Thursday, August 25, 2011

Take It All

"Didn't I give it up
Tried my best
Gave you everything I had
Everything and no less"



 Summer, although somewhat at the end for most people, has been in full swing for me over the past couple of weeks or so.  For weeks not much happened, but then August starts and everything becomes super busy... and exhausting.  A lot of the busy isn't anything extra special, work and house stuff, but nothing earth shattering.  There are some notables, though.

Hubs' uncle and cousin visited us from Rio de Janiero Brazil.  Between work and everything else, we found time to share some great moments together.

My daughter Renee, Uncle Pedro, my grandson Evan, and cousin Ana Christina.

We managed to purchase tickets to Adele in concert. I was initially irritated that I could only purchase over priced tickets through an unaffiliated on line ticket agency and not through the venue ticket sales, but it was a concert worth attending. At first Hubs was thinking I was dragging him to a chick show, but he was pleasantly surprised.  Even though Adele was accompanied by her band, she could have easily sang without the band. She was THAT fabulous.  In addition, Adele's personality is nothing like her songs of relationships gone wrong.  The girl is genuine, hilarious (let the "f*** bomb" fly a lot)  and really connected with the audience.  She also dedicated  the song "Make You Feel My Love" to Amy Winehouse. The cool thing is that she had us  - the audience -  turn on the lights to our cell phones and cameras during that song.  I didn't get a picture of that, it would not have turned out on my cell phone, but the affect was amazing.


@ the SDSU outdoor amphitheater. Adele is down there, I promise. Not the best seats, but I'm glad we managed to get tickets without having to apply for a loan. 

I ran in the America's Finest City Half Marathon on August 21, 2011.  I honestly did not train well for this particular half marathon.  I guess my head wasn't into it as much as it was for the SDRNR half marathon this past June.  I did almost no speed training and it really affected my time.   My goal was to complete the Triple Crown series, since I had never done that before.  Done. Check. I have no mile to mile account of this race.  I just could not find my groove at any point in the race.  Sometimes it takes me the first couple of miles to get my bearings then I'm OK.  No groove.  I dragged.  No reason.  No good excuses.  Perhaps not being mentally invested in this race affected my performance.  I haven't looked at all of my stats, but this could possibly be my second slowest half marathon.   I must say that the support on the route (water/electrolyte stations, restrooms, etc) was well done.  I'm also loving the Triple Crown Medal.  I think this has to be my absolute favorite medal.  One of my friends said it looked rather Olympic.

I completed these three races...

... to receive this.

There were a few notables on race day.  Waking up at o'dark thirty so we wouldn't be late for the bus to the starting area was extra special since I didn't sleep well.  We had cool, overcast skies at the start of the race, which was somewhat of a bonus since August can be toasty.  The warm up and stretcing exercises with the track club was nice, and helped me to wake up.  During the race here were a couple of guys who were running ahead of me who stopped at the half way point to do burpees.  I'm not sure how many they did, I wasn't going to stick around to count, but they full on, proper burpees without looking tired.  Show offs...  I got it done in 2:30:00, and that included walking up part of the 6th Ave. hill.  It wasn't the hill that got me, it was just that I had no umph to spare even well before that late point in the race with one mile to go.  I actually felt like walking the rest of the race, but managed to focus on and follow someone just in front of me who was running at a pace I could deal with.

I'm having kind of a tough time bouncing back from this race.  I usually recover rather quickly from a half marathon, but I've been feeling rather lack luster since that day.

I've been asked to do review on this book:


I'm still reading it and will probably give a full review on my next blog post.  Several pages have been dog-eared or tabbed.  There are some great quotes and a few pet-peeves in the writing. I should have been finished reading it by now, but I haven't had much time to sit still and just read, or even blog.  I just need to remember to take the book with me to work and read it during my lunch hour.

My niece Amber, (Hubs side of the family) who was training for her first triathlon for later on this year, ended up with a femoral fracture, similar to what I went through back in 2008.  She had a similar surgery, too.  In her case, what caused the break to manifest further was a freak accident where a kid (playfully) jumped on her after she completed a brick (training).  There's speculation that she had the beginnings of a fracture, but the kid jumping on her caused a dislocation and possibly contributing to the fracture.  Surgery was on  8/19.  She's  going through a lot of what I went through and I've been talking to her a lot.   I keep reminding her that she will get through this and complete a triathlon, but I know that sometimes it's hard to sit still, be happy and heal while all of  your friends are out there training. I feel for her.  Been there, too.

My niece Anne, my brother's eldest daughter, is officially engaged.  I'm not sure when they're planning the wedding and any details, but we'll attend if they have a big to do. Anne will be the very first out of all of my nieces and nephews from both sides of the family to get married.

Anyone till there?
I hope to get back to regular blogging soon.

Song from Tuesday, August &, 2011:
Heaven - Los Lonely Boys


PEACE

9 comments:

Jill said...

You have been keeping busy, girl! It was good to see your race on FB, I don't get on FB much but glad I saw that from you. I am loving that medal, that is really very unique and I agree, has an Olympic feel to it. Hang that on your mirror for awhile so you can admire it.

I can't believe summer is coming to a close...though you'd never know it here in Denver, we've had record high temps for a week - bleh!

I'm seriously considering the Carlsbad Marathon, plese tell me you'll put that on your list if I make it out. We'll chat longer this time around :).

Sorry about your niece's stress fracture...yes, you (and I) certainly know how crappy it is to sit out. Wishing her a speedy recovery.. and congrats to your other niece for her engagement :).

xo

Anne said...

I think your August is rivaling mine. I wish I'd appreciated July more now. So sorry about your niece's fracture and upcoming surgery. You know I can relate!

Aka Alice said...

I agree...Burpee boys were show offs. I'm betting they paid for that when they got to 6th Avenue.

I know 2:30 isn't your goal time, but it's still quite respectable given that your heart/training wasn't into it. We've all been there.

I think that's what makes this particular triple crown medal so challenging, finishing all three races in one calendar year. It's tough to stay trained and motivated AND healthy through the whole year. You know that when I did it a couple years ago, I was hurt for two of the races (Carlsbad and AFC)...by AFC, I just wanted to be done. So kudos to you girl for doing all three AND for coming through it unscathed!

We're going to do hill training for Nike at my house on Mondays around 6pm. Can you get off an hour early for the next couple of months?

Aka Alice said...

Jill said Carlsbad...hmmmmm I could be up for that again, but I'm afraid once I start doing those races, I'd convince myself to do the triple crown again... It'd be a thrill to be healthy for all three races this time

See...there I go again...

The Green Girl said...

Hey! Always great to meet a new blogger - especially when we have so many friends on common. ::grins::

I'm so sorry to hear about your niece but I'm glad you're there for her and she has someone who truly 'gets it' and understands. ::hugs::

Congratulations on the Triple Crown - you go, girl!

Glenn Jones said...

Nice bling Irene!

Black Knight said...

I am sorry for your niece's fracture.
No matter the finishing time, you have another half under your belt and the triple crown.
I think you know that the triple crown is a rugby medal too. In the 6Nations Tournament there are 4 teams from GB and if one of them wins all the 3 matches earns the Triple Crown.

Unknown said...

Adele? Lucky duck! Your concert report was funny, the F bombs do suprise me! Did you hear what she has said about Lady Gaga? Smart lady!
Hugs...by the way, I loved the part in your last post about the Barbie radio. You must be a saver!

Deene said...

cool bling. I am jealous that you are still going strong at running. I'm finally getting started back at building distance.