How it Rolls With the Family

Hello Internet...I'm back after feasting and driving...Had a wonderful T-day feast with the family, and now am trying to get things under control for the week ahead.

I managed to get some running in while in Vegas...all of in on the dreadmill in the Red Rock fitness room. I'd hoped to run a 5K in Vegas on Thanksgiving morning, but we didn't get in until late, and then on Thursday morning it was rainy, which I guess it did all over the south-west, but I was in Vegas, and I couldn't convince either Walter or my brother in law to run with me, so I went to the fitness room, which is a pretty nice room. I actually ended up running there two mornings (five miles on Thursday and three more on Friday).

So...since I have no race report or even a vaguely interesting run in a far-away (for me) spot to write about, I'll share some family holiday shots with you.

Dressed, ready to run, and headed toward my date with dread on Thanksgiving morning.

Sister and mom sampling the food.

My sister showing her daughter how to use the cell phone.

These people seriously want pie...and don't YOU all drink wine with your desserts?

Amazingly I have no photos of the dinner feast...but I do have lots of pix of us eating pie.
Oh yeah, we are upscale and are eating off paper plates...

My niece...yummy pie

Turbo, sampling every dessert on the table
(and ice cream...there's always room for ice cream, right?)

On Friday, we went bowling. Here is evidence of what a dreadful bowler I am. In the first frame, by some miracle, I bowled a strike. I took this picture because 1) I was in the lead and 2) I was about to surpass my previous game's total score in the fourth frame (actually, it took me until the 5th since I proceeded to bowl two gutter balls in a row...not a rare occurrence).

Friday night, back at the parents house, and since we are in Vegas,
Walter decides to teach the kids how to shoot craps.

With real dollars

My nephew sees his future vocation... He did roll 6 7's in a row...hmmm

My sister also learns how to roll the dice...and she's ready for the real tables now...

OH NOOOOOO...we've run out of Bacardi Limon...

Luckily, there's still vodka...our search for a mixer leads us to my parent's supply of Joint Juice...!

My sister looks seriously concerned about where this is going to lead...
On the other hand, Bro-in-law is convinced he's discovered the Red-Bull and Vodka cocktail for the senior set...

My friend Dee drops by for a visit. Here she is with mom... Short Italian chicas unite...

Back to the Red Rock for some gaming and additional partying.
My sis poses with the valet sign she ran into earlier in the day.

The family mantra. My dad printed up copies of these for everyone.

So, it was a fun weekend...but exhausting. I never did get a long run in...thought I would today, but I was just too darn tired...and I needed to unpack...and do laundry...and some grocery shopping...blah blah blah...

I'll get a run in in the morning...hopefully about five miles, but I've gotta start getting some long weekend runs in if I'm ever going to be ready for Carlsbad! (I keep saying that, don't I?)

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well. 

Blogging from the Road-- Pre-Turkey Day Edition

Mobile Blogging from here.

Nothing like being on the road, So Cal to Vegas, the day before a major holiday...not that this would be my preferred day to travel to the 'rents for turkey day. Unfortunately, the community college system got the better of me this year and insisted that I teach my classes today! Can you imagine? The nerve! Who has classes the day before Thanksgiving? Gah!

So, we packed up the car. Walter dropped me off at campus. I taught my class at noon. (I'd already made up an "online class" for my two night classes, otherwise I'd be teaching until 9:00 tonight). Walter picked me up and off we went/are.

Not an eventful drive. We did see a pretty rainbow.


And lots of traffic in San Bernardino.

DramaGirl & Turbo have their electronic entertainment.

It's 4:30 and were not to Barstow yet.

I'm glad I ran this morning (4.5 miles with Dread) since I'm spending these 6 or 7 hours sitting on my ass! I may do a Turkey Trot in Vegas tomorrow morning with my Bro-in-law. I did this one a few years ago, back when I could run only a mile or so without stopping. It might be fun to do again.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

I Swear, I'd Lose My Head...

Several of the herd like to tease me about the number of gadgets I own, and they'd be correct; I do likes me my running toys...(iPods, sensors, sunglasses, running belts, hats, hair-ties, headbands, watches, iPod carriers, key carriers, etc. etc...btw, you should see my kitchen...my gadget fetish extends there as well.) The herd is typically very patient as I dig through my backpack, searching for and/or organizing my various running accoutrement.

The unfortunate side-effect of having all this gear is that I have a tendency to misplace things. In truth, the whole iPhone in the toilet episode was really the result of me having a new toy (the iPhone) and wearing new running tights AND a new lightweight jacket and not being able to decide which pocket to put the iPhone in...BTW...the back pocket is a VERY BAD IDEA.

So it shouldn't be that surprising that yesterday, I ALMOST LOST MY FREEKIN' SHOES.

You read it right. My shoes.

How does one lose shoes you ask? Let me explain.

Betty and I ran at Lake Boy Part yesterday morning. (4 miles, 45:51, 11:24 pace...lovely run, beautiful morning) After the run, we walked down to some benches by the lake to stretch. I had my flip-flops in my backpack, so I decided to change into 'em. I mean, really, is there any better feeling than changing out of running shoes after a long run?

You see where this is going, don't you?

By this morning, when I was to meet up with Betty, Mik, and Elsie for another run, I could not, for the life of me, find my running shoes. Not in the bedroom. Not in the laundry room (where I usually dump my clothes after running). Not in the entry way. Not in the car.

WTF?

The last place I could remember for certain having my shoes was at Lake BP, so I came to the sad conclusion that I must have left them there. I was heartbroken because I *h e a r t* my New Balance 1223's. They're still relatively new. I just got my Nike+ sensor to work relatively well, and it was attached to the cutest-little-sensor-pouch. Not to mention the extra insoles in the shoes...GAH!

So I dug up my OLD 1223's. Slipped them on and went to pick up Mik and Betty, who agreed that we should go back to Lake BP to see if they're still there.

Fat Chance, right?

Wrong!

(I love Lake BP!)

Yep. There they were. Sitting on the barbecue, just waiting for me, with my sweaty socks still stuffed in them. Walter said later that he didn't see how my sweaty shoes held much value for people...shows what he knows. They're freekin' awesome shoes. Actually, I had a pretty high level of confidence that my shoes would still be there. I'm always seeing random stuff left behind at Lake BP. On Saturday, Betty and I noticed a baby shoe that someone had left on one of the mile-marker posts. The previous week, I noticed that someone had pinned a glove to the bulletin board.

Apparently, active people are not thieves...and HOORAY...I had my running shoes back!

So, from there we happily ventured to Mission Bay for our real run (yes, we left one running path, to go to another, but we were meeting Elsie at Mission Bay...) My shoes were a little damp from the overnight on the lake, but I was sooooooooo happy to have them back

Highlights from the Mission Bay run

Maybe the Nike+ sensor doesn't work so well...

Mile 1 - 10:57 pace (just warming up. This seems about right)
Mile 2 - 9:16 pace (I really had to pee, so I sprinted for about a mile to the restroom. This seems about right as well. I did pause my workout when I used the restroom).
Mile 3 - 11:51 pace (I think this included a turnaround when I had to go back and search for the nose piece to my new Nike Sunglasses, which had fallen off...GAH! Why do I have such issues with my sunglasses???
Mile 4 - 15:52 (HUH? I stopped at a drinking fountain for about 10 seconds...tops, so I'm not sure what happened there. I certainly didn't walk a mile)
Mile 5 - 10:48 (Seems about right again)
Mile .22 - 14:54 (This absolutely cannot be right because Mik and I practically raced each other for the last 1/4 mile...and she runs waaaaaayyyyy faster than I do)

According to Nike 5:22 miles, 58:32, 11:12 pace

Map my Run says it's 5:48 miles (changes to a 10:39 pace...which I find more believable).

Sooooo...maybe the Nike+ sensor isn't all that accurate.

Ah well...it was a really beautiful morning on the bay, coolish and foggy, but not cold--perfect running weather.

I keep reading all my bloggy-peeps tirades, complaints, and resignations about the running conditions you're dealing with and my heart goes out to you. You are all running gods and goddesses as far as I'm concerned. I grew up in a cold weather place (Reno) and I know what it's like to put on lots of layers, extra shoes, hats, just to go outside. In fact, maybe that's where my running gear obsession comes from. I just think I need to have lots of stuff to compensate for not having to pile on the cold weather stuff of my childhood.

It's a theory.

Anyway, I moved to Southern Cal about 20 years ago where the November weather is in the 70's. Not sure what you all are waiting for...

In any event, I'd promise to not bitch about the weather for the next several months so that you don't all throw virtual things at me through your computer screens (or worse, stop visiting me...noooooo), but it is supposed to start raining this week, so I'm sure I'll have that to whine about.

Anyway, after the morning run, we went to Elsie's Casita for the BEST PANCAKES EVAH and (of course) Mimosas...

Betty, making pancakes

Elsie, setting the table (view of mimosas)

Happy running herd

Hope everyone has a fabulous Turkey Day. I have to teach until Wednesday, so I'll no doubt be scarce until then. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to visit blogs and do some further catching up over the long weekend.

Just CaTching uP

Ack! Another week...no posts...what is up with me?

You know, the usual, life, work, kids, life, work, did I say work (with some wine and whine mixed in)

It is the time of the semester that teachers look forward to with both dread and anticipation....the holidays. As a teacher, I dread the holiday breaks because it usually means that a class is wrapping up, and I've got a slew of semester end papers and projects coming in. At the same time, I'm distracted because I'm starting to think about planning for the beginning of NEXT semester. So, as much as the students want this one to be over, I want it more. And as this was my first semester at the community college, I've made my fair share of miss-steps, so I'm looking forward to starting over again....sorta like a do-over, only with new students.

Of course, there's also the anticipation of having a few days off to regroup...I'll be needing that.

So, here's the gist of the week and last weekend...

This week
I barely ran this week--twice with Dread...which is different than dread...did you notice the capital letter? Unlike some of my students who Just ranDomly caPitaliZe letters in the middle of Sentences and someTimes Words, I capitalized Dread on purpose because Dread, the dreadmill, is my running partner right now, and as such, garners all the respect that a proper noun deserves. Without Dread, I wouldn't have run at ALL this week.

Last weekend
Ran with Walter last Saturday...I ran about five miles. I really shouldn't complain about the heat, but dayum it was HOT by 9am, and since it's mid-November, I didn't really go running prepared for heat.

Sunday afternoon I went to Elsie's housewarming gala to celebrate the remodel of her little house...which is beautiful. It was quite the event. Who knew that you could smush so many people into a 1200 square-foot (adorable) craftsman? But she did. Her contractor also invited some of his friends, and some of them apparently were having a fabulous time. At one point Betty came running into the house to let me know that I was MISSING OUT on some primo blogging material. Seems that someone had a little too much Sangria and was flashing the crowd....sadly, I missed the photo-op. In fact, I took the MOST BORING PHOTOS...really, look...

There's Elsie, in the center, trying to look excited that her boss showed up.

Alberta...having difficulty keeping her beverage in the glass.

Flasher girl apre' flash

After Elsie's housewarming, it seemed like a good idea to go out on the town. Walter has a client who leads a double-life as a accountant by day, lead singer in a blues band at night, so we went to listen to him at a fine establishment in Little Italy called The Waterfront...several cocktails later, I took some more really uninteresting shots photos. Clearly, running was not going to be in my Sunday morning future. But I did take a picture of a guy wearing really cool running gear.

A group of REALLY YOUNG 'UNS were having an 80's themed birthday bar-crawl. For some reason, I decided to take a picture of this guy's shirt. I have no idea why.

Then, as Walter and I were walking to the car, I decided to take a picture of an office building that already had THREE CHRISTMAS TREES IN THE WINDOW....a little early? Ya think?

So, while I meant to run on Sunday, I sent Betty a text at 7am, cancelling due to a bit of a hangover...surprised? Seriously? I was taking pictures of Christmas trees and random people's shirts...

Finally, since this is the most BORING BLOG EVAH...I'll pick up on Viv's and Irene's virus...who were tagging anyone who wanted to be tagged ("pick me! pick me!" she says, her hand waving furiously in the air...) Here are the rules:

1. Pick the 4th folder on your computer
2. Pick the 4th Picture
3. Explain the picture
4. Tag 4 more peeps (consider yourself tagged if you'd like too are waving your hand frantically and hoping to be picked)
   

DramaGirl and Turbo...roughly about 2 and 4. We're at my parents house in Vegas, April 2000. They appear to have gotten into Nana's band-aid supply...and decided to try them all on.

So...The plan for this weekend?
3 mile run Saturday morning with Betty at Lake Boy Part.

6-7 mile run on Sunday with whoever else shows up at the bay. I have no plans to bar-hop this weekend, so I'll be there.

I'll also be a much better blogger this week...Now I'm going to go find out what you all have been up to.

Ciao

It's Grey, or Is it Gray?

Dayum! Is it Thursday already? WTF happened to the week? 120 unread blogs in my RSS Reader...GAH!

Running news? Not much since Sunday. I've run only one time this week--yesterday morning with Dread--41 minutes/4 miles...not bad. I'll run again tomorrow morning, but tonight I just needed a glass of wine after my 11-hour marathon day today (following another 11 hour marathon day yesterday). In any event, I really gotta get the mid-week ACTUAL RUNNING mileage up to get ready for Carlsbad.

That's it for my running news for the week. I do have a NRR rant, only, if you are one of the three dudes who occassionally read this blog, you might want to stop now; I'm just going to ramble on about some non-running related chick-stuff.

Anyway, back to tomorrow--I've got a full day planned including: attending two parent/teacher meetings with the kid's teachers (nothing serious, just that time of year), delivering chairs and a glass pitcher to Elsie's for her housewarming gala on Saturday (I'll have a full event-report), and because I have at least 2 1/2 inches of growth, getting my roots done.

I may have waited a tad too long...YA THINK?

In truth, I hate this task. It's so BORING just sitting there for three hours while my awesome hairdresser (and she is awesome) paints color-gunk and wraps tin-foil on my hairs, AND while getting my hair colored is a great opportunity to catch up on some trash-reading, I was almost at the point where I was thinking, "WTF, maybe I'll stop coloring my hair." (The dudes who continued reading are now understanding the relationship between the photo of the top of my head and "roots" No guys, I'm not talking about gardening). Since I so dislike getting my hair done, I was SERIOUSLY considering the skunk look. Can you see how I'd be almost completely grey down the middle, with really dark brown hair down the sides. So, how cool would that be?

Maybe too cool for words, but I just can't do it. One day, I'll cut my hair off and let it go gray, but I'm just not there yet. Call me vain...so tomorrow afternoon, I'll be going back to the salon for a nice long sit and I get to read of all the People/US/Entertainment Weekly trash I can get my hands on.

Clearly it's been awhile. What has Britney been up to anyway?

No races this weekend, but I am planning on a nice long run on Sunday with a few of the herd. Should be interesting after Elsie's bash.

Oh, and thanks to Irene, there's this :-))

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

Race Report - Shelter Island 5K

Shelter Island 5K was this morning...and what a difference a morning makes. Yesterday--beautiful, sunny, clear, mild-warm, weather; this morning--cloudy, cool, windy, weather.

The regular running herd (Betty, Mik, Elsie, Alice) and Irene (yay...running with Irene two days in a row) met up for the run. We also ran with Elsie's daughter and Irene's DH, Michael. I don't think Michael recognized me from the track club, but he and Betty had many long runs together during the RnR training program, so they remembered each other immediately.

Alice, Elsie, Mik, Betty & Irene - pre-race

This morning I was reminded of how running has changed my life. Before running (BR), I would have slept in on a Sunday morning, read the entire Sunday paper, then just tooled around, not doing much...all in all, not a bad way to spend a day. Now, after running (AR) I get up waaaaaayyyyyyy too early (still not an early morning person) in order to run with my friends...THEN I go home, read the paper, take a nap...maybe not THAT much has changed.

Elsie and calf

Also, before I was a runner, I tried to start a blog a couple of times, but had no dedication (and probably not much fodder) to stick with it. After I became a runner--I have topics, and more importantly, running has taught me how to be dedicated (if not quite obsessed)...and that is a good thing... Also thanks to running AND blogging, I've made new friends and connected with fell0w runner-bloggers, not only here in SoCal, but all over the country...which I think is Just. So. Cool.

Mik and Betty

So, today's run was a time for reflection about how my life has changed in small and large ways because of running.

1. Before the run, we did a warmup lap around the block. I used to think this was just NUTS...why would anyone expend energy to run before a run? This morning Betty, Mik, and I ran about a 1/2 mile before the race to get warmed up. The result...when I started running I didn't feel like I was going to DIE for the first mile.
   
2. I wasted time during the start of the race mucking around with my gear. GAH! For some reason, my Nike+ was tracking my workout, but it wouldn't play music (odd), after about 1/2 mile, I just decided to end the workout (at 4:43 and .43 miles...you do the math...I was running FAST)...and then restarted a new workout and VOILA...TUNES!
   
3. The race started with a pretty low key, "start running now" over a bull-horn. Irene told me later that she didn't even hear the start, just that people around her started moving...thus I have really no idea how far I was behind the official start time. I thought it was only seconds. Betty told me later she thought it was about 20 seconds.
4. For about the first mile, I was keeping up with Mic...what was I thinking? She's our speed girl. I shouldn't run with her. I'll hurt myself.
   
5. Mile 1 - 9:20 (huh?)
6. Uneventful 2nd mile. Mostly I just kept wondering if I was running too fast, too slow...I was pretty thirsty...probably shouldn't have had that third glass of wine the night before...but it was a lovely Cab...
7. Thank God! The water table...I was going to skip it (I mean, after all...it's only three miles)...but again, I was a tad bit dehydrated...so I ran to the last water-guy, drank three gulps (while walking...I'll never be able to run and drink out of a cup at the same time) five steps, and started running again.
   
8. Mile 2 - 19:00 (HUH?) I was thinking "I can't possibly be running 9:30 miles can I?" That being said, I was pretty pleased figuring that I could certainly finish in under 30 minutes...I mean I had 11 minutes to run 1.1 miles...CAKE right?
9. Wrong. I really have no idea where I slowed down but I apparently did.
   
10. Finished in 30:18...another PR...BUT STILL OVER 30 MINUTES. GAHHHHHHH!

I know, I know, I should be happy with the PR, but I really thought I had it...I'm sure I'm being really unrealistic...shaving 20 seconds off a race time is A LOT especially since I had only run four or five times since Light The Night.

Fortunately, I didn't have too much time to sob because the race included a full buffet and

MIMOSAS!

Imagine a stack of four or five plastic glasses, and you'll get a good picture of results of the mimosa-fest...oh yeah, there was food too!

Since Mik finished first, she cleverly grabbed us a table next to the buffet and the feasting began. The sun even started peeking through the clouds to warm us up (or maybe that was the champagne). Irene and Michael joined us. She has waaaayyyy better pix on her blog because Michael was our group photographer today (Thanks!) Elsie and Heather (the calf) came along. Elsie came in 4th in her age group. She'll end up saying it's no big deal, but I think it is....and since I have the blog, I'll brag about it for her.

The race was a point-to-point (sorta) race, so after feasting and drinking, Mik, Betty and I wandered over to the shuttle stop. We took one look at the line and decided to walk back to the car, figuring it was only about a mile or so back to the lot. (hmmmm....wait 20 minutes or longer for a shuttle, or just walk it). We voted for "walk."

This is where another AR revelation occurred. I remember running this race last year. We ended up sitting on the ground for the buffet and I remember struggling to stand up afterward because my legs were so sore...and we definitely opted for the shuttle. Today, walking another mile or so (1.3 miles...I mapped it) today after running didn't even phase me.

Of course, the walk back to the car offered additional entertainment since Mik, Betty, and I had consumed beverages and were quite silly. We discussed such erudite topics as: Giant Garlic Balls (apparently served at Pizza Nova, a restaurant we walked by), reviewed the number of words that we've ruined for momma (including the word bisquit...as a home ec teacher, she's going to have to re-do her first cooking lesson now), and learned some new teenage slang-terms and insults (none of which I'll repeat here. They're nasty. Betty had to look them up on the Internet to find out what they meant. I tell ya, kids today are so darn creative and Betty, as a high school administrator, gets to learn all the new words...she's so lucky).

The next 5K I've got planned is after Christmas! (The Holiday Bowl 5K...which starts off the Holiday Bowl parade. It's another fun race...when you get done, you can watch the parade!). I'd love to do a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, but there's a pretty good chance that I'll be driving to Vegas to see the 'rents that morning, so I'll miss both the TTs in San Diego, and the one that's in Vegas.

Only 11 weeks until Carlsbad. Time to start increasing the mileage. I haven't run more than 4 miles since the Nike Women's in SF. These last few weeks of 5Ks have been fun, but I think I prefer the longer races. I'm looking forward to a good 6 or 7 miler this weekend.

Meet the Stalkers!

Irene and Southbay Girl...I love how Southbay Girl is cradling that cup-o-Joe like it's a beer...I knew we had a lot in common!

This morning, Betty and I met and ran with fellow blogger-runners Irene and Southbay Girl (and of course, her adorable dog Velcro) at San Diego Bay. It was a beautiful morning. If Penny's son, who if you've read her blog, you know that he's out here from Tennessee visiting colleges, doesn't decide to go to school here, he's crazy...I mean how can you a beat 78º, clear-sunny, picture-perfect, morning run in November? (There...no weather whining for me today).

It's fun to meet blogger-friends...it's sorta like you know each other, but not really. Irene and Penny were my firsts...so I'm no longer a meet-your-friends-via-the-Internet-virgin...and not a stalker between them!

Irene is my hero. She had a pretty bad running injury about 9 months ago, and this morning, she was running three miles. She sorta shook it off like it was no big deal, but I think she's inspirational. I've been reading her blog all along, and it never ceases to amaze me how optimistic and positive she's been through the whole ordeal. I'd have been whining and bitching like a sullen-teenager...I mean seriously, look at how I whine about the weather...can you imagine me with a hip injury (I'd rather not).

Betty and I behaved ourselves throughout the morning, although this photo made me laugh because the guy sitting behind us has the funniest look on his face...scroll down and look.

WTF?

I figure Betty just dropped the F-Bomb, or he's checking out my ass. I'm going with F-Bomb.

Tomorrow morning I get to run with Betty and Irene (and a few more of the herd) at the Shelter Island 5K, which ends with a champagne brunch (yay! mimosas included in the price of the race...LOVE IT!).

Finally...I have to come clean about the iPhone blog so that you don't get too impressed with my tech-skills. I wrote the post on my iPhone, then uploaded it to Blogger. Then, I imported the photos, added the captions, and published it from my laptop...much less impressive.

Busy, busy, busy

Yes, I'm too busy to write a reasonable post, so I'm trying to write on my iPhone using iBlogger as I ride the shuttle from the campus to the parking lot, where I have to park (whine, whine, whine...). I have the usual excuses for not keeping up with my blogging...work, kids, blah, blah, blah...

Two items this weekend to quickly note (how quick depends on my thumbs...all I can say is thank god for the automatic speller on the iPhone which just turned rje into the).

Oh yeah... This past weekend..first there was Halloween. Kids trick or treated. I enjoyed the evening, doling out candy, and sipping a vampires kiss martini.

A what?

Vampires Kiss Martini

1 part chilled vodka (splurge on the good stuff)
1 part champagne
1/2 part chambord

I poured it into a chilled martini glass that I'd rimmed with a sugar water mixture colored with red food coloring. It looked awesome. The red sugar ran down the outside of the glass so it looked like blood. AND it also ran inside the glass, which made it sweet (yum). The only bad thing is that the sugar on the outside eventually made the glass sorts sticky (eeeeewwww), but we survived. I wish I had taken a picture of it...but you'll just have to use your imagination.

Saturday was all about recovery. Although I did have to do a presentation at a teacher workshop...Saturday afternoon, I mostly prepped for Sunday, which was Walter's birthday!

On Sunday we woke up to do the Susan B Komen 5k. Rather than running with the herd, I ran with Walter, Turbo, DramaGirl & some other family & friends. We ran in support of my mother-in-law & sister-in-law who are both battling breast cancer. It was a really fun and certainly an inspirational race, but this won't be much of a race report because I missed the timed-runners start because some of the family/friend herd were waiting in the LONGEST LINE EVAH for the delux trailer potty, (apparently there were real toilets & a marble sink & tile floors & an attendant to hand you a paper towel). I don't know...I mean, I like a clean restroom with the best of them, but when it's race time, I'm all about the porta-potty. The good news is that, since EVERYONE was on the delux line, the ports potty lines were non-existent. I still missed the race start because I was waiting for the line dwellers. But I got to run (well...walk and run...) with my kiddos, so I didn't care too much.

Only a couple of really bad photos taken with the iPhone.

DramaGirl and friend, before the run. DramaGirl ran/walked in 43 minutes. I'm so proud!

Turbo, as we crossed the bridge into the heart of Balboa Park

After the race, we had brunch at our house...mimosas for everyone!!!a great end to a nice morning... And a happy birthday for Walter.

OK my thumbs are done. It's a crazy, busy week. I have about 100 blogs to catch up on...and, of course there are election results to enjoy.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Who is Evolet?

I'm borrowing this non-running thing from Irene...just because I thought it was funny. Who is Evolet? Apparently my ultimate Halloween Costume requires that I wear a sheet. 

I've really got nothing else to write about. I'm waiting for the washing machine repair-person to show up to (hopefully) fix my ailing beast which burst water all over the laundry room floor over the weekend. It's a tough call...do we fix an 8 year old washer that does about 10 loads a week or get a new one? In the end, we are opting for repair (if the repair-dude ever gets here) mostly because a house-call repair is far more convenient than having to do all that buying a new one entails.

As soon as Walter gets home, I'll get on the treadmill for a quick run...and because I know you turn to this blog for my frequent weather/humidity report and accompanying whine...

It's almost November and it was 91º today/18% humidity. As opposed to Saturday night's drip-fest, today was dry, dry, dry. For those not in SoCal, we get these fall heat spells brought on by the desert winds, the Santa Ana's. The wind switches course from the lovely off-shore, tropical ocean breeze, to a dry wind that blows from of the dessert. The winds and the heat makes everyone restless and cranky. I've had sinus issues and a headache from the high pressure for three days... Currently, it's 4:00 pm and it's still almost 90º...again I ask...WTF?

Joan Didion (one of my favorite writers) wrote of the Santa Ana's, "...that the Indians would throw themselves into the sea when the bad wind blew.... and one woke in the night troubled not only by the peacocks screaming in the olive trees but by the eerie absence of surf. The heat was surreal. The sky had a yellow cast, the kind of light sometimes called "earthquake weather."  

In another essay, she writes of a California "...haunted by the Mojave just beyond the mountains, devastated by the hot dry Santa Ana wind that comes down through the passes at 100 miles an hour and whines through the eucalyptus windbreaks and works on the nerves. October is the bad month for the wind, the month when breathing is difficult and the hills blaze up spontaneously. There has been no rain since April. Every voice seems a scream. It is the season of suicide and divorce and prickly dread, wherever the wind blows..."

Raymond Chandler wrote of the Santa Ana's that "every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husband's necks."

Both Didion and Chandler have it right. Everyone is cranky. The heat is oppressive and the threat of fire is very real...I'm hoping it passes soon. It seems like it's gone on forever this fall.

Now...where is that repairman? And where is my knife?

Biscuit

NEXXXXXT!!!!

Light the Night Against Crime 5K...
Cool thing about the race? It started at 7:00 PM. I've never done a nighttime race before. Also, all the proceeds go to Crimestoppers (AKA good citizens who snitch on bad people)...seriously, it is a good cause. I wish someone would snitch on the losers who broke into our house last February...but I digress...

Not so cool thing about the race? It certainly wasn't cool. Temperature at race time was 68º and a balmy 76% humidity (by 8pm - the humidity was up to 81%...GAH!)...WTF is up with the weather around here?

Betty, Elsie, Edith, Alberta, Mic, and yours truly joined LMPD officer Stoney for the race. First we needed a warm-up..and what better way to warm up than to climb a dirt hill out of the pit where we parked in Balboa Park, rather than taking the road. Betty led the way, and like sheep, we followed. Alberta worried about snakes. I worried about twisting my ankle in a gopher hole. By the top of the hill, we were already winded and sweaty. Nice...love that humidity...

Our warm-up

Once we got to the start, we found Edith and Stoney waiting for us...Edith was bummed because we all wore the required neon-green shirt, but she did look fabu-fabu in her pink running skirt. I also had leftover glow-in-the-dark necklaces left over from DramaGirl's birthday party...so at least we looked HAWT!

hmmmm...guess the woman who took our photo decided that Stoney didn't need to be in it...

This was a pretty small field (about 1000 runners), no chip timing. Only 3.1 miles, should have been a breeze, right?

Here's the rundown:

1. Start - We started pretty far toward the front of the race...about as close to the front as I'd ever been, but as this was a big event for walkers, and there were tons of strollers and dogs...and we wanted to be in front of all that. We all set lofty goals for ourselves. Edith wanted to finish in under 25 minutes. My goal was to finish in close to 30 minutes, but Stoney shamed me into thinking I could finish in under 30 since the end of the race is all downhill...
   
2. Mile 1 - After the gun, I followed Stoney and Edith for about the first 100 yards, then tried to settle into what I thought was my 10 minute mil(ish) pace. Alberta was beside me for maybe the first 1/4 mile, then she just took off (she told me later her first mile was under 9 minutes...8:30 or something like that...Wow...you go girl!). The good thing was that since we started pretty far forward, and since we started (for me anyway) pretty fast, I didn't have to dodge in and out of people too much. I did almost trip over one of those stupid reflector thingies in the middle of the road...I hate those things. I saw Mic sprint past me at about the half mile point. All I know is that I was running as hard as I could...and when I passed the 1 mile mark, the timer shouted out something like 10:20. Since I have almost no ability to judge how fast I am running, I wasn't surprised to hear this...but I was surprised at how hard it was to catch my breath...
   
3. Mile 2 - I was thinking - OK...I should be able to settle in a little bit, but I couldn't. I'd try to slow down to catch my breath, which I was losing rapidly , but then all these people would pass me (including some incredibly small people), and I'd start running faster. Before the turnaround, I saw Edith and Stoney and waved at them. Then at the turnaround, I was just thrilled because I knew that most of the run back was downhill. Running at night is OK. Alberta, who was nowhere in sight by the turnaround, told me later that she loved running at night because she was awake and had eaten. All I knew is that I was mostly concerned that I was going to twist my ankle on something. It sure felt surreal. At two miles, the timer shouts out 20:18...which I though was an OK time...but I knew I wasn't going to break 30 minutes, cuz there's no way I can run 1.1 miles in under 9 minutes.
   
4. Mile 3 - I made a really short walk-through (about 7 steps) at the water station because...can you say "SWEAT?" I was dripping...and thirsty, which I know is a bad thing, even in a pretty short race...so I gulped down some water that tasted like it came from a hose (yuk) and headed downhill...I was finally starting to feel warmed up...so I tried to pick up the pace again...but mostly so that I could pass up a kid who looked to be about 6 years old (shameful, isn't it?). As I came to the three mile timer, I could hear her shout out something that was less than 30 minutes (29 minutes and something seconds).
5. End - 30:20...clock time. I was huffing and puffing more than usual (certainly more than the 1/2 marathon) and I am literally dripping from the end of my nose. Oveall, I'd call my time around 30:15. My iPod read 30:17 and I didn't stop it until I crossed the finish line and pulled it out of my back pocket ...in any event...I didn't break 30 minutes, but did set a new 5K PR! Walter kept asking me this morning why I was so dissapointed? I ran a good race. I set a PR. What is wrong with me? I blame Stoney, who planted the seed that I should be able to break 30 mintues with no problem...GAH!
   

So...here's what I learned:

1. I really do prefer longer races where I can settle in. I never felt settled until I was almost done.
2. A 5K is a sprint...I had to run hard the whole time. I'm not so sure I'm built for that kind of race. I always felt winded and never comfortable.
   
3. If I'm going to run some shorter races this winter, I'm going to have to train differently. Anyone know how?
4. Running in humidity stinks (oh yeah, I knew that already)...

Not all was lost...we still had people to gawk at. I wish I had gotten a picture of the two guys who dressed up as Michael Phelps and who ran in speedos wearing fake Gold Medals...priceless... We got lucky and while walking back to the car, Stoney took our picture with the crossing guard...who had just the BEST Elvi-Mullet EVAH...really!

We are JUST. THAT. MATURE!
AND Look...that's two photos where Alberta decided to show us her braces!

After the race, we went to a fabulous local bar called Nunus and had beers and burgers (I had chicken wings and Amstel Light, since I have a weigh-in with Viv today). Awesome dive-bar with red- nagahide booths...with some, shall we say, rather air-y seats? I learned about this when I sat down, and Mic and Betty literally almost blew me out of the seat by sitting at the same time...it's hard to explain, but I literally felt the air in my hoo hoo.

I just love that the palm trees are fenced in...Is this just in case someone exiting needs an emergency tree?

Which led us to the evening's vocabulary lesson...Betty surprised us all by sharing with us that she called it a "biscuit."

A biscuit?

With gravy?

Butter that biscuit?

I won't share the rest of the jokes we came up with...you can only imagine...cuz again...we are just so mature that way.

Lovely evening with the herd. We have two more 5Ks lined up in the next couple of weeks. Next weekend, I'm run/maybe walking some of the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure with my husband's family. Walter, DramaGirl and Turbo are also run/walking with me, so I'm pretty sure that I won't be setting any land-speed records there, but it'll be a nice morning. We are all walking as a family in support of my mother-in-law and sister-in-law who are both battling breast cancer.

Then the following week, I'll be running with the herd and Irene and Anne at the Shelter Island 5K...it's a nice flat, hopefully cool morning run, where I'm hoping to break that 30 minute mark.

Hope everyone has a great week...and a really scary Halloween...I'll leave you with these two goblins...just in case...

Turbo and DramaGirl...aka "Spook" and (I'm not making this up) "Ring-lee-dah"

Race Report - Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon

The Bling

I'm still basking in the after-glow of the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon. I think it may be the first long race I've ever run well. Maybe that's because I've run enough races and long runs and now I know how my body is going to react, when I can push myself, when I need to ease off...or maybe it was just not having to run in the heat (because it really was NOT hot), or maybe it was some of the residual hill training...

Maybe it was that San Francisco is just an entertaining place to run.

Maybe it was running with all the chicas.

But it WAS MY BEST 1/2 MARY EVAH...(the afterglow, really it lingers...)

But before I get to the race, I do need to recap two events that occurred the day before we even got to the start line...both of which involve Edith.

First, she calls me from her room in a state of semi panic asking me if I got my bib when I checked in. The conversations went something like this:

Edith: Hey, when you checked in, did they give you your bib?
Me: (thinking WTF?) Yeah? I got a bib. It was in the bag.
Edith: Really? Shiz, I don't think I have one. I'm going to go back down and tell them they forgot to give me one.

So she goes back to the Expo again, convinces the bib-volunteer dude that she did NOT get a bib in her bag (although she does have a shoe tag), he gives her one, she get's back to the room, calls me and...

Are you ever just a little bit worried that we are teachers?

So, of course, Edith being the ethical person that she is decides to NOT put up the second bib on Craig's List, and returns it to the Nike Expo Tent (yes, it was my fifth, count 'em, fifth time in the expo tent!) because she'd bet the Nike Volunteer a dollar that she had NOT received a bib in her bag...so she paid up.

Bib-volunteer dude with his winnings

Then...after two days of completely beautiful SF weather on Friday and Saturday, Saturday evening started to get colder and the morning promised to be even colder still, so Edith decided that although she had intially planned to wear shorts, she really needed a pair of capris to run in. Soooo back to NikeTown we went AGAIN. I had completely lost count of how many times I'd been in there (maybe five or six times...there were salespeople who started to recognize us...sorta like Norm in Cheers). In fact, Edith and I had already been in there once earlier in the day and they were out of the really cool "Shop Like A Girl" bags that you would get if you spent over $125. Edith spent well over that, but since they were out, didn't get one. So on our way out of the store, I got the security guard who was standing by the front door to take one off one of the displays (I figured the manniquin wasn't REALLY using the bag). It took three walkie-talkie calls to get someone in "visuals" to give permission to take the bag... I think it also started a minor stampede toward the other last-remaining bag on display, but we left (quickly)...

That night, we had to get the salesperson undress a manniquin so that Edith could have the last size small capris left in the store.

It took two lovely Nike salespeople to disrobe the display.

Alberta and Leslie make a new friend

Finally, we went to bed because we were up EARLY for the race...and the weathermen were correct. It was COLD. I was glad that we ended up staying at the Hyatt Grand and were less than a block from the start because it was beyond crowded, but everyone was calm and unbelievably polite. There was a little confusion when we were checking in our bags (not enough direction) at the bag-check school buses and I managed to get myself separated from the rest of my herd, but luckily there are cell phones and we found each other.

Those who started running in front of me

Those who started running with me

Edith in the disposible part of her warm-wear

Elsie and Alberta, before the race...We are ready!

Me and Elsie...I'm also ready...although I don't look quite awake yet.

As for the race...I have nothing but happy memories of it, including the hill parts. Here's the rundown (which I'm going to do in 5K splits)

Start to 5K - An easy wave start to the race. I was surprised that I started running right away because of the wave start. What a great way to start a race. There was none of that run, and then walk, and then run, and then walk to start the race (when you start at the back of the pack, this is often how it is) Edith, Elsie and I pretty much ran together the first 3 miles. (Edith left us before the race to run with the faster pace group). The first two miles were pretty much downhill and easy. I actually ran by the first water station because I was distracted by a building, didn't notice that I'd run past the last water table, and decided to not cross in front of 30 people, and double back...although I was surprised that in a race of this size they didn't have water on both sides of the street. Luckily, it was a cool morning, so I just skipped it and figured I'd get water at Mile 4. Alberta and I checked our watches at the 3 mile mark and were happy that we were pretty much on pace.

5K split - 34:34 (11:07 pace)

5K to 10K - Around mile 4, I realized I had a little pebble or something in my shoe, which was a bummer, but I didn't want to stop to take it out, so I just kept kicking it to the tip of my shoe...sort of annoying. There was a steep, but really short hill around mile 5, which Alberta and I ran up without too much problem. As we crossed the 10K mat, we could see the first big hill which headed into Precido Park. There was also a foot massage station around Mile 6. I wonder, who stops for a foot massage in a race?

10K split - 35:56 (11:33 pace)

10K to 15K - Yikes...the hills. They were steep, steeper than 6th Avenue, and looooonnnnngggg, but I felt like I'm doing OK. The worst part was that the path was pretty NARROW and lots of people were walking. It was frustrating (not to mention exhausting) trying to jockey and navigate around walkers as I was also trying to run uphill (GAH!!!). At one point I was able to follow a woman who was wearing some incredibly small, bright red, skin-tight boy-short-looking brief, and who was also cutting quite a path. This got me up the first part of the hill, and part of the second, but then I got separated from her. This was the most dissappointing part of the race for me, even though I did pretty well. I ended up walking one time, just because I was behind a WALL OF WALKERS and there was no way to get around them.

Once we got through the park, there was a pretty long run downhill which went into a really (REALLY) nice neighborhood, but my overwhelming thought at the time was how badly I was probably burning my quads because I was trying to run fast and pick up some of the time I knew I'd lost on the hills.

15K split - 37:55 (12:12 pace)

15K to end - There's one more hill around mile 9 after we ran out of the nice neighborhood and into a less-nice neighborhood, but then we got to run around one more corner (I was still kicking the rock in the shoe) and down one last hill. This one took us to the coast in Pacifica, past The Cliff House restaurant. It must have been cold because we could see our breath as we ran, and my fingers were also getting cold, but I was still running and as I passed the 10 mile mark at the bottom of the hill, I could barely believe my watch which indicted that I was under two hours (1:55). I start believing that I might be able to finish in under 2:30, but only if I picked up my pace.

Because I was having some serious conversations with myself about whether or not it was too early to pick up my pace, or how hard I should run, and when, I missed seeing the Bison...which makes me a little sad. I'm told they were in the Golden Gate Park, but I didn't see them. Like I said, I was busy convincing myself that I could run 10 minute miles for miles 10, 11, 12 & that pesky last 10th of a mile.

As we ran out of the park, I grabbed some Ghiradelli chocolate from one of the last aid stations and pocketed it for later (who can eat chocolate while they run? I'd just get ill) as I headed into the last mile (all downhill...wheeeee!), and I just tried to run as hard as I could. As I crossed the finish line, I knew I was close to 2:30, but I'm also focused on this:

SF Firefighters and Tiffany...perfect (even if my focus wasn't)

13.1 split - 41:22 (10:56)...yes...for me that is hauling down that last hill

Final: 2:29:48 - under 2:30...Un-be-lieve-able!

I didn't know (of course) at the time that I'd come in under 2:30 (just barely, but I'll take it), but I was deliriously happy as I took my Tiffany necklace from the cute firefighter in his tux, and the mylar blanket (because sweet Jesus it was COLD), and a banana (which I never ate), a water (which I needed) and a smoothie (which I didn't drink) and a bagel (which I put in the Tiffany bag). There was just a TON of stuff being thrust my way. I could have also taken granola, and lord knows what other food they had at the end of the race. I was sorta interested in some chocolate milk, but didn't see any. I also saw my friend Maurice and she hugged me (brave friend)...more lines, nice finishers t-shirt...another line and I make my way to the "H" area, which is where the herd (get it?) agreed to meet.

Although we are standing about five feet from each other, Edith and I yelled at each other on the phone for a couple of minutes shouting, "do you see me yet?" We find each other, grabbed our gear off the bus. I changed between two of the school buses that were doubling as gear check points using the mylar blanket (SoCal Beach Skills in use) as a wrap. Even though it was a little chilly, this SoCal girl still put on the flip-flops (soo happy to be out of the shoes)

We eventually found each other, got on a shuttle bus, and headed back to the hotel...all of us happy, happy, happy.

Shuttle ride home (yes, there was a table on the bus)...and the lime green shirts!

After that, of course, were hot showers, and then LUNCH!!!

After feeding our bellies with beer, Bloody Mary's and Burgers...happy, happy, happy. then we went back to the hotel room and napped until Betty called to tell us she missed us (and we missed her too!)

Here are the official times for the rest of the herd.

Alberta - 2:37:08

Edith - 2:06:26

Elsie - 2:46:58 (with a headcold!)

Again, a great day, a really nice race, a great weekend. I'm already registered for the Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon in January...it's a nice, flat course. I'm thinking I could get close to 2:20...

I'll definitely be in the lottery for this race again next year. It was that much fun!