This and That - By the Numbers

• 4 - Number of Blog Posts for March (counting this one - so long as I manage to post it by midnight).
• 10 - Miles I ran this morning - longest run since the Carlsbad Half in January.
• 4 - Miles I ran yesterday
• 1 - Number of condoms I ran past this morning.
• 2 - Number of times I ran past above mentioned condom.
• 1 - Number of bugs that flew into my eye during the run.
• 4092 - Code to get into the ladies room at some coffee house I ran into in Encinitas. "Please!" I shouted, "A bug flew in my eye, can I use your ladies room?" She gave me the code immediately. I may have to remember this next time I have that other type of runners emergency...
• 4 - Times I yelled "BIKE BACK!" this morning, so that runners ahead of me would get out of the way of riders.
• 0 - Number of photos I took during the run this morning, which is a shame because we ran on the coast, and the surf was awesome!

4 - Number of photos that were taken of us consuming mimosas after the run - Priorities, priorities

• 46 - Miles that Mik and I rode last Saturday with the Trek bike group. By the end of the ride, I KNOW I needed someone barking "RUNNER RIGHT!" at me, so making runners aware of bikes is now my thing.
• 473 - Times I barked "SLOOOOOOWINNNNNNNG" and "ROLLLLLLLLLINNNNNNNG" on that long ride. I am slowly realizing that riding in a group is a LOT about letting everyone else know what's going on.
• 7 - Schools we rode past last week. I have no idea where any of them are though. One of the things I do notice about riding in a group. I'm paying so much attention to what everyone else is dong ("SLOOOOOOWINNNNNNNG, STAAAAAWWWWWWPING, ROLLLLLLLLLINNNNNNNG, POLE!, HOLE! RUNNER UP! BIKE LEFT, WALKER RIGHT! CAR DOOR!) that I barely pay attention to where I even am!
• 200 - Number of riders who stood in line to use 2 restrooms at our 1/2-way point SAG stop.
• 10 - Number of people who would have stood in line if it were runners. Come on, you know that many of you would have found a bush.
• 4 - Times I've seen the play L'il Abner this week (you weren't expecting THAT were you?)

Turbo is playing "General Bullmoose" in the PPJT production of Li'l Abner. No, I wasn't familiar with the play either. Here he is after Thursday night's performance with DramaGirl and Millie

• 9 - More days until I have to teach again...thank GAWD for Spring Break this year.
• 188 -Papers I graded last week.
• 16 - Number of classes I taught.
• 4 - Meetings I attended - Three of them were on Wednesday.
• 3 - Spinning classes I've now gone to, and nobody is more surprised by that than I am, but I like the workout!
• 1 - Number of massages I got this week. I have NO IDEA why I don't get massages more often because It was WONDERFUL. Next time, however, I'll get one AFTER a long run, and not before. I certainly felt the effects of the deep tissue massage...well basically the whole time I ran this morning.

Mental Work

OK...so here's the deal.

We started riding with a local cycling training group (run through the local Trek bike store) two weeks ago...and by "we," I mean Betty, Mik, Wilma, Clarence, yours truly, and hopefully soon, Elsie. In these two weeks, we've learned lots about what it means to ride in a pace line (yes, much easier to go the distance, if you know what I mean, by doing this). We've also learned loads about using the various hand and voice signals cycler's use in large packs in order to keep from a) running into one another and b) running into something or someone else.

And mostly we've learned that, honestly, cycling in a large group has been mentally exhausting. 

I'd have to look back a few years at some earlier blogs to see if I complained about being über concerned about whatever-the-heck-every-other-runner-around-me-was-doing when I started running, and trust me, if there was something to whine about, I suspect I did.

But I don't really remember complaining about THAT particular thing (THAT = having to think). But it is a concern of mine now. When I ride, I really have to pay attention to EVERYTHING!

This is different than running. When I run, I can pretty much zone out every now and then. When I run, for the most part, I am rarely concerned that a partial zone-out is going to result in my becoming road-splatter (Full Disclosure: Yes, I have been known to trip over sidewalks and end up being road-splatter while running.) 

And yes, one must be somewhat aware of his/her surroundings while running, if for no other reason than to avoid being run over by a car...or by a zoned out cyclist, but still...there is a certain amount of zone-i-ness that can occur while running, especially if running on a sidewalk or walking/running path.

HOWEVER THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH I CAN ZONE OUT WHILE RIDING. PERIOD. 

It'd be just plain dangerous.

And thus, riding = exhausting.

Or at least so far.

Yesterday we rode about 30 miles with the Trek Training Group. Mik, Betty, and I rode with the B-3 Group (Ave 14 to 15 mph). I have no idea what any of this means, but I know that I was pretty much in the middle of the group, did pretty well on the flatter parts of the ride, fell back when going up hills, and tipped over once while still clipped in when there were too many people going too slow up a too steep entry to a bike path (really...my bad. I should have just waited). 

Tipping over feels like such a rookie mistake.

Overall, riding 30 miles felt pretty good. It was nice to ride with a group where I felt like I was pushing myself. Usually on a bike, I kinda feel like I'm just cruising.

Then this morning, Mik and I met up for an hour run (6.5 miles, 1.04, 9:55 pace). My legs felt a bit heavy, but overall, a nice run at Lake BP.

Balancing running and riding into a weekly routine is going to be a definite challenge. The Trek training program meets every Saturday at 8am and is supposed to end with the San Diego Century on May 19. The Rockin & Running training program meets every Saturday at 7am, and it ends with the Rock and Roll Marathon on June 3. We weren't planning on doing the RnR again, but we have been looking at a sweet little half on June 3 on Ojai. We haven't decided on the San Diego Century yet.

The Trek group offers a weekly training plan that says I should ride 10 miles on Tuesday, 20 on Wednesday, 10 on Thursday, 5 on Friday, and 35 on Saturday.

The RnR training program says I should be running 50 - 60 minutes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 2 x 20 minute intervals at my threshold pace on Tuesday, then 9 miles on Saturday.

So...do we rotate (RnR one day, then Trek)? Overall, do we rotate weekend long runs/rides and do our favorite runs/rides and then make up runs/rides on Sundays? 

Bwahahahahahahahaha... I so don't have time for all that. Anyone have any advice for me on how to balance this? 

I know in the absence of an actual training goal, it probably really doesn't matter, does it?

BTW...it's been a nutty two weeks, but I did want to mention that the young guy turned 14 today! Happy Birthday Turbo!

Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes...

School started this week for me (hence I was "off the grid" for the past few days). The first week of "back to work" for teachers includes LOTS of meetings (one of which I completely forgot to go to...sigh), sending emails, getting syllabi and copies ready for the first week. The actual TEACHING of classes doesn't start until Monday.

One of the things I noticed this week as I was talking to my colleagues is that, for the most part, we fell into two camps...those who felt that "they weren't ready" for school to start. Most of those people taught summer school, so they hadn't had much of a break. The rest were rested, and eager, and mostly said that they were ready to go back to teaching.

I certainly fell into the latter camp. For the first time, maybe ever, I felt like I had enough vacation. I'm rested and am ready to get back at it. It was a great summer. I got to run two half-marathons, I got to travel with friends and family. I certainly had a fair amount of "down time" and way more than enough wine!

It's kinda a nice feeling.

Going back to school is one way that I know that the summer is (or is almost) over. Another signal that my summer is coming to a close is my mid-August birthday, which I quietly celebrated about a week ago.

When I was younger, I made a pretty big deal out of Birthday Week. Heck for a while in my 20's, I considered the whole month of August my "Birthday Month!" (As in, "Hey bartender...It's BIRTHDAY MONTH...shouldn't this round of drinks be "on the house?" You might be surprised at how well this worked!)

Now that I'm (ahem) older, I am decidedly more low key about my birthday. Until this year, I kept my birthday private on Facebook. This year, I made it non-private because some people, when they learned it was my birthday a week after the fact, chastised me for keeping it private.

I'll be honest...the birthday wishes from FB were really nice.

So was my birthday (not a week...but a couple of days of celebrating). On Wednesday, I met up with Mik, Elsie, and Betty at Mik's house. It was the first time we'd been together since the Napa to Sonoma half. We got to hear about Elsie's adventures in Guatemala. (Her dad is a doctor and she participates in an annual trek to South America where her father and other surgeons provide health care services to the people there. She is a translator and always comes back with good stories...and this year, a good luck doll...for the dolls!)

Cute! No? Thanks Elsie!

Mik served the birthday cookies on her family birthday plate...how cool is THAT?

On my actual birthday (Friday). I went for a run at Lake BP. For the past year or so, the road around the lake had been closed about 2 miles in for repair. It's now open all the way, so I got a 5.5 mile run in.

Locals will recognize the target at Lake BP...the lap doesn't count unless you tag the sign!!!

That night Walter and I took our kids to the track so that they could learn the important life skill of betting on ponies.

I bet on the 8 horse in the 6th race in honor of Mona. Damn mule came in last...

Actually, I've had really good luck betting horses this season, but only in the first two races I see. The first time I went to the track, in the first two races, I correctly picked a quinella (where you bet on two horses that you think will come in first and second, but in no particular order). 

I had my friends thinking I was a betting goddess, but then I didn't bet on another winner for the rest of the day.

Then on my birthday, I correctly picked another quinella in the third race, which was the second race I saw...and then not another winner, or even close, for the rest of the day.

So, in the future, I think I will not bet on any races past the 3rd.

Turbo likes betting longshots thinking that if one of 'em hits, he'll win loads of money. Sadly, one of his first memories of being at the track is choosing on a 50:1 longshot to win, so he thinks that this is a common occurrence now.

DramaGirl made this gorgeous thing! Consumed at home later that evening (and for the next couple of days) It was a lime-berry pie that was super rich and yummy!

So...this year, I turned 49. Wow. One year away from 50. I'm in my 50th year of life.

I'm not sure what 50 is supposed to feel like. I've read that 50 is the new 40, whatever that means. I'll also be honest that the prospect of turning 50 has me a bit wigged out. I know that some will say that "age doesn't matter. It's how you feel that counts" and while a huge amount of that adage is certainly true, age does matter in how you feel.

Doesn't matter how you slice it. 50 sorta sounds...well you know...old.

40 has been a great decade so far. I earned a doctorate. I started running and have had some absolutely wonderful adventures with some great women as a result of "being a runner." I've raised two great kids out of toddler-hood and into teenage-hood. I continue to be happily married to a great man. I have nothing but good to say about my 40s.

But there's a nagging voice in the back of my head that wonders how long can this continue? Certainly, life is going to change. It always does. It, of course, already has. If someone had told me when I was 39 that I would earn a degree, change jobs, start running, change jobs AGAIN, run a marathon, many halves, and even do a few long bike rides, I'd have probably been a bit incredulous.

That really wasn't me then. It is me now. I've changed.

So while I shouldn't be wigged out about change, I am. The changes that I went through in my 40s were very positive, yes, but I know that it won't always be so. I know that my body will, eventually, not allow me to run any longer (I may be 90 when this happens, but it will happen). Even now some of "the herd" complain, suggest that not ALL of our adventures need to culminate in a 13.1 mile run. Maybe we could look for some 10Ks instead? Maybe we could go somewhere and not run at all? Maybe we could ride Segways (that was for Mik who is morally opposed to such things).

I know my body is changing, some of it for the good (I may be in the best shape of my life...definitely the best shape of my adult life...and by adult life, I mean the part of my life that started in my 30s. I dont' really consider my 20s adulthood...it was more an extended adolescence.)

But some other aspects of a changing/aging body?  Not. So. Good. This became clear to me when I went to the gym last night. I didn't actually go the gym to workout. I had signed Turbo up for a gym membership so that he could go there after school with a couple of his friends. It is definitely the least expensive after school program I've ever paid for. Anyway, as the membership director walked us around the gym and was (of course) trying to get me to purchase some personal training sessions (I also belong to the same gym, so personal training isn't an entirely outlandish idea), he also asked me what my training goals were. Whenever I'm asked this question, I always mention running and how any strength training that I do is generally focused on increasing endurance in long runs and/or riding.

He took one look at me and talked to me about improving my posture because "as we grow older, our shoulders tend to start hunching over..."

HUH? Grow older? Hunching over? WTF????

But I can look at myself in the mirror and I see the hunch. I see the difference between a young person's posture and mine.

GAH! GROWING OLD SUCKS!!!!...I'm just saying...and there. I've said it.

Sigh...

So, I will fight these NOT. SO. FRIGGIN' POSTIVE changes as best I can, but getting older really pisses me off.

Six Things Saturday (night)

Another busy week. I was going to originally name this post "Five things Friday" (in the tradition of Three Things Thursday" and other blog traditions of the past... But, of course, I got really busy and so I didn't get this written until now.

So here are the SIX highlights of the week.

If it were a production of Fiddler on the Roof...

It's a deal!***

1. In a moment of complete maturity, I did not run all week in order to "rehab" my knee. I did a reasonable job of stretching, icing, and strengthening, and by "reasonable job," I mean I did each of these things at least once.
2. Turbo is in this years Peter Pan Junior Theater production of The Music Man. He plays an old Jew. I'll bet you didn't know that there were old Hasidic Jewish men living in River City, Iowa in the early 1900's, but you'd be wrong.  
3. In late summer Mik, Elsie and I registered for the Napa to Sonoma 1/2 Marathon in July. Betty, for several reasons, did not, but then tried to register during a late lottery drawing. We found out this week she did NOT get in.
4. Betty is willing to purchase a bib from someone who needs to sell. She says will pay double if the name on it is "Tiger."
5. In other super exciting news this week, Betty purchased Elsie's old Lexus. I was there for the paper signing and pink-slip transferring. I'm pretty sure my attendance at the event was much appreciated.
6. After resting my knee (oh yeah, and the pretend-to-rehab-it bit), I DID run 8 miles this morning with the track club.* Some parts of the run felt OK; sometimes, I could feel my knee, but it never really hurt.** Now, the knee feels OK. It's not as sore as last week, but this afternoon, I'm definitely feeling it. I'll have to get back to my intensive stretching, icing, strengthening program...and by "intensive," I mean that I'll try to do each of these things at least twice this week.

                                                                           

*Although running two miles up the San Diego Riverbed/Flood channel, and two miles back may sound dreadful to some, this is actually one of my favorite runs. I've writting about the joys of running on the riverbed several times in the past couple of years. This year there were no Elvis sightings... Also, after the run, there was a SDTC picnic, which we couldn't stay for because we had kid-delivery errands to get to. Too bad. It was nice seeing Irene, who looked incredibly happy!

** Despite the almost reasonable pace (10:49) this morning, I felt incredibly slow and sluggish. This was definitely due to a lack of training runs this week. What do I do? I fear that if I push it and run during the week, I'll injure my knee for sure. I also know a sure-fire way to get hurt is to ONLY run on the weekends....GAH!

*** I decided to NOT post the photo of Betty flipping me off. She's been making a concerted effort to not say "The Eff Word" this month. She says it's on her "bucket list"

The Aftermath...

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and commentary about how old I am (or how old I am not, depending on your POV).

When I was younger, in my wild-party-girl days, I came up with the idea to celebrate my birthday for the entire month of August...and dubbed August "Birthday Month." I rationalized that since August has no other recognized holiday (trust me on this), it must exist in honor of MEEEEEE!!!!

So during "Birthday Month" whenever I would go out with my girlfriends, our goal was to find someone who was willing to "sponsor" us because, IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY!!!! and we'd do this all month long...You'd be surprised at how well it worked! There was always someone who was willing to buy a birthday girl a drink during Birthday Month...

Yes, one can be this self involved when single and can recover from it with age and wisdom. At least that's what I keep telling DramaGirl.

Of course, once I became a mama, birthday month sorta fell to the wayside and it's really better that way. This year, since my BD fell on a weekday, I celebrated with my family, and tonight Walter and I are going out to a nice dinner, so I get two days this year (well...I'll get three, but I'll write more about that later).

For the family celebration Walter and DramaGirl cooked a fabulous dinner and then afterwards we went to Extraordinary Desserts.

DramaGirl's roasted red potatoes

Me and my top chefs!

The desserts at Extraordinary Desserts are truly amazing. I posted a few pix on FB of some of the extraordinary-ness that was displayed in the front cases.

Some frosted scone-thing

A meringue filled with fresh fruit and a peach custard (I've had this before...it IS as yummy as it looks)

DramaGirl says there's no such thing as too much chocolate

We ended up ordering...

A hot fudge sundae (with white chocolate bark). There's a brownie mixed in with the hot fudge...decadent!

A chocolate cake/chocolate mousse/chocolate frosted piece of goodness and some hot chocolate (again...DG says, "there's no such thing as too much chocolate)

A multi-tiered napoleon with lemon curd and raspberry sauces

And the aftermath...

Stuffed...the four of us (Walter was there too) couldn't finish it all, but seriously...YUM!

Dealing with the aftermath meant that I needed to get some running in to somewhat counterbalance the number of calories I consumed. I ran a little bit on the 'mill yesterday, but I got bored and overwhelmed by OMG...I HAVE TO GO BACK TO WORK ON MONDAY AND I HAVE SO MANY THINGS TO DO... so I stopped at two miles and went to run errands instead.

Then last night Betty and her husband and my BIL and his GF came over to watch the Padres beat the Giants (sorry NoCal folks) and to eat some of the five pounds of steam mussels I'd prepared (I was at Costco...and you can only buy the ENTIRE BIG EFFING BAG and I wanted them, so the obvious answer was to buy the WHOLE SHEBANG and invite a few friends over...right?)

BTW...I can steam up some pretty serious mussels in a white wine broth. We almost finished the whole bag.

Anyway, somewhere during the second bottle of wine, Betty and I decided that we should run in the morning!

Hmmmm maybe opening that third bottle wasn't such a good idea?

So, we have the Aftermath Part II

This morning Walter, Betty and I met up with Kat at 7am at La Jolla Shores and ran part of a route that we do during the SDTC Rockin' and Runnin' program...from La Jolla Shores, to Torrey Pines. The SDTC loop includes a run up Torrey Pines, through the park and down into La Jolla from the east and  is about 12 miles. We were nowhere near that ambitious, we ran three miles up the beach, and three miles back.

There are several of the cool features of this route, including getting to run on a part of the coast that few people get to because it is inaccessible from a road or parking lot. You have to walk (or run) to get there and part of the rock/run includes climbing up and over some boulders and rocks. You also have to be mindful of the tides. During high tide, it would probably also require getting wet to get to the best part of the beach, but the tide was low this morning at about 6:30 (we checked), and it is so worth the effort to get there.

For example, this morning we got to see...

Plenty of jellyfish (I know it looks like a turd and a messy one at that)

Someone's beach house that has a funicular, which is something that you just don't get to see every day.

Underneath the Scripps Pier

The boulders and rocks we got to climb over and we could almost see La Jolla (through some pretty serious morning mist) although the misty-ness of this photo may be because I was "misting" on the camera lens...

Walter...who looks THRILLED to be up and running, doesn't he?

What we didn't see was any smelly whales (that's for you Marcy...if you're still reading :-))

Speaking of that mist, we all commented on how LUCKY tomorrow's AFC 1/2 runners will be if the morning marine layer hangs on as long as it did this morning. By the time we finished our run and stopped to have some coffee, it was close to 9:30 and the marine layer was still pretty thick. People setting up for their day at the beach had sweatshirts on and were lighting huge bonfires... Maybe not great beach weather, but it will be PERFECT RUNNING WEATHER. Betty and I whined and lamented that it FIGURES that this is the year we DON'T RUN and the weather will be PERFECT! GAH!!!

So...shout-outs to all you AFC 1/2 Runners out there tomorrow morning (especially Alberta...I'll be thinking of you!) Have a great race!

I'll be dealing with third aftermath this week.

River People

Oh my....

Has it really been over a week since I last wrote? I don't think I've missed a whole weekend update since I started this blog... It's been so long since I last updated, I had to re-enter my password in Blogger...

My excuses? The usual. Work. Kids. Work. Life. Work. Blah. Blah. Blah. The good news is that the semester is almost over and I'll be back to my regularly scheduled lurking, commenting, posting life.

In any event, I won't bore you with the excruciatingly dull details, but I do have to post this little update...

Two heffers, and one heffer offspring won age group awards at the first annual San Diego RiverFest 5K on Sunday.

A bevy of medals! Alice 2nd - Women 46-55, Mik 2nd Women 35-45, Turbo 3rd Men 12-18

Let the disclaimers begin...

• First of all, and let me make this perfectly clear, it was a REALLY small field. You ask, "How small was it Alice?" It was so small that even though I registered the morning of the race,  my bib number was 42. In other words, no need for a wave start.

Mik, Betty and I pre-race...can you see the crowds around us? Yes, we parked our asses on the VIP parking area...If we weren't VIPs, I don't know who else was...

Turbo and Walter (numbers 43 and 44), standing on the San Diego Chargers old practice field.

• Second, it wasn't really a 5K. My Garmin says it was more like a 2.8 mile (how many Ks is that? 4.5K?) run. My finishing time was 27 minutes, and let's be honest. I do NOT run sub 9 minute miles.
• Its a shame it wasn't a full 5K, because I was on pace to have a new 5K PR.

The start (I know...duh)

Turbo at the start...yeah, I know, you're starting to wonder whether or not there were really even 40 people there, aren't you? Yes, Turbo sprinted the first 1/2 mile at full speed. He does need to learn. Still he placed third in his age group (please don't ask me how many were in his age group, but it did include a 2 year old in a stroller).

• Anyway, the guy starting the event gave us some directions...we were to run the perimeter of the parking lot at Qualcomm stadium, follow some cones, run around the stadium, then follow the cones back into the Chargers old practice field 
• BTW...it was a complete surprise to me that there was, in fact, off of the parking lot to the football stadium, a grass field.

• Third disclaimer (or at least an explanation)...there actually is a river that runs alongside the stadium parking lot, although we didn't see it...maybe next year.
• The starter said, "On your marks, get set, go!" and we were off.
• It was actually a pretty nice run...relatively level although the parking lot has some pretty serious cant to it (in addition to being a parking lot, I also think it's part of the flood channel). When we ran around the stadium itself, I stayed as close to the building, where it was level, as I could. I might have shaved some distance off this way.
• With about a 1/2 mile left, I actually passed the woman who eventually came in first in my age group, but I couldn't stay ahead of her.
• When I crossed the finish line, I could see the race official look at me, look at the clock and then write down on a large poster my time and my number. I was pretty sure right then that I'd come in second.
• I heard the race director decide that since there was nobody running in the 55-65 age group, and since there were 3 kids (including a 2 year old in a stroller) under 18, that they'd just do an under 18 division. Turbo got a medal.

So, all in all, team heffer swept the team medal race (if there was such a thing). Most importantly we had fun, we laughed, and I have my first place medal...gotta be happy with THAT.

Turbo, Me and Mik with our bling-bling

After the race, we wandered around some of the booths, got some breadsticks from Pat and Oscars (a local pizza & chicken place with just downright awesome breadsticks). Betty, Turbo, and Mik climbed the rock-climbing wall.

No, I did NOT attempt this feat...

Betty made friends with the firemen who's station is (and I am NOT making this up), in a trailer and an effing TENT in the Qualcomm lot.

Seriously...the fire station is a TENT! WTF?

The two firemen we talked to were very cool (as firemen usually are). They explained that they ARE the fire station for that area and that someday a real fire station might be built. I told them I'd give them a shout out and harass some local officials for allowing those who are willing to risk their lives to save us to be stationed in a trailer and a TENT! 

Honestly, something is seriously wrong with that...or am I alone here?

Gotta love the potted palm trees on wheels though

So...got a really busy week ahead of me, so I might not even be lurking much. This weekend, I've got an 11 mile run planned for Saturday AM, the DramaGirl and I are going up to LA to see GLEE with Penny (can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!)

Have a great week everyone!

Weekend Update: Part 1 - The LA and The OC

I almost missed Saturday morning's SDTC run completely due to my day on Friday, which didn't end until about midnight when I got home, but I'll get to that in a minute.

The really important thing is that I did run this morning, and even though I didn't run for very far, or for very long, I DID RUN...and that is the most important thing, isn't it?



OK...I established that I did run on Saturday morning, but back to Friday. On Friday, Walter, the kids and I went to a memorial service for a distant family cousin. We hadn't planned on going until almost the last minute, but for various reasons, including the fact that I was planning on going to Orange County in the afternoon (more on THAT in a minute too) anyway, and if we all went together, we wouldn't have to figure out what to do with the kids, we decided to all go together.

Geez...when I write this kind of stuff, it sounds like we have such an overly complicated, life, and sometimes I do think we tend to overbook ourselves. Lord knows I do on a regular basis. Also, I don't have to explain every blessed little detail of why I do this, or where I go, or why I do that...but I do...

Anyway, we went to LA.

The man who passed was a lovely man. I met him several times and he was always generous and the epitome of old-school politeness and graciousness. I was completely blown away when he showed up at my mother-in-law's funeral service in February despite being in a walker and clearly having difficulty getting around. But that's the way he was...which is also one of the reasons we went to LA, to show our respects to him and his family.

After the memorial, there was a reception at the Brentwood Country Club (la de da). Funny side story - before we left, Turbo went to the men's room. He came back out looking very spiffy, hair combed, fresh breath. He was pleased that the men's room had COMBS and PRODUCT and MOUTHWASH just sitting there for him, so he availed himself of it.

So DramaGirl and I went to check out the ladies room. It was quite lovely. I probably should have used the hairspray.

DramaGirl and I in the Brentwood Country Club Ladies Room - Mandatory RR Shot. DramaGirl needs to learn to look at the BR window and not the screen :-))

First snarky comment of this report...at the Brentwood County Club our almost 10 year old Honda Pilot was very low class. DramaGirls comment was that she wished SHE had a LIMO. (I guess the mom-limo doesn't count).

Also, I have not done nearly enough plastic surgery.

We left the reception to head south. My sister had a pre-grand opening of her clothing boutique in Coto de Caza (sorta inland Mission Viejo, Orange County) which didn't start until 5pm, so we meandered through LA on Sunset.

Second side story. On several occasions, Walter has suggested that we go to LA on vacation. I laugh...I mean why in the world would I want to go to LA? Usually, going to LA is something that I endure, but I'm rethinking that right now. There are some cool things in LA that my kids haven't ever seen before.

The Pantages Theatre--I had to settle for photos like this when I was in Hollywood. It was far too early in the day to take pix of any of the REALLY interesting sights...those come out later at night.

DramaGirl and Turbo on Hollywood and Vine. Mostly Turbo was disappointed that he didn't know who any of the stars were in this part of town.

For example...isn't this the Mad Magazine guy? Clearly I don't know my Hollywood history either

Walter went to UCLA, so we had to drive by the campus and let him relive a few moments of his youth.

Actually, this is a street in Beverly Hills, not in Westwood, but when Walter was in college he delivered for a pharmacy (or at least that's what he SAYS he did...anyway, he says this is one of his favorite streets. I'm always struck by how close Beverly Hills, and Westwood, and Hollywood are to each other (in a city where I think everything is pretty spread out). It is a really pretty street. The trees form this canopy that is very cool. I think this street ends up in A LOT of movies. I can see why.

I also thought about how the LA marathon ran down Sunset, so I thought of Glenn. I'm not saying I'm doing the LA marathon anytime soon, but I do think it'd be a great marathon to do. Lots of distractions and interesting things to see.

Finally, we got on the 101 and headed for the 110 and made our south...GAH! Friday LA traffic. Geniuses that we are, we decided to take the 101 (which goes right through downtown LA) right at 4:00...which means we were going nowhere.  Penny called (I'd been posting some updates to FB, so she knew I was in LA), and we got to chat for a bit. She ran the OC 1/2 Marathon this morning...woot woot girl!

We made it to the 405 (which for non-SoCal peeps, means that we were close to OC) ...we don't know what this was about at all, but as we headed into OC, we saw this car, which appeared to have a pretty serious cake in the back seat..

Can you see the yellow in the back window? That's a cake top...or part of the cake top, there was a box on the very top that the kids SWEAR had the Food Network logo on it.

And this car, following it with the camera crew...

Again, can you see the guy in the front passenger seat has a big camera? (yeah, yeah, that's what SHE said). I know, my mad photo skilz are really shining through here.

Since DramaGirl is a HUGE Ace of Cakes fan, we were screaming at Walter to speed up, slow down, speed up, so that I could take some really bad pictures... Although I don't see how it could be Ace of Cakes since they're in (I think) Baltimore, but it could have been the new Private Chefs of Beverly Hills, but then why would they be taking a cake to Orange County? OK...I've already spent too much time thinking about this...

Finally we got to OC and I went to my sis's grand opening (shameless plug for my sister's store Olivia's Closet Boutique...if you live in OC, go visit her and see her clothes. They are way cute. Tell her that you found her through my blog :-))

Adorable little shop, just my sis's style

Racks of trendy (but not over the top trendy) clothes - very cute stuff for summer (am I a good sales person-sister or what?)

My sister Doni (third from the left in the black and holding a drink) and some of her friends. Yes, that one. She is beautiful and fabulous, but don't let that intimidate you. She is really one of the nicest people around. Everybody loves her. Try growing up with THAT! (just kidding. I adore her).

It was a fabulous event. She's opened her own store! I'm so proud.

I'll save all the details of my Saturday run for another post, let's just say for now that I did it and it's done. We didn't get home until nearly midnight, so it wasn't my most stellar effort.

Shoutouts to everyone else who is running the OC today.

A Little Bit of Everything

Oh yeah...Heffers are global

Well...not global really, but you can find heffers are all over the country. Yesterday Bessie was in town from Virginia. An event of such magnitude required a Heffer Happy Hour to meet and reminisce about such things as the great KFC mashed potato debacle of 1997.

Good Times...

Elsie, Madge, Alice, Momma, Bessie (all the way from Virginia!), and Betty

It's been another one of those weeks with not much working out, but a lot of working. Additional complications this week included:

• A sick MacBook Pro - Said computer is currently (hopefully) being fixed by a genius at the Apple Store who is installing a new something techy-sounding (new IO board) so the blessed thing will turn on. When it wouldn't turn on on Tuesday night, I did go into near panic mode since MY WHOLE EFFING LIFE IS ON THAT COMPUTER!!! (yes, it is backed it up, but still... and YES this is related to the whole "bottle-of-water-exploded-in-my-briefcase-in-the-worst-trip-to-SF-EVAH" episode).*
• A dying desktop computer - So, I'm working (or pretending to work and blogging) on our iMac. Turbo has been complaining for months that there's something wrong with this computer, but since I rarely use it, I've just ignored those complaints. But I'd have to agree with him, there is definitely something wrong with the screen because everyone once in awhile I get something that looks like this...

This is from Meg Runs. See the verticle lines going down the page? This is NOT what her actual blog looks like unless you were looking at it on my compter. Check it out, and while you're there send her some love since she's running Boston this weekend.

Again, this is NOT the result of my mad blogging skillz... Apple Genius says it means the computer needs a new logic board, which is hella expensive to fix **

• A sick boy - Turbo has a 24-hour stomach flu. He seems fine today and just downed a grilled cheese and a banana, which his fabulous mother served to him as he lay reading in bed...ahh the joys of being a sick kid).

On the workout front...

• A single treadmill workout  - On Tuesday night instead of going to the SDTC workout, I opted to come home and use the 'mill instead. I did 6 x 1/2 mile repeats with 1/4 mile recovery "laps" with a 1/2 mile warm up and 1/4 mile cool down. Question...does anyone know if a 1/2 mile is longer or shorter than 800 meters. Yes I am a metrically lazy and I don't want to bother figuring it out. All together I ran 5 miles in about 52 minutes. I  ran negative splits in the 1/2 mile repeat and my last repeat was at a 9:15 pace.
• A San Diego RnR Goal - So, now that I've proven that I can be a speedy-gonzalez-type-runner, I'm now trying not to setting ridiculous goals for myself, like finishing a 1/2 marathon in 2:20 (10:41 pace).

All I know is if I'm going to do THAT, I'll need to get in more than 2 runs a week...GAH!

Tomorrow morning, SDTC is again going to Oceanside and that's nearly an hour drive from here, so the herd will be doing about two hours in and around Balboa Park. I'm sure I'll have photos of mimosas from Elsie's La Casita.

_________________________
* Fixing the water-damaged MacBook? $500


** Since I was in the Apple Store, I also picked up a new iMac as well...

Just Checkin' in...

I don't even know why I am doing this post, other than to say, "Hi" and that I, once again, have NOT dropped off the face of the earth, just having another one of those busy, busy, busy weeks. To Recap

• Monday - Back at work after Spring Break...too soon. I wasn't ready for it to be over. I don't know why. I was so incredibly hormonal at the end of the week I was near impossible to live with (trust me on this one). In any event, there was a residual emotional-hangover come Monday. The best thing about Monday is that I went to dinner with some friends. 
• Tuesday - On Tuesday I did something that I have never done before in 20 years being in education...first of all I figured out on Tuesday that I've been teaching for 20 years, which made me feel incredibly OOOOOOLLLLLLDDDDD, but for whatever reason, on Tuesday I just couldn't teach. I don't know why. I had loads of papers to grade (so what? I'm an English teacher. I ALWAYS have papers to grade). So I called in sick. I swear. I've NEVER done that before. I usually just suck it up and go teach, but on Tuesday, I just couldn't do it. So I stayed home with my kids (who are STILL on Spring Break) and graded papers and then that night Betty and I went to the SDTC track workout and I ran my ass off (5 x 800 repeats...negative splits again...my only running this week, so don't be too impressed).
• More on Tuesday - I do have to make one thing I have to share about the track club workout. There was a guy who was promoting some kind of anti-chafing-spray-on-Glide-type product, and as we were stretching, he invited whoever wanted to try it out to come up to the center of the circle to spray some on. Now this was pretty funny for a few reasons...first of all, Elsie told Betty that she'd pay her a dollar if she'd go and get some for her "problem area" (which for Betty ...well, let's just say it's on the bra-line), and I think she might have raised her shirt to get some, except there were a couple of guys who were spraying it down their pants... REALLY? There they were,  in the middle of the few hundred people or so who show up for the track workout, with their hands down their pants. Even funnier,  we only discovered later that the anti-chafing-Glide-type produce was a spray later on, so for most of the track workout, we were all kinda EWWWWWWWWWWWWW, thinking these guys (and a few girls) had all shared Glide...Not that I have a problem sharing Glide, but once you've rubbed it near your privates, I really don't want it back. I'm just sayin'
• Wednesday - back to work, but refreshed. Agreed to write an i3 grant for the high school where I used to teach, so I'll probably be completely overworked for the next few weeks.
• Thursday - My sister (the one who owns the OC clothing store, Olivia's Boutique for which there is now a permanent link on the sidebar) came to visit with her truckload of clothes, so we had a shopping happy hour, which I called "Pants and Pinot." It was really quite cool. We drank wine. We shopped. Most of the herd showed up. Irene  showed up and took home some pretty sweet jeans that had her name on them (literally)! I of course took NO photos, so I borrowed this on from her FB page. As a bonus, Alberta came and bought Gold! (There's a link under Olivia's Closet to Alberta (real name Jaime) and her contact info if you ever want to have a gold party...also very cool and a nice way to make some extra cash, and who doesn't like THAT).

I mean, wouldn't you buy jeans if your name was already sewn into them? I would.

• Friday - Woke up with a slight headache due to the wine consumption. My biggest effort of the day was getting some new tires on my car, and when I needed to pick the car up, I had to ride my bike to the tire shop. Don't be too impressed, it's only about a 12 minute bike ride. Tonight Turbo is FINALLY having his birthday party sleepover, so there is a room full of 11 and 12 year old boys in the next room...and I can still hear them. It's 12:45 and they're not showing any signs of sleeping yet.  I just stopped what I THINK was a game of hide and go seek... Good thing I'm pretending to work on this grant and I'm still awake, or I'd probably be pretty irritated by now. I wonder how long they'll stay up?
• Saturday - Going to DramaGirls HIGH SCHOOL ORIENTATION...OMFG...I'm sure I'll have another hormonal meltdown at some point tomorrow because my baby girl is going to HIGH SCHOOL. I have no idea how that can be, because I'm pretty sure, I took this picture just last week.

Yeah...that was the 4 year old version of an adolescent hissy fit. I was forewarned!

I'll have a good post on Sunday because Elsie, Betty and I are running in the Carlsbad 5000. I haven't run this race since I started doing the Saturday long runs with the SDTC, but tomorrow,  the club is doing the Train Run (which is mostly fun, until you get to Leucadia), but it's also 16 miles and since I'm not running a marathon this June, I see no reason to run 16 miles.

Anyway, I made a big deal out of running the Carlsbad 5000 because it's Elsie, Betty and my five year anniversary. That's right, five years ago, the three of us had this crazy idea that we'd pay $25 to go for a little jog on a Sunday morning with a few thousand other people and then go to breakfast afterward.

We had NO IDEA at the time what we were starting.

Betty, me, and Elsie...in the days before the  neon-dayglo-lime green race shirt was mandatory heffer race-day wear. My time that day was 36:36. My goals is to be under 30 minutes this Sunday.

BTW - It's now 1:15 and they're still awake.