where there's no cell phone reception

12:30 pm: me, on the beach. a perfect 85 degrees. in one ear, jack johnson, in the other, the ocean. a heineken in one hand, and john irving's latest in the other.

seriously, life doesn't get much better than that.

i spent the day at stinson beach with the littlest bro. (with no talk of sex, THANK GOD!) it was a short hour and 15 minute drive, the hardest part being the treacherous hwy 1. winding, undulating roads twisting and turning through muir winds and along the sea cliffs. beautiful, yes. easy, no. but well worth it. what was even crazier was the number of cyclists sharing the narrow 2 lane road. there is no bike lane. there's barely enough room for 2 cars to pass! and the steepness?? these are some hard core cyclists.

because it was a weekday, there weren't too many people, but enough for some decent people watching. (there were dilfs aplenty. what is it with me spotting with hot 30 something dads lately? they're already TAKEN! where are all the hot 30 something single guys?) i braved the water for a few minutes but damn was it cold! seriously. like nature's ice bath. i remember reading somewhere that the pacific ocean is about 10 degrees colder than the atlantic.

after soaking up sun, we perused the handful of shops in town and settled in for dinner at the sanddollar. where we had the. best. mussels. ever. in. life. seriously. and a caesar salad with real anchovy dressing, clam chowder with more clams than i've ever had in clam chowder and garlic fries. i love eating with the littlest bro because he's a chef, so he too enjoys the food just as much as i do, and we talk about it like we would fine art. we talk about the balance of the sweet shallots and the herbs. we analyze the consistency of the chowder. and the perfect touch the anchovy brings to the caesar dressing that was in no way sour or vinegary. oh and how the bite and snap of fresh shaved parmesean beats grated any day of the week. we ate so much we didn't have room for dessert. except for a bag of sour patch kids for the drive home.

all in all, a super day.

four out of ten, hopefully.

2.48 miles today folks. which were run AFTER work. golf claps for me because afternoon runs are NOT my thing. my knees felt a little achy in the beginning. but the pains went away after a while. still i didn't want to push it. i stopped 2.25 miles into it and walked the rest to cooldown.

outside it was 88 degrees, but inside the gym felt just as hot. while i dripped with sweat in my sports bra and shorts, some guy in front of me on the elliptical was wearing a polo, jeans, and sneakers. some people were in sweat pants. and long sleeved shirts. i seriously don't get these people. i'm gonna show up at the pool tomorrow and find someone swimming laps in a parka.

speaking of pool workouts, i haven't quite figured out what tomorrow's workout will entail. my swimming skills are seriously subpar. i can barely get across the pool once. ONCE! at which point i gasp and wheeze for 5 minutes before i can even think about making it across again. i finally did buy an aqua belt, so i might mess around with that for awhile. or kick my way across with a board. i also found some exercises to strengthen my quads, specifically the inner muscles above the knee, which should help support my poor patellas properly. we'll just see what happens. i'm hoping that by going at the butt crack of dawn, no one will be around to witness my absolute ineptitude in the water. all i'm really asking is that i don't drown.

i've only logged 4 workouts this entire month. that is utterly pathetic. but there are still 9 days left. i'm setting the goal now to get into the gym to do SOME sort of workout at least 6 of those days to make it an even 10 workouts in the month of may. it's something at least. and in my pre-training for the marathon, all i want to do is heal up and start on the right foot.

the inlaws...

i grew up with 2 younger brothers. so having a sister in law is kinda weird. my youngest brother has a serious girlfriend of about 2 years. so when i moved home, i "inherited" two "sisters". luckily they're cool chicks. maybe not girls i would have necessarily chosen as friends of my own, but we get along really well for the most part. obviously the two of them get along better, since they've had time to gether without me, but i think part of what bonds us is that none of us grew up with sisters. but there are definitely times i feel possessive of my brothers because well, they're MY brothers. and before THEY came along, they were just mine. and i didn't have to share them with anyone else.

but like i said, they've been super great since i've moved since none of my high school friends are around anymore. they've become my friends and we can gab and gossip and do all the things girls do. EXCEPT. talk about sex.

ugh. gross!!

because when they talk about sex, they're talking about sex with my brothers.

GROSS!!!

GROSS!!!

GROSS!!! times infinity.

it seriously ruins my buzz everytime we're out having drinks and they bring it up.

fun with photobooth

my new haircut! wheeee! i feel like i lost 10 pounds!

i used to wear my hair super short and i've been trying to grow it out for what feels like FOR-EVER. i finally just couldn't take it any more and gave up. my hair is too damned thick to wear long. even when they've thinned it out in the past, it's STILL too heavy. but this time i had her whack the crap out of my hair. so while she didn't really chop off too much length, she managed to thin my hair. by like 50% she said!

so it's still short, yes. but at least longer than i've had it for the past 6 years. so it's different. and feels so much lighter!

consulting a professional

so i picked up a copy of marathoning for mortals, by john bingham and coach jenny, before making it to the beach last week. i'm more than halfway through and am slowly realizing i may not be as prepared for the marathon in october as i thought i might be. i realize it is still like 20 plus weeks away, but the last month has been pooptastic and today my knees and right hip kinda hurt. they aren't screaming in pain, but they're just nagging enough that i know i shouldn't ignore them. especially since my primary source of income requires me to be walking for 8 hours.

i've spent the last year learning to run basically on my own. reading, researching, and briefly joining a training group that i had to drop out of a few weeks later because of scheduling issues. considering i am no professional, it makes sense i didn't do it all right all the time.

so instead of trying out hammer out this marathon at the expense of the health of my limbs, i'm going to do it the right way. by consulting with a doctor first! GASP! I KNOW! who woulda thought? i'm paying for health insurance, i may as well damned use it. even if it is an hmo.

first order of business is to make an appointment with a sports medicine person (uh, what are they called again?) i'll continue to ice and advil. and i'll have to make friends with other forms of exercise. which is a pain in the arse because the only thing i really enjoy other than running is kickboxing and considering it's high impact that isn't an option. i might just dive further into dorkhood and buy an aqua vest for water running. and/or take the swimming lessons i've been wanting to take.

either way, i think i've made peace with the fact that 1. running intensely right now might not be in the cards right now. 2. i might have to cut the marathon i paid to run to a half marathon. 3. as much as i hate crosstraining, it WILL make me a better runner.

america, you're wrong

while i went to bed ridiculously early last night, america forgot to vote for melinda doolittle on idol. seriously, people. what were you thinking?

probably that she's a nearly flawless singer and didn't need your votes.

vote for blake next week or read a tirade of how jordin sparks makes me want to hurl things at my tv. namely vomit.

2 for 2

i got to the gym this morning and all the treadmills were full. of walkers!!! argh! honestly, i don't have anything against walkers, because well at one time, I was a walker and for some people walking is better than nothing. but still i was annoyed. and for some reason more annoyed than if they were all running.

anyway, i got in an easy 3.25 miles. i had more time today since it was my day off. i've been resisting running outside for several reasons. 1. i like blaring my music really loud and i can't do that on the roads. 2. it's dark in the morning. 3. it's been windy lately and i really don't want to aggravate my allergies more than i have to. 4. i've lost my nike plus receiver to track my miles so yeah i'm sticking to the treadmill to do all the math for me. once i clean my room and get to a point where i can put more miles in at a time, i'll definitely welcome the great outdoors.

tomorrow, i'm going for a three-peat, but going for the bike instead. don't want to overdo it. even though i really, really, really want to run, run, run.

oh and a funny thing, i stepped on the scale today and it said i lost 4 pounds since yesterday!!!! hahahahahhaha. i know it's not true and is more of a function of me weighing myself with less clothes on and missing dinner last night bc i fell asleep at 5pm (yes 5pm) but still i had to laugh. the other chicks in the locker room must have thought i was nuts.

day one

i hit snooze only once this morning. and i managed to still squeeze in 2.25 miles. i probably spent as much time on the treadmill as i spent driving to and from the gym, warming up, cooling down, stretching and icing. but still it felt good to be running again. even if it was the slowest, shortest run ever.

no more excuses

my alarm is set for 4:30 a.m. my running clothes are sitting right next to my bed. i considered sleeping in them, but sleeping in a sports bra sounds about as comfortable as sleeping in a strait jacket.

i'm going to run tomorrow. whether i like it or not.

i've milked what were once totally legit injury/sickness/work schedule reasons for not running for far too long. so long that they turned into excuses for not running. i'm no longer sick. i'm not so debilitated i can't run at least short easy distances for now. and i've gotten more used to the physical demands of my job (except for the 12 hour shift i pulled on mother's day. ugh.)

honestly, i was just really frustrated at the running gods for sidelining me when i had felt most confident about my running. i put a lot of effort into training for santa cruz and i felt really robbed of a race i felt was mine. i'd started running intervals and hills. hell i even made it into the weight room. then BAM! over the course of a few weeks, all that work was undone. i had planned to build even further on my santa cruz base and start my marathon training really strong. and now here i am. feeling like i'm starting all over again.

but what can you do? except start. again.

tomorrow's the day.

only a runner would understand

"LSD one day, Speed the next"

this and other running quotes found here

getting my head in the game

it's been a week since my last run, but it feels like much longer. probably because it had been 4 days since my run before that one. and really i've only missed 2 runs since i came up with my new plan last week, but it feels like i've missed 50. i'm so out of it, i even lost my watch! i've reached such a funk that reading everyone's happy tales about running makes me incredibly, infuriatingly jealous.

i just feel so out of it. i don't feel like myself without running. or more specifically, training. i'm not really one to do it just for fun. easing back into things after this injury has me wigged out. i want to run. hard. fast. (well for me anyway) but i'm afraid i'll push too hard too soon and be laid up even longer and miss out on the marathon i've been after for a a reeeaallly long time. my brain has a habit of turning one small worry into a huge catastrophe.

i have 2 days off finally, after 7 straight days of work. i'm treating myself to a day at the beach tomorrow. to relax and regroup. i'm hoping that an early morning run and a day in the sun, sand, and surf, will rejuvinate my spirits.

guys are so dumb

today these two hot (read: big boobed) women come into the restaurant for lunch. they were like lucy lui's more attractive cousins. i'll admit that when i saw them even i thought to myself, "damn they're hot!" but the frenzy in the kitchen over these two chicks was absolutely ridiculous. it was as if the guys had never seen a woman before. i mean c'mon, this is california! big (fake) boobs are aplenty here.

the executive chef was the worst. he made them some elaborate special dessert that they didn't even order and had me bring it to them "compliments of the chef". a little while later, he made some big show about going to each table to see how their food was, blah blah, of course as an excuse to stop by the hot chick table. he introduces himself and they say, "oh you don't remember us? we met you here last year!"

doh! smooth, chef. reeeeaaal smoooooth.

so i taunted him in the back and chef says to me, "hey if some hot guys come in, don't worry i got your back. you helped me so i'll help you."

i just laughed and said, "who says i need your help?"

seriously, boys are so dumb.

i just wanna run already!!

can i just say that not training s.u.c.k.s.!!!!

the more blogs i read, the more i miss it!!!! i pout, i moan, i cry, like the 5 year old that i am. then i go find some ice cream or fried potatoes to wallow in.

i just turned down 2 more freelance offers. a little reluctantly. but not really. things were getting too hectic trying to adjust to both gigs at the same time. i think i am going to take the rest of the month to concentrate efforts on finding a full-time design job. perfecting my self-promo even more so i can send out my first batch. then wait, and maybe take on another freelance project.

because that's what you do when you're your own boss.

and maybe, just maybe i can also get in some decent running.

because without it, i'm just a big, crabby, bloated b.i.t.c.h.. and i can resume my regularly scheduled running blog which in recent weeks has turned into a random talk about shit and post pics of hot guys blog. though the hot guys part i'm sure you enjoy :)

blame it on the rain

when i woke up this morning, i swear to bob i thought i had aged 20 years in my sleep. my knees felt really rickety and the one i tweaked a long time ago in tae kwon do, that rarely but sometimes gives me trouble, was extra specially tender. and my hip? yeah, all wonky again. i thought for sure by the end of the day i'd be forced to crawl on all fours.

but once the rain let up and i guess my body got warm, my limbs and joints felt their youthful 28 year old selves. even so, i'm playing it conservative, elevating my lower extremities and icing the crap outta my hip. i might even substitute my easy run this week with a swim workout. (hahahahahahaha! me??? swimming??? hahahahahahahah)

if i can feel this old now, i don't even want to know how i'll feel in 10, 20 or 30 years!

oh, and don't you think eric and i make a cute couple?

spring in my step

on the schedule: a 6 mile "long run" @ 12:22.

as much as i like to push myself when it comes to running, it's such a relief to know that i only have to run 6 miles at a snail's pace. not to say my run was easy peasy. but it was just right. my knees felt a little rickety again in the beginning but after a mile i was warm and gliding along.

in the beginning my speed ranged from 4.7 mph to 4.9. i eventually settled into 5.0 for a good while. then the treadmills next to me started to fill up, my time was dwindling, and there were hoverers lurking. so my speed crept up to 6.0 at one point, just so i could finish as close to 6 miles as i possibly could in the time i was given (which was about 70 minutes)

it felt so good to sweat again. and even pant a little at the end. out of the corner of my eye, i could see the guy next to me shoot glances my way, certain i would collapse and he would have to resuscitate me. thankfully, that wasn't necessary.

i'm hoping this is the beginning to some consistent training again. because i really have missed it.

testing my endurance

i've waited tables for about 10 years, off and on. but it was only a couple days a week. for extra beer money. but this is the first time i've had to rely on it as my primary income. which means i'm on my feet 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week. i know people do it all the time, everyday. and i thought i was in pretty good shape. but let me tell you, it's kicking my ass.

or more specifically, the 300+ elderly women's choir group that came through the hotel this weekend kicked my ass. for people as frail and slow as they are, they were goddamned demanding and wanted everything NOW! add to my list of reasons i'm going hell: my annoyance with and desire to bitch-slap demanding elderly ladies. i swear to bob last night i had nightmares about them.

as i stated in a previous post, coming up with and following a training program around my new 6am-2pm work schedule is a challenge. i like running in the morning, but getting up at 4 am to run sounds ludicrous to me. but then again, at one point, getting up at 5:30 am to run sounded ludicrous. but getting up at 4 am means going to bed at like 8pm!

and yes, i do need 8 hours of sleep. 7 minumum.

and i'm finding the problem isn't so much the scheduling as it is that waitressing is seriously wiping me out. today was my day off and i got up at 7. after eating breakfast, reading blogs, going through some mail, i was still tired. so i went back to bed and didn't get up until about 1! and it wasn't until then that i didn't feel the achiness in my bones. oh and i went to bed at like 9 last night!

part of me knows my body will get used to it. and part of me knows that we won't always have annoying groups of octogenarians demanding 1001 things of me at once. but for now, i'm just a little old lady myself.

after missing santa cruz, i didn't know what i was gonna do about training. i was coming off an injury and dealing with a new work situation. i cut myself some slack, but i knew in order to get any running done i had to have a plan. and a plan is what i have.

my next race will be the sonoma jack 10k on june 3. that's in 5 weeks. and looking at my 3 day a week training plan, very do-able. after the race, i'll take a week off, then start my 18 week marathon training (oh shit!) somewhere in between those 2 races, i plan on running a half-marathon, most likely the run sfm half.

i'm planning on doing my long runs on tuesdays (my sunday), doing one easy run and one speed workout during the week. all the extra stuff? the weight training, crosstraining? we'll just have to see how my body holds up. to some extent, my job IS crosstraining.

and how i'm going to fit in freelancing AND looking for a full-time job? i don't know. i really don't know. somehow, it will all get done. it always does.

the runner in me

if you take a look at my running stats for the month of april, you'll see how absolutely pathetic they are. i've run less miles in the entire month of april than i did in a single week last month. and do you know what i have to say to that?

shit happens. there's always may. and june. and 6 more months before nike.

normally, i'd be upset. really upset. i'd feel like a total loser and cry buckets over my expanding waist line (which for some strange but awesome reason isn't really growing despite my hiatus).

but i'm not upset because i've taken care of a lot of other priorities this month that have tested my will, patience, and determination just as much as running has. and it's because of the lessons i've learned from running that helped me through it (aside from my cry-fest freakout)

because even when i'm not training by running, i'm always thinking about how my training applies to my entire life. i'm always thinking about what the runner in me would do. how the runner in me would handle these challenges. how the runner in me purposefully and willingly challenges myself to do things i thought were physically impossible, only to make me stronger. more accomplished. i think about how the runner in me knows when too much is too much and takes the time to nurture my body and my mind.

running has taught me that bad shit happens, but is always followed by some good stuff. the bad stuff never defines who you are. but the success it's not forever either. running has humbled my crazy perfectionism yet it has motivated me to be better than i thought i could ever be. but in a different way than the greed for achievement used to.

somehow and in some strange way, running has taught me to be more honest with myself. about who i really am. about what i really want. about what's really important. about what really makes me happy.

i still wonder what this year has in store for me. and i vacillate between trepidation and excitement. i am sometimes absolutely clueless and feel the only thing i can do is open myself to divine intervention and other times i have the confidence and conviction to face whatever happens. to make shit happen.

because that's the runner in me.



-----------------------------
note: i know my posts have been pretty off-topic and downright angsty lately, but hey it's my blog :) i hope to return to normal ass-kicking training in may when i've gotten the work situations under control :)

and i did run 3.25 miles yesterday, but honestly had nothing exciting to report. except that i really really crave running more!

um, this isn't mine

i got to my car after work today and when i pulled on the handle to my car door, a very small ziptop baggie full of fine powdery "white stuff" fell into my palm.

uh......

wtf?! how did THAT get there?

was it a "sample"? did someone need to stash it somewhere quickly?

of course the total nerd i am, i totally freaked out, chucked it deep into a trashcan, not wanting anything to do with it. it even freaks me out that my fingerprints are on it.

but seriously, wtf?!

yum!

people magazine sure got it right. most beautiful, indeed.

i know, i know. i've brought up eric bana more than once on this blog. but c'mon! that is supreme hotness right there!

*sigh* perhaps it has been too long since i've been on a date ;) but if there were more men like him walking around then i wouldn't have that problem.

on the road, again

i FINALLY got my ass in gear and did some running! wahoo! it had been exactly 2 weeks and i swear i had to dust cobwebs off my running shoes.

i got in an easy 3 miles in under 37 minutes, running anywhere from 4.5 mph to 6.5 mph. there was a chick on the treadmill next to me with waaaaay longer legs than me running at 5.8 mph but i swear my legs were moving much faster than hers. totally not fair.

and whatever injury i had seems to be gone. i felt a little rickety in my quads and knees when i started, but after a mile it was gone. i definitely had legs for a longer run, but alas, i didn't have the time. but it's good to know my legs haven't forgotten how to run. makes me wonder how i would have done had i run the race on sunday!

for now, the trick will be finding a good time to run with my new 6am-2pm work schedule. while i much prefer to run in the morning, i don't see myself getting up at 4 am to run before work. and while running after 8 hours on my feet doesn't sound appealing either, it sounds like the lesser of two evils.

i should be able to fit in one run in the next two days and will attempt a long run on friday, my day off. maybe 10 miles?

reliving saturday night

punch

i've had a lot to drink. really. i love you guys. seriously. i do.

hapy ithday to jess and happy earth day to the planet.


tomorrow i'm going to a place where they serve 101 omlettes. that;s all i know for now.

that was the drunken post from last night that i deleted this morning. i tried to hide the evidence, then neese had to go and rub it in ;)

this morning, instead of running, i put a sweatshirt on over last night's clothes, my index finger still bright red from the cherry jello shots and the bottom of my right foot still in pain from stepping on a hot coal from a hookah mishap. my brother and i headed to sandy's omelettes and i had 1 pancake, a biscuit, hashbrowns, and a hawaiian omelette with mushroms, green onions, pineapple, spam and fried rice! after that, we crashed on the couch for about 3 hours.

now i'm flipping channels on our new 52" HDtv. i never realized how much of a difference HD makes! holy crap!!!! it's like the difference between having your glasses off and then putting them on! i think i need to drop by blockbuster and pick up the movie troy. brad pitt, orlando bloom AND eric bana ALL in high def??!?!

short of having them in person in my living room, i can't think of a better way to recover from a crazy saturday night :)

and this makes 100

i've already listed 69, so here's the 31 OTHER things i've promisted to round out a full 100 things about me:

70. i'm right handed, but i bat and golf left handed.
71. i don't drink coffee or soda.
72. i once tried to be a vegetarian. i lasted 2 weeks.
73. i cracked when i smelled steak on the grill.
74. i've fired the canon at fort ord under the golden gate bridge.
75. i love accents, especially boston accents and african accents.
76. if i were a teenage mutant ninja turtle, i'd be michaelangelo.
77. i once stole bikini bottoms from old navy.
78. it was an accident. i forgot to take them off before putting my shorts on and i just walked out of the store. and was too embarrassed to go back and return them.
79. i was hugely dissapointed when i saw plymouth rock. and the liberty bell.
80. i bite my nails.
81. no matter how much i want to stop, i can't. it's a nervous habit.
82. i like drinking hot water with lemon.
83. i hate anything raspberry flavored.
84. i've dented my car twice in 4 years on parking garage pillars.
85. i love getting dressed up to go out.
86. i love having my hair washed, complete with scalp massage.
87. some day i will have a manservant to do that for me every morning.
88. and he will look like taye diggs.
89. and sing sweet sweet love songs like jack johnson.
90. i have a pair of lucky underwear.
91. i hate cats. i'm highly allergic.
92. i get lost really really really easily.
93. i'm a very visual person. i need to write things down, draw a picture, face what i'm listening to in order to understand.
94. i have to wear earrings everyday or i feel naked.
95. i've never ever once laughed out loud to seinfeld. honestly, i don't think he's funny.
96. i hate cleaning.
97. but i LOVE to organize.
98. i love the smell of scotch tape, post-it notes, and new computers.
99. i've won many limbo contests.
100. april 22 is my "official" one year running anniversary!

brand new day

in the last 36 hours, i've:

1. had a good, big , long sobfest. the wailing, snot-running, can barely breathe kind.

2. got a call from my best friend where i got to cry to her for a good long while.

3. ate a sourdough bacon cheeseburger, fries, and andes mint shake from jack-in-the-box.

4. impressed my new client with my design prowess.

5. bought my new macbook pro (it's soooooo sexy!)

6. rearranged my restaurant schedule so i could have the morning off to prepare for my interview today.

7. slept 12 hours continuously.

i admit i freaked out more than i should have at the beginning of the week, but hey, it's what i do. and working 9 hours on my feet, looking for a new job, while trying to figure out this brand new endeavor of being a self-employed designer is all some hard sh!t.

it's been such a strange experience moving back home without a job. to the point where sometimes i really wonder whether it was a good idea to have moved without one. but then i would have had to face a whole set of other obstacles had i stayed in dc. and in my heart i know they even out.

plus i have the benefit of finally being a part of my family again. on the way home from my client meeting, i stopped by my brother's house to have dinner and visit with my nephew. the lil kid perked my spirits instantly and as i left he bawled and bawled, unhappy to see his favorite (and only) auntie leave. i wouldn't have THAT if i was still in d.c.

i hope to reunite with my running on sunday morning. taking mucinex has helped the congestion problem and i'm hoping i'll feel good enough to log at least 1 mile on the treadmill. i might have to scrap my planned races and sign up for what i can at the last minute, depending on how my work/interviewing schedule goes. in a few weeks, i'll start marathon training! and if that's the only race i run this year, i think i'll be perfectly happy!!

**deep breaths**

i want to thank everyone for their support! it makes me feel less crazy to know others deal with flack from their loved ones as well. and it makes me that much more grateful for the blogger comraderie and community. we can all be crazy together! wheeeeeeee!

that being said, i am opting out of santa cruz this weekend. for a TON of reasons. the congestion in my head is moving south. i haven't been able to test out my legs. i've been working NON-STOP the whole week and i don't see any break until after my tuesday deadline. i've slept about 4 hours each night and predict i'll keep this schedule until at least saturday. i've been so wracked with panic and sleep deprived, i think i'm running on adrenaline instead of calories because i know i haven't been able to eat.

but even though i won't be chugging along the coast this weekend, don't forget to cheer on rose. she's gonna kick enough @ss for both of us anyway :)

once i meet my deadline, i'll have a second to sleep, regroup and resolve to NEVER, EVER, EVER again bite off more than i can chew. i have this habit of freaking out when i start something causing me to go into overdrive and do everything possible so as to do it perfectly, and then sometimes it's just too much all at once and i'm up sh!t creek. whoever said "live and learn" forgot that very important middle part.

when will she understand?

mom: it's supposed to rain on sunday.

me: i know. i'll have to run in it.

mom: well don't push it, you don't want to get sick. so how long will it take? an hour? i don't want to get home too late. and your brothers. they have to drive even further.

me: uh, no mom. it'll take me at least 2 and a half hours to run 13.1 miles. (thinking to myself, you mean i have to speed things up just to accommodate other people's schedules, when the reason we're in santa cruz in the FIRST place is so I can run MY race?)

mom: that long?!?! well don't push it. i mean if you can't finish it, then you can't finish it.

me: (seething under my breath) mom. i. can. finish. it.

problem is, my leg/hip/groin isn't 100%. so i don't know if i have what it takes to prove her wrong. i was fine about not finishing it BEFORE she said this comment. but now, i want to run and finish even if i have to cut my damned leg off. even though i know my mom loves me and is proud of me in many many ways, i almost think she just wants this "running thing" to blow up in my face. just because it's something she can't do. something she wouldn't even conceive of doing. an accomplishment that she is in a way jealous of my having. i think in this aspect, she relishes any sign of my weakness. i hate to say that about her. but i honestly, that's how i feel.

just another reason i am going to burn in hell...thinking ill thoughts of one's perfectly wonderful mother.

ack!

suddenly, everything seems to be getting out of control around here.

freelancing is a relatively new situation for me, and just as i suspected, it's already getting complicated. i took on a project for a firm in sac, and so far it seems to be under control. except that i have a deadline right after my half. my old firm in dc has a rush project that needs to get taken care of by the end of the week.

and all those creative staffing agencies i've shown my portfolio to? they all say they have jobs for me, but they're all temporary positions. i'm contemplating whether that's something i want to commit to because it could just put me back in the same position i am in now, while a permanent position i DO want may be out of my grasp because of the time i've committed to the temporary one.

in the meantime, because i was afraid i might not be making steady money, i've picked up a waitressing gig and i'm scheduled every day until saturday. i have an interview this friday after work, when all i'll really want to be doing is relaxing and packing for the weekend. not driving an hour, then putting on my most intelligent and eager face to talk about my stellar design skills.

i haven't run all last week and while i've gotten over the paranoia that my legs will have forgotten how to run, i wanted a few days to test out my legs to see how they really feel and perform.

part of me knows i'm just being a spoiled brat who has forgotten what it feels like to have a real work schedule. but part of me also knows it's just nerve wracking to have absolutely no constants in my life right now because of my work situation. some people love this kind of freedom and flexibility, but i abhor it. give me routine and comfort, please. i don't like not knowing what things will be like next month. wondering whether i'll have the time or money to plan the vacation i want to. or plan anything in advance, even races. i don't like not knowing how much i will be earning, even if it means i could be cashing in on a lot of work this month. i want to be able to plan. and focus.

i know that eventually things will settle down and something will come of the madness. i just wish the madness didn't coincide with the week before a big race.

--------addendum

i just went to get a haircut, thinking the pampering would do me some good. instead, i sat tin the chair for an hour while my childhood hairstylist talked endlessly (and annoyingly) about gossip and the endless drama in her life and i walked away with a craptastic cut.

*sigh*

i was trying to grow out my hair, then resolved to just do something different. but after this cut, i may have to whack it all off again and start all over. which just may be the excuse i wanted to go back to my original short style.

procrastination

ticketmaster treated me to 4 free downloads on itunes for buying concert tickets yesterday. yippee! after spending way too much time on itunes, i ended up with:

1. over it (katherine mcphee)
not really a fan of her, but i can't help but really like that song.
2. maniac (michael sembello)
i roared with laughter at the thought of me cruising through the race to that song. maybe i should wear leg warmers?
3. wanna love you girl (robin thicke)
love him, though can't get over how much he looks like his dad jason seaver to think he's hot..
4. move something (ll cool j)
'nuff said.

i also managed to "find" and "secure" an mp3 of kelly clarkson's new song, never again. i can't WAIT til her new album comes out!!!!!!

so i meant to run yesterday...or at least test out my legs. but i ws having nano issues...which required a trip to the apple store, blah blah....maybe i'll run tonight.

the trip to the apple store wasn't just for the ipod though, because i got to play with all the computers and finally decided on which mac book pro i want!!! i was gonna use my tax refund to go to greece this year, but my old laptop died and well hopefully greece will still be around for a long while. so...more money for steve jobs it is!

no! no! no! no! no! no!

weather in santa cruz next sunday, according to weather.com:


i've raced in rain before, but only 5ks! i've run distances in rain before. lots of rain. but in the summer, when it was warm. cold rain??? YOU SUCK! time to start doing an anti-rain dance.

baseball

i was on the sf giants' site checking out their schedule, specifically looking for when they play the nationals and the red sox. and wouldn't ya know it. the week they play dc at home is when i'll be back in dc for my annual girls beach trip.

i guess i'll have to settle for a catching a game against a team i don't really care too much about. in all honesty, i haven't followed giants baseball since i was in middle school. but that was before i was old enough to spend $500 on a small beer at the ballpark.

on the DL

injury/illness-imposed rest is the worst kind. so i'm calling the next couple days of rest "a vacation" instead. sounds, better doesn't it? instantly takes me from "if my sinuses don't kill me, then my legs are gonna fall off" freak-out syndrome to "ahhhh, now i don't have to be a slave to the training schedule and i can actually take more time to do other things"

and if my "vacation" is forced to overlap with race day, so be it. sh!t happens. at least i'll be at the beach. there will be other races.

maybe this isn't the attitude of a comeptitive elite racer, but what can i do? i got sick. i got injured. both at the wrong time (not that there ever is a right time) but i know i can do the distance. besides it's too early to tell how i'll really feel come race day. so fingers crossed people.

but until then, i'm on siesta...

pain in my ...

even though i am now properly medicated and breathing and sleeping normally, i still didn't want to inundate my sinuses needlessly with pollen. so i ran on the treadmill today. a 7 mile easy run cut down to 5 for a variety of reasons: i just wanted to be done, my hour was up and there were people waiting, and that weird nagging groin/hip pain.

i am really bad when it comes to injury because 1.i freak out 2. i freak out and 3. i freak out. especially with only 2 weeks before my big race. and i am very impatient when it comes to the whole r.i.c.e. shebang. and how in the hell am i supposed to compress THAT area?

it's been maybe a little over a week since this weird pain crept in. it doesn't hurt a lot and even when i run it doesn't hurt enough to make me want to stop. it just feels weird. a little tight. and i feel it everytime i lift my right leg or do anything with my right leg actually. i suspect it happened over the week i tried to be all butch and fanatical with the weights and increased mileage. i could definitely feel it when i did those series of pushups. maybe it's more of a lower abdominal thing.

either way, something doesn't feel right and i'm not exactly quite sure what to do...

recovery monday

i survived a week of effed up hormones, a night of waaaaaaaaay too many margaritas, a weekend of god-awful allergies and ineffectual OTC medicine. i'm picking up my prescribed medicine today and paying FULL price because i was stupid enough to run out during the one month lapse between changing health insurance. but being able to breathe is important enough for me to pay $125 in sweet, sweet drugs.

besides, last time i was lax in taking my allergy meds, i got a sinus infection that put me in utter pain for my LAST half marathon. i've worked too hard for this one to not pay my stupid tax for the meds. it's a lot to pay when i'm used to paying only $30, but in the grand scheme of things i would easily and without thinking spend $125 on totally non essential items, like beer, clothing, cute earrings etc.

but i don't think the OTCs are totally out of my system and they're still making me feel totally wrecked. i think i'll just stay inside with my head covered, sipping tea with lots of local honey (they say this works too for allergies) and head out for a nice run TOMORROW.

7+3=crappy

when my ipod wouldn't charge this morning, i should have taken that as a sign of what my energy level today would be like. it took me about 2 hours to get out of the house after i had changed into my running clothes, partly because i was waiting for the effing thing to charge and partly because i just really didn't want to get out there today. eventually, i just said eff it to my ipod, grabbed it with whatever juice it had and got in my car to run my 10 miles because they wouldn't run themselves.

here are my splits:
1: 11:26
2: 11:34
3: 11:46
4: 11:13
5: 11:47
6: 12:08
7: 11:34
8: 12:06
9: 12:53
the rest: 10:47
T: 1:57:18

they start off pretty decent, and every time my nano would tell me my pace, i'd look at my watch incredulously and go, what? i don't feel like i'm running a sub-12 minute mile. and after a couple of miles at an eleven-something pace i just stopped trying to slow myself down because it just wasn't happening.

which of course was a mistake because i really petered out at the end. at about 5 miles, i started to realize that this long, easy run felt more like a really long tempo run. while the pace was a little uncomfortable to keep up, i just couldn't WILL myself slower. so i just sucked up the discomfort for as long as i could.

the entire 2 hours was just not fun. maybe because it was windy. or more humid. or later than i like to run. at about mile 8, i just stopped trying to make it a happy run and settled into getting the last 2 miles of my sucky run done. at one point i wanted to just scream ENOUGH! at the top of my lungs and fling myself into the grass.

at mile 9, my ipod crapped out. i was able to make it about a half mile without it and the last quarter i threw in the towel and walked. i tore off my headphones, tore off my visor, tore out the elastics in my hair.

i'm not crazy disappointed though really. while i'm still relatively new to the running game, i've run enough to know that sometimes for whatever reason you have sucky ass runs. today was one of them. and next week brings the opportunity for some really great ones.

this weekend i won't even think about running. only about how many margaritas i can throw back tonight, how many dollar bills i will have to throw at oily men in banana hammocks to sufficiently embarrass my mother, and how much fun it will be to spend my first easter with my nephew.

technology my @ss

my parents' desktop computer is suddenly "broken", having come down with some sort of "virus". i didn't think it should affect my hardy and reliable mac, but apparently, my parents' computer needs to work for the internet connection to work? sounds fishy to me. it put a big wrench in some work i needed to do today and now i'm all crabby and ready to blame the entire world for my lack of convenience.

we managed to get my dad's laptop connected to the outside world so i could send some files, but not having internet access is worse than not having a telephone. or running water. i'm serious.

could i possibly be this spoiled and reliant on a technology that i've lived without for most of my life? it's sad, but true.

in job related news, i'm showing my portfolio to a creative staffing agency today and i've gotten some offers for more freelancing. of course this is also after i've committed to a full time schedule at the restaurant. this juggling of multi-gigs is stressful and i'll be happy once i can find a full time studio i love and adore.

and in running news, i have a 10 miler scheduled for tomorrow. which i hope is a breeze after running 15 last week. did i mention i ran 15 miles last week? ;) i'm not exactly sure how the rest of my training will play out in the next 2 weeks. i'll most likely do an 8 or 9 for my last long run, throw in a couple more speed workouts, and then go really easy the last 3 or so days before the race. if anyone has any suggestions, i'm open to them. i sort of got ahead of myself on the training schedule to meet my march goals so now i don't know how hard i should really be pushing at this point.

so have a great weekend peeps. my mom got us girls tickets to thunder from down under this saturday. my 60 year old, never been to a bar before, rosary praying, scared to go out at night mother got me, her, my sisters in law and her sister, tickets to a strip show. craziness! happy easter indeed!

wax on, wax off

an hour on the bike, 16.25 miles for the log book. but the greatest feat about today's workout was that i got it done at all. i missed my opportunity for a morning workout because i had a lot of work that HAD to get done today. I wrote off any workout and tried not to feel too bad because it was a crosstraining day. i knew that if i didn't get it done in the morning, a workout wasn't gonna happen later in the day.

by 3:00, all my work was one and my brain was fried. but miraculously i thought to myself, wow the gym would feel really good right about now. crazy, huh?

i didn't get my weights in though. i wanted to get home and wash my car since i haven't washed it since...december. i figured car washing could be a decent workout. and if i still have some energy left in me, i'll haul out the free weights and get to crackin' while watching UGLY BETTY tonight.

hump day, speed day

today's speed workout: 3 x 1600 @ 10:56 with 800 rec. this is how it went down:

1600 warmup: 13:53 (most sluggish mile ever)
1600: 10:54
800: 6:21
1600: 10:31
800: 6:38
1600: 10:10
400 cooldown: 5:00 (i nearly wiped out on the treadmill after dropping my ipod)
T: 5.25 miles in 1:03:38

i really, really, really, really didn't want to do weights today. but i did. and it was a royal pain because they gym was really busy and i had to share the machines and work in my sets. but at least the boys played nice and reracked my weights for me. and i remembered my gloves today. last week my palms were dying.

"easy" weeks always mess with my mind because i always feel like i should push push push, but i just don't have the mental game right now. plus i'm feeling a little soreness in the groin area, so i'm telling myself it's good i'm easing up this week. and while in my head i know that relaxing is part of training, part of me is always scared that i won't be back up to par again, even though i always bounce back. stupid mind tricks.

all i can say is at least this week isn't race week!

more mini-me

it's a slow running week this week. and it couldn't have come at a better time, hormones wise. so instead of subject you to the wrath of my grouchy mood and fiery temper that my family gets to enjoy, i've decided to go with another installment of wee petite me. this batch isn't as good as the last, but still horribly embarrassing :)



my grandma doesn't appear at all concerned that my dress doesn't even cover my diaper! then again, it doesn't look like i care too much either.





this is actually probably more embarassing for my dad. thank god he didn't keep the 'stache for very long.





yes, this was a dukes of hazzard car. it's sad that i still think that's pretty cool.




see! everything comes back in style: big glasses, skinny jeans, jelly flats.





high school graduation picture. 10 years ago. did i tell you i got carded for buying a lighter last week? i can't possibly still look this young.

dessert desperation

or dessert macgyver style.

i was seriously craving warm cookies and ice cream last night after dinner. but we had neither. and i was too lazy to drive out to the store to get some. so i foraged and came up with this:

oatmeal raisin clif bar nuked for 30 seconds topped with a huge mountain of low fat whipped cream. i resisted all urges to spray the whipped cream directly into my mouth as it wasn't my own personal can.

believe it or not, it was quite tasty and might be something i try more often. on purpose.

beer is my gatorade

yesterday, i took a proper rest day. complete with a big burger and beer lunch with dad (we're bad catholics) and a heavenly sushi dinner with mom (she's the good catholic). i resisted the urge to have sake with dinner, but couldn't resist the 2 pints of hefeweisen at lunch. besides, hef is the orange juice of beer anyway.

so i didn't get my planned 3 miles in on friday and wondered if adding them to my long run in the morning was going to be physically possible. to reach my 100/200 goal it would be necessary, but would it really be worth it? i thought about it and i planned for it anyway, packing 4 gels and 4 bottles. if by my scheduled 12 i was beat, then i would pack it in. but if i still felt good, i'd see how far i could go.

here's me before my run (about an hour and a half after the time i wanted to get started, but oh well. and my hair was going crazy)


so off i went. i extended my lagoon route to include the roads through the farms surrounding the park, the loop around the lagoon, up mountain lion hill, around another lagoon, and down some paths i'd never run before. i started up a path that was effing steep and about 8 minutes into it realized it was a forever winding uphill to the top. so i decided to save it for another day and made my way down. i had to cover some of the same paths twice, but going in the opposite direction than when i first ran it made for new scenery.

miles 1-3 sucked as usual, due to tightness in my outer left calf, but by three i was loose and the entire rest of my run was honestly freakin' awesome. at mile 11, a guy in a bright yellow shirt rode past me and when he got close i saw that his shirt said "you can do it". i took that as a sign that the 15 was gonna be mine. i was feeling really really good and really strong. my entire run, i was focusing on my posture and arm movement because it helped open up and chest and stretch it out.

not only did i get 15 miles in (my longest run EVER) check out my splits:
1: 12:15
2: 11:09
3: 11:22
4: 11:48
5: 10:59
6: 11:13
7: 11:21
8: 11:47
9: 11:23
10: 11:35
11: 11:21
12: 10:50
13: 11:18
14: 10:33 (jigga what?!)
15: 10:14
T: 2:47:10

um yeah, all under 12 minutes, besides the first. that my friends is a new record for me. could this really be a sign that i am getting better?!

needless to say, i was FREAKIN' ELATED. actually, i still am. i will probably be riding this high until tomorrow.

when i got home i changed into some dry clothes and i about fell over when i caught my reflection. three hours in the sun left me with a heinous sports bra tan and some serious chafing from my fuel belt. it's seriously ghastly. which is why i am sharing even though it is probably the most unflattering picture ever:


i'm hoping the chafing doesn't leave marks because that would be seriously ugly. my old fuel belt used to fit snugly around my hips so i didn't have this problem. but that one got too big and i gave it to a friend. i've tried wearing this fuel belt lower only to have it ride up. my options seem to be to wear a shirt and vaseline the hell out of my middle or try again to wear the fuel belt over my shorts.

looks like march ended on a very high note, with my longest run ever and meeting my 100/200 mile goals. next week the mileage is getting cut drastically, since the last four weeks have been pretty intense. but come april 22, i expect to kick some serious ass and hopefully squeak in a half marathon in 2.5 hours.

have a great weekend, peeps!

going through the motions

today's workout was sort of blah. an hour on the bike (upright this time) on the "around the world" hill interval at level 6. it was a weird sequence of random spikes and few real big hills. my mind wasn't really into it but i managed to rack up 14.75 miles anyway. i think i may have to stick to the interval settings that give me the hills at more regualr intervals. and maybe consider cutting one bike session down to 30 minutes but increase the intensity. 2 hours on the bike a week just seems to bore the crap out of me.

today's strength training started off strong, then waned to whining once my muscles started cooling down.
3 sets of 12 for the following:
split lunges on the ball
reverse flared knee hyperextensions
leg press @ 90 lbs (my favorite exercise ever)
abductor machine @ 40 lbs
adductor machine @ 40 lbs
lat pulldowns @ 60 lbs (my second favorite exercise ever)
seated row @ 60 lbs
bicep curls @ 10 lbs (i swear i have the biggest but weakest arms ever)

i was also supposed to do some tri kickbacks and some dips but my tris still hurt from the pushups yesterday and i was feeling wimpy and whiny by the time i hit my biceps.

i've just finished training for a new waitressing gig to augment my freelancing income and tonight is my first night on the floor. so i suspect all i will want to do tomorrow is bake under the sun by a body of water. i'm hoping i can still eke out an easy, easy, easy 3 miles anyway. but some serious rest is in order for tomorrow. for reals.

and the fun begins!

wednesday's speed workout: yasso 800s! wheeeeee!

2 mile warmup @ 13:00 each
6 x 800 with 5 minute recoverys:

3 x 800 @ 6.0 mph
2 x 800 @ 6.2 mph
1 x 800 @ 6.5 mph

then a 5 minute cooldown to round out a total 7 miles. total time 1:24:57

the surprising thing was how fun this workout was. by the end i was definitely feeling it, but not so much that i thought i was gonna die. obviously i had enough to crank it up at the end, and i think maybe i had enough in me for another interval. so maybe the next time i run these i'll do 8 intervals. and once i can get up to 10 start increasing my pace?

once off the treadmill, i made my way to the free weight area. normally i would have felt blech about it, but i was so pumped from my run that i didn't care that i was the only chick in the weight room, in a skirt no less. i blocked out the dudes grunting and did the following:

incline pushups on the Smith machine: 2 sets of 10 at three different heights
standing V pull: 3 sets of 12 @ 40 lbs
incline pullups: 3 sets of 10

ballet squats: 3 sets of 10
curtsey lunges: 3 sets of 10
grasshopper beats: 2 sets of 30

bicycle crunch: 2 sets of 20
double jackknifes@ 2 sets of 20
circle crunch: 2 sets of 20

it all felt pretty good, not too hard, but who knows how i'll really feel tomorrow. i'm hoping to get in the bike workout i missed yesterday and do some lower body.

quarterly report

as i went to bed last night, i thought of where i wanted to do my 7 mile easy run. treadmill? nah. through my neighborhood? nah. my 5 mile loop to the golf course? meh. it seems for someone who was perfectly content to run all her miles on a treadmill just a year ago, i've already become bored with my options. i finally settled on running at the lagoon even though i would have to drive there and it might be kind of deserted.

i ganked my brother's long sleeve underarmour shirt and tucked a plain powergel into my pack and headed out. the first three miles sucked and i seriously considered just bagging it at 5k. but i am only 29 miles away from making 100 miles this month and 200 for the year. so i knew i just had to suck it up and get all 7 done. and if i'm ever gonna make 900 miles by the end of the year, my 100 plus mile months have to start soon.

but after the three mile mark, the tightness in my calves loosened and i settled into a groove. enough that i decided to charge up a hill i had never seen the other side of. part of me pictured a family of hungry mountain lions waiting to devour my lil fleshy body, but instead i was surprised by a cute little grove of trees and picnic tables. i meandered through there for awhile when i saw another trail lead out to somewhere else i've never been. this trail led to another, and then another, and soon i was winding my way through the hills and brush. and even though it was a cloudy day, it was still really beautiful and peaceful (thanks to allergy meds) i'm no hardcore crunchy granola nature guru, but even i am amazed at how calming and energizing being outside can be.

my splits:
1: 12:13
2: 12:xx (i think i accidentally paused my watch)
3: 11:59
4: 12:18
5: 12:49
6: 12:23
7: 12:26
T: 1:26:48

as for the "plain" powergel, it still had a sweet flavor, but not really as intense as the others. i was first attracted to the powergels over the gus because the powergels boasted having up to 4x the sodium and being the sweaty hog i am, i liked gobbling as much sodium as possible. so maybe i will still mix them up.

and speaking of sweaty hog, the under armour compression shirt was FREAKING AWESOME! felt even better than not wearing a shirt or singlet at all. perfect moisture management. UA items are a bit pricey and rarely on sale from what i've seen, but i think there is an under armour outlet 'round here that i might have to make a trek to.

-------------------------
so as i mentioned earlier, i'm very close to making march my first 100 mile month. and if i get that done, i'll have 200 in the bag for the year so far. on target for making 2007 a 900 mile year. i'm planning to run a 7 mile speed workout on wednesday, an easy 3 on friday, and 12 on saturday. and that will put me 3 weeks away from my first half marathon of the year. a race that i feel very prepared for. i probably just jinxed it but i do feel ready. the only point of anxiety is that my family will be there so if anything does go wrong i feel like it might be amplified by the 10th degree. only because part of me feels like i have to prove to them that this running thing isn't totally crazy.

but besides that, i feel like i'm back in the shape i was before i moved and finally have a handle on a lot of the things in my life that were causing me angst. i didn't come to some grand epiphany, but slowly and surely march became the month where everything just started to make sense again :) i'm happy and thankful for that because i was starting to fear that i was going to roam aimlessly, endlessly.

so now, i'm ready for more. and i have to say i am constantly inspired by reading how all of you kick serious ass: 2 workouts a day, 3 sports at a time, juggling a job, and school, and kids, and families, running on little sleep, running in snow and ice, or heat and humidity, running distances i get tired just DRIVING, running faster than i even dream of, and still having great humor and spirits about everything. you guys really keep me going and help me believe that i too can kick some serious running ass.

in that vein, i'm adding another component to my regimen that i've been dreading for, oh forever. because the reality is that even though my mileage is back up to where it was before i started slacking off, the pounds have still accumulated. i am up 12 pounds since my move and i am seriously not happy. mainly because i dumped all my bigger clothes during the move and my clothes now just do not fit. not well, anyway.

so in the weeks leading to my half, i am determined to add 2 days of weight training in on mondays (easy run day) and thursday (easy bike day). in my very distant past, my weight training regimen consisted of 4 one hour lifting sessions throughout the week, alternating between upper and lower body, but that just seems like too much to do right now. i think for now i've got to put together a total body circuit that i can do in about an hour just twice a week. by may, i hope i'll have wrapped my head around the whole weight training thing and want to add at least another day. but we'll see. me and pain don't get along too well....

crunch, crunch, crunch

that was me for 11 miles, as i ran on the gravel path along the canal. the run itself was pretty uneventful, which makes it one of the best runs i guess. the light was perfectly golden, the morning air felt heavenly on my skin, and it was much easier to breathe compared to my mid-day run yesterday. there really is nothing like running in the morning while the rest of the neighborhood sleeps. it's like the whole world is yours. only yours.

my watch was acting funky so i don't have any accurate splits to report. only that i finished in 2 hours and 10 minutes.

i also did a gel taste test. i've used sport beans and powergel in the past and have found that while the beans are tasty, they don't give me enough energy. and they're hard to eat while running. the powergels are okay but i feel like they're too big and sometimes too sweet. so this week, i brought along a tangerine powergel (with caffeine) and a vanilla gu. the gu comes in a smaller package, but the sales lady warned me that it would be thicker than the powergel. how could it possibly be thicker?!?!?! blech!

turns out though, the gu won out. and not just on flavor. (tangerine was way too sweet). the gu's thicker formula actually made it less messy and surprisingly faster and easier to choke down. or maybe that was the vanilla flavor that made it easy to eat.

i've got 9 more powergels to finish and a couple sports beans too. but after that i think i might be a strict gu only girl. hopefully the other flavors aren't too sweet, because i don't know if can stick with just vanilla my whole life. plus the vanilla doesn't have caffeine.

not today

the week has been busy, but i've been a good girl and have been getting my workouts in anyway.
i had to push my normal early am workout to late am, and i paid the price. it was 20 degrees hotter and they were cutting the grass. double poops! in the beginning, i tried to get my 5k done in 30 minutes, but not today. i had to settle for 33.

tomorrow 11 miles WILL get done. i'm going up to sac for a portfolio review this afternoon and staying with my brother and sister in law tonight. i'm hoping i can find a really great route to run along the river tomorrow morning.

have a great weekend, peeps!

intervals x2

my legs were like lead during yesterday's bike workout. i found a new hill interval workout that made the hilly parts longer and it was damn near impossible for me to keep my rpms above 100 for the entire interval time. the thing about biking, unlike running, is that there is a point where my muscles just want to stop. while i can always at least put one front in front of the other when i'm pounding the pavement, there's an interval in nearly every bike workout where my legs just can't push the pedal and once i pass that they are moving so slow and with such effort that it's seriously laughable. the logical solution would be to decrease the resistance, but seriously people, i was on level 6, not 10. i'm just hoping that with time i'll pass the wimp stage and be able to go longer, faster, and harder.

thankfully, today's running interval workout went much better. on the docket: 20 x 400 @ 10:53 with 30 seconds recovery. i won't go through every interval, but including a 1 mile warmup, i ended up running 7 miles in total in 1:22:40. at the 60 minute mark, i had to reset the treadmill. apparently, the guy next to me was impressed because he gave me a big smile and a high five. i guess all the people at my gym aren't morons.

69 things about me

ok joe, this is for you:

1. i really am petite. 5'3" tall. 28" inseam.
2. but i'm way taller than my mom. i think she's barely 5', if that.
3. i started running about a year ago.
4. before that, i dabbled in tae kwon do, kickboxing, a summer of tennis lessons, and random step aerobics classes.
5. but for the most part, i did absolutely nothing athletic or sporty.
6. in high school, i took phys ed in the summer at the community college because i wanted to take electives like yearbook and photography during the school year.
7. worked out better that way, since i'm a better graphic designer than i am a runner.
8. i chose my college based on the brochure. i'd never visited the school, much less the state, much less the coast it was on.
9. it's the only school i applied to and i sent in the application the night before.
10. i thought i'd come right back to california once i was done. i ended up staying for 6 more years.
11. now i'm back to "settle down".
12. ha! yeah, right.
13. it's march and i still have my tan lines from the summer.
14. i heart the summer.
15. i heart the beach.
16. i really am afraid of getting skin cancer but honestly, i'm more afraid of wrinkles.
17. but i can't help it, i love the sun.
18. sometimes my own driving gets me car sick.
19. i have a bad habit of making up weird nicknames for people. so far, no one has seemed to mind. but it isn't until much later that i think about how rude it is.
20. i am too honest. words stumble out of my mouth without me thinking sometimes.
21. now that i am 28, i'm beginning to regret getting my belly button pierced.
22. i do sometimes wish i could have my tongue ring back. but not enough to get it repierced.
23. my nose ring? cutest. thing. ever.
24. i have no tattoos. and don't ever want one.
25. i am a leo.
26. i don't believe too much in astrology, but everything they say about leos is very true for me.
27. if i won the lottery, i would never work again. i know people say they would or would work for charity or whatever. but not me.
28. i'd run in exotic locations, soak up the sun on every coast, perfect recipes for the lavish meals i'd cook for my family and friends, make jewelry, learn to sew, read more, explore, and best of all, take lots of naps.
29. i'm a food network whore.
30. even rachael ray's 30 minute meals.
31. she really annoys me, but i've learned a lot from watching her.
32. who i REALLY don't like is that giada delaurentis chick. barf!
33. never trust a skinny cook.
34. i've worked in restaurants, off and on, for over 10 years. even when i had a full-time office job.
35. when i was a kid, i went door to door to sell my drawings. and people actually bought them.
36. i like shopping at vintage and secondhand stores.
37. i drive a vw.
38. that's where my blog name came from.
39. i get really crabby when i'm hungry. or tired.
40. i have a pretty crass sense of humor. but i try to keep in check on my blog because i don't think it translates the same way on paper (er, on screen?)
41. i don't order dessert, unless it's creme brulee.
42. then i eat only the carmelized sugar.
43. lance armstrong really annoyed me until he ran the marathon.
44. then he became kinda cute.
45. i take 5 minute showers. actually, they're probably shorter.
46. i have this thing against wasting water.
47. i 've been to 23 states in the U.S.
48. i've gone to mardi gras, but never had a wild spring break.
49. easter is my favorite holiday.
50. fourth of july is a close second.
51. i know the greek alphabet, but not because i was in a sorority.
52. i know the sign language alphabet, but very few words.
53. i studied spanish for 7 1/2 years and speak it pretty poorly. what i have retained can only be attributed to my restaurant career.
54. making this list is harder than it seems. and sadly, it's pretty boring.
55. i'm surprised it doesn't have more to do with food.
56. i don't like when people call me "cute".
57. or when people call me "exotic".
58. i do like it when people call me funny.
59. i don't know if i'll ever be the type to have a running partner.
60. i think finding the right person to run with is the same science as finding a partner in life.
61. and i'm flying solo on both accounts so far.
62. i always somehow end up dating jocks, even though i was and am far from one.
63. i won the 2nd grade spelling bee. it's been downhill since then.
64. i have a voo doo doll.
65. my favorite color is red.
66. my favorite drink is beer. honestly and embarrassingly, i'll drink most any of it.
67. my favorite non-beer drink is a mojito.
68. my favorite time of the day is dawn.
69. my first race number was 69.

whew! i hope to bob i'm more interesting than this list. and i still owe you 31 more...

a new proverb

today it's: a rolling stone gathers no moss. wa-hoo.

i took phil's advice and just got my ass outta bed. no snooze. no thinking. no excuses. i was a little wary about starting at 6:20 with no sun but figured the streetlights would be enough to not get me killed. i didn't really have a plan either. i knew there was no way i could get in the 11 miles i had missed, but figured i had about an hour and 40 minutes until i had to really start my day. at first i thought i'd do just 5. then it turned to 6. and at 6, with half an hour still left to kill, i figured i may as well eke out the last 2 and make it an even 8.

no time records were broken but it sure feels good to have that one big item checked off my list in the morning.

how's that saying go again?

the early bird gets the worm?

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?

each day over the last three days, i woke up feeling not 100%. either i was a little dehydrated, or a little bloated, felt i had too much to do, or felt a little too preoccupied. so i skipped my morning workouts, promising myself i'd squeeze it in later on in the day and that i'd do it better, harder, faster.

i never did. on any of the past three days.

a workout, any workout, even at 80% is better than no workout at all. and my 11 mile long run has been hanging over my head for three whole days and counting...

shutterbug

IDES OF MARCH RUN 2007

my easy 3 mile run consisted of more photography than actual running. but it's not a bad way to spend an hour in the morning :) click on the photo above to see a few snapshots of the neighborhood i call home.

makes me want to table dance

did you know the song "hyponotize" is perfect for keeping an 11 minute mile pace? i put it on repeat once i figured out that my footsteps aligned perfectly with the beat. and i couldn't help but recall julia stile's table dance in 10 things i hate about you. love that movie!

today's "speed" intervals called for 3 x 1600 @ 10:57 with 800 recovery.
1600 warm up: 13:47
1600: 10:54
800 rec: 6:30
1600:10:54
800 rec: 7:03
1600: 10:50
800 rec: 6:52
1600 cool down: 13:51
6.5 miles: 1:20:45

i'm beginning to think the treadmill and i aren't friends anymore. i've gotten used to running outside and found it hard to keep my mental game from ruining me. plus my sweat does not evaporate like it does when i'm outside. sometimes i think running outside, even with the hills, is easier based on the sheer evaporation factor. but i think mostly though, my hips and glutes were still a little worn out from my workout yesterday because when i finished my last interval and stopped to walk, i could feel they were tight and tired.

although, the gym DOES supply a good amount of people watching. this chick got on an elliptical in front of me wearing: sunglasses, a punk rock t shirt, jeans, and flip flops! and was talking on her cell the ENTIRE 20 minutes she was on it. wtf?

and on the other spectrum, i watched this chick do pullups. PULLUPS people!! i almost think i'd rather be able to do ONE pullup than win a million dollars.

go legs go!

i got in 14.75 miles in an hour on the bike today! when i got up off up off the bike to towel it off, i swear to bob i thought my legs were going to buckle under me. and if these damn bike sessions do not give me the ass i want by summer, i don't know what will! my glutes have never felt like this before.

the hill interval setting on the bike does a one minute hill and a one minute rest. at some point in the beginning it does a longer moderate hill. i keep my rpms above 100 for the hills and between 60 and 80 for the rest. but i'd like to try to do longer hill intervals. i'll have to see if this can be accomplished by increasing the level or just doing in manually. though i can see my lazy ass coasting more than climbing if left to my own devices.

in any case, i'm pretty excited to have embraced the dreaded bike. it's great to have another outlet that i can track and improve on in and of itself AND help my running at the same time! at some point i'll pick up swimming again, because lord knows my upperbody needs some work.

race report: petite pigtails and the sexy dance

maybe it was the gorgeous weather, or my somewhat busy week, but i just really didn't feel like racing today. the weekend weather was promising to be picture perfect and by friday, the temps were climbing into the high 70s. instead of celebrating spring with healthy, outdoor activities, i chose to dine alfresco with some ice, cold brews. when given the option between beer and racing, it appears my loyalties lie with beer :)

but even without the pressure of racing, i STILL couldn't sleep the night before. and as usual, i had some funky dreams, none of which i can remember right now. something about getting lost, or forgetting my id or something. anyway, we were up before the sun and on the way to the race we caught some great views of the sunrise.








the half marathoners took off first and the swarm of bobbing heads snaked around the stadium. Once they had a 10 minute head start, they unleashed us 5kers. as always, i positioned myself in the back because i'm slow and i didn't want to get in anyone's way. turns out that was a ba d idea. nothing against walkers, but they always travel in packs and it's a pain to swerve around them. why weren't THEY in the back?

but it probably did me some good, in terms of not starting me out too fast. earlier in the week i had planned on frontloading the run, considering my weekend extra curricular activities, i decided it best to save my energy.

the three miles went pretty fast actually. for most of the race, i tailed this really tall guy with a long red pony tail. he was easy to spot and kept me at a good pace. towards the end though, i just up and passed him. i wish i had more to report, but 31 minutes goes by pretty quickly. YES I SAID 31 MINUTES!!! which if you've been following along, is more than a minute faster than my 5k last month! i always knew corona was good for you!

here are my amazing splits: (well amazing for ME anyway)
1: 11:05
2: 10:21
3: 9:43

i wasn't even looking at my watch really until after i passed pony tail guy. and i was shocked! i kicked it up in the last leg, but the finish line was so crowded narrow it was hard to really zoom in. i think i'm really starting to get the hang of this 5k thing...

here's me after the finish, with my petite pony tails:



after the race, my parents and i met up with my brothers, sister in law, and nephew. we napped, took the lil one to the park, ate the biggest lunch known to man, then sat like logs while my nephew provided the entertainment, doing his little sexy dance. who knows where he picked this up!

mmmmm beer....

that's all i have to say about that.

wonder if my cycling workout will really happen tomroow morning.

green light!

i bumped my long run to today since i have a race on sunday and i didn't want to do them back to back. the 10 i ran today wasn't nearly as easy as my 9 on sunday, but i finished, if just barely. instead of running 2 loops around the golf course i ran on sunday, i decided to run TO the golf course, do the loop then run back home. though it still put a hill in the beginning and end of my run! i can't escape the damn things. i guess that's the price you pay for wanting have a great view of the little people below you ;)

one cool thing was that i caught every green light along the way, never having to stop at one intersection! all went smoothly til around mile 7. autopilot turned off; my body was just tired. i popped some sport beans at that point thinking that it might give me a boost. and it did for about a mile. (the jelly belly factory is in my hometown and they sell the "belly flops" (huge bags of mixed mess ups) for practically nothing...i wonder if they sell belly flops of the sport ones too...i'll have to investigate) though i'm thinking that the powergel works better for me because of the caffeine (which i never have since i don't drink coffee or soda) and the power gels claim to have 2-4x the sodium!

anyway, the last two miles consisted of a tired, tired petite chick shuffling along the street . but i made it. even up the last damned hill. and now i can shower, eat, nap and watch soaps...

my slow @ss splits:
1: 12:31
2: 12:05
3: 12:03
4: 12:25
5: 12:45
6: 12:32
7: 13:01
8: 12:21
9: 12:35
10: 13:31

more bike questions

3 easy miles on the treadmill and 6 on the bike. and i have a question.

is there a difference between the upright bike and the recumbent bike? (i had to look it up online to know what to call them, instead of the upright one and the not upright one) i used the recumbent one today because there was a smelly looking man in the middle of the uprights so i grabbed a bike as far away from him and it happen to be a recumbent one. i felt it more in my hamstrings and glutes, which for me is a good thing. i would assume the recumbent one puts less strain on your back as well. but other than that are there benefits and/or drawbacks to either?

i have another race on sunday, and to be honest i'm kind of over races right now. i'd like to focus on my big one next month which is the half-marathon, so i might just scoot my long run up to friday and front-load 2 miles onto the 5k on sunday and use it as my speed workout.

and this week. the weather calls for clear skies. FINALLY a race with no rain!

when i was even more petite

i was doing some cleaning and found a whole bunch of old photos. they are too embarrassing not to share.


now you can say you've seen me naked.


and in my nightie.


bowl haircut.


mullet. (god this picture SLAYS me!)


yes, i'm wearing a new kids on the block shirt. yes, my guess jeans are skin tight. yes, my bangs are 5 inches tall.


buddha belly!


how i got that belly.


first grade.

a glorious nine

after my great run yesterday, i decided i would keep the momentum going and go for 9 today. and a glorious 9 it was. the temperature ranged in the 50s, the sun was shining, and the humidity i so often trudged through back east was non-existent. this day was a gift from the running gods, and i took it.

the first 2 miles of my 5 mile loop were uphill, consisting of 2 hard inclines and a handful of easier inclines. it made starting my run kind of grueling, but ending it oh so sweet. and in-between, the time somehow vanished away. it took nearly 2 hours to finish but not once didi hear the clock ticking, not once did i ask myself, am i almost done? i can't remember anything i thought about to occupy my mind, the minutes and the miles just seemed to add up, without me counting. it just felt good. today's run was like a little gift i gave myself.

my splits:
1: 13:41
2: 12:00
3: 11:40
4: 11:36
5: 12:43 (this is where i looped back to my car to take off my vest)
6: 11:54
7: 11:49
8: 11:45
9: 12:24
T: 1:49:35

breakin' in my new kicks

the last 2 runs i've had were plain sucky. my easy run didn't feel easy at all and my 6 mile tempo run turned into a 3 mile suck-fest. it's like someone had poured cement into my shoes and veins.

today i realized i was just mentally pushing myself too hard. after a month of training for 2 races where i totally surprised myself, i had switched into type-a mode and my running turned into numbers and performance. my running had become work.

so i took the pressure off and told myself to just have FUN. my plan was to log in an hour on the treadmill but not worry about speed or time. i didn't bring my watch and covered up the display panel. and i ran to my heart's content. when my hour was up, i felt i could go for more, but i considered myself victorious for the day and decided to take an extra long time stretching.

i like this kind of running much better.

on another note, i finally decided i was about due for new shoes. one pair was already a year old and the one i trained in the most was about 9 months old. to my excitement, my custom orthotics meant i could ditch the heavy frankenstein motion control shoes for a lighter stability shoe. the difference is only a few ounces, but i could feel the difference instantly. my new brooks adrenalines feel super great: supportive yet cushiony. they honestly feel like i'm not wearing shoes at all. we'll see how they perform in the next 7 weeks leading up to santa cruz!

bugs all around

i have been trying to leave comments for people, but the visual verification thingee isnt showing me what i need to type to get my comments registered. bad, bad, blogger!

blogger isn't the only thing with a bug. it seems i have a stomach thingee that makes me feel like i wanna hurl, without actually making me hurl. and we won't speak about what it's doing to my other end.

this is probably the second or third time i've felt this way since i moved home 3 months ago.... i'm starting to get a little concerned about why this feeling keep recurring. (and i'm not pregnant. really. i'm not.)

maybe i need to start keeping a food and poop journal. gee, that sounds fun! but what would i call it?

T minus 8 months!

it took 2 hours, but i'm FINALLY registered!

for the nike women's marathon on october 21!

yippee skippeeee!!!!!!! wahoooooooo!!!!!oh yeah!!!!!!!!

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oh. shit.