Yesterday to Tomorrow

Happy New Year!


The holidays sure came and went so quickly.  I wish I had the time to bask in the joy of the season, but I felt as if we rushed right through Christmas, then on to New Year's Eve, and here I am, just about a week into the new year and wondering where December went.   I thought I would do a lot more blogging during the holidays, but with everyone except me off from work and school, I had very little computer time, unless I could check e-mails and Facebook on my iPhone.  

What a difference a year makes.


Last year I was not a happy camper at my former place of employment.  It was unnecessarily stressful, brought on by a uber micro managing business owner/boss who encouraged throwing your fellow coworkers under the bus.  I was constantly sick and dropped a solid 10 pounds, 15 if I count the week my weight dropped to a number I haven't seen in years.  It was not a healthy weight loss and I did not have 15 pounds to lose.  10 was OK, but losing weight without wanting to is scary, especially when I was eating high calorie foods (on purpose) to maintain weight.  I was constantly stressed working in a toxic environment - not only people toxic, but something (physically) there made me ill.  From Monday through Friday my eyes would feel dry and puffy, my head felt fuzzy,  and I always felt lethargic.  Saturday and Sunday (my days off) I felt clear-minded and healthy.  Monday it would start all over again. Running was my true refuge, no matter how crummy I felt. Running gave me clarity of mind and I could feel grounded again.  I don't know what I would have done without running since it kept me sane. I remember the few days after I left that office, sitting on the couch watching TV and realizing how amazingly good I felt for the first time in months.   

This year I am a very happy camper at my current place of employment, where I began working about a month after I left the toxic office. It may not be the fanciest or most up-to-date technical wonder of an office, we still use a DOS based program, but  it's great when your employer always says things like "thanks for being here today, " and means it.  We all share in each other's accomplishments and look out for each other when needed.  My only gripe about my current job is that I'm not working enough hours.  Oh, and the weight came back.  That's not really a gripe, though.  I was hoping to at least hang on to a 5 pound weight loss, but I'll take the happy + 5 pounds over the miserable -15 pounds any day.  My running has stayed the same, though.  I wish I could say that a happier workplace has lead to better running, but that keeps changing, regardless of what's going on in my professional/personal life. 


Other Stuff...


My son's band actually played a show at the House of Blues, Downtown, San Diego -- and got paid.

UNDEAD GARDEN performing "Grilled Cheese."  My son is on the drums.

Not bad for an iPhone/Facebook photo taken by a parent (me) trying to look inconspicuous. 

After the gig, and back at home with is band mates & friends, Hubs felt the need to make a few grilled cheese sandwiches for the band. 

 My son started out as a lead guitar player, and is quite talented with his guitar playing abilities, but there were always issues finding a reliable drummer.  They would find a drummer who would seem consistent for a few weeks, then suddenly be late, not show up, or move out of town without notice to anyone.  My son took a few drumming classes at the community college, and took it upon himself to sharpen his skills.  Now that he's THE drummer, the band has consistent practices with complete sets and are now booking gigs.  I'm floored.  They still need to sharpen their sound a bit, but the fact that they already have a following and are booking gigs is amazing.  Their sound is sort of punk-metal. 

New Year's Resolutions?

I don't really make New Year's resolutions, but I have been known to do some goal setting.  Once I am finished with prior race commitments, I'm going to take a break.  I have a few races planned up until June, and after that I'm going to just cruise and run without a particular race in mind.  I'll continue to run, but running won't be the sole focus. There's so much more out there, and maybe I need to refocus on my other passions that have been left in the dust.  

My current agenda includes the Carlsbad Half Marathon, which is taking place in a couple of weeks.  As much as I would love to say that I'm 100% prepared for this race, I'm not.  Regardless of how ill prepared I am, this is one of my favorite races.  Even though it starts off at a shopping mall, most of the half marathon is along the coast, and it's beautiful.  This is a race for the mind.  The two times I've run it I've been sick, and just ever so lucky to finish.  I'd say running along the coast kept me going.  My game plan for this time is to (again) just finish and I'm OK with that.  I don't need a PR to enjoy the ride. 

Song from Thursday, December 22, 2011:

(There's No Place) Like Home for the Holidays - Perry Como

PEACE

I Shall Believe

I was hoping that with the start of school would mean time to catch up on blogging and checking in more regularly, but it hasn't quite worked out that way. I don't know whose idea it was to have school start the day after Labor Day, but it always makes for a very short and busy week.

Right after Labor Day, Hubs and I went to see Sheryl Crow in concert at Humphreys.  Most of the songs were from her new CD "100 Miles From Memphis, " but several of her well known hits were scattered through out the show.  The encore included her hit "All I Wanna Do" and a Michael Jackson tribute "I Want You Back."  She puts on a great show and we were in awe of her extremely talented band and back-up singers. Hubs is more of the Sheryl Crow fan than I am, but I had a lot of fun, too.

4th row, center.  

Hubs snapped this photo. 

Sheryl Crow is super fit, by the way.  She has some serious muscles, and looked fabulous.  You can't fake a healthy lifestyle, that's for sure.

I hooked up with Rehab United to train for the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in December. I missed the first group strength training class because I had prior plans, but I made it to the first group run. There were only 7 of us for a 30 minute run, but several people were participating in other running and sporting events. We should see more people this weekend. I ran about 3.2  miles, but it felt like a lot more.

Running isn't as effortless as it should be these days.  I just can't fight the fatigue I've been dealing with all summer. I'd have a glimmer of energy for a day or two, but it doesn't last.  It's not like I haven't been running, I would do at least 4 to 6 miles for most of my Saturday runs while concentrating on building speed, plus do some high intensity interval training on the treadmill gym during the week, run at the bay or my neighborhood once or twice a week, and fit in a weekly session at RU. I believe this is something other than just a case of feeling burnt out and is not psychosomatic.  On top of the fatigue I've been dealing with a ridiculous case of shin splints in my left inner shin. Newbies get shin splints from wrong shoes, running too fast, far, too soon. I'm far from newbie status, but the shin splints started (a few weeks ago) when I was wearing heels, and would sort of go away after I warmed up while running. Now the shin is just constantly reminding me that it's there, warmed up or not. I'm doing all the stretches that I'm supposed to do, massaging it with the stick, plus ice. I even backed off running a bit last week. I'm not sure if the shin splint is a result of the fatigue I've been dealing with, but I have plans to call the doctor this week.  Good times.

In other news,  I just found out that I'm going to be a great aunt!  My niece is expecting her first baby in early December.  I'm not sure why things were kept secret for so long, but we're all excited.  My grandson is excited to finally have another kid in the family.

Wednesday's Song:
Be True To Your School - The Beach Boys - Run-DMZ

PEACE

Bulletproof

Bullet Point Post*

• Check out this giveaway over at Miss Zippy's blog for Sugoi compression pants.

• The dog was (sort of) skunked (again.)  This time it was in our sun room.  We had to take everything out, hose it off, scrub it, bleach it, etc, then put it all back.  We may have to paint that room.

• I signed up for the Shelter Island 5k on November 7, 2010,  The Carlsbad Half Marathon  on January 23, 2011,  and the La Jolla Half Marathon on April 17, 2011.   Also under consideration are  the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon 2010 and the AFC Half Marathon 2011.

• I found ound a new running song, "Wheels" by Heart on their Red Velvet Car CD.

"Rain is humming 

The streets are running 

Underneath the neon lights. 

We run together 

We'll run forever 

Out of here 
Riding the wheels."

• My sister and husband moved back to California this week. They now reside in Los Angeles and are so happy to be back in the state.

• Concert in my kitchen last night:

 Sam

• Went running with Hubs:

A quiet morning at Hospitality Point.

• Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought people, not cars, had the right of way on sidewalks. While running in my neighborhood last week I came justthisclose to getting hit by a car  on a sidwalk.  I was running on the sidewalk on a busy stretch of street  -- I figured it was safer.  The gentleman** who came to a screeching halt with in about 12 inches of me never once waved to acknowledge me or say he was sorry.  Not only do I have to watch for stray dogs, other people (runners, cyclists, weirdos, etc), cars on the street, cars backing up out of driveways, wild animals (they're out there, even in the suburbs),  uneven/cracked pavement, weird noises, etc, now I have to add cars driving on sidewalks to that list.  That mile was my fastest split because I was so shaken and it took a while to calm down.  I didn't wear my heart rate monitor that day, but I'm sure my heart rate would have been through the roof.  I guess you can never be too safe.

• Remember that contest my nephew entered to win a spot as a candidate for job in advertising in New York? He didn't win the popularity vote, however, he's a strong contender as a finalist. Apparently, the advertising firm knew about my nephew before the contest, and in a good way. PS: He did get a job at a small firm in San Francisco.

• Happy Labor Day!

Wednesday's Song:
In The Colors - Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals

PEACE

*Unfinished business -- This was supposed to be a real post with one or two particular topics, not several.  My time for myself last week was interrupted, but for good things.
**Jerk

Hang On Sloopy

Life has been a whole lot of busy, which means I'm a whole lot of tired today, but that doesn't give me a day off since I'm hangin' with the grandkid today since his Mommy is on a mini trip out of town.

Friday the hubs and I traveled a whole 6 miles or so to Humphrey's by the Bay for a concert evening with Ringo Starr and his all star band.  When I booked this concert  back in April I did not realize Ringo was playing with an "all star" band.  I mean,  "all star" can be just about anything.  I didn't do any research prior to the show to see who was "all star."   It turns out that "all star" was really impressive:

Edgar Winter, Wally Palmer (The Romantics), Ringo Starr, Gregg Bissonette, Rick Derringer, Richard Page (Mr. Mister), and Gary Wright.

First things first, though.  When we checked in, the front desk person upgraded us to a mini suite.  It turns out that the mini suite faced the concert venue and stage.

Hubs and I on the balcony area of our room.

The venue view from our room.

We've been to quite a few concerts at Humphrey's, but we've never had a room this close to the venue, so we began calling friends to see if they wanted to hang out in our room during the concert, and (basically) see the show for free.  During dinner at Humphrey's restaurant*, we were calling friends just to see who could join us. It was such short notice, but two couples said they were on their way!

The view from the balcony... Seriously!

One of the couples we invited, Bruce and Liz, are HUGE Beatles fans.  HUGE.  Hubs decided that he actually liked sitting on the balcony to watch the concert, so he gave up his 4th row center seat to Liz.  She couldn't believe it.  She kept asking if Hubs was OK with it, and " are you sure?"  Hubs was happy to hang out with the guys and enjoy the drinks he brought instead of paying $6 to $10 for drinks on the floor.  The guys decided it was OK for the ladies to have the floor.  Liz and I found our 4th row center seats and danced and sang pretty much the whole time. Liz was in constant awe.  Even more awe-some was that this was a concert where we actually knew 99% of the songs.  I couldn't get over that Edgar Winter was singing and playing the Wally Palmer - Romantics hit "What I Like About You."  Edgar Winter, of course, played "Frankenstein."  Richard Page from Mr. Mister sang his hits "Kyrie" and "Broken Wings." Rick Derringer did his "Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo."  Gary Wright  headed up "Dreamweaver."  Remember those songs?  Of course, Ringo did his hits "It Don't Come Easy", "Photograph," "Yellow Submarine," amongst other well known hits.  It was fun sharing this particular concert experience with Liz just because she was so very much into it and constantly saying  "I can't believe this!"  The other couple who joined us brought their three year old daughter since a babysitter wasn't available, but they were able to hang out in our room and balcony area, were able to order room service,  and still enjoy the concert.

 Cell phone pic - 4th row center.  That's Ringo, center stage!

 Edgar Winter playing the sax  - "Frankenstein"

After the concert, local band Rockola** was playing in Humphrey's lounge, and admission was free if you showed your room card. Bruce and Liz are followers of Rockola and even had a fundraiser at their home with Rockola donating their musical talents for the fundraiser. Of course, we went to the lounge to dance and listen to a few sets!

Liz and Bruce still dancing!

At the end of the evening, Hubs and I were pretty wiped out and crashed. The next morning were were, uh, slightly hung over. We managed to get ourselves together enough to walk a few blocks to The Red Sails Inn for breakfast. Upon sitting down, Hubs decided to take his wallet and cell phone out of his pockets.

Cell phone and wallet... What's that third thing?

Yep.  Slightly hung over.  The hotel remote control made it into his pocket!  The people at the table next to us were just busting up over this! Of course, this warranted a blog- worthy picture, and a mention on Faceboook.

We had a stick-to-your-ribs breakfast and plenty of coffee, then we were back in business.  One thing about eating on the outdoor patio at The Red Sails Inn, is that of the seagulls was rather brazen.  While we were dining one seagull swooped down and stole bacon or sausage right off of people's breakfast plates.  That seagull stalked a particular plate and would just suddenly swoop down and grab exactly what it wanted in the blink of an eye.  This occurred about  five times while we were there, and Hubs was even a victim.  My plate wasn't interesting to the seagull since I had huevos rancheros -- no breakfast meats! 

Because we slept in we didn't run, even though we brought our running clothes and shoes.  Who were we kidding? We did swim a few laps in the pool before checking out, which made our little respite seem more vacation-like.  We needed a few more days, but we'll take whatever time off we had.  It was great.

Now it's back to reality, sidewalk chalk, marbles, Legos, baking cookies and paddle ball with the kid. Running?  Maybe later this week.

Friday's Song:
Missed Opportunity - Daryl Hall & John Oates

PEACE

*Dinner at Humphrey's is fabulous, by the way.
**Known for paying homage to The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, and other 60s/70s bands.

Come Together

Spreckles Organ Pavilion - Balboa Park

TIART

Runner's Lounge "Take It and Run Thursday" question:

"If you had the knowledge, time and/or means by which to Organize a race - what would your "Race Info" include?

Would you chose an organization to donate to? What distance would you choose? Other questions to ponder - Location? Time? Race Expo attendees (guest speakers?)? Shirt design? Get as creative as you want...!"

I am so into this!

My dream race would benefit the Arts in schools. It would be called "The Arts Run." The Arts are something I've been passionate about for years, even though it sometimes does not come across that way in my blog. The art of motherhood sort of took over, but I'm slowly making my way back. School programs in California have been cut to shreds, and the first things to go are always Art, Theater, Dance and Music programs.

Expo - I think I would skip the pre race expo part and leave the festivities for the day of the race, but have an optional race number pick-up on two separate days, plus the pick up on race day. This would include picking up the swag, t-shirt and timing chip. Yes, I said "timing chip."

Distance - I would offer a 1 mile kids walk/run, a 5k - 10K walk/run. Only the 5k and 10K distances would have the option of using the timing chip.

Crown Point

Location - I have three places that come to mind. Somewhere along Mission Bay in San Diego, perhaps an out and back that goes to Crown Point, with very little concrete involved. It's gotta be mostly asphalt. Concrete just slows me down and I end up more achey... OR the race would go somewhere relatively flat through Balboa Park, which would start and end somewhere near Spreckles Organ Pavilion. The third place is around the flat parts of Shelter Island, which makes for a delightful and scenic morning run.

Shelter Island

Time - probably around 7 or 8 AM.

Time of year - Fall or Spring.

T-shirt - The t-shirts would be that tech-y, dry wick fabric. The t-shirt would be designed through a student competition, and the winner would have their art work on the back, along with some of the sponsors logos below it. The front of the t would have "The Arts Run" in smaller print, somewhere on the upper left or right hand side. Posters of the artwork would be available for sale, and the proceeds would go to benefit the Arts in schools.

Swag - The bag would be one of those reusable cloth-like bags, made from recycled materials or a simple backpack. In the bag: Information about the Arts and places to go to get creative, some sort of electrolyte powder sample, lip balm, samples of sun screen, samples of unscented anti-perspirant/deodorant, flashlights, small packets of wet wipes, a small art pad with a few colored pencils/crayons/pens, coupons for stores that support the arts, like music stores, art supply stores, costume stores, dance stores, and, duh, running/sporting goods store coupons. I'd purposely leave out things like granola bars and candy type bars. Those always seem to end up smooshed or melted at the bottom of the swag bag.

Prizes - The usual protocol : Prizes go to winner(s) of the - race male and female, age group/gender/top three. Since this an Arts race, costumes will be encouraged - and prizes for the best costumes will win. There will also be a random drawing. The prizes would range from artwork, tickets to a theater/art show/performance, massages, restaurants, sporting goods stores, etc...

The race - The National Anthem would be sung live or played by a live band or musician, preferably a student (or students) in the Arts. Whitney Houston's version of the National Anthem is great, but it's time we have some of our local talent take charge of the song. Walkers would have different bib colors than the runners, and walkers would have to start at the back or at a different time. (Weaving between walkers at the beginning of a race is not fun!) Water/electrolytes at mile 2 for the 5k, and miles 2 and 4 for the 10K. Mile markers at every mile, and splits at the 2 mile and 4 mile points. Ipods and/or MP3 players encouraged. Several race photograhers would be throughout the course of the race. Port-o-Potties would be plentiful and have a water pump and/or hand sanitizer kiosk near by. I'd prefer an actual restroom, but on race day that can have quite the line.

Race Medals - Still thinking about this one. For the kids it would be great to have a finisher's medal, but for the adults I'm thinking something like jewelry, perhaps a pendant or key chain.

After the race - Champagne Brunch. All the best brunch foods you can think of made by the winning contestants of Top Chef. (Hey, this is my dream race!) It's gotta have champagne so we can have mimosas... There would be bands and/or musicians, people creating art, dancers, etc, a place for the young-uns to play/paint, color, etc... Since this is an out and back race, no shuttles are needed. My choice of locations all have ample parking available close to the start/finish area.

Guest speakers - I find that some events really don't need guest speakers, especially for smaller local runs, but we would need someone, a celebrity type who runs and appreciates the arts, to announce the winners, hand out the prizes, and say a few words about the Arts Run.

There's so much to think about. I'm sure I left out a ton of things I would like to have at a race, but I suppose it's a start. A dream race would have to include me winning my age group, but, perhaps that's asking for a bit much...

Monday's song:
Mixed Emotions - The Rolling Stones

PEACE

Good Vibrations

While I was not blogging, here are just a few of the activities I participated in:

An excuse to party.
My brother came into town for a few days, joined us for a track club run (which just about killed him because he was *ahem* showing off and went out too fast.) The next day we had an impromptu barbecue, otherwise ALL of you would have been invited. My dad, in true retirement mode, brought a case of beer, his Jack La Lane juicer, a ton of fruit and a Costco sized bottle of rum. A good time was had by all.

My bro donning the SDTC shirt that I made him buy.

Dad chillin' with a brew.

Erik and Sam jammin'.

Sam taught me how to play this instrument.

Spending time with the kid.

It's all about getting to lick the spatula after mixing up the chocolate chip cookie dough. Yes, we baked in the heat of the summer, no air conditioner.

Downloading about 900 photos from Evan's Fisher-Price camera. No kidding. 900+. MANY of the pictures were like this one:

Wonder what he was eating prior to this picture?

Making a discovery...

Fake toenails! I had no clue there were such things!

Dragging my husband to the beach at the crack of dawn on Labor day to boogie board, just so we wouldn't have to deal with the crowds. It was awesome.

See? 7 AM on Labor Day at Mission Beach!


Surf's up!

The fake toenails looked good at the beach. My big toenails are not grown out from when I lost them during marathon training back in April.

Cleaning out some closets and drawers. My husband got rid of a bunch of old and beat up cotton race t shirts, amongst other clothing items. I got rid of a bunch of old work blouses, tops and these:

I did three back to back twelve week Body For Life challenges in 2000 and 2001, lost 30 pounds, got my body fat down to 16%, and all's I got were these lousy t-shirts. By the way, I'm only 5'3" and the t shirts they sent me were XL. I think I wore them as a night shirt a few times, then they ended up at the bottom of the drawer. The program itself is good, and once I figured out how to make it work for me, then it was great. Would I recommend BFL to everyone? Yes and no. It's not the end all in workouts and each person has to find whatever workout plan works best for them. Just about any reputable workout plan is good. The trick is that you just have to do it. There is a lot of work involved. PS... I'd love to be back at 16% body fat, but it's more work than I want to do right now.

Because everyone's a winner!

"Where the surf meets the turf at Del Mar."

No race pics. I was too busy not betting. LOL.

Signing up for the Shelter Island 5k on November 8, 2009, you know, the race that has a full on champagne brunch afterward? Yeah, THAT one! AND I plunked down the cash for the Silver Strand Half Marathon on November 15, 2009, the run that goes from Coronado to Imperial beach and is mostly FLAT.

Wanna join me?

WATCHING AS THE KID RETURNED TO SCHOOL AS A FIRST GRADER!

The obligatory first day of school photo op.

Yesterday's song:
Reason To Believe - Rod Stewart, The Youngbloods

PEACE

In My Head

I've been having somewhat of a writer's block when it comes to blogging. I sat down to update my workout and running happenings yesterday but, for some reason the words didn't come out right. It was much easier to post a picture instead.

Anyway...

Tuesday I opted for the air conditioned gym and their treadmill in front of a mirror, while plugged into my iPod with my 2009 SDRNR Marathon mix. I'm sort of swapping my recovery intervals with my faster ones, meaning a faster overall average time. I was doing a 2 minute recovery time and 30 seconds to one minute top speeds. Yesterday I was able to recover at 1 minute and do top speeds at 2 minutes. The in front of the mirror thing is still necessary, since I have to make sure my right side doesn't tilt while keeping my arms closer to my body. I was toast when I was done and spent a good 20 minutes in the stretching cage after.

Wednesday morning was RU. Since I was pretty sore in both my hips from Tuesday's interval workout on the treadmill, I did most of my exercises with much lighter weights and more stretching exercises and assisted stretching. The assisted stretching just about kills me, but I knew I'd be worse off without it. I was also given the next 4 weeks of a workout schedule, which makes me really happy -- you all have no idea, well, maybe you do. It's not like I can't figure out what to do on my own, but with my particular goals in mind I need to do specific exercises and run plans. My immediate goal is to improve upon my 5k time, which will help improve my half marathon time. Bryan seems to think I can improve upon my 5k PR time of 25:45 from a few years ago. In the grand scheme of things, that particular time isn't that fast, as there are some smokin' fast women in my age group, but I'd love to shave even a few seconds off of that time. We also went over nutrition, such as macro nutrients and caloric intake. For running I do need a little more carbs, but I'm finding that I'm getting in too many carbs and not enough protein. We discussed what ratios (carb/fat/protein) would work best for me and when. I'm pretty much right on the mark with caloric intake between 1600 and 1800 calories per day (for my height of a whole whopping 5'3"), but he asked to see a food diary along with my workout diary. I bought the Fitday PC version a few years ago that has nifty pie charts and graphs to show off the stats, so I'll be utilizing that, and it makes my life easier. I'm also not training for anything further than a 6 mile run, so there is no need to bump up the calories right now.

Yesterday I ventured out to the mall to return a dress that didn't fit quite right. I bought it on line because it I had a couple of internet only discounts plus free shipping. I usually fit into petite sizes pretty easily because of my height, but this dress was cut weird in the petite size, and I never know, exactly how Banana Republic dresses are going to fit me until I try them on. I have 3 of their dresses and all are different sizes. I ended up exchanging it for a regular sized dress but two sizes down. Good thing I went into the store when I did because I received an additional 10% off, even though it was an even exchange. Sweet. The dress is for a wedding we're attending in Ixtapa, Mexico in October, and, more likely than not it will be very warm.

Today

Activity: Run - Treadmill
Date: 07/23/09 12:00 PM
Distance: 3.15 miles
Time: 0:32:00
Speed: 5.9 mph
Pace: 10' 09 min/mile
Calories: 304

Intervals

What it was supposed to look like:
10 minute warm up
1 min easy/ 2 min Hard- race pace (x2)
2 min easy/ 3 min Hard- race pace (x2)
3 min easy/ 3 min Hard- race pace (x2)
1 min easy/ 2 min Hard- race pace (x2)
10 minute cool down

What I actually did:
2 minute warm up
1 min easy/ 2 min Hard- race pace
2 min easy/ 3 min Hard- race pace
3 min easy/ 3 min Hard- race pace
1 min easy/ 2 min Hard- race pace
then did 1 min easy/ 2 min hard - race pace, a few times to fill in the rest of the 30 minutes time on the treadmill
2 minute cool down

Warm up and cool downs at 4.0mph
Easy at 5.0 mph
Race pace at 7.1 mph
20 minutes in the stretching cage after

It was supposed to be 10 minute warm up and 10 minute cool down per my new workout instructions, but there's about a 30 minute limit on the equipment at the gym. I also forgot the "x 2," part of each interval, which would have given me about 34 minutes, and that's doable, but I forgot. Doing the math, if I did the workout as written, I would have been on a treadmill for about 54 minutes.

Aside from the workout, I'm still liking the marathon mix. Today I finished up the last race pace interval with "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera, and that really brought everything home for me, and in a good way. Now the song is stuck in my head.

Yesterday's song:
First I Look At The Purse - The Contours, The J. Geils Band

PEACE

Kumbaya

A three part blog post

Part 1

Activity: Run
Date: 06/07/09 08:12 AM
Distance: 3.13 miles
Time: 0:31:25
Speed: 6.0 mph
Pace: 10' 02 min/mile
Calories: 299



Yesterday was the AFLAC Iron Girl 5k/10K event. I did the 5k. The above stats are just an estimate based on my GPS, as official results haven't been posted yet. This was a chipped event, so my time might be either higher or lower than what my GPS shows.

FINAL RESULTS
2842 Irene M F4549 335 27/157 335 31:11 10:02

My morning started early, at 5 AM, however the early morning hour is getting to be the norm, and I find my self waking up early without an alarm clock. I donned my neon green t shirt, the one from my second marathon, which sort of matches the neon green of the Heffers race day shirts. I didn't want to mess with the Heffer's Chi, Karma, color coordination, fashion sense, or something, since I was getting a ride up to the event with AKA Alice and some of the herd. Besides, the color made it easy to find everyone.

I'm soooooooooo glad I opted for the 5k. I just wasn't ready for the 10K, even though I found a few track club members there who were in the 10K who also ran the marathon last week. The race began near the Del Mar race track, on the fair grounds midway, and finished right on the race track. It was weird running on the race track because we were running on the poly-crap. (Yes, that's the proper technical term, as used by AKA Alice). It's basically recycled carpet ground up and spread on the race track, making it softer for the horses, however, more difficult for people to run on. I understand that this year the poly-crap was flattened a little, making the surface a little easier for the runners, but it was still weird. This was one of those runs where I wished they had starting corrals because, for some odd reason, there were a lot of walkers who began their walk right in front of the start line. There was plenty of going slower than I needed to at the start, just because I couldn't get around some of the walkers. I really wasn't going for speed, but still, it's a chipped event if you're running, meaning there are plenty of people running for a time goal. I saw a few track club members on the 5K run, and it was fun watching everyone race in to the finish the 10K.

The goodies at the end of the race were pretty decent. They offered a nice tech t-shirt, a finisher's medal, a bagged breakfast (which I brought home only for my grandson to scarf it down), a stuffed AFLAC duck that says "AFLAC!" three times when you squeeze it, plus the usual stuff you get in race goody bags, like lip balm and sample sized Luna bars.

I also went to breakfast at the High Dive in my neighborhood with the AKA Alice and the herd. After a couple of mimosas we were rather relaxed and happy. Kumbaya.

Mik, Kat, Me, Betty, AKA Alice

Check out AKA Alice's blog for more pictures and detailed explanations. I left my camera in the car during the race.

Part 2

Last night we had a few of friends over to help celebrate my birthday. This year my birthday is on a Tuesday, a work day, and I honestly didn't want a big deal party. It has absolutely nothing to do with turning 50, as the age thing has never been an issue, it has more to do with the past year I've had, which pretty much ripped up and rearranged everything I do and believe in. Some of the stuff I've blogged about, such as the injury, all the other stuff is off limits. It's amazing that I never needed Prozac. I'm ready to put the past year behind me in a subdued way. Our friend Sam played his guitar for me, well all of us - we were all sitting around a back yard table. Sam played several classic Spanish songs (just beautiful), and since our friend's little girl was there, he played some songs for her, like "Itsy Bitys Spider." (So cute!) The gathering was simple and far from over the top, but that's what I wanted. I'm still not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. The office birthday celebration is on Wednesday, but there's three of us with June birthdays, it's going to be anything but low key. My office can get a little goofy and loud. It's all good.

Part 3

Today was sports rehab with a twist because it's technically not rehab any more, but we're still working out the kinks from after the marathon, and that's where the rehab part still applies. I worked on the piriformis muscles and hips with a lot of foam roller, a lot of stretching, then the weights with deep lunges, pylometrics, and running. Lather, rinse, repeat.

My brother called me this morning (and yesterday) because he won a second place medal in a 10K he did somewhere in Northern California. I don't remember what his time was, something ridiculously fast. He always calls me after a race, which he did yesterday as we were leaving the AFLAC race venue, just to say he finished and that he might have PRed. He called up this morning all excited that he placed second in his age group, and got a medal. My brother is 53 and there's some hella fast guys in his age group. No one is slowing down, even with age, so there's plenty of competition. He always comes in 4th place in smaller races, just by seconds. I'll post his results once they show up on Athlinks.

Thursday's song:
Rollin' With My Homies - Coolio - Katiefeldmom

PEACE

I've just realized... I linked AKA Alice's blog 8 times...

What's This?

Since my surgery and being relatively out of commission with workouts and running the way I was accustomed to, my body has changed. I haven't gained or lost weight, but I've lost muscle and how I carry my weight on my body has shifted. My clothes don't fit right, mostly pants. I really don't like shopping, especially during the busy holiday shopping season, but I needed to go try on some jeans, otherwise I would have 'trolled the internet for jeans. I braved the mall. I figured Macy's offered a plethora of jeans and pants, but I was overwhelmed. (I was sort of hoping that Tim Gunn and Gretta Monahan would just happen to show up and rescue me, but no.) I tried on 3 different sizes in several different brands, but nothing really fit right, and the ones that did sort of fit were more than I wanted to pay. I just can't justify spending $200.00 on jeans. I don't know why I even bothered to look at those. Flustered, I meandered down to Old Navy and found their jeans on sale for $20.00 AND THEY FIT. GASP! I should have known.

Thanks to Anne, I can now play "Yesterday's song" on my blog post. I won't do this all the time, unless it's a really obscure song that happens to show up on Mixwit.

Yesterday's Song:
Super Sunny Christmas - Redd Kross

PEACE

Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued

On more than one occasion I've been asked how I can come up with so many song titles for my blog posts. First, depending on what I've written, I 'll think of song titles that might work with the blog post. If I come up with nothing, I'll ask my son. He's pretty quick to come up with an obscure song title if tell him the blog topic. If he isn't around I'll check my iPod. On the rare occasion my iPod search isn't fruitful, then I'll resort to searching iTunes.



Yesterday's song:
Oh Happy Day - Aretha Franklin - Barbie2be

PEACE

Oh Happy Day

I've been tagged by Penny - Planet Ynnep Running for the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thanks, Penny, for the honor!

I'm supposed to name 6 things that make me happy and then tag 6 fellow bloggers....

1) The first and foremost thing that makes me happy is myself. I'm not trying to sound all self righteous, but I have to make myself happy first before I can be happy with anything else. After all, doesn't true happiness come from within?

2) My family at home, which would mean my husband, kids and grandson. Through lean and plenty, thick and thin, crazy and sane, we've always stuck together.

3) My friends. I have great friends. Many of them have moved afar, but we still keep in touch. I also have many new friends, and it thrills me to no end that I continue to meet such wonderful people.

4) Running. Running still makes me happy, even though I've endured pain because of it, kind of like childbirth... sort of. I can still solve all the world's problems when I go out for a run (even though it's now much slower) and feel some sense of accomplishment afterward.

5) Creativity. I cannot imagine my world without art, music, or creating anything -- food included. Even though the last time I drew or painted something was in helping my grandson with his homework, art is still the core of my being.

6) Home. My home needs a lot of work and repairs, and will be a work in progress for years to come. I've worked so hard to get here. I love where I live, though, even if my backyard is half kept and half barren, and we need to rip out the old fence, re-roof, make the kitchen bigger, and add on a master bedroom. It was my grandparent's house, built in the late 1940's. I'm hopeful we'll bring it back to how beautiful it once was, way back when.

Now I must tag and bestow the Kreative Blogger Award to these 6 creative people:

Anne

Barbie2be

Not Soccer Mom

Leslie

Katie

Evelyne

Yesterday's song:
Sketches - Daniel Lanois, Dan Fogelberg - Barbie2be

PEACE

Move Along

Activity: Run
Date: 11/12/08 10:02 AM
Distance: 7.21 miles
Time: 1:30:56
Speed: 4.8 mph
Pace: 12' 37 min/mile
Calories: 689

I did a run/walk at Mission Bay Park and managed to get in 2 extra miles. Since I went a little earlier than normal, I used my Ipod shuffle. I usually reserve the Ipod music for the gym treadmill, but since it was still early enough, I figured I wouldn't have to deal with as much foot and bike traffic as I would encounter on the weekends. 7 Nation Army and Mr. Brightside did come in handy to give me just that extra push.

I need to take a camera with me on my walks and/or runs. Sometimes I see things and people that just amaze me. I do have a camera on my cell phone, but it trips off the run tracker when I take a picture. Maybe the next time I go on a planned walk I'll take the monster camera.

Speaking of my cell phone... It's toast. I really need to upgrade. It used to hold a charge for days, even when using the run tracker. Now, when I use the run tracker, it holds a charge for about 2 hours if I'm lucky.

Yesterday's song:
Inspiration - Gipsy Kings

PEACE

Milestones

Activity: Run
Date: 10/30/08 10:42 AM
Distance: 3.09 miles
Time: 0:38:55
Speed: 4.8 mph
Pace: 12' 35 min/mile
Calories: 295

I finally ran today. I walked for about the first three minutes then ran most of the time, then about the last few minutes I walked. If you notice, it now says "run" next to activity. On my BiM program, it separates run and walk into different categories, and since I did more running than walking, I decided to change that setting when I started out. This is a milestone for me. I felt good running, but the right leg is still tight, but not in pain. The tightness causes me to limp a little, and a neighbor walking her dogs called out to me as I'm running by "did you know you were limping?" It's will take a long while to get my muscles all nice and limber again, but until then, I will be lopsided. Based on today's stats, I now know I can do a 5k under 40 minutes.

While I was running, I had a really stupid (but somewhat funny) song in my head that I heard on a YouTube video that someone sent me:

I should have listened to something else before I set foot out the door, something to get me pumped up. I don't wear my iPod Shuffle when I run in the neighborhood because some streets are rather busy, and I need to be aware. Next time I'll listen to my cardio mix before I leave.

Yesterday's song:
Time For A Change - Motley Crue

PEACE

The Mob Rules

This post is just because art IS in the eye of the beholder. I'm sure you know there's an actual cover art Grammy Award. I wonder if any of these album covers were award winning? No? How about for the worst?





I'm also thinking that Liberace's stylist need to share some fashion tips with Country Church. I don't know which is scarier, Black Sabbath or the Frivolous Five?

In case you've ever wondered, here's the entire list for the 100 Worst Album Covers, EVER.

Yesterday's song:
The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani - Heffer Blog

PEACE

No Complaints

My husband's uncle and second cousin have been here for the past few weeks and return to Brazil tomorrow. I do have pictures of them, but every time I think to upload the photos, my husband has his camera and is not home.

We took my husband's relatives and parents out to dinner last night. I sat next to his second cousin. I was admiring a beautiful ring she had on. It's a cabochon, royal blue faux sapphire stone in a silver setting. It's very pretty. I had mentioned that the ring was lovely and she just smiled and nodded with an "obrigado," which means thank you in Portuguese. We went on about our dinner, conversation was lively. I managed to pick up bits and pieces of the stories being told. I know about 10 words in Portuguese and can understand tons more, but enough to get the gist of a conversation. After dessert, Michael's second cousin wanted me to hold out my hand. She put the ring I had admired on my index finger and said the ring was a gift for me. *GASP* I was floored. She said the stone symbolized peace, strength and foresight. I was rendered speechless. At first I thought she was just showing me the ring, but she insisted that it was for me. Of course I thanked her and kept saying "wow." I'm still saying "wow." What a sweet gesture!

Today was also the annual thunder boat races on Mission Bay. The sounds of the race boats resonated through out the neighborhood. It's sort of like NASCAR on the water. We could see a few of the boats in the distance as they raced by. This made for an exciting day for my grandson because "those boats go really, really, fast!" The loud roars of the thunder boats, uh, races resume tomorrow morning.

My son turns 21 on Monday. For his birthday he wanted a 2 day pass to Street Scene, September 19 & 20. For a few years it really wasn't held on the streets, but in stadium parking lots. This year it's back Downtown, on the streets. There's several stages with several bands scheduled to perform. My son was interested in seeing Beck, pictured here, but there's plenty to see and hear. My son mentioned that after one of the bands finished playing, the lead singer came up to him, shook his hand and said "thank you for rocking out!" Sorry, I can't remember which band it was, but my son thought that was pretty cool. Since my son turns 21 on a Monday, he has no plans to go out drinking. He has classes that day and I'm sure he has plenty of studying to attend to. Don't worry, I won't let his birthday go unnoticed. You know there's a cake to set a blaze, a song to be sung, and cake to eat. I just love celebrating birthdays.

Yesterday's song:
Atomic Dog - George Clinton and the Funkadelicks - Run-DMZ

PEACE