty cold. I couldn't feel my toes. I don't really have uber-cold weather running gear, but I do have long running tights, a long sleeved running shirt with wicking material, and a wind resistant jacket. I felt bad for the people wearing only shorts and t-shirts. The buses finally arrived and we made it to the start just as the national anthem was being played. I didn't think I would have time to make a port-o-potty dash so I got into starting corral. I happened to stand next to a man who had run in this event before and said that it took a good 20 minutes after the start gun went off to get to the starting gate, so I did have time to visit the port-o-potty. I was able to get back in a corral, not mine, but I was able to find hubbie in his corral and we began the event together. We got off to a very cautious and slow start because our feet were so cold and there was no way of warming up before the run. My feet felt like I was running with rocks on the balls of my feet... but it was my frozen feet... I could feel that I was running slower than normal because I was just too cold and stiff. People had really layered for this race, and they did shed their jackets, pants, gloves, ets, starting around mile 2. There were clothes strewn all over the streets and sidewalks. We were still pretty cold so hubbie grabbed a couple of pairs of shedded gloves. It probably sounds kinda icky to wear someone elses already worn gloves, but our fingers hurt, so at that point we didn't care. It did help, though, and I was able to shed the gloves around mile 8. As usual, hubbie ran with me until mile 3 and kissed me good by and began his walk/run pattern. I kept running. The section of Phoenix we ran through was not the greatest. One lady (a local) I ran next to said she couldn't believe the event coordinators let us run through that particular neighborhood because we ran past several strip bars, cheesy motels, run-down buildings, and so on. I guess if you want nicer scenery you have to run the full Marathon because that route goes through a nicer section of the Phoenix area. Oh well. Having the bands every few miles or so did help, as always. I didn't pay attention to the scenery. I just kept looking ahead and paced myself with a few people who were running about my speed. The route was relatively flat, with a few very gradual hills, but nothing treacherous. The half marathon was awkward to finish because the route bottle-necked around the last mile -- towards ASU, it was hard to pass around large groups of people, and we couldn't see the finish line until the last few hundred feet, which made it a little hard to put in that last ditch, sprint effort, but I tried it anyway.

My official finish time was 2:21 and change. Not bad for a sparse training season and running in mind numbing cold... I was thrilled to have the mylar blanket at the end of that race, which actually helped to keep me a little bit warmer. It was about 44 degrees at the end of the race. Hubbie came in at 2:51, and our friends came in at exactly 3:00. Once we were all together and received some sustenance, we all wanted to go home ASAP. We were just COLD. Here's a picture of the four of us ( from left to right: Chuck, Hubbie Michael, Me, Sylvia) right before we went back to the car...



We didn't stick around the expo at all. We made it back to the house, showered and went out to eat and enjoy a celebration martini.

Monday morning, our generous hosts had to go to work, and hubbie and I pretty much packed and trekked into Phoenix to have lunch with one of my high school friends. Lucky for us, she happened to have the day off. I didn't think we'd be able to connect on this trip, so it was nice to see her and play catch-up for a couple of hours.

Fast forward to home. We made it back just fine. I'm a tiny bit sore in my ankles, and hubbie has sore quads, but nothing too bad. My weight has not changed at all. Even with all the carb-loading and indulging after the run, so that's a good thing. Hubbie and I are already signed up for the San Diego Rock N' Roll Marathon in June 2007, and training for that will start next week.

Back at home, the Chargers lost their chance at Superbowl, but there's always next year. Now I have to pick another team to root for so it's gonna be the Chicago Bears. Go Bears!

Peace
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Friday, January 12, 2007

Fly Away



We're off to Arizona tomorrow morning! We're flying instead of driving because the flights were pretty cheap. I have no real expectations of this race but only to have fun! I hope the cold weather doesn't follow me...

Peace

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Betty Lou's Got A New Pair Of Shoes



Maggie (Causticmuse) had posted on her blog about "40% off Online and In-store at Footlocker, Footaction and Champs." I saved $24.00 on a pair of Adidas Supernova Cushion that were already marked down. I couldn't get the Asics Gel Nimbus that I like this time around, but saving $24.00 on Adidas running shoes is huge. What is even more amazing to me, is that they had my size. Thanks Maggie.

Just in case, I'd thought I'd pass along the coupon links:

Footlocker Friends and Family 40% Off Coupon

Footaction Friends and Family 40% Off Coupon

Champs Friends and Family 40% Off Coupon

The coupons are good from 1/11/07 through 1/15/07.

Other stuff...

Go Chargers! They play on home turf against the New England Patriots this Sunday.






Peace
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Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Lift Me Up

It's back to the weights, real weights, not moving boxes and heavy furniture. I wasn't expecting my weight workout to be as easy as it was, which indicates that all of that heavy box lifting did keep my muscles alive. I kept today's weights light, so there would be no surprise strains. I guess I can bump things up heavier next time. I worked on shoulders, biceps, triceps and abs. I did need to throw in some chest presses, but I'll save that for next time.

I've also been searching for a new marathon training plan. I've followed the outline in Marathon Training For Mortals by John Bingham twice, and followed the Smart Coach outline from Runnerworld.com for my half marathons. I know there are several plans out there. I did find one that outlined only 3 running days per week and two cross trainging days: "The Less Is More Marathon Plan," which is sort of how I modified the "mortals" running plan when I was having extreme knee pain for marathon #1 in 2005. I'll still surf the web and see what else I find. I'm pretty sure that hubbie and I will run in the 2007 San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon on June 3. I just need to sign up.

Peace

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Monday, January 08, 2007

Light Up

The Arizona Rock N Roll Marathon/Half Marathon event is THIS Sunday... Am I ready? I guess I'm as ready as I'll every be, considering training was sparse. Hubbie and I did about an 8 mile run at the bay on Saturday. I came away from that run with no issues or pains. Hubbie had sore hamstrings, but that was it. We didn't bring a time piece, so I have no idea how fast (or slow) we ran. Our friends who are running the event with us are in the same boat, but they were sick with colds, but did manage a few runs as well. They're "waddlers" -- as a part of John Bingham's Penguins. I'm looking forward to this little break from real life. The friends who offered their house to stay at
are fellow BFL'ers. I met the wife through a BFL Women Over 40 online group. There's 5 of us left from the hundreds that used to belong. It will be fun!

In house stuff, we FINALLY agreed on light fixtures for the kitchen table and sun room. In all honesty, I've just settled. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted because everything I liked was WAY out of our budget. Hubbie and I conceded and decided to buy what ever Home Depot happened to have in stock on Saturday after our run. For the kitchen we picked out this red glass cylindrical fixture. It doesn't give off much light but at night the kitchen has a warm, red glow if we turn off the can lights.





For the sun room, it's not too exciting, but it's a parchment colored glass cylinder, which gives off a nice glow in the sun room at night, plus we can see it from the living room. It looks much better when it's on, but I couldn't get a decent picture.



Both lights are much more streamlined than I would have liked, but they do look much better than just wire hanging down from the ceiling.

Peace
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Friday, January 05, 2007

King Of Trees

This year I did something different than my usual Christmas tree with hues mostly of burgundy, gold, and cream colors, which had a somewhat victorian look with lace and bows. This year I felt like I needed a blue themed Christmas tree. I've never had a "blue" Christmas tree before. I found a several of my grandma's ornaments here, at the "new" old house, some blue and white ornaments that I happened to have, and some new ornaments that happened to be on sale at Target.

This ornament is Evan at about age 8 months or so. It's from my somewhat "Victorian" themed tree, but it's a white ornament, and he's so cute...



This glass onrament is one of my grandma's that I found in a box under the house. It's from around early 1960-something. I'm amazed that it was still in great condition, since most of the ornaments from under the house were not it the best shape.



How did this San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon cowbell get there???? Well, it is white.



Here's the whole tree, in the dining room, with Evan showing off his Lightning McQueen tricycle. The tree looks crooked in the picuture, but it was the angel who was making my tree look off - she didn't want to go on properly... Hey! Look at that great, shiney floor!



My son wanted the house to smell like Christmas, but by the time we went to get a cut Christmas tree, they were pretty much all gone. The nursery had living trees in pots for half price. Score! I couldn't use all of my Victorian looking ornaments on this little tree, so I just used most of the cross-stitched ones I made, plus a few that I knew Evan and the dog wouldn't break. This tree was placed in the sunroom. It's still alive and likes living in the sun room.



I always have to put up my kids pre-school ornaments... These ornaments made it up on the little tree. They're both about 4 years old in these picutures.







That was just a part of my Christmas decor this year. I also had a nativity scene that Evan was mesmorized by. He embelished it a little by adding a dinosaur, a small Elmo figurine, his favorite car - the Mini Cooper, and a few Hotwheels... He also rearranged the Three Wise Men, who appeared to be (in Evan's words) "running away from the scary dinosaur." I regretfully did not get a photo of this scene, but it sure was funny.

Peace

Thursday, January 04, 2007

A Little Fall Of Rain

Today was the funeral for my brother-in-law's mother. My brother-in-law, his four siblings and their families are quiet heartbroken, but the funeral was more of a celebration of life. It was a wonderful tribute to see so many people at the service. Mrs. Johnson was a very happy, spiritited lady. Her home was quite decked out with her antique Christmas ornament collections that she took great pride in displaying. She was working on a family tree project and spent hours on the computer researching geneology. She had travel plans. I didn't realize that she was as old as she was due to the fact that she was so active. She was not outwardly ill. She was 82 years old. She died peacefully on December 29th, while sleeping in her recliner. Rest in peace, Kate.

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Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Your Song

I didn't post much this past December, so... only five song titles this time around. Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Thanks for playing "Name that artist/group/composer."

12/27/06 The Wind - Cat Stevens

12/26/06 I'll Be Home For Christmas Christmas - Done by just about everyone who has released a Christmas Album or CD

12/16/06 Christmastime - A Charlie Brown Christmas, Vince Guaraldi Trio - Barbie2be Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

12/12/06 Downtown - Petula Clark - Barbie2bePhotobucket - Video and Image Hosting

12/7/06 Music - Madonna

12/6/06 Computer Blue - Prince

Happy New Year!

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