Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves

Activity: Run - Nike Women's Half Marathon, San Francisco, CA
Date: 10/21/07 07:09 AM
Distance: 13.52 miles
Time: 2:18:45
Speed: 5.8 mph
Pace: 10' 16 min/mile
Calories: 1288

Chip time/Official Time 2:19:53
(I broke even!)

I don't even know where to begin and end because this event was great! I'll just go the highlights and explain more about the run later.

Leslie and I managed to find each other at Union Square on Saturday, where the expo was held. Union Square was busy and noisy with people (mostly women) picking up their race numbers, timing chips, and enjoying the services the expo had to offer. It felt wonderful to see Leslie again.

I met Dori (She Do Run Run) for the first time, in person! Dori had arranged for a few of us (who mostly know each other through blogs) to meet up at Starbucks, just 2 blocks from the expo. At Starbucks, here's the running bloggers : from left to right - Me, Michelle, Dori, and Elizabeth. I did meet another wonderful lady there, Margaret, but she didn't want her picture taken, so she became the photographer.


I had to leave the group for a while and meet back with my husband,brother and sister-in-law for lunch, but met back with the group briefly so I could meet Julie (Juls - Keeping Pace) and her son in front of Macy's.

At Nike Town, they had a wall with all of the participant's names listed. I found me!

Look what I got for finishing! It was given to me by a really cute guy in a black tux, holding a silver tray with several little, blue Tiffany boxes on it. (I did try to take a picture of these guys with my cell phone, but I forgot to save it... DOH!)

I finally met up with Denise, who I know through Yahoo running groups! It was so busy at the start of the race that I didn't know exactly where she was, but thank goodness we hooked up after the run! Look at us modeling our finisher's necklaces!

These guys (and their friends) were hysterical. I don't know who they are but they were NOT shy about having their photos taken! If you double-click on the picture you can get a bigger view, then read their shirts! There was a large group who had different sayings on their shirts, all in support of their friends and significant others who ran in the event.

I'm near the finish line festivities at the beach! Life is good. I'll post the finer details tomorrow. I wished you were all there!

PEACE

PS
RE: California Fires
I live just north and south of some of the fires that are burning in San Diego right now. The college my kids attend has been closed and is being used as a meeting place for law enforcement, rescue teams, and fire fighters. We're OK, but praying for everyone!

Geek In The Pink

Carb loading has commenced.

After babysitting for a friend yesterday, I hit the outlet mall near their house, in search of a pink athletic top to go with my pink running skirt. I'm usually all about function and comfort over cuteness when it comes to running clothes, but the Nike Women's Half marathon and Marathon are geared more towards women, and I thought it would be fun to get some new garb and be all girl-y girl in pink. I normally don't seek out the pink clothes, and for some reason I thought it would be easy to find a top to match my new pinky-pink runningskirt.com skirt. The task was easier said than done. The Nike outlet store had pink tops, only in x-tra large. I normally take a small or a medium, depending on the cut. I did find a singlet in my size for about $10 that had nothing to do with what I was looking for, but it was a bargain that I couldn't pass up. Over at the Adidas store, I did find several pink tops, but since I didn't have the actual skirt with me, I could only guess on the color, and made a purchase. Once I arrived home, I put the pink skirt and the pink top together. I thought the pinks didn't match quite right, and It sort of hurt to look at the two pinks together. My husband has an eye for color, and he seemed to think I could get away with wearing the two different pinks, but in the light of day, the pinks fight with each other, and loudly. Maybe if I were a 5 year old girl this look could work, but it didn't work on this 48 year old woman... I wonder how PinkChick - Dawn does it? She always wears her signature color, pink, to her run events. Since I had to trek out run errands this morning, I brought the skirt with me and matched it up to another top, which actually matches the color of the stripe on the pink skirt, and the colors don't fight. ;) Maybe I should have just stuck with function and comfort instead of fashion. Well, at least I'll be findable in a big crowd...

Oh yeah, I mentioned baby sitting. My friend and his wife have a 5 month old daughter. His wife went back to work for the first time in well over a year. I am officially their daughter's first babysitter. At 5 months old, she is but a rolly-polie ball of cuteness. So far, as babies go, she seemed easy-going and didn't pitch a fit when her parents left. Thank goodness... Once mom and dad returned, they offered me dinner and I obliged. While dining, they asked if my husband and I would be their daughter's Godparents. Wow. I was very surprised that they asked us, but very honored.

Regarding my last post:
I should have been a little more specific to what I wrote. The issue with my brother and talking is more of a sibling thing. I truly believe we want what's best for each other, but we still drive each other nuts. My brother is very high strung and regimented. I'm not high strung (or maybe not as high strung, if you ask my husband) and tend to go with the flow. We don't run at the same speed when it comes to running or life. My brother is a great guy and has been one of my biggest supporters when I started running. He just expects that I'll eventually "catch up" to him. I can run and talk, as long as you run and talk at my speed, and don't mind if I happen not to say anything from time to time.

I'll be back on Monday or Tuesday with my half marathon report!

Peace

I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)

Today's workout was lower body. Sans weights -- squats, back extensions, side leg lifts, and abs.

I run by myself the majority of the time. I know I've said this before, but running is my "ME TIME." Most of the time running is my therapy, my Zen, my escape, my meditation, mine. From time to time I wonder how it would be to run with a group or another person who runs about my speed on a regular basis. Would my running get faster, get easier, be more fun? My next (sort of) goal is to get with a running group so I can answer these questions. I have several options, as there's actually quite a few running groups here in town.

My brother has volunteered to unofficially run with me at the half marathon this weekend. I love my brother dearly, BUT my brother finds my pace slow (he has about a 7:30 to 8 minute mile pace for a half marathon) and gets kind of antsy right away. Plus, he's a talk runner. He'll talk the whole way and keep pace. I do enjoy a little chatter here and there during a run, especially when the other runner runs about my pace. The conversations from my brother are not just little chatter here and there, they are full on conversations about the meaning of life - and then some. I don't think I have the energy to have my brother run with me. I appreciate the sentiment but I'm not up to his speed, and I don't think I'll ever be there. I think his support will be better appreciated if he cheers for me on the sidelines, for a change. I rarely have anyone cheering for me on the sidelines. I've already asked my husband to be waiting for me at the end, and I'm hoping my brother will humor me and hang out with my husband. Besides, they both work in the same field and will have plenty to talk about.

Peace

Kitty

Activity: Run
Date: 10/16/07 09:55 AM
Distance: 3.10 miles
Time: 0:32:52
Speed: 5.7 mph
Pace: 10' 36 min/mile
Calories: 295



Even though I wasn't feeling 100%, I felt like I needed to get in some hills, so I took on THE HILL, the one just after the 1.5 mile marker. It kind of helped that I didn't run THE HILL right at the start, but had somewhat of a warm up prior to it, so I was able to sort-of run up. Even with a couple of stops for traffic along the way, I'm feeling really good about my time because I wasn't pushing for speed. I even turned off the mile marker beep on my WRT, so I wasn't really sure how far I had gone until I was finished, but I did have an idea.

I don't make it a practice to weigh in every day, but I felt like I needed to since my activity since Saturday wasn't all that great, even with yesterday's lack luster UBW. I weighed in at 124 this morning. I'm not holding my breath with that number right now, especially with the carb-loading I have planned this week, but it was sort of nice to see the number drop. Technically, I'm just a pound from my initial goal of dropping 5 pounds from the last challenge, and getting to wear the new running clothes (red & black) which was my prize for losing that 5 pounds. If everything continues as it has, I'll give it about 2 weeks time to settle into the 124 spot.

Today is my daughter's 24th birthday. I'm not sure if we're doing anything with her tonight or not. I believe she has plans with the BF. He already brought her a dozen red roses first thing this morning. We'll probably have a little cake this evening and a few small gifts. We'll see how the day goes.

We managed to get the cat back in the house, or at least I did. She was meowing, in the bushes near the front porch. I had to coax her out with food, and grabbed her. She was happy to be back in and was glued to me all night... My cats live indoors, and she had never been outside of this house since we moved here. She didn't know how to get back in.

Peace