Penny For Your Thoughts

...It's more like my two cents

Miscellaneous blab:

Summer has finally arrived in Southern California and we're all complaining how hot it is! I know we're rather spoiled here, but guess what? It is hot! When it gets into the 90s on the coast, which is usually the coolest place to be, it's in the 100s everywhere else. I sought refuge in the air conditioned gym to do my "track" workout*.

Brief gym rant:
To the woman next to me on the treadmill at the gym: Get off your damn cell phone! Even with an iPod plugged into my ears and Nickleback's "Burn It To The Ground" is blasting away, I can still hear your conversation! ("But I love you more... but I love you even more... but I love you more than that"...) PS: Ease up on dousing your entire body in vanilla scented cologne. I wanted to pass out. After my 10 minute warm up on the treadmill next to vanilla cell phone diva, I switched to another treadmill.

I would like to see more run events with chipped timing. After the 4 mile Fire Run on Sunday, I turned off my GPS after I made it out of the finishing corrals, giving me extra time and distance, and it came out to about a 9:02 minute mile. Technically, I finished under a 9 minute mile, probably about an 8:55 minute mile. When the results were first posted I was given a 9:06 minute mile. I just rechecked my results and I now have a 9:07 minute mile finishing at 36:25. I know it's a few seconds, but when you're looking for PR's and improvements every second counts. I think I've blogged about this before, but with so many more people running, the margin for error in manual time recording goes up. Can someone explain to me how much more complicated is it to come into the here and now and have all races chipped? If it's expense, I'd love to be given the option to have a timing chip and pay a few extra bucks for it.

I have an appointment with radiology and my endocrinologist scheduled for next month. These appointments include a DEXA scan (bone density testing) and a mammogram. I'm not quite sure if the endocrinologist is going to order more follow up tests, as he did last year. Good times ahead...

Popsicles, lemonade, and Propel are being inhaled at an alarming rate my house as I type...

Cupcakes. I need to hit up a bakery. There's no way I'm baking anything right now. I just want one and I'll be fine. It just takes one to get the craving out of my sytem.

Photo from Women's Day

My friend Rich, the guy who ran with me at the Fire Run 4 miler, has been seen at my blog before. A few years ago I made him a pirate (Jack Sparrow) costume coat:


My brother will be in town for a few days. I've invited him to run with us and the track club on Saturday morning. It should be interesting. He's one of those uber fast types with a whole lot of energy.

Mel of Tall Mom On The Run is having a giveaway for her 200th blogpost. The swag is a Pearl Izumi running shorts. Go on over and enter and please mention that I (Irene of Magazine Smiles) sent you!

Sunday's song:
Like A Virgin - Madonna - Barbie2be

PEACE

*It was too hot to run outside on an actual track, so I used the virtual track on the computer readout of the treadmill instead.

Like A Virgin

Activity: Run - Fire Run 4 Miler
Date: 08/23/09 08:38 AM
Distance: 4.05 miles
Time: 0:36:37
Speed:6.6 mph
Pace: 9' 02 min/mile
Calories: 391

(I did not turn off my gps right away. Had this been a chipped run my minute per mile average would have been in the eights)


Another run for the books!

I am THIS close to where I was before the whole hip/femur fracture debacle. I did this same run in 2005 (It used to be the Moondoggie's Race) and finished that 2005 race in 35:42, at a 8:55m/m pace.

Here's this year's results:

630 IRENE M 1029 50 9/47 F 36:22 9:06

I'll take it!

I wasn't going for guts and glory. I was running this particular event keep in sync with the whole race scene before it became a distant memory.

Many of my friends used this run as a recoup run from their AFC Half marathon last week. I don't have pictures, but I met up with AKA Alice and the Heffers, and met blogger Lisa of Discovering the Meaning of Stonehenge. Since I was wearing one of my SDTC tech t's, one of the guys in charge of membership for the track club came up to me and introduced himself and mentioned that he tries to meet as many track club members as possible. I can't remember his name, perhaps it was the couple of post run beers that made my memory a little fuzzy.

In addition, my friend Rich ran his very first run event ever. Yes, he WAS a race virgin. He runs, but had never run in an event before. Now he's asking about future 5ks. I knew he'd get hooked. I'm sure he'll eventually get his wife to at least go along for the ride to cheer him on if he decides to do more races. He finished soon after I did with a time of 36:45 - 9:12 pace.

Michael did not attend today's race because he's whooping it up in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico at a bachelor's party weekend... He returns later today.

I didn't bring my camera, and I didn't think to get pre run photos with AKA Alice or Lisa with my cell phone, but AKA Alice did get a picture of the three of us, so I hope she posts it soon. :) I did get a couple of cell phone shots at the PB Bar & Grill with our post run beers:

Rich feeling pretty good about his first time. Cheers!

Me feeling pretty good after the first beer and a breakfast burrito. Oh yeah, and feeling pretty good about my run, too.

EDIT:
This just in... While I was enjoying my beer, the Heffers and Lisa were chatting it up with the local news!


Yesterday's song:
Fire - Jimi Hendrix
PEACE

Fire

Guess what I'll be doing Sunday morning?

Wednesday's song:
Your Possible Pasts - Pink Floyd

PEACE

Your Possible Pasts

Sunday's song:
Half - Soundgarden

PEACE

Half

The SDTC AFC Half Marathon Aid Station #1 Volunteers!

I volunteered at the AFC Half Marathon this morning, at aid station #1, right before the 4 mile marker. I had every intention of getting pictures of many of my friends, but it was so busy that I didn't even have a chance to think about pictures.

Here's the calm before the storm:

The front runner:

Then it happened...

(OK, that's my backside, with the blue sleeves and nifty XXL orange singlet)

Before you know it, there were masses of people running -- many more people than what is shown in the photos above. At one point the street was packed full of people running. No time to take pictures. We couldn't hand out water and electrolytes fast enough. I believe I saw Lisa run past me, but on the opposite side of where I was standing. I saw AKA Alice and was able to give her a big hug, but no pictures. I also saw some of the Heffers, including Betty and gave her a hug, too. I would not have found them if it weren't for their bright green shirts! It was insanely busy. I've volunteered at water stations before, but this was just crazy. We really did need more volunteers. After the whirlwind of people, a few people trickled through, and then the end of the pack ambulance. We made sure we stuck around and cheered for the people running just ahead of the ambulance, and made sure there was still water and electrolytes for them. Clean-up was smooth. Some people decided to head out to the finish line. Michael and I decided to get breakfast at the High Dive and invited Patricia from the track club to join us. We were eventually joined by our friend, Sam, who we were supposed to meet for drinks last night, but never happened. (This place has the BEST hot Bloody Mary's!)

Cheers!

The weather seemed unseasonably mild today, not so hot, but somewhat humid. I hope the weather remained kind for the runners. I'm looking forward to some great AFC half marathon reports!

Friday's song:
Hovering - Beulah

PEACE

Hovering

I went outside with my camera for this:

and ended up with these:

Lumpy doing what he does best... Hiding out where he thinks is a safe place away from kids and dogs.

Busted by Logan. Logan was poking at Lumpy with her paw, kind of making sure Lumpy was OK...

Logan is still making sure the situation is OK. Lumpy, in true Lumpy fashion, is meowing in protest but refusing to move.

Hovering

...and more hovering.

In running news:
I did a 5 mile tempo run on the gym treadmill yesterday. I haven't really managed a real tempo run in ages, even though I've made a few sad attempts. I managed to ease into 8:40 to 8:50 pace, and then in the low 9s. Since I was at the gym, I had to break up the run in a three miler and a two miler, just so the treadmill wouldn't shut off on me. It was that second round where my average pace was more in the mid 9s. It was OK, and I realize I have my work cut out for me if I want to become faster. DOMS will be a part of my vocabulary during this rebuilding phase. I. AM. SORE.

I'll be volunteering at aid station #1 for the AFC Half Marathon on Sunday. I'll try and wave to you as you speed by, provided you are running. There's a bunch of you! That's probably the aid station that most people will run past because they're still feeling fresh... maybe.

Tuesday's song:
Let The Children Play - Santana

PEACE

Let The Children Play

Yesterday

Activity: Run
Date: 08/10/09 06:33 PM
Distance: 2.90 miles
Time: 0:30:15
Speed: 5.8 mph
Pace: 10' 25 min/mile
Calories: 277

In addition to working out at RU, I did a 30 minute easy run much later on at the bay after another Runner's World Magazine wear test running shoe distribution. I ended up with these:



I'll keep you posted on how I do with these. So far they're OK!

Today

Activity: Run - Treadmill
Date: 08/11/09 12:00 PM
Distance: 3.11 miles
Time: 0:30:00
Speed: 6.2 mph
Pace: 9' 38 min/mile
Calories: 285

I did the interval workout B gave me. It was killer, and my calves still aren't recovered from last week's long run with the track club, so I had to do the last few sets of intervals a tad slower. The treadmill I ended up on was programmed to shut off at 30 minutes, and I needed to be on there for 34 minutes. Had I known this I could have planned better. Most of the treadmills aren't programmed like that. Oh well. Since this sort of threw off my rhythm, I just did a cool down for 5 minutes at a walking pace and called it a day.

Tuesday afternoon with a friend

"See, Alee?"
"Cars go really fast down the slide!"

"Wheeeee!"

"Can I come in?"

"Jump!"

"Bye-bye!"

Yesterday's song:
Life Is Good - Kenny Chesney - Katiefeldmom

PEACE

Life Is Good

Last Tuesday's sunset

I'm not feeling much like writing/blogging at the moment, although I've been rather busy. I'm thinking I'll give a go at more photography and posting more pictures for the remainder of this month. I'm still running, still working out at RU, and I'm looking forward to when everyone is back in school and back with a set schedule. I can expect my personal schedule to become busier within the next month or so with work thrown back into the mix, but nothing is set in stone as of right now. Life is good, and I am surely blessed. Perhaps I can convey my thoughts better through photography for now.

Wednesday's song:
A Pain That I'm Used To - Depeche Mode

PEACE

A Pain That I'm Used To

RU
B switched up some of my regular workout, and since my left hip is still a little sore, he's easing me back into my regular workout. I still did the squat and lunge matrix with weights but not as many reps and slightly less weight. He also threw in a version of burpees that I was able to deal with.

Last night I met up with the track club at Balboa Park. We're having some humid weather right now. It's not quite Florida humid, but humid enough to start sweating profusely once out of the confines of my air conditioned car. We ran on the back trails again, which I really didn't think we were going to, which is going up and down steep hills, THEN run down and back up 6th Ave to our starting point. 6th Ave is a long, gradual hill. We did this course twice The entire course (done twice) is probably about 6 miles. It was one heck of a workout, and it even beat up the most experienced runners there. I had a bout of asthma during the second time around on the back trails. I had no choice but to walk. The people I was running with were kind enough to wait for me. (It's one of those areas where you don't want to be alone.) I skipped the last go round down and back up 6th Ave. I was toast and rested a bit. If that wasn't enough, I did strides (with most of the group) on the large grassy area at the park, and did an abs workout. Justin (who I've worked out with at RU a few times) attended the workout and even he said it was tough. Several people opted out of the several sets of strides. Like last week's workout, I was pretty gross when I was done, between the sweat and dirt from the trails. My once nice, very white shoes



are now a pretty good shade of light dirt brown.



I'm kind of disappointed because my GPS stopped working sometimes during the first loop around the back trails. I think I put in about 4 miles.

I was thinking that after such a tough run/workout, I'd be able to get some decent sleep. I was wrong. I'm pretty sure I got in enough electrolytes and liquids yesterday, but as I was getting comfy and dozing off to sleep, both of my legs cramped up something awful. I can't remember the last time something like that happened... maybe when I was pregnant with my daughter 26 years ago? Once I got out of bed I had to do calf stretches. I can understand one leg, one calf, but both? I had to get up several times during the night just to stretch. This morning I had bananas for breakfast, along with a calcium & magnesium tablet, and plenty of liquids...

Nutrition is very much back on track. I had some water weight gain from our little respite last week, and that's already gone. I'm working on getting in as much real food as possible, especially when it comes to the protein. I also need more veggies in my regimen so I'm going to make a big pot of the vegetarian sweet potato minestrone today. It keeps well and is actually good once it's cold. No need to reheat.

Saturday's song:
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere - Alan Jackson, Jimmy Buffett - AKA Alice

PEACE

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

Well, now...

I've been a tad busy since about Thursday. Thursday there really wasn't much to discuss other than I ended up with food poisoning from a fish place we went to after an industry/vendor thing for my husband. I'm thinking it was the tuna tartar that did me in. I'm kinda thinking it wasn't supposed to be served at room temperature. I was up all night and in the restroom about every couple of hours, had to cancel my chiropractor appointment on Friday morning at 8 AM , and got in more sleep until about 10:30 AM Friday morning. Good times. I was a bit concerned because we had a dinner/show/room thing planned FRIDAY EVENING at 5:00 PM. Yikes. With a Pop Tart (I know, but that's what I could deal with) , Chicken & Stars soup and a couple of pretzles, I was OK, and by the time dinner rolled around I was ravenous. Thank goodness.

The dinner/show/room package was for Jim Gaffigan at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay. Ever since the one time we did the dinner/room/show pacakage, we always plan to attend another show the following year. Last year was Robert Plant & Allison Krauss. The year before it was Heart. This year we were looking for a music group or singer, but the shows that we were interested in sold out quickly, and there were good seats still available for Jim Gaffigan. It was a great choice. After a fabulous dinner and dessert, we sauntered* out to the venue. I'm not sure why, but we ended up with third row, center seats. (I just asked for best availabe, and we didn't even get the uber package.) Gaffigan was hysterical without being raunchy or using curse words. A lot of people brought their kids, which was different, but nice that you could bring your kids to see a comedian. He had a lot of new material, but also went into the "bacon" and "Hot Pockets" routines he is know for. It was so much fun. We laughed to the point of crying. We were lauging at other people laughing. We finished off the evening at the bar while listnening to a blues band and then called it a night. We were done.

Saturday morining we woke up kind of late, about 8:30AM, which means we missed the 8 mile run event out at Balboa Park, but we weren't in condition to run. You can't call a Grey Goose martini and two vodka tonics carb loading. I don't even think there's a carb there, unless you count the olives. I don't normally drink that much in one week, let alone one evening, which explains the late wake up time. Once we got ourselves together, we wandered around Point Loma for a breakfast haunt. We ended up at the Red Sails Inn. Service was so fast it was almost scary, but impressive. It's a place to return to, for sure.

Still waking up! I can't even muster a cheesy smile yet!

Once we had our breakfast and felt more awake, we went walking around, but didn't get too far because we found a place that sells a lot of European and organic wines. I just about did a happy dance because I've had a really hard time finding organic wines that taste good, and most European wines are organic, although they aren't classified as such. I'm extremely sensitive to the sulfates in most non-organic American wines -- I break out in an itchy, dry, rash (excema), and it really bites. I've been missing a lot of my favorite wines. We came out of there with 4 bottles, three from Europe and one from Argentina. I plan on saving those for another weekend. -- I'm not quite ready just now.

We ended up going back to the hotel to soak in whatever time we had left, asked for a late check out, and spent a few hours at the pool area. While we were there, the cabana bar had opened... Gee, a couple of Coronas and lime sounded really good with a plate of calamari, especially sitting poolside... It felt like a vacation, we might as well take advantage of it.


While we were enjoying drinks, we started looking around at the pool area. I kept saying "this is how I would like our backyard to look, but on a MUCH smaller scale."

No lawn to mow. Then after the second Corona, we decided it would be a good idea to install a running track around our backyard, made out of that cushy stuff they use on high school and college tracks. Then we decided it could be a multi-purpose track so that our grandson could ride his bike around it and also have a place to use his remote control cars. Luckily, we stopped after two Coronas; heaven knows what else we would have decided to do with our backyard.

Wednesday's song:
Reebok Tacos** - eCID

PEACE

*Waddled

**"I rock Nike socks with Reebox."