Summer Breeze

I feel like a kid starting back at school with the first day of school assignment" "What did you do over your summer vacation?" Aside from not blogging*, I've been doing a lot of the usual, such as going to work. My running has kind of taken a back seat to tendinitis in my left foot, but it's not that bad, and I'll get out and walk the dog for a mile or two at a time and try to put in some slower, longer runs during the weekends. The most I've run at any one time has been 8 miles. Instead of writing about my summer vacation, I'll just show a few photos instead.

My most recent race picture... From June at the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Half Marathon.  

4th of July Weened - Hubs and I finally trekked to Los Angeles to hang out with my sister and her husband.  My sister and I both needed some relaxation and found it at Malibu Winery.

Griffith Park Observatory

View from a hike at Griffith Park trails.

I finally had my medal rack mounted and put up my race medals!

From my backyard.  Tomatoes and assorted greens were great this summer.

I was selected for the half marathon.  This will be my third Nike event.

We still have weekends with Evan.  He's been joining us on some of the runs, but walking.  He's a real trooper!

Summer isn't officially over yet.  There's still more beach time to be had and perhaps a concert or two... and maybe put in more time on my feet.

Cheers!

Song from Wednesday, May 8, 2013:
Carry On  - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

PEACE

*I'm mostly on Facebook now.

Part of Me

Several weeks ago, Cindi tagged me for a meme. Since I haven't blogged in a while, I figured this would be good fodder until I gather up my thoughts for a more personal blog post.
 
Here are the rules:

The Random Eleven Rules:

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Tag 11 people (can't be the person who tagged you)
5. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag
6. Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them (Tag! You're it!)

11  Really Random Things About Me:

1. I have workout dyslexia.  No, not a medical diagnosis, but something I sort of coined. Certain exercises just don't translate well when switching sides from right side to left, and visa-versa.  I tend to get the arms and/or foot placements wrong trying to do the opposite of what I just did.  I've also noticed that,  unless you're a dancer or really coordinated, this happens frequently.  I see this phenomenon happen to others when I work out.  It's not just me.  PS... That's me on the far left side of the picture, front row, not having a WD moment.


2.  The songs on my run playlist aren't necessarily songs I would listen to otherwise.  Some songs are just better for running, even if those songs are head-banger heavy metal, salsa, and ska.  :)


3.  My bedroom used to be a garage.

4.  I have "Morton's Toe."  This has nothing to do with my last name, it's when your second toe is longer than your big toe.


5.   I like the way polished finger nails look, but with my job a manicure lasts about an hour upon entering the office.  If I can keep hangnails down to a minimum, then it's all good.


6. I bought art supplies last year that I have yet to use. 


7.  I have pierced ears, two holes on each side.


8.  The first car I bought with my own money was a used avocado green 1970-something Datsun 510, 4 door sedan.  I think I paid something like $800.00  for it in 1980.


9.  I lived at home with my parents until I got married.  I was 24.


10. When Hubs and I go out to dinner, I usually order something that looks like a "man" meal, and he usually orders something that looks like a low cal "girly" meal.  The servers always assume wrong and serve us each other's orders.


11.  I'm currently hooked on the Sam the Cooking Guy Livecast. It's live, uncensored, uncut, unedited, and they don't always talk about cooking.  F-bombs might fly, food gets spilled, outside noises occur (like house alarms),  and a lot of other unexpected issues such as losing my internet connection, but that's part of the attraction.  The show is "livecasted" from Sam's own kitchen.  You can comment during the show via Facebook, and a lot of times they talk about what people are commenting on.  There is always food being made at some point in the livecast, usually something pretty easy, but impressive. If I miss a show I can always watch the podcast a few days later.

My 11 Random Questions from Cindi:

1. Who was the last person you randomly ran into at a race or during a long run?  Wendy from track club - While running at Mission Bay Park.  She was running in the opposite direction. By the way, Wendy is running in the Boston Marathon on Monday. :)
2. What was the last embarrassing thing you did? So many...  Hmmm.  Well, my house is currently embarrassing.  It's not anything I did, but we need a roof and can't get a new one at this second, so Hubs patched it, but it looks very ghetto, especially from the front.  My house also needs paint and new landscaping.  Actually, It needs to be bulldozed down and redone.  I sometimes feel like I'm living at Sanford & Son's junk yard.  Perhaps it's not that extreme, but I never imagined living in a house that needed so much repair, especially being married to an architect. I really LOVE the location,  the property is awesome, and that this was where my grandparents retired. 
3. Do you wear underwear when you run? Why or why not? Most of the time no, because most running shorts/skirts I wear come with built in boy shorts, and running tights are so thick that there is no point to underwear, unless it's super cold, then it's athletic type of underwear.
4. Where is the strangest place you've ended up having to pee during a long run, ride, or race? In the bushes at Balboa Park in the canyon adjacent to 6th Avenue with many others before one of the Rock 'n' Roll races.  The porta potty lines were too long and I could NOT wait.
5. Which color porta potty do you prefer? Blue?  I never thought about it before.
6. What was the last random object you saw on your last run?  Glitter.
7. What is your favorite breakfast? I love anything breakfast-y. I love fresh fruit, pancakes, waffles, French toast, eggs and bacon, huevos rancheros, breakfast burritos, cereal, Pop Tarts, Cinnabons...  Breakfasts with big carbs rock.
8. The Voice or American Idol? The Voice.
9. What was the last TV show you watched? Rick Bayless -Mexico, One plate at a Time, airing on PBS. It was the episode when he went to visit Ensenada's wineries. 
10. What are you doing tomorrow? Sleeping in.  It's Sunday.

I'm not sure who to tag next, since it looks like just about everyone has been tagged. If you feel the need to do this, go ahead, and just use Cindi's questions, since those are pretty good questions. I'm also being lazy. 

Song from Wednesday, March 14, 2012:
We Found Love - Rihanna, featuring Calvin Harris

PEACE

One Moment in Time

Random


We've had actual weather activity here in San Diego. We had heavy rain, hail, thunder, lightning, and even snow in the higher elevations of the county.  (OK, stop the eye-rolling --  We're not used to extremes here. Even my fruit trees look disheveled.) Earlier in the week it was so cold that I woke up with both cats in our bed, curled up between us.  Normally, having the cats in bed drives me nuts, but it must have been so cold that I didn't even notice...  

We went to a live show for Sam the Cooking Guy.  I won free tickets from Sam's live webcast, via Facebook, and it was sort of a last minute thing.  We had been up since 5:00 am that day and were super tired.  I'm amazed that Hubs didn't fall asleep during the show, but there was plenty to keep his interest piqued, especially the smells of food being cooked and prepared on stage. 

The thing that impressed me about the show is that it was all family/friend based.  His wife was giving out bottles of water to people waiting in line, his sons were filming and taking pictures, friends manned the ticket/will call booth, and his dogs socialized with the audience:

Hailey the Golden Lab working the audience.

I sort of geeked out and waited in line for Sam to sign my book and have a photo op:

I know.  So cheesy.  I look like I'm going to pass out - I was beyond tired and probably rattled on too much about whatever I don't remember saying  when I met him.  I probably came off as one of those weird/creepy  fans.  Oh well.    He's a very cool and gracious guy, though.

"Don't eat bad food!"

Ever try to organize and end up with more disorganization? My son took it upon himself to clean out the shed at the back of the yard.  We STILL have a lot of stuff from when my uncle lived here -- It's stuff nobody wanted. It's rather overwhelming.  It's a matter of determining value, but at this point it all seems like junk to me.  Yes, before we purchased this house there was an estate sale, and we all went through the house for items we all wanted, but when escrow went through, we ended up with all of the leftover crap. I'd rather blindly get rid of it all, not knowing the value of anything.  It's all just stuff. We don't need it. My son did put a dent in getting rid of some things, but there's more of it.  It's just a matter of time and effort to clear out everything, but having time to do so is the issue. It would take a few days to clear everything out, go through it all, trash some of it and take the rest to Goodwill.  It's hard to do when you only have a few hours on a Saturday.


My son and I have been sharing the Honda Fit for a few weeks since the Exploder (AKA: 1998 Ford Explorer) was not working.  The only thing good on the Exploder are the tires.  I was afraid that car would actually explode.  We needed another vehicle.  Public transportation was not an option since you can't transport an entire drum kit on city bus. The intention was to buy a used Honda CRV, a couple of years old with low miles.  I couldn't find one that didn't already have a bajillion miles on it, and I began to look at other makes.  I ended up with a 2011 Nissan Rogue that had only 10,000 miles on it.  It's the basic model, is a little smaller than a CRV, and doesn't have a few of the fluff extras, but it has a decent ride, gets decent gas mileage for a car of that type, and the price was right.  Sold.

I mentioned something to my son about removing the "iRun" sticker from the the back window of the Fit since he'll be driving it.

He wanted to keep the sticker because it made the car more identifiable in a parking lot full of similar cars.  He has a point.


The running continues.  It's not fast, pretty or frequent as I need, but it continues.


I pulled a muscle in my right quad at track last night, even before we started to run.  I still can't figure that one out, other than getting up wrong after the group stretch.  We have a 15K on Saturday.  I might sit this one out and volunteer.  I have a few days to see how I feel. 


Last week we learned of the passing of our dear friend Ann Marie.  She was the wife of Jeff, Hubs' best friend from high school. Ann Marie and Jeff met at their 20 year high school reunion.  The school was so huge when they attended that their paths never crossed until that night at the 20 year reunion.  They came from much different backgrounds and different worlds, but together they were perfect for each other.  Ann Marie never had a loss for words and had to be the friendliest person I've ever met.  At the "Celebration of Life" many friends and family members shared about their experiences with Ann Marie.  Her daughter recalled the several times her mother would go to the grocery store and come home with a new friend, and that, in the teenage years, was kind of embarrassing.  Soon after her daughter spoke, a woman came up to the podium and said, "I am one of those people Ann Marie brought home from the grocery store."  Everyone laughed. That was Ann Marie:  Friendly and always making friends along the way, no matter where she was. Ann Marie also had a deep faith, which is something that I admire since I often question my own.  Illness took our dear friend on February 20, 2012, just 6 days shy of her 54th birthday.  It's so hard to say goodbye to someone who had so much to say.

Me, Ann Marie, Jeff at the Campgrounds near Carlsbad State Beach.

The service was held at a church located in the middle of the Temecula wine country. After the service and reception a few of us went to a winery to reflect, regather our thoughts after an emotional morning, and toast to Ann Marie.  

The view from Bella Vista - Organic Winery, Temecula, CA

It was a beautiful day to say good bye and to remember.


Song from Sunday February 26, 2012:
Hold Me Tight - The Beatles

PEACE

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

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

December brought a slew of non-stop busy-ness.  It's been party, party, party... sort of.  I can't remember the last time Hubs and I were invited to a grown up party together until this year.  After Las Vegas, we had four holiday parties last week, plus our wedding anniversary of 29 years on December 11th.  This week was a little calmer but busy with baking and trying to remember what we did with certain Christmas decorations.  I went old school this year and used most of the Christmas decorations from the years when my kids were in grade school.   We also put up the tree in the living room this year. 

The dining room where the tree usually goes is, uh, having issues...  

Like last year, the Kiddo was my decorating buddy and helped me with the majority of the decorating.  Hubs put one ornament on, and and my son put a few up high were I couldn't reach, and my daughter was oblivious to other life around her while busy with studying for finals.  

Living room fireplace.  

I would so love to have a warm fire, but this fireplace needs to be repaired or torn down and rebuilt.  I put candles in it but there's no damper, and the air coming in through the top blows out my candles. *sigh*    The kiddo pointed out that since we can't burn anything in this fireplace that Santa won't get burned when he comes down our chimney.

The Kiddo

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas because I got this surprise delivered today:

Nothing says Merry Christmas more than socks, holiday peppermint Gu's, and Stingers from  blogger Tara - Colorado Runner!   Yay! 

The packages were shipped from REI.  When UPS delivered the boxes I was wracking my head trying to remember what I had ordered from REI.  Then it clicked that these were from my Secret Santa from the Bloggie Gift Exchange.  One box contained the great pair of Smartwool running socks, and the other box contained the Gu's and Stingers.  The timing is perfect because I'm out of any type of gel/goo electrolyte and I just might have to save a couple for the Carlsbad half marathon next month.  The socks are on my feet right now:

Warm and cushy!  I can't wait to run in these! Thanks so much, Tara!

On the running front, not a lot of running has been happening.  Somewhere between the parties and work, I caught a cold.  It's not a bad cold, but just enough to mess up the flow of day-to-day life.   I know I had the cold before I had to deal with the bratty snot-nosed kid patient and his clueless mother.* Gross. I hope to do a slow, longish run this Saturday morning, which happens to be Christmas Eve.

In other news, for the first time in YEARS (2000?) I received a cash bonus at work.  I honestly wasn't expecting much of anything, maybe a box of candy, but since I'm part-time right now I felt the bonus was rather generous.  I had plans for new Ugg boots and have change left over for an outfit, BUT one of my cats became rather ill yesterday and my bonus went towards paying the vet bill. Merry Christmas to my vet. Oh well.   At least I had that cash to help lessen the blow of that hefty vet bill, and for that I am grateful.    FYI, it was my little girl cat, Luna, the little bitty 8 pound cat who can beat up our 75 pound dog.  The vet thinks it's a thyroid issue.  She's doing much better now and will be on meds for a week.  Good times.

This year we didn't send out Christmas cards.  I suppose we could have, we just didn't.  I'm thinking of New Year's cards.   Just in case, consider this picture of the Kiddo and me your Christmas card from me:

Wishing you all lots of Christmas cheer!

Song from Thursday, December 8, 2011:  

Good Intentions - Toad the Wet Sprocket

 PEACE

*On the scale of one to ten in snotty-nosed grossness, this kid was a 10, plus he sneezed all over everything.  It was so gross that I felt the need to wipe everything down with rubbing alcohol when he and his mother left the building.  I'm not a germophobe, but felt gross dealing with this obnoxious kid.  I just don't understand parents who let their kids run a muck in a medical office, or any professional office.  Sheesh.

Human

What have you all been up to?

I've become rather meh* when it comes to blogging. I used to be so consistent, but now it has taken somewhat of a back seat to social networking.  Sad, I know, but that's what's happening.  It's also a time issue as well, and when I am home the last thing I'm doing is blogging, but dealing with family things like helping the kiddo with homework and the usual day in, day out things that need more attention than my blog does.  I'm not abandoning the blog.  I suppose I'll amp things up again, and post more frequently at some point.  I just don't want it to collect cobwebs.  I still have plenty to say, as disjointed and grammatically incorrect as it may seem at times.  At least it's honest.

Product Review:

I've been trying out the VITAband wrist band. Here's a picture of mine:

From the VITAband site:

"The VITAband acts like a medical ID bracelet providing medical professionals with your identification, relevant medical history and emergency contacts to help ensure you get the care you need in the event of an emergency.

VITAband also offers Visa® payWave contactless payment technology. This allows users to simply wave their VITAband, featuring The VITAband Visa Prepaid Card, at the point of sale to make purchases at millions of retailers who accept Visa debit cards."

 I know it's hard to see, but I'm wearing it on my right wrist in this photo from the Nike Women's Half Marathon this past October

I've been using the VITAband for about the past three months, wearing it during every run.  It's rather comfortable and I've gotten used to wearing it.  It's a rubber bracelet with an emergency number and my personal ID number on the back of the wrist- which will access my emergency and medical information for first responders, and can include a removable, scan-able pre paid Visa chip.  I have yet to use the Visa chip.  There are stores in my area that do have the scanner, but I usually don't frequent those stores.   I wanted to talk about the ease of just being able to wave my wrist at the contact-less payment scanner, but I haven't seen one yet.  I might have to make a special trek to the stores that do have the scanner, and I'll post about using it.  I like the idea of having some form of money on me when I run, cash or credit card, and this wrist band would mean one less thing to carry if my post run eateries/establishments would have this scanner, and (so far) none do.  There is a yearly fee to use this band and to keep your personal emergency information in their system.  I really like the concept of this band, which can access more than your emergency phone numbers, but includes what ever health information you provide on the site, which can include allergies, past surgeries, medications, health issues, etc.  I like the VITAband with all of my information for first responders, I just wish the High Dive down the street from my house would  have the Visa  scanner... Just sayin'...

Other Stuff

I was contacted (through THIS blog) by the Mutual of Omaha's "Aha Moment" team to film my  "Aha Moment."   I thought I'd take them up on their offer and put in what I had to say.  I went to their Airstream mobile "studio" set up at Balboa Park.

As I waited for my turn there were others ahead of me who were doing great things like helping those less fortunate than themselves, saving babies, helping to find cures.  Their interviews were on a screen just outside the Airstream in the waiting area.  Here I am, going to talk about me and running.  Running and I  felt so petty at that moment. 

As I waited, I filled out this clap board, which they actually used, and I got to keep:

What I had intended to say in my filmed interview with them is that my "Aha Moment" happens every time I run, that I am constantly awe struck with running in San Diego county.  I'm extremely fortunate to live in an area where the running season lasts all year long.   After I said something to that effect, the person directing the shoot asked me to repeat what I had just said because an airplane flew overhead and they didn't get a clear recording.  MY MIND WENT BLANK.  *gah*  I lost everything I wanted to say.  *Poof*  It was gone.  I became really nervous after that and felt myself stumble on my words.  There was no flow.  She had to prompt me with questions after that, and I felt rather sucky.  I've posted my segment on Facebook and Twitter. Since Blogger won't let me post the link to access the video Mutual of Omaha posted on their site, here's the actual link:

http://ahamoment.com/moments/2630

I never realized that I move around so much when I'm nervous.  If this were Tyra Banks Top Model show I would have lost the spokes model segment. Seriously.  Thank goodness for creative editing.  My last words came out wrong.  I wanted to say something about every day being an "aha moment, "  not the thing about putting it all together to say this is why I do what I do.  (What?)  Yeah, I lost my train of thought that morning.  The scarf. People asked about my scarf.  I bought it on clearance at a store in an outlet mall a few years ago. It goes with everything... I also had a black sweater on which (I thought) made me look more pulled together, but it turned out to warm up that day and by the time arrived to the taping I was rather toasty, so the sweater came off.   They have three finalists and one will win a spot in the actual televised ad campaign, and I knew from the get go that I wouldn't be one of them. I wasn't vying for a TV spot.  That's just not me.  It's all good, though.  I've never done anything like this before, and now that I have, I hope that's it. 

 Song from Wednesday, October 26, 2011:
Hey Soul Sister - Train - Run-DMZ

PEACE

*For lack of a better word.  Complacent?  Bored?

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

Just Breathe

Blogging?

I have no good reason as to why blogging hasn't happened as frequently as it once did.  Perhaps having computer issues have slowed things down a bit, and I'm not big on phone blogging, especially when auto correct gets in the way.

Everyone in my house had a cold.  It wasn't anything tragic, it was just more annoying than anything.  Now that the cold has diminished it has been rather hard getting back into a groove.  I kind of feel as if my energy was taken away from me, and I can't quite get it back, especially when it comes to running.  I should be able to keep up with the group, but I just can't.  I'm quickly out of breath, but having asthma factors in. I'm sticking with the training as best as possible, still getting in the miles, albeit slow.  This too shall pass.

The kiddo has turned 8 years old and is counting down to when he can finally get his driver's license. I don't want him to rush things because he's still cute, says funny things, and thinks we're still cool.  I'm soaking up this phase of his life as much as possible.  I know it won't be very long before he thinks we're creepy, but it's currently a blissful time. The other night he brought me a hot cup of herbal tea.  The hot tea was his idea and his Papa helped him out. Yes, it was a warmish summer night, and he brought me hot tea so we could spend time together.  How could I resist?

Compared to my last job, my current job calm,  REALLY calm. I have coherent, linear thoughts and don't feel like my head is going to explode.  I'm doing pretty much the same things that I was doing at my last job, but now I'm dealing with "normal" people for employers.  It's so refreshing to work for people who don't micro-micro-micro-manage their business.

In my head. Calm.

I'm always on the hunt for natural, non-dairy treats.  Not having having ice cream during the summer months kind of sucks.  I have an allergy to cow's milk products which triggers skin issues and asthma.  While grocery shopping I discovered Luna & Larry's Organic Coconut Bliss Bars.*

I happen to like coconut, and was overjoyed to see that these contained NO DAIRY.  Every time I look in the frozen foods section to find something that resembles ice cream, it contains some form of milk. Finally, I found something that is palatable with the consistency of an ice cream bar. It's not like I'm going to wolf down the entire box (only 4)  in one sitting, but when I have a small splurge, these will fill the no ice cream void. 

In addition, I've also discovered that coconut water is a great electrolyte. I've stocked up on Zico.

The only thing about coconut water is that it's best served COLD.  It's not so great at room temperature. I've also noticed that it's easy on the digestive system, and doesn't mess with my system if I drink one of these before running. I haven't ventured into the other Zico coconut water flavors, like chocolate, but the natural coconut is just fine with me. *


Song from Monday, July 18, 2011:
Happy Birthday - Stevie Wonder

PEACE


*These reviews are my own.  No one gave me anything to say my 2 cents.

Little Room

I'm cautiously optimistic that my computer won't bug out on me again. I was able to read some blogs, catch up on Facebook and sort through e-mails on my iPhone, but I'm not much for posting from my phone, unless it's super short. Yes, I know people who could probably compose entire novels on their cell phones, but I am not one of them.

The last time I posted was around the time we celebrated my mother-n-law's 90th birthday. The amazing thing is that she is still rather all together, considering her years. She still likes to boss everyone around and be the matriarch of the family. I think I once mentioned that she didn't want to use a cane to aid with her walking because (she said) it would make her look old. For the first time in years, the entire family was together. No one was away at college, those who were living out of state flew in for the occasion, and everyone who lives locally made the effort to show up. It was pretty incredible that no one thought to take a picture of all of us together.

The track club's half marathon training program is in full swing. I've been making the effort to attend the Tuesday night workout at Balboa Park, as well as the Saturday long runs, provided I'm not scheduled to work. The Tuesday night workouts are killer. I always end up feeling so beat up by the time the hour is over. The hills of the back trails of the park are on the schedule. It's not the hills that concern me, it's the dust mixed in with the warm weather that gets my asthma going. I may have to figure out how to work around that, like wearing a mask (NOT!), resign myself to the VERY back of the pack, or run someplace else.

I was looking forward to my long 4th of July weekend, but I ended up coming down with a cold, which took up my entire three day weekend. Figures. Hubs had come down with the cold earlier in the week and passed it along to me. This is the first year we opted out of running in any Independence Day 5ks. As much as I needed to sleep in that morning, I just couldn't. My head was too stuffy to remain laying down. Sheesh. A cold, no 5k and no sleeping in. Yeah, it sucked. Once I got up and downed a couple of Sudafed, and chased those with some coffee, I decorated cookies, because that's what you do when you're amped up on Sudafed and coffee.

Well... that's what I do when I'm amped up...  I get all artsy-craftsy. Notice the lack of attention to detail.  I am not a professional and do try this at home.  Results may vary and may be better because you won't be amped up on coffee and Sudafed.  Just sayin'.

While I decorated cookies, Hubs textured and painted the small bathroom. He also braved Home Depot to buy stuff to re-attach the toilet. I'd say this weekend bathroom project (that has taken about four months to work on) is about 85% finished. He still needs to cut floor tile for the trim, replace the old medicine cabinet, attach the back-splash behind the sink, and maybe add some sort of window treatment.

Before

During

After

FYI, those blue tiles on the wall were aluminum. Needless to say, those tiles did not age well, however, the ceramic blue tiles in the shower are fine. Back in 1947, my Grandpa had to cut costs somewhere, and using aluminum tiles were more cost effective.

When working on the small bathroom was over for the day, we had friends over for a barbecue.  Once again, no one thought to take pictures, but we barbecued and ate way too much food, roasted marshmallows for s'mores later on, then watched fireworks from the roof and backyard. 

Now that I'm somewhat on the rebound from my cold,  I started back at RU with a killer workout. Even though they knew I was rebounding, they still believed that I can handle a bunch of weighted lunges, pylometric exercises and pseudo kettlebell-esque exercises, THEN run right after.  Good times. It was all finished off by some assisted stretches that were extra special. (Yeouch...)  It's all within the realm of getting me running just as well as I did for Rock 'n' Roll in June.

I need to get a little more serious about training for the AFC half marathon which is just next month.  Getting a cold sort of threw me off a little, but I need to put some distance and hills back into my long runs, especially since I can't attend some of the Saturday morning group runs. Dollars to doughnuts, it will be warm and humid on the day of the AFC half marathon and I need to be ready.

Song from last Thursday:
Low Tech Lady - Ana Laan

PEACE

Low Tech Lady

Due to technical difficulties, I can't write a proper blog post. I hope to be back at it, soon. Posting from a cell phone isn't cutting it for me.

Still running.

Peace

Thirteen

 A week from tomorrow is the 13th San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon/Marathon run event.  This will be my third half marathon for this year, and my 13th half marathon overall.  Am I sad that I'm not running a full marathon?  Not at all.  I'm glad I'm running the half.  I'm also anxious to see if the event coordinators listened to all of the complaints from last year.  I do know that they've repaved that crappy overflow parking and have planted several young trees where the post race festivities will be held.  Last year that lot was rather dismal and disheveled.  I've heard that they've taken care of the shuttle situation to eliminate long lines and long waits, and parking should be better, but, of course, that all remains to be seen. 

I'm not a true numbers person, but it appears that the numbers for race day are looking good.  I'm not sure why, but odd numbers work for me.  The marathon/half marathon is listed as the 13th San Diego Rock 'n' Roll event.  This will be my 13th half marathon.  I'm in corral 13, which makes my bib number start with 13, and all the numbers in my bib are all odd.   Perhaps it's a stretch, and maybe somewhat of a placebo for my psyche, but the numbers look good to me.  13 isn't a lucky/unlucky number*, but it's showing up a lot for this event.  I don't believe in being lucky or unlucky.  It's all about hard work and training. You get out of it what you put into it, and you have to accept the unknown factors, blah, blah, blah. That being said,  I wonder if I can work the number 13 into my finish time?

Oh yeah, a half marathon is 13.1 miles.

Tuesday's Song:
Telephone - Lady Gaga

PEACE

PS:
On a more serious note, I will be running this half marathon in memory of my friend Michelle, who would have celebrated her birthday on that same day, June 5.

 
*I have no lucky/unlucky numbers

Peace

Monday night I was watching some mindless TV* and had a revelation.  I realized that I felt good.  I almost forgot what feeling good felt like.

My eyes were no longer puffy and allergy affected.

My body didn't ache.

My mind was clear.

I was relaxed. 

I also went for a run earlier in the day, on Monday, and my run felt good.  My runs almost always feel good, even a crappy run is a good run, but this was different.  I felt more aware and more in control.  I think it's time to crank up the running and be a little bit more competitive again.  Cruising is fine, but I'm getting the energy back to push myself again.

Aside from not feeling sick and running better, I also noticed that my animals are happy that I'm home.  They will not leave my side.  On Tuesday we all sat on the back porch to watch the sunset.** 

Actually, I sat on the back porch and watched the sunset, the dog was at my feet, one cat was on my lap, and the other cat was sitting behind me.  I wished I had been able to photograph that moment.  It was peaceful.

I'm sure the people in my house appreciate that I'm not cranky and tired all the time.  They just don't glue themselves to me.  Heh.

Sunday's Song:
That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On - Sam Cook, Adele - Extra bonus points to Katiefeldmom for guessing Adele

PEACE

*The Bachelor... and it really was mindless...
** Actually, a sunset photo from another day, but I needed a sunset photo from my back yard.  I didn't want this blog post to be picture-less.

That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On

Brownie points if you know who originally sang the song (blog post title). Extra bonus points if you know who sang it exclusively for an iTunes Live mix. :) 

My last day of work was Friday. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but I dressed as if I were spending the entire day there to finish a few last details and hand off my patient load to my coworkers, but after the morning meeting my boss handed me my checks, said I was paid up until the close of the office that day, which is 1:00 PM, and I could go on about my life. That's all fine and good, but I would normally put in 3 hours over that time, so I felt somewhat gypped out of some pay. For someone who shows up early to work and leaves late, this gesture, however seemingly kind on the surface, was not kind. Had I known she was going to release me in that way I would have showed up for work in running garb and gone for a run around the lake near by. I had no running gear in my car.* What a waste of make-up! I did get to say good-bye to my coworkers, and that part was worth my time and effort.

The type A portion of my personality was somewhat screwed.  I thought I had my day planned, but it was early and I had not planned for this sudden free time.  Since it was so early in the day, none of the places I thought to go to were opened yet.  I ended up on the freeway getting stuck in traffic for 45 minutes going west. I guess the only advantage to getting stuck in traffic was listening to the morning radio show and getting to hear Sam the Cooking Guy.  (I'm trying to look for the positive here, people --  all 10 of you who still read this!)   Instead of returning home, I went out to Shelter Island and walked around.  There wasn't much to see since the fog had not burned off yet, and the water wasn't swelling yet due to the impending tsunami.**  I had no camera.  I had no running gear.  I was wearing my scrubs and felt like such a dork being dressed for work and no place to go, but I went for a brief, purposeless walk. The type C portion of my personality took over at this point.  I had no back-up plans.

What do you do when you feel directionless?  

Once all the businesses opened, I said good bye to my last pay and reimbursable checks and made a deposit at my credit union, then spend the rest of the day sort of aimless.  I had no groove. There was no one available to hang out with.  I really don't like shopping unless I need something, which means malls were out of the question.  I didn't want to be home, yet.  Since I had some time to burn I ended up walking in to a salon for a mani-pedi, which are usually a pretty good time suck, but not time sucky enough.

Now what?  This directionless crap is not for me.

To make an already long and boring story/blog post short, I ended up getting my running gear at home, but went for a walk because asthma kicked up.

All of this nothingness made me tired and wiped out.  Perhaps it was the accumulation of 4 months of not sleeping well and being stressed.  Perhaps it was the realization that  I was finally out of a toxic work environment -- and by toxic, not only mentally and emotionally toxic,  I mean physically toxic.  I was always sick.  I've lost a ridiculous amount of weight, and not in a good way.  The crazy thing is that I'm eating a ton of calories. I should be overweight. My skinny jeans are huge.  Any who...  I finally ended up back home and slept for HOURS.    


This not like me.  I need to get me back.

Now I look to a new week, and perhaps a fresh start. The resume has been dusted off and revised.  Craigslist isn't going to know what hit it.

Until I hit Craigslist, I'll be hitting the pavement.

Last Monday's Song:
Hard Headed Woman - Cat Stevens

PEACE

*I normally keep an extra set of running shoes, running clothes and other extra running essentials in my car in a plastic storage bin, everything was removed from my car for routine maintenance.

**Yes, our coast had a TSUNAMI warning, brought on by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.. Although it was not dramatic here, it did cause the water to swell, causing some very minor damage in our area, and actually did cause some rip currents. The irony is that the warning was to stay a way from the coast, but it caused people to come out to the coast in droves. Funny, when you tell people NOT to do something they automatically go and do it. By the way, me ending up at the bay had nothing to do with wanting to see the tsumami. The bay was affected, but not by much. There were no crowds. I just needed somewhere to go.