Triple Crown - Check

For those who follow on Facebook or who notice the Twitter feed on the right, you've seen that I completed the America's Finest City 1/2 Marathon yesterday morning. It was quite a day!

Mik, Betty and I met at Betty's house at 5am and D1 (Betty's oldest daughter) was THRILLED to drive us to Balboa Park.

Betty's playlist for the drive to the race?

• Bad Girls - Donna Summer
• Boogie Shoes - KC and the Sunshine Band
• Brick House - The Commodores

Nothing like a little disco music to get the shoulders moving in the morning.

AFC is a point to point run, so we had to take a shuttle bus to the start. The traffic at Balboa Park at 5:15 was awful, so when we got close to the buses, we jumped out of the car and left D1 to drive home.

O-dark:30 - walking to the shuttle bus to take us to Cabrillo Monument - The race start

As if we were a perfectly-timed, well oiled, race running, machine, Alberta met us just as we were about to be counted off to get on the shuttle.

On the bus - Betty and Mik - I think they were unprepared for the photo

Me and Alberta - We posed. It's good being the one with the camera

At the start, we did the mandatory porta-potty drill. I'm happy to report that unlike the La Jolla 1/2, I got a PP w/o any remnants!

Mik and I in the PP line - Geez I look tired!

Mik hemmed her sweatpants using staples.

My skirt was packed and ready to go. I may frame this photo because I swear my ass is NOT that small! I also broke the cardnal rule of race running and wore a new running skirt - BIG MISTAKE!

All in all, we were amazed that the morning had gone so well. And we were REALLY pleased that the marine layer was holding. I had a moment of worry when I looked up and could see some glimpses of blue sky...NOOOOOO.

WTF is up with the blue sky? But you can see that it's still pretty thick in the distance. This was a VERY good thing.

And we're off...

To be honest, I never heard the starter's gun go off...I just knew that people in front of us started moving, so, of course did we.

Miles 1-5 - The downhill part.

• My PF foot felt great. I was mostly worried about my knees. I knew I had probably not done nearly enough stretching and, as I've written previously, the first 6 miles of the race is a lot of downhill.
• Completely lost track of Mik and Alberta in the first 200 yards.
• Pulled at the compression shorts under the new running skirt for the first of, oh I don't know, 500 times because they were rolling up...GAH!
  
• Saw Lisa for a few seconds about .5 miles. She wished me well, asked how I felt, and was off in a flash! I haven't read her report yet, but I'm sure she had a great day. The maroon shirts she and her crew were wearing looked great!
• Betty was ahead of me for most of the first mile, then I went past her at about the first aid station just outside of the Navy Base Gate. I knew she'd pass me when we got to the downhill part because she runs downhills much faster than I do.
• Damn if those water stations aren't slippery when wet...saw a few people almost wipe out.
• Got to see my brother and sister in laws and my two little nephews in Point Loma. My SIL told me I looked good. I laughed and said "Oh yeah, this is the easy part...it's all downhill here." My nephews (ages 3 and 4) looked COMPLETELY SURPRISED to see me.
  
• The roads in Point Loma were freshly paved this year. Last year was a nightmare because the streets were so chewed up and potholed.
• Got to see Irene who was manning the SDTC aid station at about mile 4... Sweet thing, she apologized for not taking pictures, but darn if those 10,000 runners weren't thirsty. I gave her a sweaty hug anyway.
• As I predicted, by the time we got into the flat part of Point Loma, Betty caught up to me.
  

Miles 5-10 - the flat part

• Once Betty caught up to me, we marveled at what a great morning it was. How nice it was that it wasn't searing heat...and laughed about how we'd probably never on those streets in Point Loma again. (Really, three AFC 1/2 marathons are enough...I've got other races to run!)
  
• At about Mile 5, I stopped to slather some more Aquaphor (you know that little tube of stuff you get in every single race goody bag you've ever gotten? I am so thankful I carried some with me...of course I carried lots of shiz with me) on my inner thighs instead of tugging and pulling at the compression short which had absolutely no intention of staying over my thigh. I'm sure the sight of me rubbing what is essentially vaseline on my inner thigh worked for someone!
  
• Once we got to the flat stretch, I started my run/walk strategy. I'd run for 9 minutes, then walk for a minute. For the most part, that and the lack of direct sun made the middle of the race quite tolerable.
• Betty and I ran through the 10K in 1:10:52 - together for the third time :-). Betty told me she was going to walk a little bit, but I felt pretty good, so I kept running.
  
• The last two years, miles 6 and 7 have been hell for me...It's almost 2.5 miles between water stations 4 and 5 and in the typical August heat it's just miserable, but yesterday, as we headed into Harbor Island, the overcast weather held, and for the most part, I felt great...so I had my first Gu!
• Saw Alberta leaving Harbor Island just as I was headed toward the OMBAC (Old Mission Beach Athletic Club) rain forest. I didn't even need the mister they set up this year. I also had some of their "champagne" (which was, unfortunately, apple cider...although that was kind of nice!) that was being doled out by one of my friend's husbands (THANKS ROY!)
  
• Wow...even the rental car return parking lot at Mile 8.5 was repaved and not the aligator-skin-like-torture-trail of past years! AND I got off Harbor Island and still NO SUN!
  
• Unfortunatly, by about Mile 9, I could feel my foot cramping up on me a little bit and I realized that I should have clipped my toenails...but since I haven't been on a long run since, oh, April, I neglected to do this. I'm sure I'll be down at least two toenails shortly.

Look at that! and I was about 6 minutes behind the gun time. You'd think a girl could run 4 miles in 45 minutes...but you'd be wrong.

Miles 10 - 13.1 - It gets ugly here

• I knew at about Mile 10, it was going to get a little ugly. I could just feel that I didn't have much left. In fact, I was impressed that I felt as good as I did...I mean I was tired, but I've felt way worse. The Gu I took at mile 10 gave me about a mile and a half worth of energy, but that was it.
  
• SURPRISE - Walter and Turbo were waiting for me on the corner of Harbor and Ash. I wasn't expecting that!
• About two miles earlier, I realized that I had Betty's last Gu and that she was probably going to want it before 6th Avenue, so I handed it to Walter and asked him to wait a couple minutes to give it to Betty. He's such a great guy, he did. I really wasn't expecting to see him there, but it was just what I needed at that moment. I turned around to shout "I LOVE YOU!" as I ran up Ash.
  
• Every year I think that I'll have a burger at OMBAC's second aid station on Ash...but every year at Mile 11 I think, "if I eat, even a bite, of that burger now, I'll just puke" so I passed it once again.
• The run down (I think it's) India is just so damn depressing because you know that you're going in the opposite way of the park.
• By the time I got to the bottom of A Street, I was pretty much done. My foot was cramping. My legs were tired. I started to get a little emotional (I mean, I knew I could run a freeking mile and a half...). I thought about how far I'd come, how even a month ago, I wasn't so sure I'd even be running this race, which made me sort of weepy...
  
• At the 11 mile marker, I was pretty much doing a run 2 minute/walk 2 effort that was just pissing me off. So I started running for landmarks...like I'll run to the end of this block, or I'll run to where the hill crests. The really frustrating thing as I started up 6th avenue, is that running up the hills, although I was running slowly, wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but for some reason, I just couldn't keep running, and I took WAY too many walk breaks. I think this is where the lack of long run training sort of came in. I just wasn't used to running for that long. I think it was mostly just mental.
  
• Funny note...observed some guy coming out of a porta-potty on 6th Avenue with his sleeping bag...WTF?
• The 1/2 mile or so on Laurel, into Balboa Park was also pretty difficult because I just wanted to get to the corner and to the downhill part...but that 1/2 mile seemed so far...that and WTF was up with all the photographers? I mean, I know that Balboa Park is a beautiful background, but I have NO DOUBT that having run 12.5 miles I was decidedly NOT BEAUTIFUL.
• Ahhh..the finish...it's a beautiful downhill finish... I LOVE THAT!!

Official Finish - 2:39:36

Not a PR, but not my worst 1/2 mary time either... I was actually faster than Carlsbad (where I ran with my bum hip) and only a minute slower than last year when I actually trained for the 1/2 mary...AND it's about what I thought I'd do. Of course today, I look at those first 10 miles where I averaged somewhere around 11:15 mm...and those last 3.1 miles, where I averaged around 13:30...and I get a little sad...but then I think about how incredibly little training I did for this, and what a miracle it is that I ran and finished at all.

The herd's results

• Mik's - 2:07:39
• Betty - 2:45:35
• Alberta -2:22:48

I also have way more respect for stretching and strength training. I'm seeing Brett, my PT tomorrow morning. I've gotta give him a hug for that!

The really good news is that our sub-three hour finishes in the Carlsbad, La Jolla, and AFC halfs got us some Triple Crown bling!

Our green shirts, our bling, and our beers (Thanks to Betty's DH for bringing the chocolate milk and beer...it's gotta sound disgusting to anyone but a runner).

That's my crew.

We're discussing what's next. Some of us (me) are still interested in doing the California Dreaming Series (Long Beach 1/2, Surf City 1/2, & San Francisco 1/2). I've already signed up for the Las Vegas 1/2 in December and there's that bike thing that I want to start getting more serious about too...

But for today, I'll just relax a bit and be glad that I don't have a 1/2 marathon to worry about for awhile.

I Never Thought I'd See Those Studs Again

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

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

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

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

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

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

Expo notes

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

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

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

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

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

So...here's my race plan

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

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

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

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

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

What a Week!

Pre-Vay-K - Demolition

As I wrote in the last post, we are in NoCal this week on a vacation...and I'll get to that in a bit, but what you should also know is that before we left, we moved all the furniture out of Turbo and DramaGirl's bedrooms because we are having the floors removed and replaced. The contractor has been removing the old floors the last couple of days. He called today to report that the floor in DramaGirl's room was about THE WORST he's ever seen...nice...

But before we left, because destruction, for some reason, makes Walter happy, he wanted to destroy a wall that is being removed as part of the overall remodel/floor replacement plan. Turbo was happy to help him.

Turbo...taking a swing at a wall as Walter watches approvingly.

This is what I get to come home to...but before we get home tomorrow night, we've had a heck of a week up here...If you really don't want to read a vacation report, read no further cuz that's all I got, but if you (like me) revel in these things, stay tuned...I'm posting the short version.

Day 1 - Sacramento

We started off in Sacramento. Don't ask why (JoLynn), but we had to stop there. We went to the state Capitol where Turbo stood in front of the Governator's office door and tried to look Governator-like...

Future Governator

Turbo and I outside the state capitol

I did enjoy touring the state capitol. I'm sorta a geek that way. I find politics and government and all of that highly entertaining and interesting. My favorite part of walking around the capitol was that I thought we might get to see the Governator himself. There seemed to be a lot of people walking in and out of his office...which in and of itself was just crazy that we were just walking around without anyone giving a hoot or holler that we were there!

I mean, I was in Washington DC and in New York a couple of years ago and you couldn't go ANYWHERE without being told to "not touch" or "not go there" or were searched with some full body cavity search contraption that blew air at you so that if you had any microscopic terrorist residue left on you the machine would sense it and OMFG you were in TROUBLLLLE!

Apparently, Sacramento is not a target for terrorists because we just strolled around the state capital and nobody stopped us AT ALL. (well we did have to go through a security thingy, but I think that was just a formality.)

Anyway, I enjoyed overhearing some lobbyist or official governator-type person telling some other underling that he had to give someone else the bad news that the governor had just signed AB625 (or whatever number it was)...and best of all. THE LOBBYIST WAS WEARING F*ING FLIPFLOPS.

God I love California!

Anyway, part of our purpose in headed toward Sacramento was to visit some friends of ours who live up here. Our kids never really get to see their kids, or us each other. It was a great visit!

Turbo was thrilled to be the only young dude

Day 2 - River Rafting

The next day we headed up toward Coloma and went river rafting on the American River...too much fun.

Don't I look like a natural at this?

I won't torture you with another picture of the elbow, but yes Irene...I just tripped and fell while walking down the street in Folsom (a suburb of Sacramento).

An aside...here's the thing I find funny about Folsom, California. When I was growing up, the only thing I knew about Folsom is that there was a state prison there (the one that Johnny Cash made famous in Folsom Prison Blues after he "shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die" and if you'll remember, I'm from Reno, so I know about these things).

In any event, Folsom is sorta a chichi place now, and it seems like the downtown area is trying to go all upscale, but seriously they gotta do something about those sidewalks! I was, really, just walking down the street and just slipped off a stupid, slanted, unfinished, sidewalk curb (I swear, I could sue and win...if I were that kind of person), and before I knew it I was bouncing face first into a heap of f*ing hay, which was apparently put there so that if people slipped and f*ing fell face first, they'd have something to cushion their landing. (well thanks for THAT Folsom!)

Anyway, after I stood up and DramaGirl and I scanned the scene to make sure that nobody saw me fall (and since nobody was pointing and laughing, or pointing and looking aghast with horror, or even pointing and looking like they wanted to help me), we nonchalantly brushed the hay off me and walked, ever so classily, back toward the restaurant. At which point Walter told DramaGirl she should help me brush off some more hay (because clearly he hadn't seen me fall), so DramaGirl and I went to the ladies room, washed off the blood dripping from my hand and elbow and THANK GOD our table was ready so that I could have an enormous glass of Chianti. (Yes, there is a God!)

A God who also makes some kick-ass pizza - Chicago Fire Pizza...seriously, we may go there for lunch tomorrow. It was THAT good.

Day 3 - Graeagle

The next day we stocked up on road-trip/car-trip staples so that the kids would be entertained to make our way to Graeagle...which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, north of Truckee.

Mandatory travel food

On I-80...around, before Donner Lake is the nicest highway rest-stop that I have ever been in (and trust me, I've been in plenty).

DramaGirl and I were pleased with the accommodations.

On the way to Graeagle, we saw plenty of cows...and since this is the Hefferblog, we took photos. I offered the kids money if they could get a photo of a cow running, but no such luck this trip.

Trust me, those are cows...at 65mph...us, not the cows...

Despite the amount of sugar consumed on the way to Graeagle, we were hungry when we got there anyway, so we went to this little diner. The food was OK, but we got fair-food for dessert.

Deep-fried Oreos...gotta say they are just OK

Deep fried Oreos make an after lunch/dinner walk necessary, so Walter and I found a trail near the place we were staying.

I hope I just walked off an Oreo

The next morning, Walter and I decided that we needed more than just a walk, so we ran a nice little route on TRAILS (hear that JoLynn and Stuart..I did a trail run...It was nice...I sorta get it now!!!!)

It was quite pretty. I took nowhere near enough photos!

Days 4 & 5 - Squaw Valley

Unfortunately, Graeagle just wasn't the right place for us, not on this vacation. To be more exact, we didn't really have the right gear for it. If we'd brought along our own bikes, our own hiking gear, our own kayaks, etc, it would have been a great place to vacation, but we really packed for a vacation where everything was just ready and waiting for us to rent whatever toys we needed...Also, the place we were staying would have been just fabulous if it were just Walter and me, but wasn't really a family-friendly kind of place, so we stayed the one night and left for Lake Tahoe (about an hour away) and Squaw Valley!

more cows

Getting to Squaw Valley requires a trip through Truckee and by The Tourist Club, which is one of my favorite dive bars of all time (and that I have a favorite dive bar in f*cking Truckee California tells you lots about me...yes, I've been here before!)

Because I didn't again want to hear DramaGirl ask when we were going horseback riding, the moment we got to Squaw Valley, we checked into our condo and rushed off to the stables for a 2 hour horseback ride.

BTW...2 hours is a f*cking long time to sit on a horse. I was pretty happy about all the other time I've been in the saddle (settle down, I'm talking about my BIKE...what were YOU thinking?)

Yeah...I look all cowboy, don't I?

Walter's Horse was HUGE (and I'm not just saying that to make him feel better)

Pretty much my view for 2 hours

I have lots more pix like the one above, including one of Walter's horse farting and peeing, but I'll spare you.

After horseback riding, we went back to Squaw Valley.

DramaGirl in the Square...those cables go to the top of the mountain. We may do that in the morning.

OK...I'm almost done here...This morning we went to Lake Tahoe

Family photo - inside the lake ... except for Turbo who can't hold still

Ah...the Lake.

It is absolutely beautiful here. We went kayaking and jet skiing today. I'm hoping the kids have had enough activies to satiate them. We're headed back to Sacramento and then San Diego tomorrow, so that I can deal with the turmoil that is certain to be my floors when I return.

Oh yeah...and that little 1/2 marathon I'm going to run on Sunday...THAT...

In Which Alice Proves, Once Again, That She Cannot Walk and Talk at the Same Time...

It's not as violent as Quadrathon's fall this week...nonetheless it hurt...both my elbow and my pride...

Ouch!

Is the best part of this photo that I am wearing my "Toenails are for Sissies" t-shirt?

I'm on Vay-Kay with the family this week (thus the extraordinary lack of posts and/or comments). More photos and stories are sure to follow...but quickly, the beat-up elbow occurred after I fell face first while walking down the street on my way to get, what turned out to be, the best EFFING PIZZA EVAH in (of all places) Sacramento!!!!

Here's the pizza...much prettier than my elbow.

YUMMMMM!

There's a pizza/road-pizza joke there somewhere isn't there?

Here's some of the fun Walter, Turbo, DramaGirl and I were having earlier in the day (I managed to survive THIS without a scratch!)

FUN!

I'm sure I'll be back to regular posting/running/commenting soon!

Weekend Recap in Four Bulleted-Parts

The Bike

The new bike still has no name...although there have been some absolutely fabulous suggestions. I will patiently wait until the name emerges from some silly experience.

I did take The New Bike (TNB for now) out for a first ride on Friday. Here are some observations and reflections

• TNB is fast!!!! My ride on Friday was AFTER PT and AFTER having RUN on Thursday, so my legs were tired, and while I went to a relatively flat Fiesta Island, I still averaged about 16mph...almost 4 mph faster than my last ride there on my old bike.
• Even better (and Betty will like this, cuz she's a fast chick) on The Old Bike (TOB), I rarely went faster than 20 mph because the bike would shake and it just FELT like I was going to fast. On Friday, a few times I looked down at my Garmin and I was going over 20mph and it didn't even feel like I was going that fast...nice
• My center of balance is different with the curved handlebars than when I was sitting more upright with the straight handlebars on TOB. I suspect that this will lead to some humorous stops in the future.
• My hands/arms are going to have to get used to the new seating position. On Saturday and Sunday I could barely move my hands because they were so cramped up. hmmmmmm.
• Oh...and can we talk about the new seat? Not so comfy...again, may be just me getting used to the new position, so to speak, or me figuring out where exactly I'm supposed to position my fanny on the seat...but my hoo-haw after 15 miles? OUCHY!
• I figured out how to attach the Garmin to TNB so that I don't have to look at my wrist while riding.
• I managed to drink water, stop, shift gears (nice Shimano 105s...shifting is soooooo smooth!) without falling.
• I'll probably get used to not having the little numbers tell me what gear I'm in so that I don't have to look at the back tire and almost fall off the road.
• Speaking of balance...it'll be awhile before I feel confident taking photos and riding at the same time.
• Did I mention that it's FAAAAAAASSSSSSSTTTTT? WHEEEEEEEEE!

So...on Friday, I rode almost 20 miles (19.1) 4 and a half loops around Fiesta Island (took the shortcut on the final lap). 1 hour 15 minutes...sweeeeet.

The Ballpark

The rest of my weekend was all about Padres baseball. I haven't followed the Pads much this summer...I've been too wrapped up in my own issues and, let's be honest here, they pretty much suck.

But, Petco is a fine ball park and every summer my sisters and their families come down to watch a ballgame or two. On Friday night, we sat in The Beach (which is the bleacher seats in the outfield. They are lousy seats, but the kids can hang out in the sandpit and we can pretend to watch the game (or I could chat with my sis).

The best part of the evening is when we found out, about the 8th inning, that because we were seated in the bleachers, and because the evening's after-game fireworks were going to be set off right behind the bleachers, we would have to watch the fireworks from center field!

Fireworks at Petco from AkaAlice on Vimeo.

Comments about that...

• It was WAY COOL watching the fireworks from Centerfield
• Unlike my lawn, I don't think there were any ants in the centerfield grass. It was like a carpet.
• One Longhammer IPA beer is worth two regular beers (as I'm not a beer drinker, I had no idea that there were IPA beers...I have no idea what IPA stands for, but isn't it just a fancy way of drinking Malt Liquor?)
• The Padres stink. They were down 7-1 in the 2nd inning on Friday night, but as soon as we got there, balls started flying out of the stadium! My sister and I figured we were the Pad's good luck charms and they should be paying us to go to the games!
• I ate and drank my way through both Friday and Saturday...how can you say no to beer at a ball game?
• Cousins hanging out together is also just WAY COOL!

The cousins...at Tin Fish...best fish tacos in San Diego

The Triathlon

No...not my triathlon, not yet...the one I watched on Sunday afternoon, the Aflac Irongirl Triathlon. (I saw Missy in her green suit. You got nowhere NEAR enough face time IMHO). Here are a few comments about the event.

• It was a fine hour long advertisement for AFLAC...although I do LOVE the duck!
• The broadcast itself was pretty cheesy. All the stuff about women bonding, coming together, running for health and fitness (although true) seemed overdone JUST A BIT. Yes it's true that women run for a lot of reasons; this is true of both men and women...and most of us know that we'll never stand on a podium at the end of a race, but isn't that true of ALL PEOPLE WHO RUN RACES and not just women?
• I can't help but think that in a broadcast about men doing the IronMan that there probably wouldn't be as much gushing about how those MEN were just happy to be there... They're there to compete...maybe just against themselves...but it's still a freekin' competition (OK...I'm done now).
• That being said, the stories of two of the women who were doing the event despite some physical challenges were quite inspirational and made me think about how my PF and knee pains are really little issues as compared to running after being hit by a car and having your body totaled, or after having brain cancer!
• I need to stop whining about being hurt and just deal with it

The Run

Yay! Betty is back in San Diego. She and I went for a short(ish) run last night on the bay. Her daughter joined us.

• We tried out the run/walk idea that many of you have been suggesting. We'd run for about 9-10 minutes, then walk for 1-1.5 minutes. It'll take some getting used to, but I do think this is the best way for to run the AFC 1/2 in two weeks.
• A run/walk strategy may result in not my worst 1/2 marathon time ever. We ran/walked last night and maintained about a 12 minute mile pace...that would be better than my first AFC which I finished in 2:43 (12:43). Even last year, with all my training I finished in 2:38 (12:08).
• Really, my goal is to finish in under three hours so that I can get my triple crown medal.
• I really want the AFC to be over so that I can stop thinking fretting about it.
• I've missed running with Betty...things we laughed about last night...
• Chub rub from my boobs...I just don't have enough jiggle there.
• Tourists do NOT go home on Sunday nights in the summer in San Diego (It was freekin' crowded on the bay!)
• Would I go to hell if I took the "God Saves" brochure being forced in my face and used it to wipe my brow?

I have rather crazy week in front of me (last week of summer school! Hooray!), so I may not be commenting much on blogs, but I usually do read...have a fabulous week everyone! Congrats to everyone who ran/biked/Tri'd this weekend (especially RBR, who just rocked it at Barb's Race!)

Here She Is...

Oooooh shiny, pretty, pretty...

I'm not sure about the white seat though...

You can get all the details about the bike by clicking here if you are so inclined. It's a 2009 Trek 2.3 WSD. I spent more on it than I intended to spend on a bike (not particularly surprising, right?).

I haven't named her yet. In the store DramaGirl suggested Julietta, and then Wanesha. I'm not sold on either and am taking suggestions. I imagine that, like all heffer names, the proper name will reveal itself in due course.

I'm unnerved by the Shimano shifters which are quite different than the shifters that were on my handlebars and overall, I'm scared to death to ride it, but I'm thinking I need to go to Fiesta Island this afternoon to give her a test run.

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

It's a sign, don't you think?

• Two weeks ago, I entered a Trek Bicycle "Wow" Instant-Win Scratch off Game and won a free Trek Water Bottle.
  
• This morning at PT, I ran into the local Trek Bicycle store manager (who is training for a century...my PT is also an athletic trainer), who I recognized from my last visit to the bike store. He also recognized me, told me that the "Tour de France" sale had been extended, thus the bike I want is still on sale, and that they only had four water bottles left, so I'd better hurry if I wanted one.
  

So...don't you think these things are signs that I need to go down to the store and get myself a new bike? I mean these things are not just coincidences are they?

This Post is Not About Running, or Injuries, or the Even the Heffers...Although Betty Does Get a Mention...

In 2000, Walter and I bought a new house. Actually we bought an old house. At the time, we lived in a fine little house in the center of town, but the key word here was little. It had two bedrooms upstairs, and I had given birth to a girl AND a boy...and even though at the time, they were very young, we knew (or at least I knew) that at some point it just wasn't gonna work for them to share a room.

This was our house...It may look large, but trust me, it wasn't...but it was cute!

So we decided to move out of the cute little house near Balboa Park, in an adorable part of town called Burlingame and out to the east county of San Diego, into a city called La Mesa.

I looked for houses for months and months...and finally found this...

It was a fine old house (which we liked) on a really big lot (which made us nervous), but it seemed like it had great potential...and we could afford it!

Focus here on the word OLD.

We knew when we bought this house, it needed some work. We initially thought it needed, maybe, some cosmetics, like new carpet and windows...

But we were wrong.

Yes, we replaced windows...and then some walls (due to dry rot).

We re-did the kitchen. This was the old kitchen, with the back of the house torn out....without the back wall, it's nowhere near as dark as it really was.

Basically, we took the interior down to the studs. All things being equal, it would have been easier to buy a lot and build a home from scratch.

I remember bringing Betty over to look at the house when it was down to the studs one night. She looked at me with a combination of "What? Are you insane?" and "WHAT? are you NUTS?"... I'm pretty sure she bought me a beer or two that night.

I've got loads of photos like this...photos of nothing but 2 x 4s and drywall...It took about 9 months from when we bought the house until we were finally able to move in. It was a crazy time.

It'd be different if either Walter or I had any skill or interest in Do it Yourself Home Improvement, but basically both of us are just skilled at writing checks to contractors.

Anyway, at some point we stopped remodeling the interior (because the remodel could have gone on 4-EV-AH and not ever been finished) and we moved in. We knew there were still parts of the house that needed attention, parts that were not finished, but we had moved into the MONEY PIT...so we ignored those, moved in, and raised our children.

Nine Years Later

Over the last couple of years, some of the things we didn't deal with in the initial remodel have become harder to ignore...

This is one of them...

The hardwood floors in the kids bedrooms...

OK...other than the fact that DramaGirl is messy...the floors look fine, right? In fact, they are beautiful, old, red oak, hardwood floors...

Unfortunately, there's also this...

The floor in DramaGirl's bedroom...a combination of termite and probably water damage, is pulling away from the house...ewwwwww right?

We've gotta take out the hardwood and replace the subfloor in both the kid's bedrooms, so in the next several weeks, you will no doubt be reading plenty about our home improvement adventure. We can't afford it, but we really have no choice.

And since we're doing home improvement, I have some decisions to make.

Now let me make this perfectly clear. I have absolutely no talent for this kind of thing AT. ALL.

I mean, I can look at a Pottery Barn catalog and think...well of course you would pair orange and brown sofa cushions with a bronze statue and cherry wood floors...that looks REAL NICE, but I have ABSOLUTELY NO ABILITY to translate what I see into what I ought to be doing in my own home...GAH!

In fact, it gives me a headache to think about it. I just want things to look nice. I don't actually want to have to plan it out!

I think this is why rich people hire decorators.

So, I need help.

Here's my first issue. The Floors.

We've decided on a wood laminate because, frankly, we can afford it. One of the issues with this house has always been that the rooms are HUGE! DramaGirls bedroom is 14' x 12'. Turbo's bedroom is 12' x 12'. We need to redo a hallway that is (and I kid you not) 4' x 25' and we need to redo a portion of the family room (which is the smallest room of all) that is 11' x 12'.

(BTW...we also have a living room/dining room at the front of the house that is, I kid you not, 40' x 25'. It's not involved in the current remodel story.)

In other words, the part we want to refloor is a little more than 800 square feet, and as much as I would love to replace the old hardwood floors with new hardwood, we just can't afford it...so we're going with a laminate...you know something that looks like wood, but doesn't cost as much. You know Pergo...

Walter and I spent about five hours (way past his capacity to look at this stuff) looking at laminate samples today...and I'm more confused than when I even started.

So I'm throwing it out to some of you who are closet-home-decorating-geniuses. What stain/color floor should I get?

It doesn't matter so much in the kids rooms. But I'm also covering the family room, which is adjacent to the kitchen, and which has wood cabinets that look like this.

Yeah...this is the "redone kitchen..." It's a mess right now.

The laminate wood floors aren't going in the kitchen, but they are going in here...

...in the family room that is adjacent to the kitchen... We're also going to put in a counter/bar to go with those lonely barstools...

So, I wonder, can I put in a darker wood laminate? or will that clash with the oak cabinets. I brought home some samples that were roughly the same stain as the cabinets, and it looks like just too much natural oak...and BORING. Can I put in a wood floor that picks up on the darker grain in the wood cabinets?

I mean, what are the rules here?

Don't worry about the furniture...it's all cheap Ikea stuff that will eventually be replaced.

Oh...and here is the long hallway.

Really, our house has no real hallways...just open space, which is nice, but also means that things have to sort of flow into each other because there are no separate rooms.

So...I'm open to whatever help, suggestions, advice, you can send my way!

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Hey, congrats to all my blog-friends (Penny, RBR, probably some others who I'm forgetting...so sorry!) who ran the SF marathon & 1/2 marthon today. Can't wait to read all the reports!