Reports From the Field

A weekend filled with individual efforts and runs, Lake Murray at 5am (still waiting for that photo of BBJ in Underarmor tights) and Mission Bay at 1pm on Saturday for Betty, yours truly, and Elise (although she didn’t run with us). Where were the rest of you this weekend?

So Betty and I ran this afternoon with my bro-in-law Dave, which is when we all learned that despite “Dear Jesus”’s efforts, Betty still has pain leeway from her fupah!

We ran from the roller coaster, south to South Mission, then back around on the bay side, to crown point, and back. Here’s the run. (Thanks to Clarence who showed me the value of embedding objects in webpages)

My brother in law, Dave (who I gave two minutes to get ready to go with us...but he just had to put his pants on, so it wasn’t a problem), joined us for this run. Lucky him! He got to listen to Betty and I revisit her visit with the aforementioned “Dear Jesus. Then he got to run with us AND then had the pleasure of listening Betty and I sing along to “Cows with Guns” on the way home...not sure he’ll run with us again...

Nice that as we had crossed mission, and were just starting off on Mile 3-ish, here comes Elsie with her “calfs” and “grandcalf” (I think) in tow, RUNNING THE OTHER WAY! I guess she took off without us...ah well.

It was a beautiful afternoon for running...which was nice after the days of rain

So, here are some other highlights from this week’s email exchange as we tried to get together for a run as we were unavailable for the SDTC training run.

I love BBJ’s attempt to get someone to run with him at 5am!

bbj needs to run at 5 am b/c he has an 830 parent meeting. a 6-8 run wouldn't allow him to wash his booty in time for the parent.

5 am on the dreadmill or streets of la mesa in some under armor tights.
Of course I asked for photos, to which BBJ later replied (after his moonlight run):

I think I saw a coroner following me throughout the run, but no photos.
Tragedy about the photos.

We haven’t seen Alberta or Edith for a couple of weeks. I’m not sure where Alberta’s been (maybe she’ll let us know), but Edith has been occupied with visiting family. She promises to have good stories about a visiting four year old, and “hottie,” her mom.

By the way, here’s “Cows with Guns” in case you want to sing along :-)

Alice

Random Running Thoughts

First of all, I’ve got to say, “WAY TO GO Clarence and Elsie!”

Both ran hour & a half this morning w/various aches and pains...and to Betty who did the long run yesterday so that she could go to SF for the weekend and do some active recovery (so long as she could get D1 let D2 spend the night in the dorm room so she and Dave could have the hotel room to themselves).

When she gets, back, we’ll have to ask Betty about her airport experience...I can’t wait to hear about the body search at the airport. Was it fun? Did you leave your ID at home on

purpose?

Here’s my story for the week that has only a limited relationship to running. Edith was wandering around the campus yesterday. She said she was looking for a nice place to film math teachers (seriously...math teachers? A nice place? On our campus?), with her production assistant (I think that’s what she called him), Rod, who is going to help her film. Anyway, she introduced me as one of the several people that she runs with...a group which includes all of you and which also includes BBJ, who Rod (yes, I’m giggling every time I type his name), had just

met.

The conversation went something something like:

E: There’s a group of us who run together, and it includes, well you know Leslie and also Big Bootie Jim, you just met him. He’s a math teacher.

R: I did?

E: Yeah, he’s really into rap music and hip-hop. You should see him dance

R: (Blank look...he must be thinkin’ “who did I meet who looked like he might be into hip-hop”)

E: You know, Jim C-- ...the guy in the sweater-vest!

R: Seriously? No Way!

To say the least, it took Edith and I awhile to convince Rod (giggle) that BBJ was, in fact, really into rap music, can mix music w/the best of ‘em, and was, indeed the same person as the tall, white, conservatively-dressed, math teacher wearing a sweater-vest, whom he’d just met.

I don’t know if we really convinced him or not.

Other things I learned this week...1) Officer Stoney does not have a vase for HIS nightstick. He suggested that they just do that in Lakeside). 2) None of us know what size shirt we wear.

I have some other random thoughts and comments about running this week and how much I’ve learned about all of the bodily functions and injuries we’ve incurred as a result of running this past month. I thought I’d record some of them here. I’m sure there are more than

I’m about to record...you can fill in the blanks if you so desire. Here is our injury report to date:

Elsie: Knee pain and various digestive issues and this morning she was worried about soreness in her hip.

Clarence: Heel spurs, occasional dizziness and nausea (no, she’s not pregnant).

Betty: Back pain, various chaffing issues (wear a good sports bra for pete’s sake).

Edith: Digestive issues and and an ex w/a bimbo girlfriend w/fake boobs (I think that counts. It is a pain)

Alberta: Digestive issues and a desire to be an American Gladiator

BBJ: Calf strain

Alice: Achilles pain (shin sprints seem to have moved to the back side) and some back pain this week.

I think treadmill running is out for me from now on (unless I’m truly desperate). Seems like whenever I run on the TM, the shin-splints and back pain gets worse.

And finally, for those of you who are really paying attention...yes, many of these photos were taken at the Super Run two weeks ago... These were the last photos taken of us running, and were the only ones which I could download this afternoon from the RnR website when I first uploaded this post. I’ve since added more and I looked for BBJ in last week’s photos from Cardiff, but didn’t see any :-(

Take care of yourselves. I’ll be back to running on Tuesday this week.

Oh yeah, for those who care about mileage, here’s the MapMyRun route :

http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ca/san-diego/825175100

Here are some fabulous pix from SF, which Elsie sent me (she references them in her post below).

Cheers!

Alice

One Fine Sunday morning

Beautiful Sunday morning for a 6+ mile run followed by mandatory mimosas

at our favorite world famous. We missed those of you who weren’t able to make it and hope that you’re all healthy soon. We will have to especially harass Edith for getting us all to run on Sunday morning, and then not showing!

I do enjoy running at Mission Bay. The 1/4 mile markers make me happy.

Sorry I missed the Tuesday track run, but I felt like poo...so I rested up to get healthy. Feeling a little better today. I will say that seeing Clarence walk around campus in actual SHOES is a shocker!

Here’s the result of our various ailments and random running schedules this past week...no funny stories to share. I hope some of you have fun things to say...I got nada.

How does a blind guy know...

Sometimes I wonder who or what I am becoming as a result of this running thing...I mean, I woke up this morning in San Jose at a Crown Plaza Hotel which, by the way, has the BEST beds and rooms.

Why are the rooms the best you may ask? Well first, they have the best beds, lots of pillows, pillowtops and are really comfortable, and also, (in case the pillows and the comfy bed isn’t enough, they provide a really nice sleep CD, which isn’t good for running, but is pretty good for sleeping. Click on the link here to hear some of it

This is what I fell asleep to last night...but that’s not the reason I’m blogging about being in San Jose for two days...this is the REAL purpose:

I woke up at 5am and was on a Freeking Treadmill by 5:30 IN THE MORNING.

I’M JUST SAYING--I’ve never in my ENTIRE LIFE gotten up in the morning to TRAIN for anything. I’m just not like that. Now I know that some of you have athletic pasts and have, at some point, in your past, gotten up early to practice or train for an event or a sport, but let me make this perfectly clear.

THAT’S NOT ME

But this morning, I woke up early and thought, “Well, I’m awake, I guess I should run.” Because what the heck else would one do at 5am?

So I was on a treadmill by 5:30 IN THE MORNING and I ran for 50 minutes (which is, as you all know is absolute boredom HELL... and did I mention that the only other person in the “fitness center” was a blind guy with a white cane, who I watched tap himself back and forth between the elliptical machine and the weights for 40 minutes, and who, when I was done running asked me if I needed a towel (how does a blind guy know that you need a towel?) commented that I’d been running a pretty long time...

I feel like such an athlete now...

It’s all about the TIGHT ASS!

I keep hearing talk about some football game tomorrow?

Nice run ladies (sorry BBJ, you weren’t there with us...hope the slopes were nice). I’m happy with my 1:06:50 (ish) finish. I was even happier with my

mimosa (the mantra for some of us). Thanks to Clarence & Betty for reminding me that we’ve only been training a month!

I love you!

You make a difference in my life!

OK, so I just woke up from a 3 hr nap. Was that the running or the mimosas? Ready for some bloggin’

Nice to know that Leslie’s mantra is “Tight Ass” which she shared with everyone in the Crown Point area at about Mile 3.

The good news is that nobody from WF said anything to me like “did you ever find your phone?”

Here’s my list of other moments from the morning that made me laugh, please add yours.

Sharing morning “digestion” stories w/Cheryl & Jaime

“Dropping the Girls in the Pool”

“I’ll have a Coke”

Pink Shorts

PA & Cheryl in the car (photo above)

The guy who whipped out his penis

The Mile of Men

“I gave him a vase to store his nightstick”

BTW - Here is the final resting place of iPoo (1). I took a picture of the (this time) empty toilet.

Hope you all have a fabulous Super Bowl Sunday. Don’t eat too much bean dip...I know how you all are :-)

Alice

PS. Post your running playlists and I’ll put them on the main page...I need some new running songs.

PPS. This new site has a different URL - bookmark this one too :-)

PPPS. Here’s the website for this mornings Super Run if you want to see your results in print.

http://kathyloperevents.com/

PPPPS. Here’s a link to the Nike Women’s Marathon in SF in October

http://www.nike.com/nikemarathon/

Looks like we’re all in!

Just a quick comment on Tuesday night’s workout...what kind of fun was that?

I’m looking forward to the 10K tomorrow am... What time is checkin? These runner’s are NUTS!

It looks like’re all signing up for the RnR on Tuesday night including BBJ who informed us that:

Big Booty has both cheeks in for the RR marathon

Jimmy C aka BBJ

By the way, I think I’ve finally managed to upload Round 2

It may take awhile to load.

Face Time

Disclaimer...I have no idea how I was able to import the whole page...pictures and all...from the old, old, original blog...but here it is....and I’m not retyping it....

Weeks 3 & 4 - Anyone? Anyone?

OK...so clearly we’ve fallen off the blogging wagon these last two weeks, but who can blame us...Tahoe week, meetings, suspending kids, we’re a busy bunch.

In any event, I want to share a story about last Tuesday night’s relay workout. For those of you who weren’t there, the relay workout required each person on a three person team to run (in the case of the Kinks) 200 yards, then do calisthenics until their teammate showed up. Leslie and I teamed up with another woman (Patrice). To say the least, it was madness trying to find your teammate as she approached.

At one point...maybe lap 5 or 6 or so, I’ve done my 25 sit-ups (you had to know it wasn’t push-ups), and am waiting for Leslie to “tag” me so that I can run my 200 and “tag” Patrice, and I’m waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and then I’m a little worried (I know that Leslie hurt her knee at Tahoe), I’m about to take off without seeing her, then I hear her voice...laughing and having a joyful time. Turns out she’d been there awhile and

SHE’S FLIRTING WITH SOME GUY!

So I take off running...laughing the whole way.

In any event, here for your viewing pleasure is Paula Ann’s active recovery at Tahoe...

Round 1

Missed you all Saturday morning.

2nd Tuesday Night - Circuit Training

Apparently tonight we (well, Edith) needed a reminder on how to put on a sweatshirt... especially useful if one (Edith) is talking to a “cute boy” and one (especially Edith) is hoping to make a good first impression.

To assist with future sweatshirt challenges, I located and labeled visuals.

Notice that the front of a hooded sweatshirt typically contains the large logo and usually an opening for the front of the hood. This is useful if one wants to see (or be seen). The back of the sweatshirt does not...

If one does inadvertently put a sweatshirt on backward, one does not need to put the hood on to verify.

Nice workout tonight. Betty did three times as many push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, as any of us. I love it that you had to cut back to 15 (hell, I could barely do 15)... I was next to Leslie as she did some pushups. I’m pretty sure she could get a date with the sounds she was making :-))

Did anyone see me almost get run over when crossing over to the infield? That Ye Ha had me so concerned about watching runners in lanes 2-6, that I almost got completely taken out by an old guy finishing up in lane 8.

I’m thinkin’ I’m going to try to do this week’s long run on Friday before we leave for Tahoe. Anyone?

Alice

PS...thanks for all of your positive comments about the iPhone debacle. In the past two days, I’ve managed to NOT drop the iPhone in a toilet--not once :-)

The iPhone Incident

(Alice's Note: This is really the incident that kicked off this blog...I was so upset about the loss of my iPhone, I had to rant and rave about it. I'd been thinking of starting a blog for a couple of years, but didn't ever have enough of a story to start with...so although this post describes the loss of my beloved first iPhone...I did gain a blog)

Saturday run number 2. Morning was cold, cold, cold, but the run warmed us up. Here’s a link to the Map My Run route we(well...at least for what I) ran in 40ish minutes. Geez, I was depressed I thought

I ran farther than three and a half miles...even with a pretty wicked hangover...and for those of you who wondered...

No, I never puked...

OK...So on to my real story for the day. You all know I took lots of pictures that morning, of us stretching after our run (pretty, pretty) and of us at World Famous, and you might be wondering where the rest of the awesome photos I took are...well there’s a sad, sad, sad, SAD story about my beloved (and less than one month old) iPhone that I have to share with you, even though Mike has told me that I really shouldn’t tell anyone the whole story...but I figure I know enough of your stories, so here goes.

Most of you know that when you last saw me as you left the restaurant, I was frantically searching for my iPhone. My search went sort of like this:

Me: (Frantically dumps everything out of workout bag and purse because cannot find iPhone, then sees Clarence (because she was at the car by then) if she’d seen iPhone on table in WF).

Clarence: No, last I saw it, it was in your back pocket

Me: Really? Ah Shit, shit, shit...(runs back up to the restroom, which was the last place visited in WF and searches floor, stall, sink area, trashcan...no iPhone. Then returns to restaurant and speaks to busboy) Did you see a phone on the table?

BB: No, I didn’t, but if someone did, it’d be at the hostess stand.

Me: (at hostess stand to hostess) Did someone turn in a phone?

Hostess: (sad face) No

Me: Can you find my waitress? I was with that party of six women sitting over there (and points to now bussed table).

Hostess: Sure (but moves ever so SLOWLY, IMHO, in doing so).

Me: (waits for what seems like FOREVER, get frustrated and thinking some more about where phone could be decides to check r-room again for a second time...runs into r-room and looks on countertop, on floor, under sink, in trash can...iPhone not seen. Doesn’t check stall because its occupied, but looks under door and doesn’t see it on the floor. Thinks, “maybe I didn’t look through my things closely enough” and runs back down to car and searches again for iPhone (under seats, through sweaty clothes, etc)...thinks F-word, F-word, F-word...where is it? It must be in WF, so runs back up to WF and talks to Hostess again.

Hostess: Did you find it yet?

Me: No I haven’t (and is somewhat hysterical at this point, but gives hostess Mike’s phone number just in case someone turns iPhone in and asks manager if I can use his cell phone to make a call to Mike to let him know that I’ll be late in picking up Charlie for B-ball game...still thinks that missing iPhone doesn’t make sense. Had the iPhone; Clarence said she saw me with the iPhone; it must be in the restroom! So runs back to r.room. Third time. Looks again on sink, on floor under sink. Nobody is in the stall this time, so checks there again...

Then notices that the toilet hasn’t flushed...and heart drops because now KNOWS where the iPhone is. Takes some TP and tries to move as much of the solid stuff (cuz, let me tell you there is solid stuff in the toilet) out of the way, and there it is...

Ah well...iPhone found. Sort of. Washes hands...twice...

It’s ruined of course (because it’s been in a freaking TOILET for about 15 minutes).

The nice Genius at The Apple Store is happy to give me a “replacement phone” today (for $250), so I am again w/iPhone and I’ll never put it in my back pocket again.

Anyway, in my search for info on whether or not anyone else ever resuscitated an iPhone that’s been in the toilet for 15 minutes (nobody really has, but lots of people appear to have tried), I came across this woman’s blog account of her dropping her iPhone in the toilet, that is so freaking funny, I am sharing it with you. In any event, her telling of her story was my inspiration here.

So happy to be going to Tahoe on Friday...

Sorry about the missing photos. I’ll take more.

My Running Stats

My Running PRs

5K - 30:18 (9:46) - Shelter Island- 11/09/08
8K - 49:49 (10:04) - UT Race for Literacy - 5/04/08
10K - 1:06:38 (10:44) - SuperRun - 2/2/08
15K - 1:41:56 (10:56) - Sue Kren - 3/1/08
13.1 mi - 2:29:48 (11:26) - Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon 10/19/08
26.2 mi - 5:33:56 (12:44) - Rock and Roll Marathon - 6/1/08

Upcoming Races

St. Patrick's Day 10K - March 14, 2009

Carlsbad 5000 - April 5, 2009

La Jolla 1/2 Marathon - April 26, 2009

San Francisco 1/2 Marathon - August 1, 2009

Long Beach 1/2 Marathon - October 2009

Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon - December 2009

Cool Running Links

Runner's Lounge
Rockin & Running Website 2008 (Password Protected)
Complete Running Blog Network
San Diego Track Club
Map My Run
Race Place

First Tuesday Night Training

I didn’t take a picture tonight...bummer...it would have been nice to have a photo of all of us after our first Tuesday night workout.

So, instead of a photo, I have some pictures of some cows running and a link to a website that you can visit when you’re bored. (Click on where it says cows running). The picture of the cows in the pasture represent us “striding” the straightaway. The photo of the cows on the street represents exactly the comment Dianne and I made to each other as we started the workout (in other words, Mooooo).

I think it’s cool that we’re making friends with others from East County, but I’m not sure I’m going to tell people we’re from Helix if they’re going to ask me if I knew Palumbo...geez...

Also, did anyone notice that Leslie had her own cheerleader?

Alice

After the run, Chez Mo's

Yes, Jameson will be shouting out for all of us before too long, he's definitely an atheletic supporter! Cheryl and I went to get dinner in Hillcrest after (she got lost) and ended up finding a cool dive bar called Mo's (no worries about getting hit on there) they had great food and not bad prices, plus plenty of air circulating so when we walked in covered in sweat and smelling stinky no one ran out the door.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 02:30 PM

Alice - Wednesday Night

All I have to say is that I ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill tonight, and it was PAINFUL, PAINFUL, PAINFUL...

what should I do about my shins constantly aching? Cheryl? Jaime? Anyone?

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 07:42 PM

Clarence - Thursday Night

Okay... Cindi, Paula Ann and I forgot that we had yet another meeting afterschool. So we weren't able to meet our new friend @ Lake Murray at 4pm. I figured that we could run the track after instead.

WELL.... because our meeting lasted FOREVER and a DAY (thanks to HE who shall remain nameless), we didn't get started until 5pm and it was just Cindi and I. PA had "supervision" at a wrestling match.. hee hee

So we ran 2 laps, stretched, ran another 4 laps and then loop Helix twice. Helix @ night = scary! you can't see potholes at night. 35 minutes! A LOT better than the gym.

Friday, January 11, 2008 - 03:10 PM

Alice - Thursday Night

Here's a link to Map My Run of the route that Dianne and I took (2x) around Helix, plus one more mile (four laps) around the track.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ca/san-diego/639637304

Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 10:29 PM

Edith - Shin splints

Hey girls...nice job this Saturday! I figure after running in the snow next weekend, yesterdays freezing cold fog will seem like a tropical retreat!

Here's the scoop on shin splints...2 solutions:

1) Stop running

2) Ice and exercises to strengthen the muscles, and endure until they get better.

Here's a great way to ice - get the little paper dixie cups and put water in them and put them in the freezer. Before your run, ice for 20 minutes. Take the dixie cup, peel the paper back a bit, and run the ice up and down your shins. 20 min on (ice), 20 min off, 20 on. The ice will not be gone, so put it back in the freezer and repeat the same thing after the run. The cup helps to keep your fingers from getting cold.

As for exercises, toe taps are good because we do that normally :), and can be done anywhere. I can show you some others that you can do with a small hand towel.

While you are waiting for the muscles to get stronger, try to run on softer, sponguey surfaces as much as you can (grass, all weather track, treadmill).

I hope this helps!

Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 08:43 AM

Blogs I like to Read

Training Day 1 - The Things We Learned

Our first day of training for the Rock n Roll Marathon. What dedication (or, as Clarence said, what kind of craziness) is that. It rained today...not just a little light rain...but full on, downpour rain. The photo (blurry) was taken after our run.

Other things we learned:

1. Alice needs to take Elsie’s old phone number off her her contact list so that she doesn’t have to wake up the Wusband in the morning.

2. We are all cars, and have to be careful about what we put into us.

3. Betty has the best headlights. Alberta will now be known as “bumper.”

I don’t know about you all, but I was chilled even after a 30 minute shower. I did already start some “Active Recovery” though...and that’s helped.

Feel free to post your comments and/or recollections of the day for us to share. I’m sure I missed a few.
2 Comments

Clarence
You know... for the first day of training I actually had a lot of fun. The reason the picture is blurry is because Cindi had her iPhone stuck down her pants- "flat cold and hard- not a good feeling". :) Love you ladies!
Sunday, January 6, 2008 - 10:21 AM

Anonymous
Yeah - as much as I wanted to do some Active Recovery, I'm up in Corona watching TV on a blurry TV with our HD one at home. I've got a cold and a sore throat! I think carrying an extra 10 pounds during the run can take a toll after awhile. However, the highlight for me was my thoughts of Leslie having Bart over! We've got some nice sports cars in training!
Sunday, January 6, 2008 - 10:53 AM

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Saturday, January 5, 2008

Heffer? What’s a heffer?

Really, a heifer is a cow that hasn’t calved...and while that may be true for some heffers, it’s not true for all of us. In fact, two of us have grand-calves!

The true story is that about 15 years ago, Betty, Wilma and I were playing a bar trivia game and needed a team name. We saw the word “livestock” on a wall sign (this was an old Carlos Murphy’s which had all those old-school wall signs). “Livestock” was too many letters, so we settled on “Heffer” (spelled wrong, we know, we know...). Somehow, the name stuck and we started calling ourselves, “The Heffers.”

Over the years, more women have become heffers...there’s a really scary initiation ceremony that involves utters (not really...that’s a joke).

Mostly we laugh...A LOT. We laugh at life, at each other, at the ridiculousness of working with teenagers (we’ve all, at some point, taught high school), and in public education. We are friends; we support each other; we have cow paraphernalia hanging in our offices and classrooms...and once a year we trek to Momma’s cabin at North Lake Tahoe for a weekend of Farkle, Uno, leg wrestling, more laughing, and the annual “Tour de Truckee.”

This year, five of us (and BBJ who is married to Wilma, and Mik who has known Betty since birth...or thereabouts) decided to run the Rock and Roll Marathon this June...so I began this blog in order to chronicle that journey...but I like blogging (it reminds me of writing notes in high school...see how I’ve never left), so you’ll probably find me writing about other things as well. And when I can figure out a way to get paid for it, maybe it will become my full time job! :-)

40 Things about Alice

I began this blog as a way to chronicle my adventures and experiences training for my first marathon with my friends, most of whom were not long distance runners (although some of us are definitely athletes), but it has grown to include other stories and random passages about other stuff as well.

I have a wonderful husband (Walter) and two great kids who I'll call Drama Girl (13) and Turbo Boy (10).

When I'm not running, being with my family, or blogging, I teach English at a community college.

Here's the mandatory "things about me" post

1. Alice is not my real name.
2. It was given to me by my husband when we drove around the country before we were married (It’s from The Honeymooners).
3. My husband is the kindest most patient man in the world...he puts up with me for example.
4. I grew up in Reno, Nevada
5. I don’t like to gamble.
6. I graduated from the University of Nevada - Reno with a degree in journalism
7. I got tired of being cold all the time so some 20 years ago, I moved to San Diego for the summer.
8. There were no jobs in journalism for me in San Diego but I stayed anyway.
9. I worked in the hotel industry for awhile as a catering director
10. I hated working weekends and holidays.
11. I decided that if I became a teacher, I’d have weekends and holidays off
12. I earned my teaching credential at SDSU
13. That’s where I met my husband.
14. He made me laugh, so I fell in love with him.
15. Turns out that I really love teaching.
16. I used to teach high school English.
    
17. It’s not nearly as scary as it sounds.
18. I wanted to be a better teacher, so I earned my doctorate in education four years ago.
19. Even though I had a job at the district office, I decided to go back to teaching high school
20. I'd make the students call me Dr.
21. Last spring, I was offered a tenure track position teaching English at a community college, and I took it.
22. Scary to leave the herd and my school, but I was ready for a new challenge.
23. I'm still deciding if I like it or not.
    
24. I also do some consulting work and taught part time at SDSU
25. I’m trying to cut back on things like that now.
26. Until four years ago, I hadn’t run more than a mile since college
27. In November 2004, I walked in my first “Turkey Trot:
28. In January 2007, I ran a whole 5K without walking
29. In August 2007, Betty convinced me to run a 1/2 marathon.
30. After the first 1/2 marathon, Betty suggested we run a marathon.
31. I told Betty she was crazy, but joined the San Diego Track Club's Rockin' and Runnin' training program anyway.
    
32. In June 2008, I’m ran my first marathon.
33. I’m a runner now.
34. I have two children who keep me really busy and who I adore.
35. They both make me proud.
36. My husband is the GREATEST GUY in the world, in that he supports all the crazy things I do.
37. I love blogging.
38. I hate housekeeping.
39. I love to cook (but not do the dishes).
40. I have the greatest friends in the world, some of whom run and blog with me.