Thanks Steve...

In my undergraduate work at The University of Nevada in Reno, I majored in Journalism (surprised?). One of THE BEST things about majoring in journalism in the early '80s, is that journalism students at UNR had access to a newfangled device called a word processor. We saved our work on these enormous 8" floppy disks.

I found this picture on the Interwebs and decided to use it because 1. It shows how FRIGGEN ENORMOUS the orignal disks were and 2. because I probably had a similar hairstyle in the mid '80s...LOVE the mullet!

No longer did I have to retype a whole paper because of a typo I discovered I'd made in the middle of the page. I thought it was the best thing ever (the word processor, not the hairstyle).

Somewhere around 1991, I bought my first Apple product. It was an Apple IIe. I was working on getting my teaching credential at the time and having used a word processor in the past, I couldn't imagine typing all those papers. I'd never heard of an Apple product. All I know is that the high school where I was student teaching had these computers available for students, and I wanted the computer that was going to be used in education.

The world is made up of two kinds of people...Apple people and PC people. I became an Apple person.

Over the years, I eventually owned other Apple desktop computers (the original 68K Mac, a Macintosh Performa (from the Sculley era...the worst Apple product I ever owned), The first blue iMac, a blue and white Power Mac G3, and and iMac G4. Along the way, I've owned three or four Apple laptops (how crazy is that...I lost count). I may have gone through two of those Black Powerbooks (they weighed a TON!), and a Powerbook G4, I'm on my second Macbook Pro right now, and am lusting for a Macbook Air. I work on an Intel Duo Cor iMac at work (I'm typing on it now), and our primary home computer is a beautiful 27" Intel iMac.

Don't even get me started on the number of iPods I've owned. It's embarrassing.

I've dropped an iPhone in the toilet (twice). In fact, you might say that the iPhone started this blog.

I sometimes blog from my iPad. I cannot run without my Shuffle. I regularly upload running information using my iPhone.

I regularly watch TV on my Apple TV. We have a wireless network in my house thanks to two Airports. 

I'm an Apple junkie...I admit it. I've pulled my whole family (as well as several friends) into the cult of Mac as well. Walter just dumped his Blackberry in favor of (I'm not lying) my old first generation iPhone. It's seriously a better product. We'll be among the first to order the new iPhone 4S even though I'm disappointed it isn't an iPhone 5.

To say that Steve Jobs has had an impact on my life...well that's an understatement.

So rest in peace Steve....and thanks so much for all the toys.

Digital Life

Oh...but I've been a bad blogger...

Everything is fine, just busy.

And you know me, sometimes when I haven't blogged for awhile, I write and EPIC post about ALL the shiz in my actual life that has kept me from writing about it, but that is so DARN TEDIOUS to write and read...

Instead...here's the last two weeks of my life according to my iPhone

First...there are the photos that friends have sent me

Edith sent me this fabulous shot of DramaGirl playing field hockey

Mona sent me this photo of a Journey t-shirt, I assume to remind me that we are going to see Journey and Foreigner next weekend.

Then of course, there are the random photos that I've taken over the last couple weeks. 

What I was doing while waiting for a meeting (which was to take place at my house) to start...

About 3 hours later (see...there was a meeting....) I will also point out, it was a work-related meeting that took place on  a Friday afternoon...thus the wine bottle...but really, we were working!)

What DramaGirl decided to do instead of helping me carry in the groceries...interpretation? "I am REALLY TIRED MAWWWWWWWWWM!"

See that little white speck about five rows beneath the American Flag? That's Turbo.  He wanted to see the view from the top row of The Q.

DG and I did facials...pretty girls?

We met this young man at The High Dive after last weekend's 9 mile run (Don't worry...he was with his parents...not just hanging out at a bar on a Saturday morning). When his dad learned that I was an English teacher, he told me about his son's skillz, which he himself had discovered as a result of some "homework" related to the mulitple uses of The F Word. We named him The Conjugator

Alberta at The High Dive...if she looks a bit wired, it's because I think she's on her 3rd Shirley Temple at this point!

Speaking of Alberta...she's been busy too! As a matter of fact, this evening Betty and I are going to go watch her beat the shiz out of some other chick.

Seriously, she's taken up boxing.

Betty and I brainstormed and tried to come up with a good boxing pseudonym for her. 

FYI - Alberta teaches home ec...yep, she's the boxing home-ec teacher...Quite the dichotomy, dontcha think? We started with Alberta, the skillet, Smith (not her real name)... Here's my text exchange with Betty, who was with Beth, who is also a Home Ec teacher...

Betty

The reason I was googling "unicorn" and "spatula" is because I'd told Alberta we'd bring signage to cheer her on....you know with unicorns and rainbows and glitter...because that would be SO APPROPRIATE for a boxing match, no? I mean, I think it would really intimidate her opponent,

Alberta

Doesn't it sound like Alberta wants a glitter and unicorn boxing sign?

BTW...Betty just got a new iPhone. She's still working on mastering the touch screen keyboard, which has led to some pretty funny exchanges... 

Betty

to which I replied "Si!"

Of course....there are also the everyday exchanges with DramaGirl and Turbo, such as...

DramaGirl

I thought ice cream was a totally obvious reward for a B on a Biology test.

La Mesa's Octoberfest is this weekend. Turbo went with a group of kids last night that included a fair number of girls...I think he learned something about hanging out with girls.

Turbo

Of course, no week would be complete without some texting about The Housewives...This week's Beverly Hill episode was classic!

Mona

So...as you can see, I've been very, very, very busy.

I haven't forgotten the Nike Women's Half is in two weeks. I've got 10 miles and a big hill lined up for tomorrow. I'll keep you posted (yeah...sure ya will Alice...sure ya will)

Three Good Things about The Blackout...

Perhaps you heard...Southern California experienced a pretty massive power outage yesterday afternoon and evening. It lasted (for us) about 8 hours, although I think there may still be peeps without power. Even still, I know some of you on the east coast who were without power for days are thinking "SoCal wussies...we didn't have power for three DAYS after Irene!" and to be honest, I'd be the first to concede the point.

In any event, I had planned on running after work yesterday, once it cooled off, but since there was no power, I ended up attending to other things... 

No matter, there were three VERY GOOD THINGS that did occur as a result of the outage.

• I didn't have to work today. Was supposed to do a full day workshop at Cal State San Marcos, but it is closed for the day, so I have the day off!
• Betty came over as we were activating our "Family Emergency Plan"* which meant opening a bottle of wine and sitting by the pool and then sitting in the pool because it was so dang hot.



We have a really well developed emergency plan.

• While I was looking for a cable to charge DramaGirls phone with my battery charger, I found the nose piece to my Nike Vomero Sunglasses. I LOVE these sunglasses, but losing the nosepiece has been an ongoing issue for me. I thought I'd lost it AGAIN somewhere in Kansas City, but when I opened a case that I keep the battery charger supplies in, I found it. Apparently, I had cleverly put it there in KC, so that I WOULDN'T lose it. I'm such a genius!

So that you know, you were saved from reading a really boring post about the saga of the Nike Sunglasses and the Lost Nosepiece, part 5. Instead, if you want to know, you can go here, and here, and here.

So, the power is back on, I have the day off,  I have my favorite running sunglasses EVAH, and all is well with the world!

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* I saw a tweet that SDG&E (the power company) was advising people to "Activate their personal family emergency plan." Walter and I figured we'd already done that.

Two Weekends

Two WEEKS? Ah Geez...maybe I should just give up the blog... GAH!

OK...so here's what happened..school started. First two weeks are an adjustment. I'll figure it out.

Here's what else happened two weekends ago...

End of Summer Fire Run - For those who are new here, this is the annual end of summer race which starts in La Jolla and ends in Pacific beach. Every year, we figure out a way to get a way back to our car in La Jolla without having to take the post-race bus...because we are just like that. This year Walter volunteered to drive out and, even though he wasn't running, drive us back to La Jolla to fetch our car.

The Herd's fifth anniversary of running this event...and as is typical for a race run in the last weekend of August...it was HOT and HUMID...but we were undeterred. So here's the story of that day in photos

At least Elsie and I wore the neon-dayglo-lime green shirts so that we could find each other! 

I have no pictures during the race. In fact, I wasn't expecting to do much. It was hot. I hadn't done anything in the way of training. I had a PR in this race last year, and did I mention that in addition to the heat, it was gawd-awful humid. I just figured, I'd have fun and have a couple of beers at the end.

So...what did I do? 

4 miles - 38.22 (official) 9:36 pace - A new PR (which only happens at this event, because when else would I run a 4 mile race?) AND 8th in my division (which mostly means that there weren't that many other women my age crazy enough to run in that head/humidity)...

Whatever. I'll take it!

Afterward, we gathered at PB Bar and Grill to claim our two free beers because isn't beer what EVERYONE is looking for on a Sunday morning at about 9am?

Everyone has a roll...I am the planner. Elsie is the brains. Betty makes us laugh. Mik brings us beer. See how that works out. 

Sweaty green girls

More light beer than we really wanted.

Walter (our sherpa and all around great guy) arrived as we were drinking our morning brews to take us back to our car (which was still in La Jolla). It took us about 42 seconds to decide that the food and beer at the high dive was MUCH better than where we were, so off we went.

Isn't it good that The High Dive gives Uncle Sam his fair share? Yes Bkfst Champs and OJ Karafe were for Mimosas!

And here's what happened this weekend...

This one turned 16 (she also got some new furniture and a giant wave picture for her bedroom...lucky girl) 

Isn't she beautiful? I am so proud to be her mama. She is growing up into this fabulous person who makes me so proud!

So...to celebrate, we rented a condo at the beach for the weekend so that DG could invite a few friends along to help her celebrate....also because I thought it was better than some crazy party with lots of screaming teenagers.

In other words, it was a gift for everyone!

And I got to spend the weekend looking at this...

Sunset...the first night

And this...

I think that's Walter out there somewhere...

And watching my boys play in the waves

They may not look like much, but trust me, those waves had some power...or at least that's what Walter said.  SoCal had an epic southern swell last week and over the weekend. Glenn has some way better footage of the waves from up north in Newport Beach on his blog

Which led to a bit of this...

This is what happens when you play in the waves for 8 hours

And a little bit of hanging out with some good friends (who are the parents of DG's BFF)

And waking up to this...

I figure if I'm going to rent a condo at the beach...I really want to see the beach.

I also got a 6 mile run in yesterday morning - so I'm not completely off track for Nike in October...tomorrow morning, it's back to the hills. I think I'm going to have to pay for some of the overindulgence of the past few days.

Better....But Not Great...Yet

Yesterday morning I ran the same route that Betty and I ran on Monday afternoon. I wanted to see how much the heat had affected me. Turns out, the effect was significant.

Monday afternoon La Mesa Hill Route Pace & Elevations Charts

Can you see where I walked, slowly, three times. GAH!

Thursday morning

Walked ...maybe even more slowly up the steepest part of one hill, but for a shorter amount of time...and only one twice...both at about the same place). 

Hmmmmm.... Less walking apparently equals a faster overall pace. I still ended up walking one particularly steep hill that's about 2.3 miles into the run. It's one of those hills that goes around a curve, so you can't see the top of the hill until you turn the corner, but it's a good hill for me to work on because the hill in The Precidio in San Francisco that is exactly like that.

Pace stats and split times from Monday afternoon.

The suckfest stats

Thursday morning

I wonder how I gained elevation? Oh yeah...when I was coming up the last hill, the road has quite a cant and I was on the high side this time. Can't believe it's 4 feet higher on the one side. Maybe I had my hands above my head...

I am going to own that GD hill in the next few weeks. I swear it. I guess this is the advantage of living on a hill.

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*The difference in the route distance between Monday and Thursday is because a couple of times on Monday, I double backed to catch up with Betty

Hill Focused

In less than eight weeks, I'll be doing this... Well...I'll be doing half of it anyway...

Which includes some of this ....

Borrowed from this site, which I located via Google Images. I do not claim that the woman in the photo in any way represents me as I am neither young, blond, or have THOSE legs. Nor do I claim that the hills in San Fran in any way the one she is running up.

In fact, I think the hills will look more like this...

Also...not an actual hill that we will be running up, but it will probably look like this... Also, I did not take this photo. It has been borrowed from this site.* 

Therefore, it's really time to get the hill training on, so I convinced Betty to come run with me last night in my 'hood...3.5 lovely miles of rolling SoCal hilly-ness.

It was 5:30. It was HOT. It pretty much sucked. But we did it.

Can I offer some stats about the ugliness of the run? How about this?

Uh...yeah...you could say I walked a bit. The elevations may not look like much...but somehow they FELT LIKE BIG-ASS HILLS...Just ask Betty...

Overall suck-fest numbers?

LORDY...I haven't wogged like that in quite awhile!

I'm ready to blame it on the heat. GAH!

In other running news that is almost completely unrelated to hills and/or hill training, Elsie, Betty and I will be running at The End of Summer Fire Run, which looks like it's now called The Fire Run this Sunday at 8am. The race starts in La Jolla and ends in Pacific Beach...four miles of flat downhillishness.

Whatever they call it, it's been an end of summer tradition for us for the last three years (2007 (no blog then) 2008, 2009, and 2010).
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* Not an endorsement of the podiatrist's website where I found this foto, but if you are in the Bay Area and need foot doc, at least here is one who runs....so that's something I guess.


** Also...BIG HUGS, HIGH FIVES, AND CONGRATS to all my friends who ran AFC this past weekend. Irene, Rich...you rocked 6th Avenue!


***Also MEGA SHOUT OUTS to the Nuun Hood to Coast team (who includes my friend Lisa, who I guess will be TOO BUSY to run the Fire Run with us this weekend. I'll be following you anyway. Have fun!

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.

Rearrangements

OK...so let's write about something new...running...

The Nike Women's half marathon is in about 10 weeks, so after a couple of weeks of kinda-sorta running on the mill and making a half-hearted effort to do some strength training (which I've decided is KEY to running hills...I'm sure I'm the first to make this discovery, no?), I decided this week to get back at it...kinda, sorta...

First, Walter and I rearranged some furniture in what we have, in the past, called the "office." Pretty much the "office" was a mishmash of a room with no particular purpose. It housed the computer, most of our books, and the treadmill....and at one point, a piano, which we have since gotten rid of since nobody played it, and any other random crap that needs a place to be.

The bad part of that is that the "office" is also the room adjacent to the pool, so it gets a fair amount of traffic.

But we did some rearranging of furniture, got rid of some of the random crap, and...TA DA.

Now it houses the computer and book shelves one one side of it, and a "workout room" complete with weight bench, hand weights, treadmill, and TRX on the other side.

Stylish. No?

How does IKEA photograph rooms and get everything to fit in? The rooms must be the size of postage stamps. This one is, decidedly, not. 

This all started with Walter. One of the things that he has wanted to do for about a year is move the weights out of the garage (we have a free-standing garage that is not attached to the house. It's pretty small for an alleged two car garage, and we have mostly used it as a storage shed), and into the house where, he would argue, we would be more likely to use them.

One of the "discussions" we have had is where to put said weight bench IN THE HOUSE. Walter wanted to put it in the front room (the first room guests walk into when they enter the house). I pointed out to him that we did not live in a bachelor-pad-frat-house, and weights in the living room is not very chic or Feng Shui. Walter, being rather pragmatic, claimed that we'd be more likely to actually USE the weights if there were in front of us every day.

Really? Right in FRONT? I think. No.

So, moving them into the "office" was a compromise. Walter moved the weights inside when I was "on the road" in Napa. When I returned, we started to rearrange the furniture. My goal has been to get the office/workout room to look stylish. Can this be done?

Truth is, since the weights have been moved into the house, I've used them three times. Care to guess how many times I lifted weights in the garage in the last year? I'd say, I've doubled the usage....maybe tripled.

Once I had the weights in the house, I realized I needed a weight lifting plan, so I started using an iPad Ap called "Fitness HD" (I think the HD is for High Def...which makes it an iPad Ap. I'm pretty sure the same Ap exists for an iPhone as well). The Exercise Base (database) has just about every strength training exercise you could think of...well, probably not every one, but it has lots.

I have not, as of yet, asked my "Personal Trainer" any questions...He doesn't seem to have a name, so I think I'll call him  Jethro.

I really have no idea how the food and body tracker works. I tried to figure it out (meaning: I looked at it for 60 seconds one day), but whatev's. I use Loseit to track calorie intake and outtake (is that a word) anyway.

Geez I use a lot of tracking devices.* I could use this to track workouts and meals, but mostly I just want someone/thing to give me a workout plan. I need that.

These are some of the workouts I've looked at. Mostly I've been using the "Fitness: Keep it Up" (watch it out there... I know what you are thinking) exercises because they include running and light weights.

So...what workouts have I done this past week?

Friday (last week) 10 minute uphill walk warmup - 40 minutes strength training, 3 mile run (mill)
Saturday - 15 minute uphill walk warmup, 30 minutes weights, 3.5 mile run (mill)
Tuesday - 10 mile uphill walk warmup - Then Betty texted me and so we went to run at Balboa Park where I ran 4.4 miles.

I'd say that moving the weights indoors was a good move...but I'll probably still be moving furniture around for about another week or so.

I'll be checking in on your blogs again soon. What the heck is going on out there?
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Overkill?
* Lose it (Calories in and out)
* Daily Mile (workouts and mileage)
* Garmin Connect (same purpose as Daily Mile, but I have to use this to sync workouts with Daily Mile)
* Hefferblog (duh)
* Nike+ (only occassionally...like on Tuesday when I forgot my Garmin. I do NOT like using this.