10 Year and Still Running!

I guess I should write once every two years or so?

Betty made me promise that I would update the blog - only because we (the running heffers) celebrated an anniversary this past weekend - 10 years of running the "End of Summer" run from La Jolla to PB.

I'm not going to recap the last 10 years of running this event because it appears that I did that two years ago in my last post, and anyone who is TRULY interested can absolutely go back and reread that epic post (not really epic).

The main reason to write this today is mostly to post some photos (even though most of them are already on Facebook - we could write tomes about how FB has destroyed blogging).

Same crew - Betty, Elsie, Mik and Walter before race...some things don't change

Another post-race breakfast at The High Dive

Another stack of breakfast beer glasses (no mimosas this time) 

Some things never change... We even went out on a Sunday night (much easier now that Turbo is about off to college in about 2 weeks, and DramaGirl is already going into her junior year at Boston University!)

A night out with the girls!

and Walter at The Casbah (no there's a place we hadn't been to in ... a long time!)

OK... maybe some things change. My hair is a little whiter, and I'm a little slower (my goal was just to finish the race in less than 40 minutes, which I did, but far off my 4 mile PR!), but the herd is still running and having fun!

I Didn't Mean to PB

My running life has been quite the surprise recently*.

I mean, I thought that once I turned 50, I'd pretty much slow down...and by slow down, I mean that I thought I'd just start running slower, not run less.

But that's not how it's really worked out, not that I'm particularly running more, but I am running faster. I'm not sure why.

Take a look at my last five of the last six races. My PBs are in bold print. I've run all of these since turning 50.

February 2014 - Sue Kren (15K) - 1:35:22 (10:15)
February 2014 - Home of Guiding Hands (5K) - 28:23 (9:08)** and ***

January 2014 - SuperRun (10K) - 57:39 (9:17)

November 2013 - Run for the Hungry 5K - 26:38 (8:34)

August 2013 - End of Summer Fire Run (4 Miles) - 35:12 (8:54)

March 2013 - San Diego 1/2 Marathon -  2:17:43 (10:31)

This morning's PR at the Sue Kren 15K was particularly surprising because I really, really, really hadn't intended to be anywhere near a personal best. First, the 15K distance is difficult. It's a long race. Not a 10K where you can push yourself, but not a half-mary either. Also, for the first time this particular race was a low tide run, on the sand.

Walter and me before the race. We won't make comments about the beautiful weather...but it was.

Sand running has never been my favorite. To be honest, I avoid it like the plague, yet there I was this morning, running my first 15K in three years, on the sand. This morning's run was also the longest training run before the San Diego Half Marathon in two weeks, so my overall goal was to run slow, finish, and not get hurt.

And I honestly felt like I was taking it easy (or as easy as one can run 9.3 miles).

So, I was pretty surprised when I looked at my time this afternoon and realized that I had another personal best this year.
___________
* No more surprising than a blog post by me!

** Disclaimer. The HGH5K was the last three miles of an eight mile run...and I feel pretty good about the close to 9 minute pace having already run 5.

*** Full disclosure, I actually won my age group in this race! Woot!

My first "first place" medal!

Oh yeah...I forgot to post a race report

Saturday was the SuperRun 10K - The fifth anniversary of the running-heffer crew (Betty, Elsie, Mik, me). Five years ago, we ran together for the first time (well...not together exactly), and we haven't stopped since.

You just never now what a morning run will lead to...

One thing that five years of running led to on Saturday morning? A sub-hour 10K

Let me repeat that for myself - A SUB-EFFING-HOUR 10K.

Let's be honest here...it's really not something that I ever thought I would do

Does this look like someone who would run a sub-1-hour 10K? Yeah...I don't think so either.

Amazingly...opix still has photos on it's website from 2008! Oh, If only there were photos from 2007. On the other hand, maybe I don't wanna know...

Jump forward to Saturday 2012... It was just one of those days when everything worked.

• We got to the race early enough to get good parking on the riverbed, but not so early that we had to wait in the cold for too long.
• The race started at South Shores Park, where there are actual, real, flushing, toilets, and the line for the real-actual toilets was not ridiculously longer than the porta-potty line, so I got to use an ACTUAL, REAL, FLUSHING, GD, TOILET!
• We all were healthy - meaning no injuries for the herd.
• I got to make jokes with Irene's hubby about whether or not my underwear matched my shirt, iPod shuffle and iPhone case (all are lime green).... I'll let you guess about the rest....

The sun was out, but it was a little chilly, so we huddled before the race

With Irene and Laura, waiting for the start.

Before the race, Betty asked me what time I was shooting for. I shrugged... coming in under an hour in a 10K would be tough for me. It would mean running consecutive sub-10 minute miles for more than 6 miles, which isn't something I'd done before. We agreed that if I came in at 1:01, it'd be a pretty good race. I'd set my previous 10K PR last year (in 2011) at 1:01:55, so I figured knocking about a minute off of that would be pretty good. Turns out, I'd knock of almost two minutes.

Miles 1-3 - What was I THINKING?
I thought I'd start off taking it easy and work for negative splits...we'll THAT didn't happen. We took off, and there was a fair amount of weaving in and out, trying to get around slower people. For the most part, in this race, it's not too much of a problem since about 3/4 of the field are SDTC members, but I still weaved a bit (which is why my Garmin says I ran 6.31 miles and not 6.2). Also, I was running behind Walter and his friend Bob, trying to keep pace with them. Garmin buzzed at Mile 1, and I was pretty surprised to see 9:15 (I never notice seconds...).

"Uh, yeah," I thought to myself, "I won't be running negative splits I guess. Just better try to keep somewhere near this pace"

One of the best things about the SuperRun is that it is, if nothing else, scenic. Running around the bay, over a few overpasses which offers some really nice vistas of Mission Bay and Crown Point. The sun was out, but it wasn't hot. Beautiful.

The worst part of the run is through the Seaworld parking lot. I mean, let's face it. It's a parking lot. But in the beginning of the race (miles 1 and 2) it doesn't matter so much because you're running easy and entertained by my music, and the crowds, and the 2nd mile just flys by.

So, how was I doing on the way out?

Mile 1 - 9:15:87
Mile 2 - 9:15:28
Mile 3 - 9:01:57

Uh, yeah...I'm surprised too! Especially about that third mile where we run over a couple of overpasses - they're not big hills, I suspect I made up some time on the downhill side, as well as a pretty sweet downhill stretch into the Crown Point parking lot where we turned around and headed back.

Around the 2nd mile, I'd caught up with Walter (Bob had run on without him), and we ran a few feet away from each other for most of the rest of the race.

Mile 2 ish...I am nowhere near interested in smiling at the camera guy - I had a overpass to get over 

At the turnaround, I high-fived and smiled when I saw Irene and her hubs Michael (who yelled out "GO HEFFERS!" which he always does, and every, single, time. It makes me smile when I wonder what people think of that, especially when I fist-pump and cheer back "GO MICHAEL!!!!"

Miles 4-6 - GAH - The Seaworld Parking Lot
After the turnaround, I decided that it was way too warm to be wearing the long sleeve neon-lime-green shirt, so I took it off and tied it around my waist.

Much better.

Of course, after Mile 3, I also started to feel the effects of running about as fast as I could for three miles. Also, remember that hill I just ran down? Time to go back up it. All of those things added up to some heavy feeling legs and, of course, that desire to just walk a bit. But I was determined, so I powered up the hill and tried my best to either stay ahead of Walter or just behind him (yes, I am THAT competitive that I'll use my husband that way. He knows).

The good news was that after the 4th mile, the overpasses were behind me.

The bad news was that the last two miles were back through the Seaworld parking lot and up Seaworld Drive. Being no longer fresh and energetic and distracted by people and my music, the mile through the parking lot is just boring, and painful, and since I run with only one earbud in (so that I can hear the world around me), full of complaining people.

But things still worked!

• A track club runner runner told me I was looking good (thank you!), which gave me that extra boost!
• I could see Mik in the distance ahead of me. So that you know, at five miles I NEVER have Mik in my sights - although this is also a double edged sword because I find myself thinking, "oh, I wish I were up there with Mik because I WOULD BE THAT MUCH CLOSER TO BE DONE!"

So of course, these were my slowest miles, but still...I managed to keep it under 10 minutes.

I'm still not quite sure how I did this.

Mile 4 - 9:35:47
Mile 5 - 9:39:37
Mile 6 - 9:34:33
Mile (in this case) 6:31 - 2:44 (8:54 pace....thank you very much)

In other words, the exact opposite of negative splits. I'm beginning to think that negative splits are highly over-rated.

What I do know is that when I came around the last corner and could finally see the clock time, it was just turning from 58 minutes to 59. I knew I was about 30 seconds behind the clock time, and I was determined to not see it get to 1:00:xx before I crossed the finish, so I sprinted.

Final - 59:00 - 9:20 pace (official)

((YES))

I have to say; there have been several races in the past couple of years where I've set PRs, but still haven't been satisfied, thinking that I could have/should have run a smarter race, a better race, a different race.

Not this time. I am completely happy with how I ran the whole race.

Don't I look happy? I stole this from the SDTC FB site (thanks Doreen!), and Yes, that's Walter in the background...glowing in the green.

Time to celebrate! So off to The High Dive we went!

LOL...all of us trying to take photos of the bevvies 

More photos by Irene 

Sadness that there was no more coffee

Happy campers (this was right after I yelled at Walter to drink some juice or something because as we were driving to The High Dive, his calf muscle cramped up. He's not a big believer in a recovery beverage ((rolls eyes)). 

Michael wanted to make sure he knew his pace

Yep. Completely Satisfied (thanks Elsie for sending me this) 

Happy Anniversary to my Herd. Thanks for making the last five years so much fun. Here's to many, many, many more. I love you all!

An Ugly, Pretty Run

Thank goodness that the semester is finally over! Gosh, that was a busy one. I'm looking forward to a few weeks away from teaching, even though the next couple of weeks look to be continued busy...but at least it'll be fun-busy!

To get the fun-busy off to a good start, this morning, Walter and I went down to the beach so that I could get a 9 mile long run in, but things didn't really go as planned...

Walter and I had headed down to the beach thinking it would be cool, so we dressed accordingly, but when we stepped out of the car, it was a glorious sunny winter morning...which is great for walking the boardwalk, but not so great for running. We tried to take as may layers off as possible, but I was already in long tights, and there was no way to strip those off...

Just saying.... we were NOT expecting this, this morning...

The first few miles felt really good, as it was a completely gorgeous morning on the bay, but by about the third mile, I was already whining to myself, "how much FARTHER do I have to go? How far have I gone so far?" You know the drill...checking my Garmin CONSTANTLY and that's NEVER a good thing. 

So, I blame the concrete path, which is never kind to my achilles, calves, knees, or hips, all of those felt especially achy for this morning's lousy run. Also I wag my accusing finger at the sun, which was in my face for keeping me too warm. Also, I'd like to call out the Mexican food we ate for dinner last night at about 9pm, causing my stomach to do some double flips. Also I can't help but chide my run on the mill at about 5pm last night for making my legs feel heavy. I could also give a little "tsk, tsk" to the cold I think I've been fighting off for about a month (which I am sure to get now that I'm on vacation).

Yep...I have a long list of things to blame for this morning's lousy run. 

At the Crystal Pier restroom, I told Walter (who had run waaaaay ahead of me and who kindly stopped to wait) that I was going to head into the residential area of so that I could run on the surface streets (and the asphalt) for awhile...and that did help my legs, but by then I had pretty much convinced myself that 9 miles was not going to happen. Thus, it didn't.

So, since it was going to be a lousy run, I decided to run back to the car on Bay Side of Mission Bay and take pictures of the holiday decorations.

Some neighbors put a tree on the beach (all decorated...how cool is that). I probably take a picture of this every year, but it never gets old.

The owners of this house had hung decorations from the tree, AND they have a ceramic cow watching over it. How could I NOT take a photo?

Just for equal measure...a Hanukkah flag. It does look a little sad and lonely.

My favorite...every year this house has a tree and their house decorated ENTIRELY in beach toys! LOVE IT!

Further down the beach...another decorated tree near Carmel Point where the boats are docked

So, I ended up running about 7.4 miles instead of my planned 9. It was an ugly run and my legs are still pretty sore and every time I stand up, I feel it. But it was also a pretty run, there's no denying that either.

Now to get caught up on some other holiday madness. Have a great weekend!

Much to be Thankful for...

I've known for about the last two months that the two weeks preceding Thanksgiving were going to be a huge cluster--- as far as my work life was concerned. My prediction was spot on accurate. Thus the two week hiatus on blogging.  But that's mostly over now, so I can get back to the things that truly matter in my life, and in this post, those important things included:

1. Thanksgiving Day's Run for the Hungry 5K
2. Thanksgiving Day's Feast

Run for the Hungry

I haven't done an organized Turkey Trot in a few years, but I always want to, partially because they raise awareness and/or money to feed those who have little (which is a VERY good thing to think about...how incredibly blessed I am...) AND because The Run for the Hungry was the VERY FIRST organized running event I ever participated in. Six years ago, my FIL signed up the family and I up for this particular event, and I walked it...well, strolled would be a more accurate word...and finished in 1:02:38 (I swear, I am not making that up). 

For some reason, the energy of the event struck a chord with me. I don't know why. I was about the laziest couch potato of a woman at that point. I was fat, out of shape, felt bad about my body and myself, but after walking that morning, I decided I wanted to RUN a 5K. Maybe it was because there were people actually RUNNING who looked like me. Maybe because my hour finish time was sort of humiliating. Maybe it was because the people who ran looked like they were having fun, and I'd never considered running to be a fun thing to do. 

So I started running.

This year, I convinced Walter and DramaGirl to get up early on Thanksgiving morning to run with me. There are two Thanksgiving morning 5Ks in San Diego, the Father Joe's run in Balboa Park, for which about 12,000 people show up, and the Run for the Hungry which is downtown. There's both a 5K and a 10K and about 4000 people show up. 

I'm not going to lie. I'd been looking forward to doing a 5K for a few weeks. I hadn't run a 5K since Shelter Island last November. I've been running pretty well. I've been getting faster. My old PR was just a hair under 30 minutes and I thought I could really beat that...by A LOT.

Me, DG, and Walter...that's Petco Park in the background. Nice cloudy morning.

I did a quick warmup around the parking lot while DG complained about being too cold. We decided to walk over to the start and the leaders of the 10K were just crossing over (the 10K started at 7am...I briefly thought about running the 10K and I felt a little like a slacker for running ONLY a 5K as they passed). We passed by a couple of porta potties, but there was no TP and someone had left their pants in there. Walter wondered why someone would need to leave their pants behind. Ah...the joys of running downtown.

Actually, there was a whole row of porta potties set up for the runners. Later on we realized that the two we passed by initially were probably the "permanent" ones left for tailgaters (Keith...I promise to explain tailgating in a future post). In any event, since we still had about 40 minutes to the start of the race, we decided to walk across the street to a Hilton and use the restrooms there.

Much nicer and warmer than a porta potty

Once we got back to the race area, we lined up...trying to get ahead of the dogs and strollers (not easy).* 

My goal was just to keep up with DramaGirl for the first mile or so. She's not a runner, but she plays field hockey and soccer, is in really good shape, has long legs, and is much faster than I am. I figured if I could keep her in my sights for the first mile or so, I'd be on a really good pace to come in around 29 minutes.

As the race started, she took off, and we spent about the first 1/2 mile dodging in and out of walkers with dogs and/or strollers (GAH!), but I kept up with her. After about a 1/2 mile, she motioned that she wanted to pass a few slower runners, and I told her to go ahead...I'd hit my pace (I was running about a 9 minute mile...which is pretty much about as fast as I thought I could go), so she bounced ahead.

I loved watching her run.She runs effortlessly. I mean. I KNOW I look like I'm working hard when I am running. She doesn't ever look like she's working that hard. She swears she's not a runner, but I know she could be.

At about 1.5 miles, I could see that she had slowed to a walk. She told me later that she didn't see a reason not to. When I caught up with her, she started running again. I asked her how she was, and she said she was good. We smiled at a cute dog in a turkey costume or something like that and she pulled ahead of me again...I wondered where Walter was.

At two miles, I looked at my Garmin. It said 17:xx and I swear I did a double take as I realized, I'd been running sub-9 minute miles... (it must have said 17:56 because miles 1 and 2 were both 8:58 according to my Garmin...but all I saw was the 17). I thought...OMG...I could run a 11 minute mile at this point and still get a PR...amazing.

With about 1/2 mile to go, Walter pulled up beside me, so we ran the last mile together. DG had decided to sprint it in. At one point, I think he tried to pull ahead of me, but I was having none of that and I kept up

DG - 28:05

Walter - 28:23

Alice 28:25**

I came in 4th in my age division...Imagine that! 

No I don't have any post-race photos...Imagine me being red-faced and sweaty. That should do it. It was a really awesome way to spend the morning...but we had to hurry home because I still had a dinner to cook!

Thanksgiving

My side of the family all came to our house for Thanksgiving this year. I love cooking, and after how much I'd been workingthe last three weeks, I was really looking forward to doing one of the things I really love to do best, cooking good food. I'd been working on fixing as many of the dishes as I could ahead of time so that the day wouldn't be a complete blur so that I could enjoy it. Gotta say that I planned it out pretty well.

Earlier in the week, I made a cranberry relish

DramaGirl baked A LOT of desserts

DG's pumpkin & berry (my favorite) pies...I don't bake much. This is very much her forte!

This is an apple spice bread pudding with a merengue topping (also...YUM)

Turbo and Papa...peeling potatoes (or what I call man's work)

Filling up - I should have taken a photo of the turkey before it was carved...it was beautiful!

The aftermath - watching the 49ers lose (the reason that Papa is a  bit glum...or he's full)

Sisters, my nephew, and Turbo

Me and nana

The girls - chillin' and watching African Cats on the Discovery Network (yes...I was surprised by this as well)

Mandatory end of the evening family shot

Clearly, I have so much to be thankful for. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
_____________

* I will never understand why...despite reminders and kind requests made by the race starter that walkers with dogs/strollers start toward the back...some insist on starting at the front anyway. Yes, this was a smallish field, but REALLY?  We were about 20 feet from the start line and at leasts 1/2 the people in front of me had absolutely no intention of running...AT ALL... I don't even have a problem with RUNNERS with dogs/strollers who want to start somewhere near their pace group, but if someone has absolutely NO INTENTION of running...why start at the front where someone who IS going to be running is likely to just run up your ass? 


** My previous 5K best was 29:53 

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.

Lost and Found

You know...for the last year or so, most of my musings have been pretty repetitive. I run. I whine about the weather. I brag (occasionally) about my family. I try to capture (not always successfully) the adventures of the herd. I complain about how busy I am.

Pretty much the same thing...blah...blah...blah...

So for something different yesterday, I dropped the key to my car on a long run...somewhere along this route...

It's a really sad moment when you realize...after running about 9.5 miles, and are about .5 miles from your car...that you no longer have the key to aforementioned car in your hip pocket.

"Oh shit" is probably the first thing I said.

"Where the F is it?"

Unfortunately, at the moment of discovery, I was not running with Betty. She was somewhere behind me, so my first thought was that I'd run back to where ever she was to see if she'd picked it up (yes, I'd run 9 miles. It was hot and humid. I was not thinking too clearly). Luckily, in a moment of clarity, I realized that the most important thing was to get a key to the aforementioned car, so I called Walter.

Walter: Hello?
Alice: Hi honey! Whatcha doin?
Walter: Relaxing. How was your run.
Alice: The run is fine, but I did something bad.
Walter: (silence...for future reference, saying "bad" brings up thoughts of something REALLY BAD)
Alice: I dropped the key to the car somewhere.
Walter: OH! (apparently relieved that I had not crashed the whole car, or hurt myself...not necessarily in that order).
Alice: Wanna bring me the spare key?

Of course, he did...

My Walter...my knight in shining armor, here to save the day!

So...they key, not any old key, but it's one of those newfangled, don't even need to use the key, key that is electronic and costs about a gazillion dollars to replace, so we went back to try to find it.

I thought I might have dropped it here when I stopped to take a picture of the gorgeous day. I run with a Spybelt for my phone.

Sevin-ish miles in. Wouldn't you have stopped?

...but that didn't really make sense because I keep my key in a separate pocket from my phone because I know I'm going to take the phone out to take photos and I don't want to LOSE THE KEY (DUH!)

So Betty, Walter and I backtracked a few places where I might have dropped it. Running over the lawn in Mission Bay seemed like it might be a likely spot because I wouldn't have heart it hit the ground.

Then Betty walked over the lifeguard tower on the off chance that someone had turned it in...and GOOD KARMA...

Someone DID!

YAY!

I'm pretty sure it slipped out of my pocket when I ate the last of my Gu at a drinking fountain. It's a pocket with a zipper, but since I didn't put anything back in my pocket, I didn't zip it back up...and the key must have just slipped out...maybe the belt from the Spybelt pushed it out.

Anyway, thank you to whoever the good Samaritan was who saved me a few hundred bucks for a new one of these...

Easy to see how it would slip out of a pocket...no?

_________________________

So...I spent A LOT of time at the beach last week. I know that many people think that if you live in San Diego, you live your life at the beach, but we really don't, or at least I don't. Sure, I run at the beach or coast pretty often, but I don't pack up chairs, umbrellas, towels, coolers and all that gear more than three or four times a summer, which is what I did last week. We live about 10 miles inland, so getting to the beach requires driving, and in the summer, unless I get to the beach early, I'm not interested in fighting the beach traffic.

Even locals have to trek their own gear. I swear I was carrying stuff too!

Betty's version of "beach food."

Luckily, this week DramaGirl was in Surf Camp, so I had a good excuse to get down there early.

Being on the beach is pretty entertaining, lobsterized tourists, men who make you think that speedos should be outlawed, or at least require a license. But on Thursday, I had to take a picture of something I hadn't EVER seen before...

It was the biggest UMBRELLA I'd ever seen!

Nineteen

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

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

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

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

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

To which he would calmly say:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And Walter's response...

"I remember the EARTHQUAKE" (me too).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yes, the sky really was that blue. 

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