Completed 12.8 miles this weekend!

Four miles on Saturday and finished 8.8 miles on Sunday. I did not intend to do 8.8 (more like 7.5) but I didn't take in to account that I had to get home...I always forget about that part. darn. Well, at least that puts me ahead in the training schedule and will complete 9 miles next weekend. The new shoes have made a huge difference and they really feel good. I had bought the old shoes over a year ago and most of the shock absorption was long gone...the gams are very happy now! After the Shamrock'n is done and the weather starts warming up, I may start doing my long runs with Fleet Feet in Midtown. They have a 13.1 mile run every Sunday morning at 8am along the American River. While the weather has been cold, I have had the luxury of running in the late morning hours and even into the afternoon but I know that will have to change when Spring/Summer hits...early morning hours for me. sigh. Tuesday, Wednesdays, Thursdays and one day on the weekend will be the new schedule from here on out. 4 miles scheduled for Tuesday, 2 fast miles on Wednesday and another 4 on Thursday. Mondays and Fridays and one day on weekend for rest. I have found that when I blog my schedule, I tend to become a little more accountable...basically, I will complete what I said I was going to do. Whatever it takes...I have 7 months to get to 26.2, without injury...doesn't seem that far away.


By the way, I am officially registered for the Kaua'i Marathon and have secured my condo...so for those needing a vacation in September, saddle up!

On the first part of the journey I was looking at all the life. There were plants and birds and rocks and things, there was sand and hills...

... and many, many teenagers! I remember when Hannah started school at St. Robert and how terrified she was. (pic: see sweet, little, could do no wrong, precious, precious 5 year old Hannah on her first day of kindergarten...I think she still loved me then or at least pretended to.) She wouldn't even walk from the drop off area to her class without me firmly holding her hand... tears in her eyes. WELL, those days are long gone!!! While Pat held down the fort with Claire, Hannah and I made our way to the Bay Area for a four day and three night school field trip. Our trip to the Marin Headlands was truly amazing and a valuable educational resource which should be available to every child; the educators were phenomenal!! I stayed in a dorm with two other moms and 15 girls from Hannah's class. I'm tired. The boys' dorm was right next door; basically, we shared a wall. The program was structured with hikes, lab time, team building exercises, etc., throughout the day and then "free-time" was from 4:00pm-6:00pm; three meals a day and nothing in between. Outside food was not allowed to be brought in by the guests due to animal issues, thus creating a huge hunger issue for me. Starving! I tend to eat about six times a day and I started to feel as though I was at Fat Camp...I snuck food in. Oh yes I did....without hesitation. A fine example. sad. Around 3:30 pm I would "excuse" myself and head for the contraband...granola, nuts, crackers, Mmmmmm!! I would stuff as much as I could into my pockets and then cram handful by handful into my mouth! Fearful of being found out, I would avoid eye contact with those close and carefully discard any evidence of the life sustaining deliciousness...not an easy task. One particular afternoon, I dropped a nugget of granola on the ground and it made a noticeable "thud" as it hit...I quickly turned, whistling a little tune hoping a bird or some other critter didn't blow my cover...shoo..fly away birds. The meals they provided were great! Organic and locally grown,(except for grapes) the food was delish or maybe it seemed so good due to my emaciated state! We weighed our compost and garbage at the end of every meal, graphing our stats at the evening meetings and striving for "no-waste" meals. We were doing great until the school from Oakland arrived. Sigh. I won't go there. Needless to say, our school was introduced to kids that, perhaps, have not had the same "structure/discipline" that is required/necessary to simply respect others and their differences. I think I was more disappointed with the parents responsible for those children...children only know what has been taught...ignorance is ugly. Regardless, the Headlands was a great opportunity for me to have a glimpse into Hannah's life, her friends and what direction she is taking. Sure, no pressure. So far, so good...some fine tuning is certainly necessary but I think we have a good baseline.

Is that a gang sign? shit. Damn Catholic schools.












Free time. If it were up to me...NO FREE TIME!

View from hike

Golden Gate Bridge.View from the Lighthouse.

Prognosis was not good...

...and new shoes were a must. Say hello to my new, pretty companions! Old shoes were terminal and had only a walk or two left in them. They treated me well but it's time to move on. Things were not feeling right lately and I am now convinced it had something to do with the lack of tread and loss of stability in the sole...hmmmmm, I suppose I should pay more attention. I did manage to complete my 6.5 miles this weekend and have decided that running is synonymous with childbirth. The exact same thought process occurs during both events...for example: "I think I am going to start running/have a child...this is really a good idea and I am more than capable of doing it. If millions of people can run/give birth , why can't I? Boy, this sure isn't fun at all...who's idea was this again? Ewwwww, this really hurts...how much longer? OH MY GOD, I am going to die...I cannot do this anymore, make it stop! Only a little longer and it will all be over... I AM NEVER, EVER DOING THIS AGAIN! WHERE ARE THE PAIN KILLERS? Oh...I am almost done...I cannot believe I just ran 5, 10, 15 miles/squeezed a live human being out of something that SHOULD be the size of a quarter...WHEW, ALL DONE!!!!! Hmmmmm...that wasn't too bad, I could do it again!"

8 weeks until Shamrock'n half marathon!

Ran Five miles on Tuesday and a faster paced two miles on Thursday. 6.5 miles scheduled for Saturday and will increase a mile each Saturday leading up to March 15th. I have found that teaching Spin a few days a week and mat Pilates basically every day, my legs need some down time. Don't get me wrong, Pilates and Spin are great for cross-training but a few days off to rest the muscles are a must. As you can see, I have really scaled back the mileage lately taking a more gradual approach. I have 26.2 miles to do in September and do not want my knees, hamstrings or anything else for that matter giving out. Taking my running shoes in this weekend for the prognosis...new shoes or not? We'll see. I am Leaving this next Tuesday for The Headlands Institute (http://www.yni.org/hi/) with Hannah's entire 7th grade class as a chaperone. FOUR DAYS. YES, FOUR DAYS SEQUESTERED WITH HORMONAL TEENAGERS...ALL OF THE EVIL I DID AS A YOUNG LASS IS COMING BACK AROUND...I CAN NOW FULLY APPRECIATE THE TWITCH THAT MY MOTHER ACQUIRED IN HER LEFT EYE WHEN i TURNED 13. God be with me. If there are no entries on my blog a week from Sunday, it is because there was a mutiny and the seventh graders pushed me off a cliff somewhere...I am sure my body will wash to shore eventually. I will take many pictures and post when or IF I return.

Ahhhhhhhh...BACON!

Have you noticed how adding bacon to food makes it taste sooooooo much better? You could put bacon on or in anything and the taste value goes through the roof. Remember back to one of my earlier entries where I discussed a fabulous new chocolate bar that I had intended to give a client and it "accidentally" ended up in my mouth? WELL...the same company had a few other flavors that I could not help but try. The first being Mo's Bacon Bar...ingredients include: Applewood smoked bacon, Alderwood smoked salt and deep milk chocolate with 45% cacao. Yes, my friends, CHOCOLATE COUPLED WITH BACON...DEEP SIGH! Truly astounding...little bits of smoked bacon accompany a rich, delicious, melt in your mouth milk chocolate....I am kind of speechless right now. The second bar is just as interesting but not as heavenly as the
bar o'bacon. It is called the Black Pearl Bar...ingredients include: Wasabi, Ginger, Black Sesame Seeds and Dark Chocolate with 55% cacao. Now, because dark chocolate tends to overwhelm the rest of the flavors, this particular bar requires a little more patience than the Bacon Bar. One needs to savor the Black Pearl Bar slowly, focusing on the subtle hint of wasabi and ginger while enjoying the nutty texture. I have become a huge fan of "Vosges Haute Chocolat" and would recommend trying one for yourself. Delish...Augustus Gloop and I could become soul mates.

Once more...if you need a license to drive, you need a license to procreate!!!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28655143/?GT1=43001

I saw this on the news a few weeks ago regarding the bakery not putting the child's name on the cake and could not believe what I was watching. Those children NEEDED to be taken away; they will never have a chance unless someone steps in. Truly sad.

Five miles on Saturday

The sun was out and the weather was great. Planning on 6.5 miles next weekend and will add a little at a time until I hit 12 miles. It was comforting to know that I could complete 11 miles but I would like to make sure no injuries occur. I am going to ease my way back up and then gradually shave a little off each weekend to prepare for the Shamrock'n!!

Remember...

spending Friday and Saturday evenings at the
Skating Rink with your best girlfriends (circa 1981) wearing your best jeans, perhaps Britannia, Jordache, etc., a plastic comb sticking out of the back pocket, your feathered bangs unable to move due to the extreme amount of Aqua Net and listening to Kenny Rogers "Lady" during couples skate? Well, the outing I took the girls on today had the same vibe...welcome to "The Trampoline Place!" The entire warehouse is filled with various floors of trampolines for your jumping pleasure...with a little Beyonce, Rihanna, etc., playing in the background. What is the comparison you ask? THE KIDS...oh yes, all the same "players." First, we have the very pretty girl that can jump higher than anyone and then do a back flip to top it off, all the while looking around to see who is watching her. This girl (we'll call her Tiffany) is comparable to the the girl at the rink that would get out in the middle of the circle and do spins holding one leg in the air...remember her? We hated her...she took lessons. Then there were the unruly pack of boys that would skate as fast as they could, chasing each other with no regard for others and would elbow their way through...remember how sweaty and gross they were? (we'll call them Dumb and Dumber) Oh yes, I found those same pack of boys at the Trampoline Place. Running/jumping/chasing from pod to pod knocking the smaller kids (Claire) out of the way...catapulting her to heights she never imagined. sad. Overall, it was a great time...burned a lot of calories, tuckered out the kids and brought back some fond memories. By the way, the top picture is me trying to be Tiffany...didn't work out so well.

Harvest time!

Day was beautiful and I finished a 3.4 mile run through the park. Run felt nice...sun was finally out and the fog lifted. Sacramento is dreadful in January and the fog becomes a little too much; looking forward to Spring. Camellia's are blooming in the front yard and the oranges are ready for picking. Put your order in and I will be sure you get a large bag of Vitamin C...if they are not picked soon they will drop on the ground and the rabid squirrels, as well as other critters will suck them dry...get 'em while they're hot!

For those who have seen "The curious case of Benjamin Button...

...need i say more?
Say hello to Baby Androgyny...frightening. "Baby A" is among the many toys that frequent Claire's bathtub. Personally, I find "Baby A" rather scary...don't venture into the bathroom in the middle of the night unprepared! I was staring at Baby A and couldn't figure out where I had seen he/she/it and then it dawned on me...Benjamin Button...a definite must-see! This particular picture does not do it justice...it actually looks worse in person. Poor Baby A.

15 miles to to go...

Finished 11.2 miles today and I believe it may be time for new shoes; these have seen better days. Run was a little brutal today...very cold and during 6 of the 11 miles, I was running into the wind...good times. My normal route is becoming a bore and also a bit dangerous with traffic and "questionable individuals" making comments so I think I may switch up the loop next week and steer clear of cars and transients. Taught a Pilates mat class this morning and I really cannot stress enough how helpful Pilates has been during my training...I encourage those to give it a shot if you haven't already. The strengthening and stretching combination can really be beneficial to any training regimen. More later...

Question

I am leaving Starbucks the other morning and see a gentleman on the other side of the door ready to enter with the use of a cane. He pulls the door as I push and we both pause. He looks to be about 50-ish and in relatively healthy condition considering he is using a cane for assistance. (His gait did not seem labored and appeared somewhat fit.)

QUESTION: Do I let him proceed first through the door or should he allow me to exit first? Keep in mind, I have been raised to believe a man should hold a door for a woman but due to the cane issue, should I have held the door for him? btw...he let me exit first...with hesitation.

Snag in the program...

So my parents have graciously offered a week of their timeshare to exchange for the Kauai trip in September but unfortunately there is not ONE place available anywhere NEAR Kauai or any other island for that matter. Oh sure, we could go anywhere else in the world, e.g., Netherlands, Australia, Canada, the very exotic Idaho, Mexico, Spain...just not Kauai. Sad. Something could open up prior to September but it needs to happen within the next few months or I just may end up in Idaho...running through potato fields. Anyway, ran a little over four miles miles on Wednesday the 31st and prepping for a long run tomorrow...11 miles. Happy New Year! More to come...