I Never Thought I'd See Those Studs Again

I actually started this post, about two days ago, on my iPhone... but I never finished it and now it seems lame, so I'll just start over with the same headline, mostly because I like the headline, even though it will really have not much to do with this post... except for this...

Yeah...we remodeled our house when we bought it...I really never thought I'd see these wall studs again...

Contractors took out the floor and two feet of wall in DramaGirl's bedroom due to dry rot and termite damage!

So...I'm living at a construction site. Hopefully, we'll be done with the walls and floors by mid-week, but I'll still be living sans one shower for another couple of weeks. Until then, we are living like this... I have no idea where ANYTHING is...GAH!

That's all the furniture from my kids rooms, stacked around the house... clearly my kids have too much stuff...at least the remodel is a good opportunity to weed out some stuff.

OK...enough of that topic. Onto other more interesting Hefferblog fodder, because tomorrow is the America's Finest City 1/2 Marathon!!!!  Mik, Betty and I went to the expo this morning to pick up our bibs. 

Expo notes

• We took Walter's car, a Honda Accord. I drive an SUV (yes, I am one of THOSE moms...but it is a Honda Pilot, not a too-huge tank-car). In any event, I don't like driving Walter's car. I feel like Fred Flintstone in it. I admit it. I prefer being UP HIGHER where I can see what's in front of me when I drive.
• I only did one U-turn, and that was in front of Betty's house.
• There was tons of traffic and stalled cars on the road in all sorts of random spots this morning. Maybe there are always stalled cars, but when I'm not driving the FredFlintsonemobile, I can see them ahead of me and avoid them, but not this morning.
• The Expo was small...not as low-budget as La Jolla, but not the scene that was at Carlsbad. 
• The AFC shirts are maroon this year....kinda pretty. I do wonder what all the dudes will say about them though.
• I almost bought a pair of leopard-print, dayglo lime green and black - running shorts from Gypsyrunner, but I'm a big chicken.

They're kinda tucked under the hot-pink, leopard skin print shorts...pretty HAWT don't you think?

• There was a vendor that I'd never seen (or noticed) at the Expo called "DirtyRed" and I just liked the name of the company, and the clothes were cute, and the business is owned by a woman from San Diego, so I'll give her a shout out.

I posted on FB that I'm just a little freaked out about this race. I have NEVER run a race being so woefully unprepared. In the last month, I've run only four times on real pavement, and maybe another three or four on the 'mill. The longest run I've done was only 5.5 miles...and while I've done a fair amount of cycling, none of that has been recent either. And of course, there's this...

I'm sure I'll be fine...

So...here's my race plan

• The most important thing tomorrow morning is to have fun. By this time tomorrow, Betty, Mik, Alberta and I will have run all three legs of the triple crown (finishing the Carlsbad 1/2, La Jolla 1/2, AFC 1/2 in one calendar year). I haven't been particularly healthy or whole for any of them, but I have had fun at each and every race, so that's a goal for this one as well. I'm taking my camera, my phone, and a really good attitude. I'm just happy to be running because a month ago I wasn't so sure I would be able to do this at all.
• The weather this week has been quite lovely. Unlike the last two years when Betty and I ran in just sweltering heat and/or humidity, tomorrow looks to be an absolutely wonderful running day. The morning marine layer (aka fog) has pretty much been hanging around until about 10:00 or so, which is plenty fine for me.

The sun, apparently, will come out some time between 9 and 10 am, but my goal is to be past the AVIS parking lot (about mile 9) by the time the sun comes out. That part just KILLS me every year!

• I'm going to use a run (slowly) the first 6 miles - the downhill part. Then I'll use a run 9 minutes/walk 1 minute strategy for the rest of the race.
• I will do whatever it takes to get up 6th Avenue (that last uphill part).
• I don't have a time goal for this race (liar, liar, pants on fire)...OK I do...I think I can finish in under 2:45...that's my lofty goal! 

We have to be at Balboa Park before 5:30 am to get on the bus that will shuttle us out to Cabrillo monument, so my other goal is to get to bed early tonight (yeah...like THAT ever happens) and get a good night's rest.

Good luck to anyone else that is running/racing this weekend. I know I am WOEFULLY BEHIND in reading and commenting on all your blogs. Next week school starts, and my life will start to get back to some normal routine.