Running With the Herd (even when the herd's not around) and other randomness

In the last month or so, Elsie, Mik and I have burned CDs for each other with some of our favorite running songs (Betty doesn't listen to music when she runs. She says she has her own "internal" iPod. I'm pretty sure it contains, almost exclusively, tunes by Cheap Trick).

Mommy's allright, Daddy's allright
They just seem a little weird
Surrender, surrender

So, I've had some pretty entertaining runs this week. I'll be running along and then "Milkshake" (Kelis) will start playing:

My milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,
and they're like,
its better than yours,
damn right its better than yours,
I can teach you,
but I have to charge

And I'm thinkin' "is THAT what makes Elsie so happy when she's running?"

Here's the rest of Elsie's playlist

Mik shared her VERY eclectic taste in music...everything from the Beach Boys to Paul Simon to The Kooks...and lots of Irish tunes. Quite frankly, I think this explains why Mik runs so fast!

My list is pretty standard compared to theirs...some '80s pop and some current tunes. The lyrics to "Fish Heads" (They Might be Giants), is always good for some giggles...


Fish heads, fish heads,
rolly-polly fish heads,
fish heads, fish heads,
eat them up, Yum,

In the morning,
laughing happy fish heads,
in the evening,
floating in the soup,

Ask a fish head,
anything you want to,
they won't answer,
they can't talk,

I took a fish head,
out to see a movie,
didn't have to pay,
to get it in,

As I alluded to in my last post, I arrived very late to last Saturday's run. Both Kat and Elsie (who were there) were convinced I'd missed what is arguably one of the most scenic runs, so both took photos...just in case...

At the north end of Pacific Beach, near Tourmaline. Photo by Elsie

I think this is above La Jolla Cove...Photo by Kat

Yesterday, I solo'd it at the SDTC track workout where we did 7 x 800 Repeats. Spring has sprung here (finally...I think...), which means that at 6pm, it was still about 80 degrees on the track. Silly me, I forgot my water in the car. Can you tell from my Garmin Connect stats when I went to the water fountain? What this also means is that after the 5th 800, I did a set of steps at Balboa Stadium...LOL

Despite this, I managed to keep my 800 splits below a 10 minute mile pace (well...once was 9:59, but that's still under 10, right?).

In other news, the herd has registered for two more spring/summer runs.

Inaugural RiverFest 5K
In the last four years, we have spent PLENTY of time on the San Diego Riverbed, so it seems appropriate that next Sunday, Betty, Mik, Elsie, and I (and maybe a few more) are going to do the Inaugural RiverFest 5K. RiverFest is a full day festival which is the capstone to two weeks of events sponsored by the San Diego River Park Foundation called River Days. There'll be a 5K run/walk and a 1 mile kids run. If you are local and want to join, here's the link to register. It's for a really good cause (improving the river area). The foundation does some really good work.

San Francisco 1/2 Marathon (the first 1/2)
After much discussion, we've decided to complete the California Dreamin' Racing Series. We already ran the Surf City 1/2 Marathon in February, so now we're headed to San Francisco to run the San Francisco 1/2 Marathon on July 25. Then in October, we'll do the Long Beach 1/2 Marathon. It also means that we have to run Surf City again in February so that Betty can officially run as Betty and not Tiger (although she says that her pseudo-pseudonym for all races IS going to be Tiger...grrrr), so that she'll have finished the series as well.

My goal? To run all remaining 1/2 marathons this year sub 2:30 AND not get injured again!