When you run in the city...a lot of police go by...

Mik, Betty, Elsie and I (a small portion of the herd) ran around Balboa Park this morning. Running is SO much better with friends, that's for certain. Here's the proposed route I mapped out ahead of time. I thought it offered options for those who wanted to run 10 miles and for those who wanted to run less.

It probably won't surprise anyone to learn that none of us did this route, and in fact after the first couple of miles, we all sort of went different routes. Mik ran around the park. Elsie and Betty ran to the end of the park and back.

First item of note
Betty ran in a BRIGHT YELLOW CROSSING GUARD MESH VEST, which made it really easy to spot her...something to consider for the next race. I wonder if there was any chaffing?

I ran out of the park, down Third Avenue, and then up 6th (the dreaded hill from the AFC 1/2)... Here's my actual route.

Second item of note

It was a BREEEEEEZZZEEE to run up 6th Avenue in the 5th mile...waaaaaay easier than it was in August in the 11th mile. I FLEWWWWWW up it. I wanted to run 6th mid-run because I thought it would somewhat mimic the hills in SF for the Nike 1/2 in October.

Here's the elevation for what I ran this morning

Here's the estimated elevation for the Nike 1/2

So...I'm continuing to get my hill training in. That's a good thing. I'm feeling pretty confident about the hills now.

The bad thing is that I didn't run as far as I'd hoped. After not getting a long run in last weekend, I wanted to go at least 10 miles, maybe 11 or 12, but after getting bored and changing my route, and running into a dead-end, I got a little wigged out because I'd been running for awhile on my own, without a cell phone or ID.

Third item of note:
Robinson Street dead ends at Florida Canyon...note to self...do not go that way again.

Fourth item of note:
In the center-city area of San Diego, there are an amazingly large number of police driving the streets. I noticed this after I realized that I was running solo and that I had neither ID or my cell phone on me (stupid...I know, I know...)...and because I am a nervous Nellie about such things, I started to FREAK-OUT a little bit about it. You know...the crazy thoughts...what if I fall and twist my ankle? Why is that old BUS parked in Balboa Park? What if, what if, what if... Honestly, FREAKING-OUT about personal safety is not a great running motivator. So, to mitigate the non-motivating effects of the freak-out, I started counting how many Black-and-Whites were patrolling the streets (I counted five...and I was at mile 5 when I started counting. I figured if I got hurt, I could always flag down a SDPD cop to come to my assistance...which is still a stupid personal safety strategy, but it made me feel better and kept me running.

I solemnly promise and swear to run with my cell phone on me if I run by myself from now on.

Finished the run with no other notable events to report...although I had a fabulous conversation with my gluteous maximus muscle (is that redundant) for about the last 1/2 mile or so...apparently, glut didn't so much appreciate all the downhills this morning and decided to cramp up for awhile. My line of reasoning, as it often is, is that we have to keep running so that we can stop.

Our mantra? Mi-mo-sa! Mi-mo-sa!

Here are my stats.

Total Distance: 9.25 mi.
Time: 1:46:23
Pace: 11:30
Speed: 5.21 (mi/hr)

The BEST part of the morning came afterward as I finally got my chance to see Elsie's remodeled house. It looks absolutely wonderful! She is so creative and a fine decorator...and she made us a yummy breakfast of pancakes, fresh fruit and (of course) MIMOSAS! She even let us (or perhaps she insisted, I'm not sure now) take showers after we finished running. Maybe she didn't want to lose that brand-new, fresh-paint, smell yet.

She's gonna hate me for this...but here's our lovely hostess.

Disclaimer: I emailed Elsie as soon as I got home and asked her to send me the photos she took with her camera, but as of the moment I hit "Publish Post" she had not yet responded...so all I had was the one photo I took with my camera...

But don't all the fruit, pancakes, and mimosas look FABULOUS?

Fifth item of note: When you take photos for the blog...send them to me IMMEDIATELY!!!

It was a great morning run. The weather has cooled considerably, so that also made the run enjoyable (what sort of madness is this? I run route-less? I call running enjoyable?). It'll definitely get me through the week!

Other running items of note
Yesterday morning, when the kids were at their call-backs for Oliver, Walter and I looked lovingly at each other and noted that the kids were gone and we had nothing planned...so...

We went for a run together (what were YOU thinking???)

This was actually a pretty big deal because Walter has had knee issues for about the last year. At one point we thought he had a torn meniscus. He's had an MRI and it turns out that the cartilage that holds his knee joint together is pretty much destroyed. For awhile, he could barely walk, let alone run. But he's making a comeback. He's not much of a runner, but he loves basketball, so he occasionally runs with me...mostly so that he can continue to run up and down the courts.

It was nice running with the hubby...although I don't know if he enjoyed it as much as I did :-))

Non-running item of note:
The cast list for Oliver was posted this morning. DramaGirl's audition number was 59 and Turbo's was 16. Here are the some of the results:

Actually, there are about 80 kids in the cast. I just didn't capture it all in one screen shot...just the important part! So thanks to everyone who wish the kiddos good luck. All your good wishes paid off.

Since both are in the play, maybe Walter and I will have more time to run together when they are at rehearsals...wouldn't that be nice... I'm sure Walter is looking forward to THAT...

Have a great week everyone. If the last two weeks were any indication of my life this semester, you probably won't be reading anything from me until Thursday or Friday.