Who Will Buy?

Yesterdays Song:
Welcome Back - John Sebastian

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Welcome Back

I ran 9.74 miles on Sunday. It was a "time on your feet run: for a time of 1:45. It felt good to be back at it, even though I was caught in the rain for 5 minutes around mile 7. I had Lucy set to show stopwatch time and chime/show mile laps, so I had no idea that I needed only .26 of a mile to make an even 10.

I think it's now safe to say I'm over what ever creepy crud infection I had. It feels good to feel good again.

Look!

You guys have no idea how long I've tried to get an orchid plant to produce blooms a second time. This is kind of a big deal for me. This big deal orchid bloom is actually about an an inch, maybe an inch and a half in size. Now that I've managed to get one orchid plant to grow*, perhaps it's time I get back on the gardening bandwagon and rototill the backyard. It's a jungle back there. It looks like we've abandoned the entire backyard.

Check out another running skirt giveaway over at Endurance Isn't Only Physical. Oh, and check out her cool blog, too.

Yesterday's Song;
I'm The Map! - from Dora The Explorer - Katiefeldmom

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*...and have rehabbed enough to squat down and get back up again without needing help...

I'm The Map!

I've just found out the new San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon route. It's almost making me want to switch to the half. Almost. I have mixed feelings about the new route. Miles 1 through 18 are just about the same, with some minor tweaks to fit in the mileage. It's miles 18 through 26.2 that have changed the most. We all knew the route was going to change, but I really didn't think they were going to divert the route through parts of Mission Bay Park, Fiesta Island, and finishing at Sea world. Although this makes for a much flatter finish (no going over the Ingraham Street Bridges, which seem like mountains if/when you've just hit the wall at mile 20), there's a couple of miles of running on concrete (ouch) at Mission Bay Park (but scenic), and Fiesta Island -- although asphalt -- doesn't make for a pretty run when you're trying to dig down deep to get in those last miles. There's not a lot of scenery on Fiesta Island, just a lot of sand, dirt, an asphalt road, a Boy Scouts facility, and some bushes. I'm not sure, but it looks like part of the last mile into Sea World for the marathoners will be on concrete. Ouch. The route also overlaps a few times between the marathon and half marathon, which I HOPE isn't confusing.

*sigh*

Maybe this new route will be a good thing? I hope so.

Thursday's Song:
Walkin' on the Sun - Smash Mouth

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Walkin' on the Sun

Last week Laura gave me a little sunshine with the "Sunshine Award." Now I need to bestow some sunshine on some of my blog friends.

The rules for accepting this:

Put the logo on your blog or within your post (right click and save). Pass the award onto 12 bloggers, then link the nominees within your post. Finally, let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

I’m awarding the following blogs:

MJ - Pink Pear - New blog, but not new to blogging. She's planning to do the Susan G. Kommen 3 day walk. Stop by and say hi.

Rachel - Miss Rachel - She gives me plenty to think about when she talks about all things vegan. She has caused me to Google search a few vegan recipes.

Sara - Rookie on the Run - I met Sara and her son at last year's San Diego Rock 'n' Roll marathon expo. She needs some sunshine about now, with unresolved foot issues. I hope she'll be OK!

Julie - Keeping Pace - I met Julie (Juls) in 2007, when I went up to San Francisco to run in the Nike Women's Half marathon. She drove into town with her son to meet up with a group of us -- and it was a pleasure to meet her (and her son). She has an awesome eye for photography and often makes me stop and smell the orchids, or at least look for them.

Jill - Run With Jill - A newer running blog buddy, but I feel like we've connected over cold medications, Victor Newman, and trying to maintain some sort of running workout while coughing.

Lisa - Chasin' Bunnies - Her blog title is "Chasin' Bunnies," but she's no tortoise. If I could get back on track with my running, like she's doing, I might catch up to her!

Mel - 2nd Chances - Rockin' the P90X... I've been following along. I bought P90X last year AND even had someone copy it for me two years ago. Why haven't I done it yet? I have no excuses. Mel is kicking some major bootay with the workout and is inspiring me.

Leslie - Be A Good One - We've met a couple of times, once when she was in San Diego for training classes, and at the 2007 Nike Women's Half Marathon, and I have a feeling we'll meet again -- well, I hope so!

Glenn - The Running Fat Guy - Hardly the fat guy. He needs to change it to "The Running fit Guy." Glenn resides just north of San Diego, and he even came down here to run a 5k with us this past November. I hope to make it to a race in his area at some point.

Stacey - Muscle and the City - Needs some major sunshine right now - recovering from shoulder surgery, but I have a feeling she'll bounce back as strong as ever.

Lisa - Discovering the Meaning of Stonehenge - Recently ran an awesome marathon, the kind of marathon runners strive for. I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa this past summer, right before she moved near L.A.

Mel - Tall Mom on the Run - Always connected with the running world, whether it be gadgets, shoes, or clothing. Always recognizing everyone's run events. Always organized. Always smiling!

Yesterday's Song:
Jagged - Old 97s

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Jagged

Sunday's Song:
So Says My Heart - Lattimore Brown

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So Says My Heart

♥ ♥ ♥HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!♥ ♥ ♥

Thursday's Song:
Blue Orchid - White Stripes

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Blue Orchid

Randomness

This being sick thing is so last week. I'm not one for daytime TV soaps since the plots are recycled over and over and over again. The soaps are EXACTLY the same as when my mom watched them 25 years ago - Victor Newman is still on The Young and the Restless - I checked. Blogger Jill pointed out that there's only so many times you can watch H&G TV before you feel like your house is a total dump, but she said it with more verve. I worked out on Monday, and it was difficult, even though the exercises presented to me weren't that hard. Coughing between sets of any exercise adds to the caloric burn, I suppose. I'm not working out or running for the rest of the week. I might go for a walk, though. I'm coughing less, but the fatigue can be overwhelming. There's almost no more head pressure, but the lung is still whistling. I create my own music just by breathing. I have asthma and never wheeze like this. I was finally able to read a book without falling asleep after the first paragraph, so that's progress.

I had jury duty on Tuesday. I showed up with big bag of Sugar Free Hall's Cough Drops and a book. This was the very first time I didn't have to go through the jury selection process. My name was never called, thank goodness. I'm sure they would have excused me anyway, with my "mentholyptus" scented breath and chronic cough. I really didn't cough that much, and probably just as much as anyone else there. By the way, the book I read while waiting in the Juror's Lounge was The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

The sun came out yesterday. I put on my Uggs and a light jacket over my PJs and sat on the back porch to read a book. All of my critters (three cats and one dog) sat out with me, and no wars broke out.

I'm craving carbs, and not the good for you ones, either. I'm craving Stacy's Pita Chips, toast, bagels, chocolate chip cookies, Cocoa Puffs, pretzles, Pub Mix, and so on.

Check out a Runningskirt.com giveaway at blog: Endurance Is Only Physical.

Check out a Champion giveaway at blog: Shut Up and Run.

Blogger Laura gave me a "Sunshine Award." Thanks, Laura. Everyone needs sunshine in their day, and this made mine sunny. I'm supposed to bestow this award to 12 others bloggers. I think I'll save it for another blog post next week, since I need to find 12 bloggers who Laura didn't already mention. :)

A few weeks ago, blogger Julie (Juls - Keeping Pace) wrote about her orchid plant, how it's nice and green but it hasn't bloomed in a year. I responded that I have orchid plants with nice and glossy leaves but no blooms, and that I actually stuck fake orchid flowers in one of the plants just so I could pretend it grew. I have 4 orchid plants with beautiful leaves but no blooms, not since their first blooms or buds when I bought them years ago. Julie's blog post got me to get up and take a good look at my orchid plants. I went and took a peek. This is what I saw:

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." -- John Lennon

I never notice the buds before. I did a happy dance because this is the FIRST TIME, ever, that an orchid plant I own produced buds a second time. I did nothing special to get this plant to produce buds -- no fertilizers or special filtered water. Other than a little water once a week, I did nothing. If it matters, my orchids sit in a west-facing window in my kitchen. The funny thing is that I was resigned to putting more fake orchid flowers in with the live plants. I guess I should have more faith in my plants and in what ever green thumb I may have.

Yesterday's Song:
Steep - Phish

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Steep

Sunday's Song:
Sick Bubblegum - Rob Zombie

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Sick Bubblegum

I've been a tad busy since my last written blog post last Saturday. Most of the busy part comes with this on again, off again cold I've been dealing with. I was feeling much better the following Wednesday, even ran a couple of 800s at RU between sets of exercises that were at or under 4 minutes. By Thursday night I was dealing with fever and chills again. Friday afternoon (because that's the only time they had available) I went to see my doctor. I actually saw my new real doctor, too. He determined that I have a sinus infection, that my my left lung was congested, and that I really needed to rest over the weekend. Then I mentioned something about a 10k I was running in on Saturday. He seemed like he knew that I wasn't going to listen to a "don't run this weekend" answer. He said I could run as long as I backed off. After I left his exam room, I picked up three prescriptions for my ailments, came home and went to bed. I also had a giant jug of Gatorade at my bedside, and a cat on my head.




Saturday morning I get up, feeling just OK, and follow my usual Saturday morning pre run routine. It's a cold and blustery Saturday morning, with the threat of rain in the forecast. It's only a 10k, and I don't need that much stuff. I filled a small water bottle with electrolytes to hold and sip on the run - it helps to keep my mouth moist, packed some gum and throat lozenges for just in case. The Ipod is already with the gear, so I'm set. Michael is planning to attend a different 5k run in another area, so he goes about his business and we leave separately. I get down to the park, and manage to get decent parking, but realize I've left the gear bag with my water bottle with electrolyte, gum, throat lozenges, and Ipod at home. I'm breathing mostly through my mouth and it's already dry, and I haven't even picked up my race number yet. I usually keep an extra water bottle in the car, but it wasn't there. I'm glad the volunteers had set up a water table prior to the race, and I was able to slowly sip water before hand, but I had nothing to put water in to take with me on the run. I did have a Powergel pack in my car, which I grabbed for the run, and figured it was better than nothing. I kept going back to the table for more small sips of water until the race started, but my mouth was still dry by the time the race began.

The first three miles of the race were OK, and I ran in the mid 9s. I wasn't pushing myself, and I had a comfortable pace. I really needed water, though. The water table at mile three was great, but I had to stop to use the Powergel.* Stopping throws off my momentum and I have a hard time getting it back. No Ipod music to bring me back to pace. Soon after the water table, and into mile four, the wind kicked up and it was a struggle to run, and not just for myself.

I was still running thristy and struggling, even though I wasn't putting in the effort, per my doctor. The thirsty part really messed with me. I could feel my pace slow down as my friends passed me by in the last couple of miles. I cheered them on as they easily cruised by me.

I finished the race and was surprised to see this:

608 IRENE M 50 416 8/17 F San Diego 1:01:44 9:57

I was hoping to at least come up even with last year's time. I surpassed that time by around 4 minute! That's a good 6+ minutes away from my PR, but I'm building back. Maybe next year...

By the way, it rained after the run was over, while they were handing out awards.

Now I'm off to listen to doctors orders and REST, and watch commercials during the Superbowl.

Congratulations to everyone who ran in the Surf City Marathon and Half Marathon Today!

PEACE

*I normally put gels in my water bottle before hand so I don't have to deal with sticky gel packs. I'm not coordinated juggling gel packs and cups of water when I run.

Pretty Persuasion

Saturday's Song:
Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield - Run-DMZ

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