Monday, July 26, 2010

Hello It's Me

"...I've thought about us for a long, long time."

Randomenss (Again, just so I can catch up.)

Bryan at RU set me up with an actual training schedule. He had attempted this last year, but did not follow through very well. This time he's on it, or all over it, and I'm super happy about this. I've been adhering to the schedule as best as possible. The running and strength trainings are going well.  The two things that are tripping me up a bit are the swimming and biking. I'm having a few issues with my gym and their craptastic stationary bikes in the cardio area. All the good bikes are in the spin class area, which we aren't allowed to use unless were in a spin class. There are only a few spin classes at times I can't attend. The pool is less complicated only if I can get past the stinging eyes at the gym pool and the cut back hours of the public pool.  I'll figure this out.  I'm also considering looking at other gyms if I can negotiate the same cheap rate I pay now, which is the only reason I've been staying with my gym.

A couple of weekends ago, Hubs and I attended a wedding at the Children's Museum in Downtown San Diego. At first I couldn't picture a wedding there, but for a warm summer day it was perfect.  The ceremony was held in the courtyard in front of the museum and the reception was inside.  It was really quite charming.  It's difficult to see, but fresh flowers in shades of green and white were strung to make garlands, then attached to the beam of the pergola to make a more contemporary, yet lovely back-drop that gently swayed with the breeze.

Katey* and Eric.  

Unfortunately, we didn't get any interior good pictures of the newlyweds at the reception, but Hubs (in true form) got this photo:

Architects NEVER seem to put their brains on vacation or pause for any reason...

My grandson turned 7 last Sunday.  He spent the day at Legoland with his mom, then the original plan was to come home to open presents, have cake and ice cream at home -- just the 5 of us.  Hubs took it upon himself to start inviting people to the last minute.  Eeeeeeek!   Thankfully, I could send my son to pick up the cake, drinks and snack foods while I cleaned the house at break-neck speed.  I really wasn't expecting 20 people to come over for a party.  Regardless, we pulled it off and my grandson was just happy to have his best buddy there.  By the way, everyone found out my grandson's obsession with marbles, and he received several small bags of marbles as gifts.  He was thrilled with so many marbles, and those marbles gave me subject matter for my Wordless Wednesday photo.

 "Happy Birthday to you!"

Best friends.  Post cake photo op.

It was also Hub's dad's birthday earlier in the week.  Thankfully, Hub's sister brought an extra cake. I think I would have run out of cake, otherwise.

Happy 87th birthday to George, Sr!

My brother was in town for the weekend, mostly to spend time with dad. I invited him to run with the track club on Saturday morning. My brother is very friendly, and had no problem chatting it up about running with some of our track club members before we began to run. He ran with me for about the first mile, just to get caught up on the happenings of my dad, and whatnot. After that he sped up to catch the next group, then ran ahead of them to catch up with the front group. Needless to say, he's speedy. After the run he commented how organized our club is and wants to take a few of our ideas home to his club and was asking a few key people there some questions. I guess the extent of his club is that they just show up at the same time, run, then no one really sees each other after that. In our track club people usually hang around for the other runners to return, and sometimes we have guest speakers. Our club has a lot of dynamic people behind (and in front of) the scenes, and it's a rather well oiled machine, so to speak. My brother's friendliness was misread as creepiness by one lady. In her defense, she had no idea who he was and he was asking a lot of questions. She later on asked us who this "creepy guy" was, then she pointed him out. Of course I said, "Oh, that's my brother." *Insert awkward moment here.*  I tried to make light of the comment and came back with "yeah, he IS creepy,"  then just sort of blew it off.   By this time my brother was already in his car, getting ready to leave, so he didn't hear the conversation.  I mentioned this conversation to my Hubs, and he said that women tend to get a little creeped out by guys they don't know in general.  Hubs said that when we first joined the track club he would attempt to chat with a few of the people he was running with, mostly women, but they wouldn't be so receiving of his conversation.  They would look at him as if he were a threat, as some "creepy guy."  He was only trying to join in the camaraderie and chat about running. Of course, he's been with the track club for a couple of years now, and most everyone has seen him or knows who he is.  He's no longer the creepy guy.

While we were out running, my daughter and grandson were making their way to Comicon. My daughter has attended Comicon every year ever since  she was in high school.  I supposed Comicon has become a ritual, but now she takes the kid, and he LOVES it.  Comicon photos by my daughter.

 They attended a panel for a show he watches.  During Q & A time he raised his hand and they answered his questions!

Tron!

Later on that same day,  Hubs and I met up with my dad and  brother for dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Old Town.

My bro, Dad, me.

In the world of running, I'm starting to pick up the pace a little.  A 4 mile tempo run is about a 9:25 minute mile and it needs to be an even 9 or better. Asthma has been tough this year, even more so than in years past, and it slows me down.  The legs and feet are working just fine.  I need to run smart and NOT run through any pain.  I've been injured enough, thankyouverymuch.  My next race will probably be the Fire Run towards the end of the August.  Wanna join us?  It's a flat 4 miler.  I'm familiar with the route since I've run it twice before.  Cold beer at the end is always enticing. 


Wednesday's Song:
Orbs - Maduro

PEACE

*Katey is an architect at Hub's office

11 comments:

Maryland Girl aka Michelle said...

I'm glad you've got a plan! I enjoyed your randomness. Your grandson is cute. People can be so odd. I try not to think someone is creepy until they actually do smething creepy.

Anne said...

Life is sure hectic out in Irene-land :) ...so much going on! I think that woman was slightly out of place making that comment about your brother...I mean new people will come to a running group and expect to feel at home and accepted.

9:25 minute mile is definitely good...especially considering your asthma is acting up. Hang in there and take your meds...

Unknown said...

pool is stinging your eyes? are you not swimming with goggles?

good job on the run.

Aka Alice said...

Yay for the end of summer Fire Run...it'll be my next run too!

9 minute miles? Well...it was nice runnin' with ya!

Jill said...

So much going on in Magazine Smile land...very FUN! Love all you shared with the birthdays and the training and the dinners and everything! Excellent pictures...I especially love the family one at the bottom. I hope they gym gets the good bikes for you to use...I know all the new bikes are in spin class at my gym, too! I see people in there using them when there's no class so maybe you can do that?? Glad all's going well :).

Glenn Jones said...

Great to read about you being out and about after your streak of bad luck! Hope to see you at Shelter Island later this year!

misszippy said...

So funny about the "creepy guy!" Sounds like you had a great time with all that family around. Love all the pictures.

Unknown said...

I can't wait to hear more about your RU plan and how it works for you! I'm on a plan/schedule and it also includes the strength stuff so hopefully, we can stay STRONG and whole!
HB to your grandson. I can't picture mine 7 years old but I'm sure it is going to come sooner than I think, ugh! They are so darn cute at a year old!
Good job on your tempo run, what are your race plans? Are you doing the Balboa 8 miler?
Hugs, meg

Miss Rachel said...

Ha ha re the creepy guy: "Oh that's my brother." Good answer. I agree with what you husband said about some women misreading men and thinking they're being creepy when they're just being friendly. Unfortunately, I think I've done it myself.

The song is by Todd Runngren, right? I heard it a gazillion times when I was growing up in the 70s - a real classic from that era.

RobinLK said...

Fun post! So many things going on...wow! And I'm LOL about the whole creepy guy thing. We had one guy running in our group, and he's often make inappropriate comments. At first I was annoyed. Then I chalked it up to trying to fit in with a bunch of chatty women. Either way, he recently changed groups. Glad to hear you're feeling good these days and *running smart* as I KNOW you will! :)

Birthday and wedding hugs all around!!

Being Robinson said...

even with goggles after a lot of swimming my eyes sting too. sounds like you've been busy! sounds like a good race for august.