Nineteen

On June 27, 1992, Walter and I got married. We'd been dating for a couple of years. I guess he finally decided that he could live with me after we drove around the country in my Mercury Capri convertible, and he still liked me...or at least we hadn't killed each other.

Miami, July 1992...you are absolutely NOT allowed to comment on the hair or the day-glo orange bathing suit, or the waist-high, folded over jean shorts...

And by around the country...I really do mean AROUND. We drove from San Diego to Miami, Florida; to New York City, to St. Louis, Missouri, to Reno, Nevada, back to San Diego...in this car.

One night we slept in this car, in a rest stop on I-70 on the Ohio-Indiana border. Not really very comfortable and only something you do when you are very young.

That car trip is also where Alice and Walter (our "names" for each other) were born. In my best nagging, whiney voice, I'd say "Walter, will you just stop the GAWD DAMN car and ASK SOMEONE WHERE THE @$%#$ WE ARE?"

To which he would calmly say:

"Just relax Alice. I know where I'm going..."

Yep...we figure if we survived that trip, we could survive marriage and kids.

Traffic delay somewhere in in the middle of Nowhere, Utah....to this day one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. Again no commentary about the hair, white high-waisted pants with a black belt (very slimming, no?) or Walter's shorts. He might still have those...

So...about a year later, we got married on June 27. If you Google the following morning (June 28, 1992) among the top hits you'll get is references to two of the biggest earthquakes to hit SoCal (at the time): the Landers Earthquake at about 5am, then another one about three hours later, the Big Bear.

Walter and I felt both of them from the 26th floor of the hotel we were staying at in downtown San Diego (a nice E-Ticket ride). So did all of our guests who were staying at another hotel nearby that had to be evacuated. To this day, when Walter or I say something about our wedding or reception we usually get two responses.

"That was a GREAT party" (and it was).

Go ahead...make up a caption for this one...

And Walter's response...

"I remember the EARTHQUAKE" (me too).

Nothing quite so earthshaking occurred this weekend for our 19th anniversary, but we did have a really nice two person celebration, doing one of our favorite things to do...drinking good wine. We went tasting in Temecula. We stayed at a place called South Coast Winery, which by Temecula standards is very nice.

At Palomar Winery...not one of my favorites, but has some lovely grounds...but DAMN it was HOT yesterday.

At a new winery called Europa Vineyards...had a very nice Pinot Grigio there. Don't we both have the happy eyes?

Napping by the pool...isn't that what everyone does after wine tasting on a hot day? He's kinda cute when he's sleeping, yes?

This morning, Walter and I went for a little three mile run through the vineyards. I stopped to take a few pix along the way, so it was a pretty leisurely run.

I love this picture...with Walter just looking at me and wondering what the heck I'm doing (stopping to take a picture of course!)

I am so ready to plan vines at our house and grow some grapes...they really are very pretty!

We ran past one of my favorite wineries in Temecula, Weins. It was about 8:30am, so they weren't open yet.

Yes, the sky really was that blue. 

Happy Anniversary Walter... Thanks for a great 19 and years. Can't wait to see what the next 19 brings us!

Oh those lazy days of summer...NOT

Summertime should be full of lazy days and long nights...Alas, that has NOT been my lot in life so far this summer and by the looks of it, it's not gonna be.

On the other hand, I suspect I'd drive my family nuts if I really had days on end with nothing to do. Although I like to admit that I am quite lazy, that admittance would be quite false. Having nothing to do SEEMS like such a lovely plan, but I know from my own experience, that lazing around is something that I can do for a little while (like when I have a good book to read or something like that), but even then, I go a little stir crazy after awhile (unless it is a REALLY good book...and the trouble with that is that I read pretty fast, so most REALLY good books are finished pretty darn quickly)...

So, where am I going with this?

Oh yeah...Why I haven't blogged in a week...

Instead of blogging, I...

• Went to a Heffer Happy Hour at Mona's house (aka The Vortex) in which we did arts and crafts and drank Mona's very dangerous Sangria.

We did "Shaving Cream Art"

Which resulted in some really cool cards and stuff that looked like this

Despite this... (full disclosure...we did the crafts early in the evening)

• Hosted a Father's Day Brunch at our house for all the Dad's in Walter's family

All the Dads...and Walter's sister Sally...in hats.

• Ran 9.5 miles with Betty on Monday (if it's summer in SoCal, Betty and I are running at The Bay)...actually a respectable 9.32 miles in 1:39:29 (10:33 pace)

• Met this guy who was wearing an AMAZINGLY BRIGHT DAYGLO PINK HAT (and matching shorts which you cannot see...but trust me, they matched the hat) after running and agreed to have picture taken with him.

He said he "liked my bright hat." I guess it's a good thing we weren't wearing the REALLY BRIGHT FLORESCENT DAYGLO-LIME GREEN shirts!

Pink-hat guy promised me he'd tag me on Facebook (uh...no you won't dude, cuz I'm really NOT telling you my name), but if you see a picture like on YOUR friend's page, then yes it was me. Pink-hat guy was from Kentucky, or at least that's what Betty and I surmised from the plates on the car he got into. 

Speaking of the car, Pink-hat dude and the girl he was with went back and sat in aforementioned car with KY plates for several minutes. Car off. Windows up. Doors shut. AND it was FREEKIN' HOT outside (questions about what Betty and I were doing running in the mid day heat will be answered at a future time). 

Back to bullets...other non-bloggy things I have done include:

• Playing the role of Personal Assistant and Hair Stylist for DramaGirl, who is in a youth theatre production of Once Upon a Mattress.

DramaGirl...getting ready for the play...gotta love the hot-rollers, yes? They are OLD SCHOOL!

• Have volunteered to move set pieces for two of the play's dress rehearsals this week...will work at two of the "real shows" tomorrow and Saturday.
• Tried to run on the 'mill last night (2 miles...GAH!) and it was so HUMID that I had to stop (even indoors it was), that and I had to hurry to get to....

OPENING NIGHT!!!! (some seriously camera shy teenagers)

• Ran at Lake BP tonight...for anyone local, the temporary fence is down and you can go all the way to the bullseye! (I didn't). My legs felt like LEAD the whole way, but I still ran a respectable 4.6 miles in 49 minutes (10:30 pace)....BTW...a really good way to run FAST at the end of a run is to park inside a park that says it closes it's gates at 8pm...and realize that you have less than 10 minutes to run the last mile to get back to your car. Yep, that'll do it!

• I may rue the day I said this...but I don't think the city REALLY closes the park gates at Lake BP at 8pm...I left the lot at 8:04 tonight and I didn't see a park person ANYWHERE. Liars!

OK...so that's what I've been up to...trying to keep up with the running (after all, we have another half-marathon to run in three weeks!) I'm gearing up for an 11 mile run this weekend.

I'm going to try to catch up on my blog-reading tonight (although, I will admit that HBO-GO is a VERY DANGEROUS TIME SUCKING APP...and I'm still staying up way too late watching shows that I'd missed.

A Little Bit of Randomness

There's no rest for the weary since the herd has another half-marathon, the Napa to Sonoma half, to do in about a month. So last Saturday, Betty, Elsie and I ran in Balboa Park. It was a beautiful, overcast morning, which definitely left me thinking WHERE THE HECK WERE ALL THESE CLOUDS for the Rock and Roll Half?

Previous weekend, I was running on that road...

No blue sky (on the Laurel Street Bridge going into Balboa Park)

I managed to eek out about 7 miles, which wasn't bad a week after running a half. Elsie and Betty got in five miles! After our run through the park, we met at Elsie's house for breakfast and as an added bonus, we got to meet Elsie's newest grand-calf!

Everybody gets some breakfast. (No, we did not offer mimosas to the baby...geeesh)

Is she gorgeous, or WHAT! (Betty loves babies)

Somehow, however, once the week started, even though it is summer, I managed to get in very little running--just two short runs on the mill. It's getting warm now, so I've really got to get in the habit of running earlier in the morning. I just really can't do more than 30 minutes on the mill.

We've got 8 to 9 miles planned for this weekend and Mik and I also have a plan to do more circuit training (squats, lunges, and core work) to train for this race. I'm hoping that doing strenght training will help me get past that 11 mile barrier that I've faced the past several half-marathons.

Ihave no doubt that Mik has been diligent about her strength this week, but me?

Kinda like the running...Not so much.

In other life-randomness, in this post that is in search of a point, or an overarching theme, or hopefully, at least, a reasonable transition from one idea to the next, I can share the following:

• HBO-GO may be the most evil iPad AP ever because now I can watch ALL of the episodes Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm as I lie in bed, which has kept me up and away from sleep too many times these past two weeks.
• I've started wearing a mouth guard because, apparently, I clench my teeth as I sleep (surprised by this? I didn't think so). I don't like it.
• Father's Day is this weekend, and for the first time EVER I am prepared and will NOT be running around in a panic on Saturday!
• I can loose 6 pounds in 10 days on the South Beach Diet, and gain most of it back in two when I start eating carbs again. I know this because this is what I did yesterday and today.
• Betty got a bib to the Napa to Sonoma half...and is all legit because she paid the transfer fee and so she gets to run as Betty this time, and not as Tiger or some other random pseudonym.

Speaking of the Napa to Sonoma half...We almost had a major debacle in our travel plans...luckily I discovered my own epic-almost-failure as the herd travel organizer which lead to this email last week.

Hey Herd, 

It was bound to happen eventually...you're booking agent and travel organizer has made a whopper of an error. 

I THOUGHT that I'd made a reservation for all of us at Embassy Suites in Napa. I have several emails to all of you saying that I was going to do that...

Then we got the email that we got into Nike, and so I switched my attention to booking rooms/flights to San Fran.

Oh...then I probably went and taught a class or something.

Anyway, I was checking to confirm things this morning, and I couldn't find a hotel reservation for Napa. I called Embassy Suites, and they don't have a record of it either AND they are sold out!

So...I booked two rooms at the Double Tree in American Canyon...although I may change it. It's not in Napa...it's in American Canyon, which is farther away, although it looks nice...  GAH!

The truth is, I think the herd would stay in a Motel 6 if I booked a room there. I'm the one with the "minimum hotel" requirements.

Stay tuned. Our trip to Napa should be quite the adventure!

WIN, FAIL, LOL - San Diego RnR Race Report

I love running the San Diego Rock and Roll Half-Marathon. I love running through the center of the city in the morning, the smell of bacon emanating from the yet-to-open restaurants, and the smell of coffee from the ubiquitous Starbucks and other coffee houses. I love running down Park Avenue and through Balboa Park and not having to worry about cars and traffic. I love the opportunity to run on one of our most scenic highways, the 163 and under the Laurel Street (or whatever it's called) bridge. I love running over the Tecolote bridge and feeling (finally) the breezes blowing off of Mission Bay.

Yes, there are parts of this run that are not too scenic (Morena Blvd...parts of Friars...for the marathoners, having to run on Fiesta Island, but even that was a shorter run this year).

Yep, I love this race, but it doesn't always love me. I vowed that this year would be different.

But before I get to that, I do have a bone to pick with the weather-people.

As you know, I obsessed about the weather all week. I was so happy when I read the forecast which called for morning haze and drizzle on Sunday morning?

How about THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF THAT...

Woke up, stepped outside, not a cloud in the sky.

ah well...

Last year's San Diego Marathon and 1/2 Marathon was fraught with some new course & new race director difficulties, challenges, and downright bloopers. The two biggest (IMHO) were the lack of porta-potties at the start (this year? still a fail...not an EPIC fail like last year, but still not enough). The larger problem was on the course mostly on the 163, where both the half-marathon and marathon were on the course at the same time. Ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem, only by the time the marathoners got to the freeway, they'd run an additional 5 or 6 miles through downtown San Diego. This resulted in 8 - 9 minute mile marathon runners running alongside (or over, or mostly around) 11-12 (or slower) minute mile half-marathoners. There were LOTS of complaints about this. It was bad.

This year, Competitor solved the problem; both north and south bound lanes of the 163 were closed for the race with marathoners on the south-bound side and half-marathoners on the northbound side.

This also gave the half-marathoners the much kinder, less-cant-y, less hilly, more shady, north bound side...which I enjoyed a great deal.

So, once again... here was the route

And, here is the full report in terms of WINS, FAILS, AND LOLS

Pre-race WINS!

• Walter dropping us off (again) on the east side of the park - no traffic at all.
• Joining up with the track club for the pre-race warmup (sorta) and stretch, running into all my track club peeps.
• Getting two nights of good sleep and feeling extraordinarily chipper on race morning. Let's just say that most of the time, pre-race, I am not particularly talkative. On Sunday, I was a complete motormouth. 

Pre-race FAIL

• Getting separated from Mik and Kat when we were checking our bags, and not seeing them until the end of the race.
• The porta-potty line itself...still ended up standing in it for close to 30 minutes. I was (once again) in line when the race started (yeah, yeah...not a big deal, but for once I'd like to be at the START when a large race like this actually STARTS...)

Pre-race LOL

• Irene's hubs spotted us during his warmup and out  "IRENE'S IN THE PORTA POTTY LINE. SHE'S WEARING GREEN!!!" I'm sure Irene appreciates knowing this.

I mean...do we look READY or what?

So...like I said, after the warmup, Mik, Kat and I went to check our gear and then we ended up in different porta potty lines. I think I went toward their gear check trucks, and they came back to where I was...and we didn't cross paths...sigh.

We definitely needed to work out a better plan for that aspect of running big races, but it didn't bother me too much because we would have run our own races anyway.  I did get a text from Kat that they were in a corral, but when I couldn't find them, I just blended into somewhere around corral 16 or 17 and started the race.

Mile 1-4 - A Great Start

Mile 1- 4 WINS

• Deciding that I was going to run my own race... to start off slowly and still have some energy for the last couple of miles, and letting LOTS of people pass me.
• Enjoying the first five miles of the 1/2 marathon, which were the best. The bands on 6th Avenue, University, and Park were plentiful and LOUD. I didn't even feel compelled to listen to my shuffle. I just ran along, and listened to the tourists around me chat about race strategies, adventures and ask each other cute questions about where they were, and waved to the less fortunate, who were cheering the runners on. I'm sure we were quite the parade.

Mile 1-4 FAIL

• Running down Park Avenue and already my sunglasses were fogging and I was sweating... probably NOT a good thing.
• Thinking WTF? I have to pee again?
• Getting a Sunday morning, hell-fire-and-brimstone sermon, even though I wasn't in church. As we ran back into Balboa Park and through the Prado, which is just the coolest place ever, there were a group of Christian Fundamentalists, shouting or maybe they were preaching, at us as we ran past. OK...fine, they have their beliefs and their rights; I have mine, but does your God really want you shouting "YOU ARE WEAK!!!!" through a bullhorn at me as I am in the early stages of a half marathon? Not sure they got many converts that morning. 

Mile 1-4 LOL

• Thinking of sending Betty and Elsie a text message as I ran down Park to ask them WTF they were...but I figured they were still in bed... Next time girls, next time.

I pilfered this from the race photographers site. First, It may be one of the only decent running pictures of me EVER! We were in front of the hall of champions at this point. I remember running past the dude in the American flag shorts....

It took me awhile to figure this out, but I think this must be the 5K mat that we ran over.  Green stands out in the crowd doesn't it?

Splits

Mile 1 - 10:38

Mile 2 - 10:32

Mile 3 - 10:00

Mile 4 - 10:11

Miles 5 - 10 - The 163 and Friars Road

Mile 5-10 WINS

• Running up the north side of the 163 was AWESOME. First of all, by entering at the foot of Balboa park, we bypassed the larger hill that we ran up last year when we started at the foot of downtown. Second, who knew that the north going lanes had much less cant to them than the south going lanes. And third...the shade. Oh yes, the shade.
• Cresting at the Washington Street Exit, which is the top of the "big hill," and thinking "that was IT?" 
• Looping on and off the hotel circle on and off ramps to get back onto the south-going lanes...never done THAT before. 
• Being thankful for the trees planted on the meridian on Friars.
• Being even more thankful for the TAR-JAY water station at mile 9ish, which had ICE WATER!
• Seeing Irene's hubs, Michael at Mile 10. He was really the first person from the track club that I'd seen.
• Reading my Garmin after 10 miles and seeing 1:47. Thinking...OMG I can run three miles in thirty minutes and come in under 2:20...maybe even 2:15! Clearly my math faculties were suffering at that point. It was probably a sign.

Mile 5 - 10 FAIL

• Noticing the sun... It was out and on my back. Even though the morning was relatively cool and there was a slight breeze, I could feel the sun sapping me. I tried to steer myself toward the shade, but it added miles. It's always depressing when my Garmin buzzes, as it does every mile, and I am not even close to the mile marker...
• Being handed Blueberry GU and taking it. I shoulda held out for the vanilla.

Mile 5 - 10 LOL

• Laughing about the "stuff" left behind on the road by runners. At the race expo on Friday, we spent several minutes looking for the "perfect headband" for Kat. It was sparkly and green...very pretty. On the freeway, I spotted a similar one and didn't pick it up when I realized it was more a teal green than the emerald green Kat had. Later on a friend from the track club (Kate) told me that she also saw the headband on 163...funny the things you notice as you run.
• Reading the signs...the signs...the signs... I love people's signs. My favorite this year (or maybe its the only one I can remember) said "Stop reading and keep running!

Splits

Mile 5 - 10:56

Mile 6 - 10:49

Mile 7 - 10:09

Mile 8 - 10:37

Mile 9 - 10:38

Mile 10 - 11:00

Miles 11-13 

Mile 11 - 13 FAIL

• I'm gonna start off with fails...because there were lots of them in the last couple of miles. 
• Realizing my plan to start off easy and have energy for the end sorta wasn't exactly going to work out as I'd planned. Right after the turn around and the 11 mile marker, I just felt empty. Within a 1/2 mile, my legs just stopped running. I don't even remember telling them to; they just did. And when I stopped running, I felt lightheaded and dizzy, which I figured was NOT a good thing. There was a water station at about 11.5, so I ate about 1/3 of one of the blueberry GUs (yuk) and chased it with some water. I felt immediately better and was able to start running again. I did this at least one more (maybe two...I can't remember) times in the next two miles. 
• Walking for 20 steps, then do 10 more, then running again. I guess this could be considered a WIN, but I really, really, really wanted to not have the 11 mile melt-down in this race. I know it's mostly mental, and I'm not sure what to do about it.
• Watching some guy in an orange shirt fly past me, high stepping and arms flailing.  I just figured he was happy to be almost done, but then he just dropped....to the ground. A few of us spotted a SDPD and shouted to him that a runner was down. It was scary. A few seconds later, I heard the ambulance. More scary. 

Mile 11 - 13 WINS

• I'll end with the wins, because even though the last two miles weren't the best, some really good things happened and those are the things I want to remember most.
• Seeing and hugging Irene at about 10.5 miles, right before the turnaround. We both hurdled the meridian to give each other a big, quick, sweaty, hug. She looked GREAT, and I knew then that she was having a great race. Seeing Irene gave me a boost...that boost lasted almost exactly 3/4 mile.
• During one of my "walk-breaks," a woman from the track club touched me on the shoulder, smiled and said "you make a difference in my life." This may sound all dorky, but throughout the track club season, Coach Paul says this to us, and he makes us say it to each other. It feels odd at first, telling a complete stranger that they make a difference, but on that day, at that time, that woman made a HUGE difference in my life. I started running again, and thinking about it, even now almost makes me cry. 
• Hearing Coach Paul on his bullhorn at Seaworld Drive...another miracle of the day. He was there, yelling out to all the runners that they make a difference, that they looked strong, reminding everyone to relax their shoulders, and that we make a difference. There was no way on God's green earth I was going to stop and walk after that. I shouted out to him, "I love you Paul!" and he shouted back "I love you too!" and that's all it took...so much of this running thing is mental.

Mile 11 - 13.1 LOL

• I don't know if I have an LOL in these two miles. At first I thought the flailing guy was funny, but then when I saw him go down...not. so. much.

Splits 

Mile 11 - 10:45

Mile 12 - 11:58 (ouch!)

Mile 13 - 11:18

Mile 13 - 13.1 (or in my case...13.3) - The Finish

WIN, WIN, and WIN

• Heading toward the finish and finishing strong. At the time, I was sorta disappointed that I'd walked in the last couple of miles, and that I hadn't run all 13.1 the way I'd wanted to. But when I look at my time and splits now, I'm actually pretty pleased that I had some kick left (my pace for the last .3 miles was 9:01).

Split

13 - Finish (actually 13.3) - 2:50

The aftermath...

I finished the race...pumped my hands a few times (as if I were a first place finisher), downed the first water almost immediately, collected my medal, skipped the photo-op, and made my way to the post-race buffet.

There was some pretty good post-race food. I grabbed a bagel and some hummus (yum!), and a Cytomax (which I don't really like, but figured that I needed the electrolytes). I made my way to the gear check to get my stuff, then I went to find the SDTC tent, which is where I found Mik and Kat and Irene and Michael.

The track club tent had some additional salty stuff for us, and chocolate milk (which is just a miracle!). I took off my shoes, put on some flipflops and just sat for several minutes. It felt SUPERB!

Mik, Kat and I also found Irene and Kate at the track club tent. Thanks goes to Irene because I pilfered this photo from her FB page! I NEVER take enough pix...

We hung out there for awhile, ate bagels, relived our races. Kat, who hadn't trained was disappointed in her time, and she made the promise to herself that I made at last year's Surf City, to never run a 1/2 mary without training for it. Smart Girl. Mik was, of course, a rockstar and ran a stellar race. I dug up this from the race photographer.

Look AT HER GOOOOOOOOOO!

Like last year, Walter, Turbo, and DramaGirl spent the morning at the SDTC water station at Mile 25, which was on Fiesta Island. For some reason I felt like I had enough energy to walk over there to see everyone, so I did. Kat and Mik waited in the shade, under a tree, on Seaworld drive. Again, I have no idea where the energy came from.

Mik and I trying to figure out where to go.

Mik and Kate (who we adopted for the rest of the morning as she needed a ride back to her car, and I was happy to help out), leading us across a field to Fiesta Island...see those trees in the distance? There's blue tent to the left of them. I think we were going that way.

Yeah...I really have no idea what got into me, but I did walk another mile and then some out to the water station and then back to the car. Clearly I should make sure I sleep before a race all the time.

DramaGirl and Turbo...at Mile 25, some runners just wanted water thrown at them. Turbo was very happy to oblige. Also, the biggest story of the day was the adventure of a caterpillar that managed to cross the road where the marathoners were running...twice...without getting stepped on. 

Edith was there with her two boys (She's gotta be standing on a chair or something... The girl is just NOT that tall!)

I'm still thinking about what happens to me after the 10th mile. I think I may need to do a few more 11, 12, or even a 13 mile training run. Maybe part of it is fuel. I'm not sure. I do have another 1/2 Marathon in July (YIKES!), the Napa to Sonoma run. I hope to have it figured out by then.

Until then, I am actually very pleased with my 2:22:58 finish. I also know that I can improve upon that, and maybe next month I'll be able to do it.

It will definitely require a good night's rest.

San Diego RnR 1/2 - A Quick Report

Long (undoubtedly) race report coming later, but briefly

Alice - 2:22:58 - PR by about 4:30
Mik - 1:53:32 - She's a freeking rock star! Another PR
Kat - 2:21:03 - Not her best day...but still a very respectable finish.

Here's the route....

Oh...and not a cloud in the sky...GAH!

I'd write more, but I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted! Full report to follow...

San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon - Swag Bag Review

Mik, Kat and I went to the San Diego RnR Expo this afternoon...to new runners (if there are any out there), my advice is to ALWAYS go to a race expo on Friday if you can. We walked in, got our bibs, t-shirts, and swag bag in probably less than 10 minutes...nice

Mik, Kat and I w/our swag. We literally spent less than 30 minutes at the expo, then got a security boy (he musta been about 12) to leave his post to take our picture. You know runners...an unruly bunch!

So...here I am...feel free to stalk...but GAH! my name is spelled wrong (it's Cindi with an I).  

Competitor came to a track club workout a few months back and we got a discount on our registration. The representative made a big-huge-effing-deal out of making sure that WE spelled our name correctly on the entry form because there were problems last year. And I must have spelled my name correctly because my name was spelled correctly on EVERYTHING ELSE but my BIB...registration, shoe tag, gear check tag which is DIRECTLY ADJACENT to the bib! GAH again!

I'll stick with Aka Alice next time. I guess there's only one way to spell Alice.

Also...a comment on the bag...suhweet. Very nice, cloth, reusable, and larger than your usual swag bag. It'll have enough room for a post-race dry shirt and shorts (and yes, I will change after the race, even if it has to be between two UPS trucks).

Yeah...I know. It's a really blurry shot of the shirt...another black one and a mens cut, so that means Turbo gets another t-shirt. Geez...$100+ for a race and they can't do both mens and womens shirts? WTF?

We pretty much sped through the expo because Mik had to get to an all-star little league game (her sons are amazing athletes) and I had to get to the SDTC Pre-race Pasta Dinner (more about that in a bit), but we did take time to wander a bit to see if there was anything new.

One More Mile had some new t-shirts. This one made me smile. 

A woman next to me was also taking a picture of this shirt and was texting it to her husband... We laughed, but neither of us bought the shirt...

It actually wasn't too crowded this afternoon, but this area was...the line for the MGD 64 light water beer. I'm always surprised to see people stand in line for the stuff.

Tonight Walter and I went to the SDTC's Pre-race pasta dinner. For one reason or another, I've never gone to this event before. It was really nice to see everyone all dressed up (or at least cleaned up. Most of us were in jeans and t-shirts).

I never know what to make of it when people say "WOW! You look GREAT!" I mean, I know that track club peeps typically see me at the butt-crack of dawn and I have no makeup on and my hair is under a hat, but do I really look THAT BAD?

I guess makeup and a brush does make a difference.

I don't have any good pix from the night, but Irene took plenty, so I'll just have to wait for her or Doreen to post some on FB and I'll borrow from them.

BTW...thanks Irene for saving seats for Walter and me. ((hugs))

When I got home, I unpacked my swag bag to see if there was anything worth taking a second look at. I LOVE swag. I admit it. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE free shiz, and I'm often entertained by what vendors want to give away.

So...here is my first ever


SWAG BAG REVIEW!

BTW...lots most of the power-bar vendors were giving away samples that were not pre-wrapped. In other words, you had to sample it . Bad marketing move I think. I took about two bites of some various stuff and now I don't even remember what it was. I certainly wasn't going to sample everything. if somebody did, they'd have a pretty serious gut-ache I'd bet.

Anyway, I think its a better move to give away a "fun size" then I'm likely to try it at home and maybe purchase it later, but that's just me, your average consumer who REALLY, REALLY LIKES FREE SHIZ.

Back to my review, we didn't spend much time there, so most of this is what was pre-packed in the bag. In addition to the multitudes of postcards and flyers about upcoming races and the GAZILLION events in the Competitor Rock and Roll series, there were some items of interest...or at least stuff I hadn't seen before.

Like peanut butter. Seriously, there's an actual sample of PB inside! I got a loaf of bread at the Carlsbad expo a couple years ago...I think we should get both next time.

Deodorant...not new, but always appreciated.

Really? A song download from Geico? Don't they do car insurance? Odd.

Just YUM! 

I've heard of this stuff...it's like an ice pack, but it doesn't need to be frozen. Has anyone used this stuff? Does it work? I'm thinking my knee could use it after the race, so I'm leaving it in the bag. 

One of the GAGILLION race flyers, but this was the only one with an event in Puerto Rico...I'm thinking ROAD TRIP!

One more day. One more day. Tomorrow is all about taking it easy and getting my race gear together and relaxing and not stressing out too much. I'm oddly keyed up about this race. I think its because I'm actually hoping to do well, but I don't want to hope too much and then be disappointed. 

At the Pasta Dinner tonight, several of the speakers talked about just enjoying the race, going with the flow, taking it all in and I want to do that, but I also feel like I'm more ready for this race than, perhaps, I've ever been for any race...but I also don't want to jinx it.

Oh yeah...I'm going to be a hoot to be around tomorrow. Is it Sunday yet?

___________________________

On a completely separate note...Walter's business partner has started a fitness blog. Last year (to this day actually) he had a heart attack as he was driving home from the gym. John was 44. Anyway, check out his blog, Hart Tack Tales. He tells the story better than I do, and follow along as he gets himself fit and healthy.

It's Not Like I Obsess about These Things...

Oh honestly, you all know me better than that....

The National Weather Service (which I trust more than weather.com) has the following forecast discussion for this weekend.

OVER THE WEEKEND ANOTHER TROUGH DEEPENS ALONG THE WEST COAST AND IT LOOKS COOLER. THERE IS SOME CHANCE OF PRECIPTO OUR NORTH ESPECIALLY SUNDAY INTO MONDAY...BUT NOT QUITE IN OUR REGION. SO EXPECT THE USUAL MARINE LAYER ENHANCEMENT FOR LOTS OF CLOUDS ESPECIALLY WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS...

To which I say:

YES! (fist-pump, fist-pump)

I love that they call it "the usual marine layer enhancement." Sounds lovely, no?

That's all...I've got other things to obsess about now. 

Three Days to RnR.