Bikerides, Trash TV, Big Kayaks, Foreigner, and Too Much Wine

Do you ever have those weekends where you flit from one activity to the next thinking, "oh this'll be a great thing to blog about" and then you NEVER have two flipping seconds to actually sit down and blog about it?

Welcome to my weekend...

So, if I were to actually sit down and blog about all the randomness of the weekend, this blog would win the "All Time Longest Blog Ever Written Award" so, since it's Monday night, I'm gonna just post some pictures.

Friday - Bike ride at Lake PB with DramaGirl and Turbo

At the fence we stopped for a drink. I'm just glad that we made it without a major meltdown on the part of any of us.

After multiple attempts at trying to take a self portrait, finally one shot that includes all three of us!

Funny line of the afternoon...there was an older gentleman riding his bike past us (giving us the rear-view), then toward us (giving us the frontal-view) wearing, unfortunately, a really skimpy Speedo.

Why?

Turbo looked at me, laughed and said "That's just wrong mom."

I gotta agree with that!

Friday night - Real Housewives of New Jersey/The Cougar Viewing Party

I have nothing to say about either one of these shows, other than I'll probably watch the Housewives again, because it's just too trashy and fun, and because they call their breasts "bubbies," but The Cougar was just too creepy...way beyond trash.

We did have some fine trashy snacks though.

Orange fruit candy (the fruit course), cheeze whiz in a can, Vienna sausages, and the mandatory pastrami-wrapped cream cheese pickles (I'm still swollen from the sodium intake).

We made a special plate for Elsie. Vienna Sausage with tomatoes...cuz we are so mature... I knew she'd never eat a Vienna Sausage. She cringes whenever I order shell fish. I tell her I don't want to know where it comes from or what it ate when it was alive.

Saturday - Take it easy day

Nothing to report - I did move the pool furniture out on the deck and cleaned it off. I did not go run with the SDTC because they ran in Oceanside (which is just really, really, really, far) and since this is supposed to be a 1/2 Mary taper week, I really didn't need to run 17 miles.

We did have some wine with our friends Jean and Tom...for those of you who are keeping count, that's two nights in a row drinking wine for me...

Sunday - Torrey Pines taper run

Elsie, Betty and I decided to give THE HILL at Torrey Pines one more go. The difference between the previous weekend, and this past weekend (well...in addition to the wine), on Sunday it was relatively warm. As usual, the heat HURT.

It was a beautiful day. Since I was run/walking, I took lots of pictures. Here are Betty and Elsie with Torrey Pines State Beach in the background

Random signs in the state park...I mean is nudity such an issue that there needs to be a sign that tells it's prohibited? (Although, this may have been one of the trails that leads down to Blacks Beach. I, of course, wouldn't know about THAT)

I took this shot on the way down the hill...nice shot of the trees

Wait a FREEKIN' MINUTE. I think this guy is Elsie's BOYFRIEND!!! (Fo-Reals! Although she hasn't let us meet him yet...what's she afraid of anyway?, she did "accidentally" run into him during our run on Sunday, and in going through my pictures today I realized that I HAD AN ACTUAL PHOTO OF THE GUY! Is it him Elsie? Is it? Is it? Don't try to deny...

Of course, when we found out that Elsie had run into her new boyfriend, we had to leave a note on his car (cuz again, we're so mature that way).

We also took note of the BIG KAYAK hanging out of the back of his car

Sunday Night - Foreigner!

One would think that a bike ride, a trash TV viewing party, friends over for wine, and a taper run would be enough for one weekend...but noooooooooooo, I had to go to see Foreigner on Sunday NIGHT as well...

Yes, the maturity of a 12 year old, and I sometimes think I'm still 25 as well...WTF? Oh, and I think that all of April has been '80s month for me anyway, so why not go to Foreigner concert...

Mona, me, Edith, and Daisy (who makes a blog appearance) with our iPhone Zippo lighters during "Blue Monday."

Dolly and Momma - rockin' (or Momma is wondering what she did to end up in this place)

The view from our seats (beginning of the concert)

The view after Mona and I decided to get closer to the stage (actually I just credit Mona who has amazing persuasive powers and convinced the security guy that the band NEEDED us near the stage...)

OH YEAH! Me, Mona, and Edith, backstage with the lead singer after the concert because some random woman gave Mona and I some backstage passes...

May I just add that this kind of thing NEVER happens to me. Again, it was the pretty, young, chick that I was hanging out with...but still, I'll take it!

So, I was VERY tired today, and I'm VERY tired tonight, and I'm STILL singing Foreigner songs in my head...

Thank goodness today was Monday. I needed some REST!

The Math

OMFG...so Marcy, (who's pretending that she's gonna retire from blogging on June 4, 2009), has recognized me with her Blogger of the Week (BOTW) designation.

Wow. I mean. Wow. Lil' ole me?

And in an even GREATER HONOR, I also got to share some of that web-space recognition with Jessica Alba's ass-tattoo*...

Now how often in my life will I get to say THAT?

Soooo...here's me

In my office...wearing my "Seriously?" look

Here's JA's ass (thanks Marcy, borrowed from your blog)

Leave your comments regarding the tat on Marcy's blog :-)

So it's finally Thursday afternoon, and that means I'm done teaching for the week, and that also means that like Carly, I have about a gazillion blogs to catch up on because this is the first time all week I've had a moment to sit down and read/write/think about my or anyone else's blog...(I just wrote "sit down" and looked up at JA's bow simultaneously...quite. disturbing. moment. really.)

So, when I read Marcy's blog about being BOTW, I had an initial moment of PANIC, because my last blog entry was posted all the way back on Saturday, and although it does include a picture of a dead whale, and a great insult, AND it references after-run mimosa drinking, to be honest, it's not one of my finer attempts at blogging...so the pressure for today is GI-FUCKING-NORMOUS

And, I was gonna post today anyway, and the post today is about MATH**.

In the heffer-sphere, the email conversation this week has been about the upcoming Race for Literacy. It's a little 8K run around Balboa Park on May 3. It's not chip timed, but you do get to run down the 163 freeway (downhill - toward downtown San Diego - the opposite of the uphill route of the Rock and Roll Marathon). In fact, it's mostly a downhill race. I had one of my fastest mid-distance pace times EVER when I ran last year. AND the proceeds go toward improving literacy improvement in the county, and we bloggers LOVE literacy, right?

I've run this race every year for the past four years with a group of teachers from the high school where I used to teach.

This year, some of the math teachers in our group (BBJ and Santiago for example) are balking at a running a race for literacy. BBJ said in an email that he was holding out for a race for numeracy.

WTF?

Betty's email response to BBJ about how we all do mental math while running got me to thinking about how much math I do when I run.

• How many races should I run in a season?
• How many miles have I run so far?
• How many miles to the next water station?
• How fast am I running right now?
• How slow am I running right now?
• How much longer until I'm done?
  
• How many calories have I burned?
• How many more calories do I have to burn in order to share pancakes with Betty at breakfast?
  
• If I run my current pace, for x more miles, how many more mimosas can I consume that will be equal to the number of carbohydrates in a Gu? (I think that's an algebra problem)

So...since every run is a numeracy run, I think all the math teachers ought join in... Edith already is (I haven't written about Edith in awhile and she HATES it when I forget about her.), but Edith is a chick...maybe it's just the dude math teachers that are being lame...(yeah, I'm callin' you out boys...)

Finally, today's TiART at the Runner's Lounge is about runners who blog -- how and why. Today's post is a bit of a snapshot which really sorta captures my how and why. I started this blog a little over a year ago, mostly to ramble on about stupid shiz like this as my friends and I were training for our first marathon. Mostly I've recounted the random things I think about and see on long runs and races. I post silly pictures of us before, during and after running. I rant about rotten roads, dead creatures, how I hate running in the heat, how I started to enjoy running up hills, my aches and pains (plenty this year), OH, and I retell stories that my friends (who are all waaaaaaaaay funnier than I am) tell me after we run...oh yeah, and I write about the mimosas we drink afterward

Since then, I've written about a bunch of other shiz as well...sometimes I write about my kids, my husband (who is running the Race for Literacy with me...so not not a dude thing; just a math-dude thing) my family, teaching...but usually in light of how these things interact (or sometimes interfere) with my running.

I started this blog for a small group of friends and because of it, I've made lots more. The runner-blogger community is just THE BEST. I can't wait for Thursday and I'm done teaching, and I finally get to sit down with my computer friends...and find out how their weeks went, who's doing what race this coming weekend, who's kids are bugging them, and who is making a great comeback after being hurt. We cheer each other on and make each other laugh...that's important to me. Lots of others have said it already, but I run, blog, run, blog, race, blog, repeat...I can't imagine doing one without the other now.

Oh, and for those of you who came here from Marcy's blog looking for the dead whale...here it is again

I wonder who will find my blog today because they Googled "Jessica Alba," "ass" and "whale?"

*I'll assume that ya'all read Marcy's blog...since she's got about a gazillion readers, and is one of the most popular chicas in the internets, at least according to Facebook, she is.

** Nice freeking transition, don't ya think?

Ah Hell...I Forgot to Give this a Title

Golly...I'm prolific this week! Must be Spring Break :-)

Back to running news. This morning, we (Betty, Elsie, Mik, BBJ, Santiago, and I) ran the SDTC's Low Tide Run. We ran from La Jolla Shores, up the part of Torrey Pines State Beach that is nearly impossible to get to, then up Torrey Pines and back down to La Jolla. Check out this elevation!

Both Lisa, who is running the La Jolla 1/2 and Irene have written about running the hill this week. It's daunting hill to run, and probably because I haven't run all week, I was pretty nervous about it. I wanted to do well, because this week's run mimics the most difficult part of the La Jolla 1/2.


I'm thrilled to say, it wasn't fast, and it wasn't pretty...but I did it. I ran the whole hill (I kept thinking Lisa did this. I can do it. Lisa did this. I can do this. Of course, Lisa would be just kicking my ass in her relative sprint up the hill right now, but I can do it.)

Last year for this run, it was about 80 degrees by 8am, and I was MIS-ER-A-BLE! This morning, it was about 50 degrees, and even though I broke a pretty serious sweat climbing over the rocks to get to the state park, and by the time I hit the cliffs, I was WAAAAAAY overdressed, it was WAAAAAAY better to be running in 50º, overcast weather, than unseasonably warm weather...I hope the cool weather holds for two more weeks, but I'm not optimistic about that.

Mik and Betty hovering in the car before the run because it too cold to be outside of the car.

Elsie, in the oh-so-fashionable garbage bag/warm up gear. I swear she's been a menace with lost clothing articles lately.

The run starts off at Kellogg Park (known to locals as simply La Jolla Shores). We run up the beach and if the tide is REALLY LOW, you can continue to run up the beach, but this morning, the tide wasn't REALLY LOW, and it was actually coming in, so like last year, we ended up walking over the rocks, close to the cliffs (Betty kept calling it "bouldering" which makes me giggle)

So, even though it was pretty cold on the shores, against the cliffs, it was pretty warm.

The run on the beach is one of the most amazingly beautiful things. Like I said, we run along the Torrey Pines Cliffs. It's really difficult to get to. In fact, San Diego's nude beach (Blacks Beach) is located here (nobody was nude sunbathing at 7:00 this morning...because I know you were wondering). But here's what we did see.

1. A dead seagull
2. A seal
3. A jellyfish

4. Beached whale - sad, but UNBELIEVABLY SMELLY.

In the future, when I want to REALLY insult someone, I'm going to call them a rotting beached whale. I'll know how AMAZINGLY bad that is...

Some other shots from the beach portion of the run. (My pix really don't do the beauty of the place justice...)

This is what happens when you take pictures while running...It seemed like such a good idea at the time...

Betty and I with the cliffs in the background...do you recognize the glasses? Nike sent me a new pair HOORAY!

Betty and me with the surf in the background!

So...the first 1/2 of the run went really well. Foot and hip felt fine. Certainly running on the sand, even the hard sand, helped this.

Running up Torrey Pines went well (if slow). Then we ran about 3 miles on a relatively flat, slightly downhill Torrey Pines Road. I still felt pretty good. I stopped at each water station and stretched for a bit...which slowed my overall time a fair amount, but I am able to walk tonight, so that's a good thing, right?

I also want to tout the amazingness of Gu Roctaine...that stuff ROCKS! I took one before I started the hill, and I think that's part of the reason I felt so good for the whole rest of the run. Usually when I run for 2+ hours I'll go through at least 2 Gu...I never felt a need for a second one. I like that. Each of those puppies is 100 calories, and I know I need the calories when I'm running, but I'm also getting calories from the Vitalite at the water stations. It kills me to be consuming calories on something that isn't...oh, PIE or BREAD or something really yummy, like a mimosa, or wine...I will be using it again...

But I digress a bit...back to some other fun run photos.

Down the hill - Betty at Water Station 3

BBJ and Santiago caught up with us (of course, they ran 14+ miles to our 11) LOOK! Santiago is SMILING! (of course, maybe that is because I was yelling at him to "SMILE FOR THE CAMERA!" He enjoyed that...)

Then, came the roughest part of the run...the last downhill mile to La Jolla Shores...It is a brutally steep downhill. I tried to run it really slowly, but with every step, I just felt like I could feel all of my weight on my achilles and knees. This will be the toughest part of the La Jolla 1/2 in two weeks...mostly because it will still be followed by two more miles and one smaller climb.

Another blurry shot of us running down the hill...the blur in front of me is Betty. Yeah, another incredibly blurry running shot. I'm a photo genius, aren't I?

The crew...after the run (all at once!)

After the run...back to World Famous for some well-deserved mimosas and breakfast. You won't be surprised to know that by the time I came home, got in the spa, took a shower...it was NAP TIME.

I have so much to get ready for school on Monday, it isn't even funny...where did my spring break go?

Some Photo Friday Action for the "Guest Host"

What happens in Vegas...well it's not staying in Vegas today. Diana is hosting Foto Friday this week for NikeMom. Here are some of the shots I took of the family doing "The Strip." If you haven't ever visited Diana's website, take a look. Diana has an awesome, inspirational story...and she swings some mean kettlebells!

So...onto the Vegas Pix...

We started with lunch at The Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay

Turbo ordered a chocolate shake...yum..

Turbo and me...waiting for our burgers.

DramaGirl and Walter...waiting for the check...

Then we walked over to the Luxor because DramaGirl and Turbo wanted to see the Titanic Exhibit. It was OK... We were in Halifax (Nova Scotia) a couple of years ago, and that is where the Carpathia, the ship that picked up the Titanic survivors docked. We went to a really excellent Titanic exhibit there, so this one wasn't quite as good, but sad and interesting in a Vegas sorta way nonetheless.

Two interesting points about it were that they had a section of the actual hull in part of the exhibit. It was huge (but they didn't allow pictures, and I'm a pretty good rule-follower...the teacher in me, you know). Also, upon entering we were given a boarding pass with an actual passenger's name on it with some of his or her background. At the end of the exhibit, we could see if we survived or not (sorta maudlin, don't you think?) I was a first class, female passenger so I survived. Walter wasn't so lucky, third class, male...he had no chance. Both DramaGirl and Turbo survived too...

Then it was on to the next stop. We drove. Trust me...those hotels are enourmous...and MILES apart!

Driving down the strip...I love that amidst all the big buildings, the cheesy little souvineer shops and the Travel Lodge still are hangin' on...

Next...We stopped at New York, New York to ride the roller coaster, but I didn't take any pictures...BTW, when the roller coaster operator tells you to take off your sunglasses, if you are wearing regular glasses, take those off too...I almost lost mine in a corkscrew rollover. Walter chickened out and wouldn't go on the roller coaster with me, so I went with the kids. I LOVE roller coasters!!!!

From there we went down the strip farther to Wynn and Encore. I'd heard lots about the Wynn casinos, and I'll admit, they were nice. I'm sorta nonchalant about all of it, to be honest. I don't gamble (I HAAAATE losing money that I could spend on something important, like shoes). But I do like watching the people, and well...there is lots of shopping on the strip....mostly stores where I can't afford a thing.

DramaGirl, posing with the only Ferrari I could ever come close to affording...that is if I wanted to spend several thousand dollars on a pedal-car for my kids...

DramaGirl downstairs at the Wynn...all of those things are Parasols. There were two bars, the one upstairs was called Parasol Up, the one downstairs is called Parasol Down. It wasn't until she was downstairs that I saw the sign that said 21 and older only...OOOPS!

Turbo, Walter, and DramaGirl on the walkway over the strip.

DramaGirl and Turbo - in front of the Fashion Show Mall. I was ready for some more shopping!

Unfortunately, the boys' tollerance for shopping had ceased to exist. But the kids wanted to see the strip at night, and since it was still light out, and since it'd been, oh gosh, hours since we'd last eaten, we found another place to stop... a deli called Zoozacrackers, back in the Wynn.

I am soooooooo 13...please let me endure this photo for you.

I had no idea, but Turbo brought plastic bugs to play with in his spare time...gotta LOVE boys

Also, since it was the first night of Passover, we ordered....

Matzoh Ball Soup (just an enormous Matzoh Ball, huh?)

Chopped Liver...Yum (really, I like it...it's one of Walter's favorites. The kids won't touch it).

Potato Latkes...not a traditional Passover food, but you can't go wrong with fried potatoes. EVAH...

and of course...

Wine (it's in the rules. You have to drink wine at Passover!)

Finally, it was dark outside, so we cruised down the strip...blaring tunes and shouting out windows...nobody seemed to notice...




It was a good day. I have been in Vegas (as you know) lots these past couple of months, and I'm usually there a few times a year, but I rarely go down to The Strip.

Back in SoCal now and looking forward to tomorrow's long run with the SDTC. It'll be the first time I've run in a week, and the route we're doing mimics the La Jolla 1/2 Marathon, which is in about two weeks.

Thanks to all of you who continue to send your good wishes and prayers for my mom. I know she occasionally reads my blog...she's likely to read it today (go back and read yesterday's too mom), since there are kid-photos posted. You are all really amazing peeps and {{hugs}} to you all!

Blogging from BFE (or How to Train for a Half Marathon Without Actually Running)

My view...driving back from Vegas... I hate this drive.

So the trip to Vegas was a success. I went to two oncologist appointments with my mom, and I learned lots about cancer, treatments, and next steps for my mom.

Both doctors said basically the same thing...that she was incredibly lucky that the cancer was discovered so early, and that she is recovering well from the surgery (the good news). Unfortunately, there's a lot doctors don't know about lung cancer, and especially about courses of treatment for lung cancer that is caught so early as my mom's was. Most lung cancers are so deadly because there are no symptoms until the cancer is pretty advanced, and for those cancers, usually surgery is not an option because it has spread so far beyond the lung. Typically the course of action is Chemo or radiation, or some combination. 

BUT in cancers such as my mom's case, neither radiation or Chemo has proven to be effective. So for now, they'll continue to monitor and to CAT or PET scans every four months to see if the cancer returns...and IF it does...where...

What I liked is that both doctors really encouraged my mom to get back to living her life... I hope my mom takes this advice. I liked how one of the oncologists said she was a great believer in our own immunity system to fight off disease and how living a healthy, happy, full life is part if that.

Encouragement for us all.

The OTHER thing I did in Vegas (besides sit in waiting rooms) was exercise. As I mentioned in my last post, we stayed at the Red Rock Casino, which was a pretty nice fitness room.

On Tuesday, I did 60 minutes on the elliptical machine. Then yesterday I did 45 minutes on an exercise bike (10 miles...woot!) and then 30 minutes more on the elliptical. Boy! Was THAT ever BORING. The good news is that my PF and Achilles are having less and less pain.

Then, for about the first time in two or three years, we (Walter, DramaGirl, Turbo, and I) went down to The Strip. I have loads of photos, but I'll post them tomorrow. I'm writing this from the road, and those pix are on my laptop.

Ok...so now I've got to start threatening my kids, who are starting to bicker (of course they are...we're almost home...)

I hate this drive...

Sent from my iPhone

What a Difference!

I usually let myself whine for an hour or so...then I have to get over it...I have no time for whining in my life...

Unfortunately, my whining time overlapped with my blogging time on Saturday. Thank you so much to all of you who read and left supportive comments, and to all of you who suggested that I take some time off from running. You are all right. And I am taking everyone's advice and taking it easy this week with the running. I still plan on running the La Jolla 1/2 Marathon on April 26...then I may take all of May off from running. It's silly to run in pain.

I even got started this "take it easy on the running approach" on Sunday because the bike shop called and told me that my bike was ready...with new tires and new pedals...so it was time to take the remodeled bike out for a "recovery ride."

If you'll remember, my bike used to look like this:

See the big, fat, tires

All I have to say is: Wow...what a difference some tires, shoes and pedals makes! The last time I rode...the day before a long run (on relatively fresh legs), I struggled to maintain about a 10 mph pace. Sunday, on arguably tired legs (from the 12 mile debauchle the day before) 12.5 mph was EASY, and I found myself at 15-17 mph easily! Wow. I mean. Wow.

Skinny tires = speed. Who knew?

My new shoes. Already I can feel a whole bunch of questions I'll have for the tri-peeps, like what do you do about foot cramps while you're riding?

Before I got on the bike, I practiced with the shoes and the click in pedals for awhile, because could just see myself falling over when I stopped. But I caught onto the moving the shoe to the side thing pretty quickly. I imagine that I will fall at some point, but it will be because some other ridiculous thing is happening, and I panic. But once I got the gist of it, I was off.

I rode 9.5 miles in about 47 minutes, with a top speed of 18 mph and and average speed of 12.5. The last time I rode, with the old tires, my top speed was 16 mph and the average speed was 10.7 mph.

I wish there was some kind of running gear that would take that kind of time off of my running times...

I could see myself liking the bike. It is a whole heck of a lot easier on the body than running...that's for sure. Although, quite frankly, my hands ache...WTF is up with that? (I'm SUCH a novice, aren't I?)

Yay! No pain!

Some have asked if a tri is in my future...I am never one to say never (after all, I NEVER thought I'd run a marathon, and now I've done that). And truth be told, while I'm not a fast swimmer, I am a solid swimmer. When I was preggers with DramaGirl, I swam almost every day (LOVED that feeling of weightlessness).

BUT... that whole swimming in the OCEAN thing that sorta wigs me out...and I'd guess that for MOST of the tris in SoCal, the swim part is in the ocean. I mean seriously...there are SHARKS in the ocean. And if the swim is in the bay? Well, Elsie, the ex-biology teacher, would LOVE to tell us about the BACTERIA that is growing in the bay...

And then there's the whole salt-water, sea-water, nature's toilet, riding a bike with sand in my hoo-haw, discomfort thing.

I admit it. I'm a girly-girl. Ask the herd. I'm the one who carries face-wipes in my bag so that I can get all the salt off my face IMMEDIATELY. I bring a full change of clothing with me, so that I can change out of the sweaty clothes ASAP. I don't do mud-runs, 'cuz I don't really like getting dirty. It's sorta amazing that I deal with being sweaty at all...

So, a duatholon? Maybe. A triathalon? We'll see... Clearly, I've got some issues to overcome first. (I'm serious about the sand/salt water/SHARK thing BTW).

In any event, I'm going to take it easy from running this week, which should be easy, because I'm back in Vegas to see mom. Brought the whole brood with me this time, and we're staying at the Red Rock, which has a great fitness room with elipticals and bikes, so, until at least Thursday, I can entertain myself with that.

I had planned all along on this Saturday's long run with the SDTC (which mimics part of the La Jolla course) as being the last long run before La Jolla anyway. I'm still hoping that by Saturday, I feel good enough to run at least 10 miles of it, and that'll be the last long run before the 1/2 marathon. The La Jolla 1/2 is a BRUTALLY hilly race, with both steep inclines and declines. I've trained almost NOT AT ALL for hills, so this Saturday's run would be it for me.

It's crazy. I know. It looks crazy even writing it. My goal is to finish La Jolla in one piece, then take May off before I start training for the America's Finest City 1/2 Marathon, which is at the end of August. Then, I'll have completed the Triple Crown (yay...more shiny stuff!).

Lastly, I mentioned in a previous post (and on FB) that DramaGirl and Turbo were in Oliver! this week. Saturday night was their final performance and their cousins were at the show. So allow me to post a shot that I took of the whole group right afterward (just 'cuz I know that I do have a few family members who read the blog).

Now, how could I ever whine with all of this in my life?

I'd Rather Not Do That Again...

BBJ, Kat, Irene, Me and Mik (front) waiting for the train. (Betty took the picture)

The Train Run...

((sigh))

16 miles from Oceanside to Solana Beach 

((((sigh))))

I ran 12 of those 16 miles this morning... 

Yeah, I know. I wrote all last week about either not doing the train run AT ALL, or only running 12 miles of it, so I SHOULD be happy right now...but now that it's done, I can't help but think about how my "only 12 miles" was mental and how much of it was physical...

What I do know is that at about 10 miles. I was really DONE. My right foot (the PF foot) ached. My left hip ached. Achilles on both legs...ached...

You get the picture...

(((((((((heavy sigh)))))))))

I also know that I'm really getting tired of running in pain. I suspect you all are getting tired of reading about it. I know I'm REALLY F-ING TIRED of writing about it.

But not the whole run was painful. One again, the first 9 or 10 miles were fine. In fact, I was even keeping good pace between miles 9 and 10, when I averaged about a 10:30 pace for about a half mile or so...but it went downhill from there.

It was right after DramaGirl called me on my cell phone to ask me if I'd be home in time to braid her hair ("No honey, I've just run 10 miles, and I'm in Leucadia. You'll have to get your dad to do it Hahahhahahaha). (Leucadia is about 30 minutes from our house). 

I did lots of walking/running after that, and mostly walking as I headed into Encintas. I finally limped into the fourth water stop at 12 miles. I told a few people that I was finished and that I had some friends who would come and get me. (I'd cleverly given my keys to BBJ)

Speaking of my iPod. Twice today, it seemed to know the right song to play, at the right time...

As I was running through Carlsbad, completely believing that my leg and hip would feel fine through the whole race.

• True Faith - New Order

As I was running up a hill out of Carlsbad 

• Running up that Hill (Deal with God) - Kate Bush

A few minutes after I stopped running, Mik called me from her cell phone to see where I was. She was surprised that Betty wasn't with me.  I told her that I hadn't passed Betty when I stopped, so she must be between Encinitas and the Train Station.   

Ya see, Betty, who hadn't run in about 3 weeks, was so convinced that we'd all pass her eventually, that she took off ahead of everyone, figuring that we'd all catch up with her. 

BBJ did. Mik did. Kat did. I did not.

So, today we learned why, on a point-to-point run, when some are anticipating that they won't do the whole run, it's really important to carry a cell phone. We almost lost Betty for awhile. 

I eventually found her. She ran all the way to back to the train station. 16 miles. What a rock-star! 

Maybe I should take a couple weeks off...

That's all I know.

Starting off the Spring Break Right

DramaGirl and Turbo are in a junior theatre production of Oliver! this week, so that's been our central activity these past few days.

Drama and Turbo--as street urchin pick-pockets. I had to beg them to put their arms around each others shoulders...PLEASE FOR ME...JUST FOR THE PICTURE!

Check over to NikeMom for other Foto-Friday links.

Today is the start of my SPRING BREAK! Yeah! Finally!

Last night I kicked it off right. I ran 3 miles on the dreadmill. I almost didn't run 'cuz I just wasn't feeling the mojo and so I whined about it on FB, where my friend Ari told me to just get out the front door and I'd be fine.

Well, I didn't get out the front door, but I did get me on the 'mill, and I did feel much better afterward. (Thanks Ari...I needed that push).

Then, since DramaGirl and Turbo were at their show (I'd already seen it Wednesday night, and I'll see it again tonight and then again tomorrow...), Walter and I had a lovely pasta dinner, a bottle of wine, and watched VH1s 100 Top One Hit Wonders of the '80s...so now I have some new running tunes (I musta downloaded at least 12 songs from iTunes as I was watching).

Here's what I bought

1. Tenderness / General Public
2. Funkytown (Long Version) / Lipps, Inc.
3. Forget Me Nots / Patrice Rushen

4. Genius of Love (Long Version) / Tom Tom Club
5. Poison Pushy / Stanton Moore
6. Harden My Heart / Quarterflash
7. Under the Milky Way / The Church
8. Love Plus One / Haircut 100
9. What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy) / Information Society
10. Lunatic Fringe / Red Rider
11. Pass the Dutchie / Musical Youth
12. What I Am / Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
13. Maniac (Single Mix) / Michael Sembello
14. Breakout / Swing Out Sister

At least I'll be entertained! (OMFG...it's 14 songs! Can't wait for the email from Apple). The top 20 OHW of the 80's is on tonight. CAN'T. WAIT.

Long Runs are Like Childbirth

First, some random business
The RnR website had some additional pix from Saturday's long run to Wind and Sea Beach and back...

Santiago really needs to learn to smile for the camera. Doesn't he know the rules yet?

See...10 miles and still smiling... (really, only because the guy had a camera in my face).

Mik...also smiling...

No pix of Elsie...probably because she was already back at the point when these shots were being taken.

March Mileage
So, I've been adding up my March running stats... Waaaaaaay better than February when I logged only 38.32 miles. But I'm surprised that some how, some way, I logged more miles last Month than I did in January (61.7)!

• Miles run - Garmin = 51.89
• Miles run - Dreadmill = 20.5
• Total - 72.39 (is anyone checking my addition?)

How the heck did I do that?

Childbirth and Long Runs
This Saturday is the train run.

What's the train run you ask?

Basically, we take the Amtrak train from Solana Beach to Oceanside...and run back. 16 miles. Point to point.

Here's the map from last year, when I had no Garmin or Nike+, so I used A LOT of MapMyRun to check mileage on long runs.

It's a tough run. Even last year, when I was w/o injury, I suffered through the last four miles of this run. The streets of Leukadia are majorly pot-holed (there...I made up a new verb). There are TONS of Saturday morning cyclists racing past in their herds and they scare the begeezus out of me. Last year, I took a wrong turn at some point and missed the 4th aid station (at 12 miles).

Mostly, the run is a commitment. There's no turning around early. There are no excuses. I'd pretty much have to run the whole thing.

Soooooo I gotta ask myself, why do it?

I'm not training for a marathon, just a 1/2 mary at the end of the month. I don't need to run 16 miles. I REALLY don't want to hurt myself.

And after last Saturday's 13.5 mile run, the last mile and a half of which was pretty difficult, I howled to the moons about how there was NO WAY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH I WAS RUNNING THE 16 MILE TRAIN RUN THIS SATURDAY. (That's an actual quote that I sent out in an email to the herd).

So, why am I considering running it now?

It's sorta like childbirth, where you forget the pain and only remember the good stuff.

I mean, look at me at 10 miles (above). I look happy. In fact at 10 miles I WAS happy.

I can read back over last year's blog about the train run, and only remember vaguely that it was painful. Mostly I remember the sense of accomplishment. The joy at finishing.

Childbirth, and for that matter, for me all of being pregnant was like that. The whole reason I was convinced I could have a 2nd child was because I'd forgotten how miserable I was during the first pregnancy. I just remember the absolute joy I felt when DramaGirl (and later Turbo) were born.

I'm not saying I'm pregnant or anything. Carly already spooked us today with that joke.

What I am saying, is that the pain from last Saturday's 13.5 miles and from last year's Train Run for that matter are becoming distant memories, and I'm likely to board the train again this Saturday for another go at it.

Of course, I am thinking I'll give the car keys to Mik, and if I decide to stop at 12 miles, she can pick me up at Honey's in Encintas. I'll be waiting at some breakfast place w/mimosa in hand.