Monday, September 28, 2009

Other Signs...

Today GlavEn touted the 666 unread blogs in his RSS reader as a sign of the apocalypse.

To which I say, "Only 666? pfffft..."

How 'bout this?


GAAAAHHHH!

I wish I had better running/biking stories to report from the weekend, but the truth is that it was a pretty slow weekend running-wise.

Except for this...


I don't know if you can read it or not, but the first sentence says "Congratulations! As a thank you and reward for training with your Nike+ system, we would like to invite you and a friend to register for this year’s SOLD OUT Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco on Sunday, October 18, 2009!"

So my obsession with running gadgets pays off!*

But, oh shiz, shiz, shiz...what to do now? It's only weeks away! Why oh why didn't Nike extend this invite even a friggen month ago, when I had a 1/2 a chance of getting a decent fare on Southwest?

And then there's the little issue that I haven't trained, not even one little lick, for the HILLS or for 13 miles...

I'll keep you posted...I need to register before Wednesday if I'm going to do it.

Other than that, on Sunday, Mik, Elsie and I ran the 6 mile loop on Coronado. Nothing too interesting to report, other than the used-condom-on-the-road sighting, which always surprises me. I mean, use a trash receptical for peet's sake people! I mean come on (oh...I guess someone did...never mind.)

I also have no stats because the Garmin failed me and wouldn't start. (has since been reset and is working fine now), but the run felt good and no pain, so that's always a good thing. But truth be told, a little 6 mile jaunt around the flat island wouldn't get me up into Presidio Park.

Sunday was left to some chores and stuff...and noticing other signs as well, maybe not signs of the end of the world, but certainly signs that confirmed my glee at not having really young kids anymore.

Da, da, da, da, dummmmmmmm....the toy aisle at Costco.

Little shiz that I step on at night and swear loudly about...and the big eyes completely freak me out!

Yep, it's a ENORMOUS MR. POTATO HEAD!

WTF is Sparkle Floam and why would anyone need 30 pieces of it?


Because all little girls want a Hello Kitty bubble gum machine and a water dispenser (for $27.95...and I swear two people were discussing how it was the PERFECT gift for some special little girl as I was taking this picture...)


Oh, and just in case...let's teach the baby how to use the candy machine. Sweet.

Yep...real signs of the apocolypse here...real signs...GAH!

Oh...about those unread blogs? I'm workin' on it!

_______________________
* Although truth be told, I stopped using the Nike+ thingy about the same time I started using the Garmin...but shhhhhhhh...I don't want Nike to rescind the offer.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Toe, Heat, Wind, Glow and Glee

Gawd I hate blogger sometimes...it just lost a whole post of randomness that I'll never recover, but I'll try

Item One - Long Beach 1/2 Marathon

After much deliberation, I've decided to not run the Long Beach 1/2 Marathon next month. After learning about how much of the course is run on a concrete path, and after last weekend's run on a fair amount of concrete which culminated in some PF soreness, I decided it's not really worth the risk. Thanks so much to all of you who posted last week with your encouragement and words of wisdom. It's not really like me to be so mature about these things. I guess that's what 9 months of dealing with injury will do, increase maturity.

As you might guess, I'm heartbroken, but I'll survive.

Side note: When I went to PT this morning, Brett my PT had already "heard a rumor" that I had some soreness after running...the result? More squats and lunges for me!

Item Two - My toe

I'm guessing that by this time tomorrow, I'll be a 9-toenailed person. It's been quite awhile since I lost toenails due to running, but I think that those first five, downhill miles of AFC did the damage, so soon, I'll be sporting this look.

Completely dorky
Due to this...

I know....EWWWWWWWW!, but still polished

Truth is, due to the fabulous red polish, I had no idea that my toe had sufferred so much damage until last night. The nail is hanging tough, but I'm guessing it's not long for this world (or my foot). I suspect that I'll be polishing the nail bed soon.

Item Three - The winds

It's damn hot here right now...DAMN HOT. Not like the kind of thing they're experiencing in Sydney right now (yes, thanks to the blogosphere, I am aware of the weather in, say, Perth* now**), but it FEELS like the sky should be red and dusty.

Photo pilfered from the Sydney Morning Herald, but I only found it because Mel linked to it on her blog.

It's that time of year, only it shouldn't really be that time of year. Usually the Santa Ana winds don't come until October, but they've come early this year (and really, the Christmas decorations are up in Costco, so why shouldn't the Santa Ana winds also come early?) I fear for us this year and how we'll ever make it through fire season.

So it's dry, and dusty, and the WIND...can I talk about the FREEKIN', NASTY, EVIL, HOT, DESERT WIND?

I woke up this morning with a headache and wondered if I was coming down with a cold or something, but really, it was just the change in the pressure as we moved from the lovely offshore, tropical, winds to the desert winds from the east.

Yep, there's not much weather to complain about in SoCal.

Anyway, because it's Santa Ana time, I'm compelled to include my favorite Raymond Chandler quote about the Santa Ana Winds

"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge." --"Red Winds"

I only wish I could write like that...

Item Four - We were glowing!

Last weekend, before the Santa Ana Winds, it was merely hot and HUMID. One of the volunteers for the track club was taking some photos at one of the aid stations. He captured this

Jean (who works with Elsie), me, Elsie and Bettie...aren't we Glow-ee

Shiny!

Hawt!

Item Last - GLEE

BWAHAHAHAHAHA...Best line of the night from the Evil Cheerleading Coach? "I'm busting out of my box" I do love this show.

Running this week? Yeah, I've run once on the 'mill (did I mention that it's HOT here right now?) 3 miles of 800 repeats. Felt fine afterward, no pain. One day of PT so far.

Oh Damn...I kept thinking it was Thursday and I didn't have to teach tomorrow. Just realized I have an 8am class...nite nite!

_____________________
* I really don't know what the weather is like in Perth right now. I just didn't want you to think that I knew only one city in Australia...GEEZ!

** Actually, if I wanted to, I could certainly find out what the weather is like in Perth because I do know how to access weather.com and look it up...just to be clear.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Long Beach Decision

First...I *heart* all of you who responded in the third person to my last post. I swear I'm gonna download it and save it forever. With every comment I laughed out loud.

Second...GlavEn is lucky that I only misspelled his name by one letter...pffft...did he not see that I posted that blog at 11pm on a Friday night, and by 11pm on a Friday night, if I'm sitting at my computer, I've clearly had at least two (if not three) glasses of wine. GlavEn is quite lucky that I remembered his name at all and didn't call him G-man or Glarin or Goblin or something else like that...

Third...one clarification about this post...I've never actually, personally, used a GoGirl. I'm with Missy and would probably prefer to use a clean bush over a porta-potty (but at the beginning of a big race, that's sometimes not an option). However, I am COMPLETELY ENTERTAINED by the name of it ("woo hoo...you go girl" will always have a secondary meaning to me now).

Fourth...I love the bathroom shots too, and will no doubt include them in the future, that is until Teh Marcy tells me not to.

Finally...this weekend's run

Harbor Island
Muggy
7 miles*
1:20*
11:34 pace

* Once again, I somehow stopped my Garmin when I started running. Now that I'm looking at the graphic in the Garmin Training Center, I think I had gone somewhere a little bit shy of a mile when I looked down and said "Oh shiz...the timer isn't running." At the water station, my timer was about 10 minutes behind Dr. Elise's, and at the end of the run, her iPhone said she'd run 7.1 miles, so I'm going with that.

As for the running part, the first five miles were quite easy. I was thinking about how the last time I ran this route along the harbor was back in June which I barely mentioned in this post. It was one of the last times I ran before the surfing incident which really fouled up my foot, but it was the run at Harbor Island which triggered it. I remember running with Irene, and then I couldn't run any more because my foot hurt so bad. Yesterday, I was reminded of why it hurt. It's a route which includes a freekin' lot of running on concrete sidewalks.

So as much as I could, I tried to run on the street, and since it was butt-crack-o'dawn early, it wasn't too dangerous to run on the street in most of the areas. But even so, by fascia tendon (or whatever it's called) duly noted that I had been running on concrete...a little bit of soreness immediately following the run. I guess I'm not all the way better yet... Ice, stretch, rest, and ibuprofen and today it feels much better, but I can still feel it.

It makes the decision to run the Long Beach 1/2 much more difficult. It's only three weeks away. My life in the last month has allowed me to run only two days a week. I keep thinking I can get a third run in, but I just haven't done it yet. I do get two pretty good workouts in when I go to PT. I was thinking that how I felt after this Saturday's run would decide it for me. I was sorta thinking that if I felt really good, I'd definitely figure out a way to go for it. If I didn't, I wouldn't

Unfortunately, I'm somewhere between the two extremes. While yesterday's 7 miles wasn't easy, it wasn't impossible. At the end of the run, I was done, but I wasn't falling down, I can't move any more done. I'm relatively confident that in the next two weekends, I could ramp up my long runs to 9 and 10 miles.

I mean, if I can run 7, I can run 10, right?

And if I can run 10, I can run 13...

But this thing with the PF has me nervous. On one hand, I certainly don't want to overdo it and really injure myself again. On the other hand, I'd really like to do the LB 1/2. It's sorta a replacement run for the Nike Women's that we didn't get into this year. It would also be an opportunity to run into Penny and Glenn.

I don't know what to do...WHAT TO DO!!!! (GAH!)

((sigh))

Of course, after the run, there was this to help me decide...

Proseco makes a lovely Mimosa. It' didn't help me decide of course, but it was yummy

Yummy pancakes and fruit at Dr. Elsie's casa

And because there are enough shots in this blog of Mik, Betty, Dr. Elsie and I with our mimosas, we decided to take pictures of...

It seems wrong to call 'em ponytails...how about heffertails?

and this

hooves...but with pretty toenails!

From running, I went to DramaGirl's soccer game

DramaGirl off the field. She had a GREAT game!

I'll take action shots later but I left my camera in my car because I was REALLY late for the game, and by the time I got there I was convinced I'd missed at least the whole first 1/2 if not the first 3/4 of the game.

I was really late because:
  1. When I got home from running, I took a nap.
  2. Then I got lost in La Mesa because even though I've lived here for 10 years, I get completely turned around whenever I am north of Fletcher Parkway (that's for the local peeps who will know what I mean).
  3. First I went to the practice field at Parkway Middle School, then Walter told me to take Dallas street and I did, but I went the wrong way and ended up at Northmont Elementary, then got lost on the back streets of that part of La Mesa, then used GoogleMaps on my iPhone to get to Murray Manor, which is where I was supposed to be. (If only Walter had told me that the game was at the school near Pinky's, I'd have found it in a heartbeat...maybe...even then I'd have probably got lost because I wouldn't have known if Jackson was east or west of Parkway Middle...GAH! I need a GPS device for my life.
Lest you think I'm a complete idiot...this is the part of La Mesa I was trying to navigate...

The non-parallel, non perpendicular, streets of La Mesa...who planned this city?

THEN we went shopping and bought a new sofa at Macy's and some bookshelves at Ikea!

Turbo with the chef at Macy's

It's not a leather sofa, but it is a darker color, which will hopefully hide some of the dirt which is inevitable.

We also bought a cleaning guarantee for it, which promises to clean or repair any damage to the sofa for the next 7 years, or replace it. I'm probably a fool for buying this, but I figure between the kids, Walter's family, my friends, and our general lifestyle, damage and spillage is a virtual guaranteed occurrence.

So...there you go...a full day to say the least. (I'm not going to mention the party that Walter and I finally got to (late) last night because that would take this really long post into the land of ridiculously long, and nobody wants to read that.

That and I have papers to grade, a little league/fall ball game that I'm late to, and soccer pictures to get DramaGirl to as well. I'm woefully behind on my blog reading. I know that my RSS reader has 100's of unread blogs in it. I'm going to try to get to it this afternoon

In the meantime, I did want to give one HUGE congrats to Al who did her first triathlon yesterday. I'm so freekin' excited for her that I almost want to jump in the pool and start swimming!

Hope everyone is having a superb weekend!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Third Person Singular

Alice had two blog ideas today...one was that this whole post would be written in the third person (and BTW... please be informed that all observations, opinions, and further annotations to this post MUST be written in the third person as well) and second that Alice wishes to resurrect a blogging tradition.

Bloggers will remember that back in the day (AKA before July 5) there was a very famous blogger whom Glavin and many others lovingly refer to as Teh Marcy (Alice never realized how much easier it type Teh Marcy and be done with it, as compared to The Marcy, which inevitably needs correction because it was initially spelled "T E H" and had to be corrected...Alice now wishes she had auto-correct available for every time she has miskeyed T H E as T E H). Teh Marcy was (and no doubt still is) a trashtastic comic genius and when she left the blogosphere for greener pastures (AKA Maine), the blogosphere wept and was sad.

Anyway, one of Alice's favorite features on Teh Marcy's Blog (which is a useless link to click on, but like many of you, Alice still has Teh Marcy's Blog in her RSS reader on the off-chance she returns to blogging one day, so I include it here) was the irregularly featured photos of Teh Marcy in public restrooms (AKA - The restroom shots).

Alice thought of the restroom shots last night when she was at a San Diego River Park Foundation* Anniversary Event with Walter. This event took place at the Joan Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice on the University of San Diego Campus...

But first some back story... The Joan Krok Institute for Peace and Justice (KIPJ) is named for Joan Kroc, who was the wife of Ray Kroc...and for those of you who don't know, Ray Kroc invented McDonalds... yeah, the place with the golden arches and the burgers... so basically even though their life was a financial struggle, they overcame it and when Joan passed away several years ago, since they had no children, the Kroc estate went to various charities, foundations, and other worthwhile community projects (and do I say that with all sincerity... Kroc money built a beautiful community center in a part of San Diego called Rolando that sorely needed such a thing). Another local beneficiary of the Kroc estate was the Institute for Peace and Justice at USD, a place that may not be as needy as, say, Rolando.

More back story...back in the day (AKA, before Alice started running), Alice was in a doctoral program** wherein 1/2 of the classes were to be completed at one institution (a public "state" university), called San Diego State University (SDSU) and the other 1/2 of the classes were to be completed at another (a private, Catholic university) called the University of San Diego (USD).

Lets just say that the two places couldn't have been more different. SDSU was a fine institution, but as a state school, let's just say that it was pretty well kept up, but I've since taught at SDSU in classrooms where the heater only works in the summer, and the AC in the winter...you know, budget cuts and all.

On the other hand, lets just say that Alice and Elsie dubbed USD as "The Spa." It is an AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL campus...with immaculate building exteriors, impressive classroom interiors, and impeccable grounds. It makes you want to walk around in a bathrobe and slippers...(the fuzzy, furry kind that you get to wear if you ever stay at a five star hotel, like the FOUR SEASONS, and which will cost you a pretty penny if you ever accidentally pack them in your suitcase, and then you argue with the management that you would NEVER do such a thing and you have NO IDEA what happened to the robe, and slippers, and towels...not that I've EVER done such a thing... because that would be WRONG, WRONG, WRONG...)

So...why is Alice sharing all this extremely fascinating info (because she is POSITIVE that you all are still reading)?

Because last night's event was held at said KIPJ, and as Alice has previously mentioned IT IS STUNNING! We were in the "Garden of the Sea" area. The KIPJ website describes it as

"One of the most spectacular locations in San Diego, the Garden of the Sea features a reflecting pool, sculptures and beautifully landscaped gardens overlooking Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean."


Alice did not take this picture, it was shamelessly pilfered from Flick'r from this year's alumni Wine Classic, which she guesses she could attend if she did such things...

So, Alice's point with all this is (and she does have one) is that as she and Walter left, Alice found herself in the marble-floored restroom with it's golden faucets and hand-carved wood doors, she thought to herself, "Self. you should take a picture of luxurious public restroom like Marcy used to do." So she did...


Alice has to say that the photo really doesn't do the restroom justice...

Then as they were leaving, Alice also took notice of the tile floors (and there was a butt-load of really nice tile in the place)...100s of square feet of really nice tile... and in with tile inlays...and the tile itself were different sizes and laid in a symmetrical, but not square pattern (which, since Alice has recently had tile-work done, she can tell you that it costs extra).


See...it's a 16 x 16 tile surrounded by both 8 x 16 and 12 x 12 tiles...quite attractive...and can you see the marble sink countertop?

And this was not low-budget, off the shelf at Home Depot tile. Alice is pretty sure it was special order.

In any event, it was a nice restroom, in a really nice building, on a gorgeous campus and Alice got to thinking about how nice it would be if her kids went to a private university, and how they better keep studying so that they can get some scholarships.

After Alice and Walter left, they were still hungry because while there were hors d'oeuvres, they were sorta sparse, although that may have also been because Walter and Alice decided to start at the wine bar and not the food line. (There were two lines at the reception...we opted for the wine line first... wouldn't you?)

Anyway ever since she fell on the sidewalk in last month, and then ate the best pizza ever in Folsom, Alice has been asking around if there's a place in San Diego that has really good, authentic, Chicago style stuffed pizza, and she kept hearing about this place called Lefty's...so they went there.

As it turns out, authentic Chicago-style stuffed pizza takes an hour to bake, so Alice and Walter elected to have slices of the deep dish pizza instead, which wasn't bad, but wasn't what she was looking for. That being said, it was good enough so that next time (and there will be a next time) Alice will call ahead and order the stuffed pizza.

Also, Alice and Walter are hoping that by the next time, Lefty's has their liquor license so that they don't have to go to the liquor store down the street to bring in beverages (which Lefty's allows BTW).

In any event, Lefty's had one unisex public restroom.


Yes...it's a urinal in the background, and no, Alice is NOT in the men's room. In THIS case, the photo really makes the rest room look nicer than it really was...although by pizza-joint standards, it wasn't bad.

So...an evening of restroom photos. Don't you all miss that kind of thing? Alice hopes that Teh Marcy, if she finds out, isn't too outraged that Alice has borrowed her idea. Alice promises that if Teh Marcy ever returns to blogging, the restroom photo feature is all hers.

Alice is gonna do a 7 mile run tomorrow morning (so she should go to bed now). How Alice does in the run will be a major factor in her decision to do the Long Beach 1/2 Marathon next month.
________________________________
* Walter is a volunteer with this organization, so a few times a year he gets Alice to accompany him to one of their events. Alice especially enjoys the events where wine is served.

** Alice decided to get her doctorate in the school parking lot one day because Elsie said that she should apply to the program with her. Yes, she thought about it THAT much.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A Shower, a Bar, and Some Verbal Vomit

So...you'd think I could scrounge a post together over the weekend about our absolutely marvelous six mile run around the island of Coronado (which isn't really an island, more of an isthmus really, but I digress, and if I'm incorrect about the geological label for the place, Betty will correct me) and subsequent breakfast with Irene and Michael at The High Dive...

Yum...mimosas!

You'd also think I could wax on poetically about the freekin' AWESOME 6-mile, pain-free run, (in my new running accessory no less).

Yes...it IS quite attractive, but since it helped with the knee-clicking and pain I've been having, I'll continue to wear it even though it acts as a too-small knee-fat girdle.

Once again, Mik ran in the stapled pants...

Running Stats...6 miles, 1:09:14, 11:31/mi

And you'd also think I'd take some time to retell some excellent stories about how we drank mimosas and told ridiculous jokes about The High Dive coffee mugs.

The High Dive has the MOST random assortment of coffee mugs at their self-serve station. How can you NOT love a place that has a Reno coffee mug...especially when it's not even in Reno?

But you'd be wrong...

It was a very busy weekend...

First of all, on Saturday night Walter, the kids, and I met some friends at the stadium to watch an SDSU Aztec game which was followed by the KGB Sky Show. For the non-locals, KGB is a local radio station (classic rock...thank you very much) and for years they promote an absolutely amazing fireworks show after a sporting event.

Betty and I at the Sky Show

THEN...On Sunday, I went furniture shopping for a new sofa and a media cabinet of some sort, and it took all day (and trust me, "furniture shopping" is not a euphemism for ANYTHING fun).

Here's the sofa I think I like...haven't settled on the media cabinet yet...GAH! There are just too many of them...all different sizes and colors and shapes and I JUST CAN'T DECIDE!!!!

The sofa and media cabinet will go in this room...the room with the new bar!

I promised a few members of the herd that I'd post some pictures of the new bar... Bar breaking in will occur as soon as the rest of the room has some furniture!

It is a really loooong bar...which I have wanted since we moved into this house almost 10 years ago...and now I have one!

Also, thank goodness that after a month of sharing a shower with DramaGirl and Turbo, our master-bath shower is also finished. I told Teresa I'd post some photos of that...so here's another batch.

Inside the shower. DramaGirl took this photo...she was standing on a bench.

Outside the shower

The whole bathroom...I really should straighten the counter before I broadcast photos of my messiness to the world...sorry mom.

Anyway, the whole shopping experience gave me a headache, and I was EXHAUSTED by Sunday night, so no bloggy-blog-blog about the weekend (so sorry).

Then Monday came, and I woke up early for a quick 30 minute dreadmill run (I haven't done that in AGES). Once again, no pain...I averaged 5.5 mph (about a 10:54 mm) for 30 minutes. AWESOME!

Then I was off to do that teaching thing that I have to do. Darn it if THAT didn't take the whole day!

Most importantly, Monday night was our once-a-month Dinner Club...which is where some of the running-heffers force invite the husbands to go out to dinner with us...although for some reason the number of running-heffer husbands seems to be dwindling.

I wonder if it's because we spent considerable time talking about this item...

According to this website, Go Girl is "a female urination device (sometimes called a FUD) that allows you to urinate while standing up. It’s neat. It’s discreet. It’s hygienic."


AWESOME! Seriously, you have to go to the website and click on the "demo" link...it's priceless. I think it'll be a perfect stocking stuffer...

I imagine that we decided upon FUDs as enlightening dinner-table conversations because before dinner, Mik, Dr. Elsie, Betty and I met at Parky's (a nearby dive bar) for a pre-dinner cocktail.

Parkys...doesn't the strip-mall frontage tell you everything about the place? It is located next to a Big Lots... which also tells you much about the place...

It took me three U-Turns and a text message to Betty asking "where the F is this place?" to find it.

But it was well worth the effort. We loved this bar and here's why
  • Happy Hour Hors D'ouerves were being served out of a crock pot
  • Everyone who was a regular came in the back door.
  • They had two beers on tap, Bud and Bud Light
  • They wouldn't take a credit or ATM card, but would take a personal check
  • The drinks were REALLY strong
  • Elsie ordered a glass of wine...which the bartender poured out of (I am NOT making this up) what appeared be a cranberry juice bottle...we assumed it was box wine.
  • After one sip, Dr. Elsie noted that it did NOT taste like "Chardonnay."
We are sooooooo going back there one day.

This month we had dinner at The Fish Merchant.

Betty, Mik, and Dr. Elsie with The Fish Merchant...Mik made sure she got a hand on both bass...

Have a great week everyone! I'm off to PT in the morning... If I had blogged AT ALL this weekend I would have given a big shout out to my PT, Brett, who finished the Malibu Olympic Triathlon this weekend in 2:30. (I couldn't stalk him, but I did check his results!). Way to go Brett!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

More signs...

Fair warning... I'm on the plane, flying back to San Diego from a day in Oakland... I've already had a glass of wine in the airport ($10...thank you very much) and am waiting for the second glass on the plane (only $4...what does that mean?) I've already read through Spirit Magazine...so I'm left to peruse Sky Mall, the BEST MAGAZINE EVAH...

So...here's a review of some products you never knew you needed (and if the chick with the BIG EFFING ELBOWS doesn't keep 'em to herself, I'm gonna drop a peanut in her cranberry juice)...but I digress.

Onto the Sky Mall review...





Who doesn't need this?





Or some other gadget that you attach to your head.





I swear... Sky Mall has a head fetish...





TightScooter....bwahahahahaha (clearly, I'm on the second glass of wine now)





I have no idea what this is, but I can "enjoy rubber tactile controlls" if I buy it...





And really, who doesn't need a Garden Yeti?





You all have been holding out on me. Power Lung? Who knew that all I needed to do was teach my lungs how to breathe?

And yes...I took all the pix while wedged in between two people who are no doubt wondering why I am taking photos of the Sky Mall Magazine....

Now someone needs to land this puppy so that I can post this important review!!!

________________

Post note...I'm listening to a podcast of "Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me" and I just snorted a laugh... Big elbow chich really doesn't like me now...

Woo hoo... Just landed... Post


-- Posted From My iPhone

Signs

Some item in Costco that made me laugh this weekend...







Not much else to report. No running this week. All the knee pain I've been having, bit not writing about, may be my miniscus (did I spell that right?)

I'm sad. I was hoping my year of injuries was over...((sigh))


--Posted From My iPhone

Sunday, September 6, 2009

In which Betty makes friends, Mik's bike takes a bath, and I go fast

After a weekend in Vegas, and various other "responsibilities" (such as that pesky school starting thing), I got back into the regular swing of all things active this weekend, namely running and cycling. How awesome to run and ride pain free (well relatively pain free...I still get arm pain from riding, but I think that's because I need to either relax or get used to it).

On Saturday, Mik, Betty, Elsie and I met for a short run (about 5 to 6 miles each...more for speedy Mik), followed by pancakes and mimosas at Dr. Elsie's newly gardened abode. Lots of laughs and reliving events of the previous weekend.

BTW...I did forget to the whole Vegas episode when Betty couldn't quite recall what room she was in and sent Madge and Clarence to the wrong room (three times)...no really....she insisted...I'm in room 718 (it was 818). The guest in room 718 insisted she really. wasn't. Betty. and she really. wasn't. hiding. her....

And this morning (Sunday) Mik, Betty, and I meet for what we call the five cities tour. We started at San Diego Harbor, headed south through National City, then Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, back up through the Silver Strand and ended in Coronado. Then we took the ferry, back to San Diego... It was about 25 miles...again, on a beautiful, somewhat cool, somewhat foggy, morning. If you want to see a map of "The Tour" click here.

And from this morning, I do have stories.

Story 1 - Betty Makes a Friend

Before we even left the harbor Betty and Mike, who both have hearts of gold, decided to befriend a homeless guy...or he decided to befriend them. You decide.

I was busy getting my gear together, so I didn't take any pictures, but so that you have a visual, you should know that Mik and Betty's new friend looked something like this...


And thier conversation went something like this.

Homeless dude (HD): Good morning ladies!

Betty & Mik: Good morning!

Small talk about how great it is to live in San Diego ensues and as I'm putting on my bike shoes I could hear..

Betty: Yep, its a great morning! Does it get any better than this?

HD: Well... yes it does. I can show you....

Silence...

Then I hear...

Betty: Sooooooo...how do you think the weather will be today?

Apparently, HD showed Betty and Mik his tattoo, which included something that they later described looked like this...


and...since this is a PG blog, suffice it to say that the tattoo included another item...something else that looked like what we call Lake Boy Part...this...

But that's not all...then I heard

HD: So...do you want to see my muscle?

Of course by now, I'm getting my gear together REALLY SLOWLY because I'm completely entertained by the conversation...and after all, I needed to apply sunscreen...I mean a girl can burn, even when there's no sun out.

Anyway, HD showed the girls what Mik later described to me as his Popeye muscle, which poked up...just like Popeye.

Betty honked her bike horn at him as we rode off.

We did rename homeless dude as Porno Popeye...

Story 2 - Betty makes another friend...this one with tools and knee pads

I swear, Betty needs a new seat (bike seat...settle down) cuz hers swivels, and then wouldn't stay up (I said, settle down!).

We'd ridden about 15 miles and were headed up the Silver Strand when we decided to stop and stretch a bit. As we stopped, Betty spotted a guy who was either loading or unloading his bike into the back of his car, so she asked..."do you have any tools?"

He did. Bike riders are the BEST PEOPLE!

But we're not quite sure why he was wearing knee pads...

However, he did fix her seat so that it stayed up.

Gotta love a man with the right tools and the willingness to share them!

Story 3 - Sometimes it IS about the bike

The ride into Coronado was relatively uneventful except that we tried to go really fast (for us) up the strand. Miles 16-19 are really flat and we averaged about 17.5 mph for those four miles. About then, I wanted to see how fast a speed I could maintain on the new bike, so I geared down and just pedaled as fast as I could. To be honest, I don't think I was going as fast as I could, but I hadn't yet really tried to push myself on a straightaway. It was fun.

Although, I will say that if I'm the one setting the pace, it really is about the bike...

Story 4 - The kickstand

Our ride ended in Coronado (where as far as I could tell, there is NO good, divey place for breakfast! If anyone knows of one, please inform!) As we were waiting for the ferry, we did find a reasonable cup of coffee and some pastries from Il Fornaio. Betty also taught us a new trick so that I can prop my bike up when I'm not on it, and when a curb is handy. You all probably already know this one, but it looks like this...

Cool...huh?

We also learned what happens if you don't have the pedal positioned so that it is behind the front derailleur.

Mik's bike...parked correctly...

This is what happens when you park it wrong...wouldn't you just know it that we'd be in front of a fountain.

Mik - picking up her bike

Peeing handlebars

Luckily, the bike was OK...and nothing of value was in the bike-bag....and Mik is a really good sport and let me take photos (which the tourists who were sitting around, enjoying their morning coffee found quite entertaining!)

On the ferry, going home, we ran into, of all people, Coach Paul from the San Diego Track Club! He belongs to an informal riding group called the "Dead Runners." They had awesome bike shirts and I wish I'd taken photos. Basically the Dead Runners are all former college and professional runners who can't or don't run much any more (Paul was an olympic qualifier in the 1500 meters in 1992) due to the simple wear and tear that running takes on the body. We had a great conversation about our running, our biking. Why it's good to do both.

On the ferry on the way back to San Diego

So...here are some running and riding stats from the weekend.

Saturday - Run
5.44 miles
1:01:13 - time
11:14 - ave pace

Sunday - Ride
23.46 - miles
1:37:24 - time
14.5 - ave speed

It feels so good to be well!