Things that make me smile

It's become crucially important to notice things that make me smile. Perhaps it's important all the time, but now when I'm feeling so stretched, it's a must, not just a nicety. So here are a few things that brought a smile to my face in the past 24 hours:

• Saw a minivan that said "Dad's the boss, right mom?".
• I got my "Wag more, bark less!" sticker from Agatha and Louise. (My sister Michelle has one on her car, and I'm following suit.)
• Tim told me about My Living Desktop and I downloaded it this morning. Right now I'm listening to crickets chirping with an occasional horse trotting by and a beautiful pasture scene in the background. And you can set the desktop to provide built in serenity breaks -- great for those who need to be on the computer for hours at a time.
• I had a podiatrist come by and take care of my parents' feet yesterday. The doctor was kind and gentle and I could not have asked for anyone better. It is a huge relief to know that neither of them (both of whom are diabetic) have any feet issues.
• Still batting 1000 with my new morning routine. Today I ran/walked 1 mile and threw in 30 incline pushups and 300 lunge walks. The air was moist and it was crisp and lovely. Spent most of the time in prayer, and then listened to the latest Vegan Freak podcast. Anyway, what made me smile was how foggy and mysterious things looked as the sun came up.

About to tackle the piles on my desk. This will not be smile producing in the process of working through all the stuff, but I'm sure I'll be smiling when my desk is clear once again. :)

Disneyland!!!

We flew into So Cal early Friday morning. Sandy (my funny, smart, loving mother) met us at the airport and we headed to Disneyland for a whirlwind day of fun.

Tucker plays in Toontown.

Tucker and Grandmother enjoying the sunshine.

Indiana Jones is the best ride at Disneyland.

Me and Tucker trying on ears.

Melange, part deux

• Dinner is a sandwich from the book "From the Ground Up" by Amy Stewart. I've seen numerous variations on this, mostly called Pan Bagnat. The recipe from this book uses a baguette that gets sliced, then spread with olive and garlic tapenade, then topped with roasted carrots and squash, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, thin slices of bell peppers. Finally you sprinkle the whole thing with a little red wine vinegar and some good olive oil, then put the top half of the bread on, wrap it all in waxed paper, and let it sit under a cookbook (no joke!) for a while. I made this a couple of weeks ago and my whole family loved it. Austin told me I could NOT change a thing when I made it next, and I forgot to tell him that cooking (unless it's from a package) is never exactly the same. We'll see how tonight goes!
• I bought a much-needed bookcase for my office a couple of weeks ago. It's still not assembled. I'd thought I was going to do it, so I wasn't asking Tim for any help, but today I pulled out the directions and yeah, I need a man. Thankfully I have one! :)
• My sister and I were going to run the San Francisco half marathon as her first half marathon, but for a number of very good reasons, we've decided to run the Nike in October instead. (She signed up as a fluke and got in, not knowing how truly lucky she is! I will be running as a bandit -- yikes! Is that super bad if I'm just there for her?)
• I'm back on the green smoothie bandwagon. Really, I've never fallen off, but now I'm back to daily green smoothies as a way to feel great.

That's it for now. Prolly more later...

The new morning routine

Big changes in my morning routine are afoot. My usual modus operandi is to get up, slip into a robe, sit and mindlessly click on the computer for a while, then click some more, and keep myself available for whatever anyone needs. I throw on clothes to take the kids to school (emphasis on the "throw") and rarely do anything to get myself ready for the day until sometime later. This is not working well. It's making me feel depressed. So it's time for a change.

Here's the new plan: Get up and throw on exercise clothes (which I will set out the night before). Spend a few minutes on the computer, then head outside. Walk/run for 2 miles, adding in pushups, lunge walks, marching, and any other exercise that strikes my fancy. Shower and get ready for the day when I get home.

I did this today, which means I'm batting 1000. And it felt really good.

Melange

• Got back from Southern CA Sunday night. Missed 2 days of solid rain here -- hooray! Will be posting photos from Disneyland soon.
• Over the weekend, Tim and Austin washed and folded all the laundry in the house!!!!! Do you realize how big that is??? What a treat to come home to no laundry mountain! Thanks Tim and Austin!
• My dad's doing better enough that he doesn't require daily visits. That gives me a little free time today and I'm taking myself on a field trip here right after I drop the kids at their respective schools. (The photo above is from The Flower Farm website.)

Coming full circle

Let's start with some shout outs:

Jacey -- thanks for the suggestions about and about birds in the backyard and pedicures for diabetics. Interestingly, I'd picked up a copy of that very magazine you suggested on the same day you suggested it! And wonder of wonders -- I found a podiatrist who makes house calls!!!

Ron -- It's so good to hear from you. Thanks for the encouragement!

Matt -- Your words brought tears to my eyes -- merci beaucoup! (More about French in a minute...)

In many ways, my life is coming full circle these days. No I'm not talking about my parents struggles. Rather, it seems like things I was interested in decades (literally!) ago have come to the forefront in ways I'm really enjoying.

I took French in high school. Why French? Because at that time, my choices were Spanish (which was thought of as the "easy" language, and I wanted no part of that), German (which sounded harsh to my ears) and French (the natural default). But after the requisite two years of instruction, I never touched it again until now. Austin's taking French in high school, and if he's lucky, he'll be one of the students selected to take a trip to France next summer. Yeah, guess who's chaperoning that trip -- MOI! So I got a copy of Rosetta Stone French, and have been stumbling my way through a little bit at a time.

This is what my kid does when he's not conjugating French verbs. :) (Yes, that's actually MY kid!!!)

One of my favorite books growing up was "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The descriptions of both the vegetable garden and the kitchen were so vivid and wonderful and they made me want to be good at gardening and cooking. I did learn to cook years ago, and I'm fairly good in the kitchen (although somewhat unmotivated at times!) but I'm starting to enjoy the actual process of cooking. Well, that is, when the stars align and we're actually home for dinner. Tonight we're having Parmesan Chicken with Lemon Viniagrette, Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan, and a simple salad. It's the least I can do when I'm leaving for the weekend, right?

This weekend Tucker and I will be in Southern California, and tomorrow we'll be at Disneyland with my mother. I can't wait!!!

Finally, I took myself on a field trip to several garden places I hadn't seen before. At one place, I found the very best garden decoration in the world (at least to my way of thinking). It's ceramic on metal and stands about 5 feet tall. Alas, it costs more than $1000, so it will have to remain at its current residence (sigh).

Isn't it wonderful?!?! Doesn't it look just like me?

Simple pleasures

The comments made me feel hugged. THANK YOU!!!

I bought and hung a bird feeder last week. And it's been a source of frustration because no birds were finding it. That hurt my feelings. (I know, sounds crazy but it's true!) I was feeling like someone who dogs and kids don't like and one day I nearly threw out the feeder and all the bird seed. But over the weekend some tiny birds found our feeder! I was ridiculously happy to see them.

My dad is having a good day today. I went for a visit, intending to take him to the grocery store (where EVERYONE knows him and loves him) but he was tired after taking a shower and asked if we can do it tomorrow, which is fine with me. Mostly I'm getting things in order for my parents, but one thing has me stumped. I'm trying to find someone who can give in-home pedicures to diabetics. I've tried searching the internet and looked through the yellow pages but no luck. Any ideas?

Went to visit my in-laws today. On the way there, I saw a happy surprise -- the goats are back! Our county uses goats to control wild grasses that can become a fire danger in the late summer with our 100+ degree days. I stopped to shoot this (admittedly bad) picture just to prove that they are really here.


Here are the two guardians of the goats who tried to chase me off as I stood way too close to "their" goats.


I managed to run 4 miles yesterday evening. When I say I feel old and slow, I mean it, as my pace is slower by a full minute per mile than it used to be, and that's when I'm feeling like I'm really pushing it. But I can tell things are looking up, as today I saw someone running and thought, "Lucky!!!" That's definitely a good sign.

Coming up for air

I've heard the term "sandwich generation" but never fully appreciated what it meant till it happened to me. With two teenage sons, and all that comes with parents teens, and two ailing parents, and all that comes with that, I'm feeling like not enough butter on toast. Well, I was feeling that way. But I'm starting to come up for air. Here in no particular order, are some thoughts.

• I'm uncomfortable writing when I feel as undone as I do right now.

• Everyone should have their kids EARLY! That way the kids will be out of the house when you're needing to help your parents. Ok, so maybe this won't work for everyone, and certainly it didn't work for me, as I didn't get married till I was 28, and had my kids at ages 32 and 34. But I can make helpful suggestions, can't I???

• Not exercising is not a good thing when you're stressed. I'm starting back to running after taking some significant time off, and boy oh boy am I feeling old and slow! It really feels like forever ago that I ran a marathon. (Did I actually do that???) But progress has been made, as last week I was feeling so low that I would see people running and think, "Why do they even bother?"

• I've wanted to do a cleanse of some sort but can never find the right time to do it. Decided that today I'd kind of do the "Urban Detox" from the book Super Cleanse. So I did the hot water with lemon and cayenne. Then I juiced the celery, cucumber, ginger, and other stuff and had that. Later I had a Diet Pepsi. And a couple of fun-size candy bars. Then some carrot-apple juice. Then an Amy's frozen Indian dinner (YUM!). And I'm actually honestly ok with all of this. Because as contradictory as it might sound, I had some good nutrition today, mixed in with the other choices. (That's not all I ate, but those are the highlights!)

• The doctors think my dad's had a small stroke. His memory is affected, although he's getting better each day. He takes care of my mom, who never leaves the house, and would never leave her bed if someone didn't wake her. So this time feels really scary. I grieve for my dad who has a doctorate degree and retired as a Captain in the Naval Reserve, who now can't get his brain to work right. I continue to feel so sad for my mom, who I'm sure never wanted her world to be so small. My conclusion from all of this? Growing old is NOT for sissies!

I'll be back...

My parents are having some issues :( and I need to take some time to get them back on track. I'll miss reading what you have to say, comment on it, and (occasionally) writing something myself, but rest assured, I WILL be back!

In the meantime, as Abe says, whatever you are, be a good one!

All's well that ends well

This is Daisy. Well, her real name is Bonnie, but for the 12 hours we had her, she was Daisy. We saw her running out of our neighborhood last night, and Tucker insisted we turn the car around and get her. As she had no collar or ID, he then made signs and at 10:00 pm we drove around and posted them on the mailboxes. This morning we received a call from her owner who had seen the signs (after driving around for 2 hours looking for his dog!). Bye Daisy. You will be missed!

Thoughts for today

God knows.
God cares (more than we can possibly know).
God is in control.

Happy Easter

Hope it's been a wonderful day for everyone. Tim, Tucker, and I volunteered at church this morning, then joined the fam for Easter brunch and finished the afternoon with some gardening and some time at the high school where Tucker had found a tractor tire yesterday. So Tim and Tucker played with the tire, ran hurdles, and played HARD. Tell you what -- I have some coordinated people in my family, as BOTH of them can run while standing on top of the tire as it's rolling!

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I took an entire week off from 3 things:

exercise
eating healthy
blogging

I think I'm ready to come back to my normal life now. Don't know if it was hitting 500 miles, or not doing the AR50, or what, but I just needed a break.

When you don't run 35 to 40 miles per week, you have a LOT of free time and energy on your hands. I've been channeling that energy into gardening and having a lot of fun with it. Tim officially turned over the yard to me last week and it's been a very enjoyable challenge. In my typical "all or nothing" fashion, I spent 6 hours doing yard work yesterday, with nearly 3 of those hours spent pick axing rocks from the hill in the back. Boy oh boy my hands are bruised and my forearms fried, but the hill looks better. (Our house is on lava cap with river rocks -- they don't call our town "Rocklin" for nothing!)

Ok, so that's it for now. I tried not exercising, not eating good and not writing and I just don't feel like me without those elements. First thing tomorrow morning, I'm gonna be out running and it's gonna feel GOOD!

Inappropriate and hilarious

My older son showed me this on April 1st. I know it's wrong, but it's just so funny!

April Fools - barats and bereta

Best email

Tim sent this today:

Subject: Miss you
I love you!

This after almost 20 years of marriage? Yeah, he's a keeper!

When Tim does Cindy...

...(sounds wrong somehow, doesn't it?) his best score is (that sounds wrong too!) 22 rounds. That's doing Cindy as written which is 5 pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 squats. When he's feeling tired he gets 18 or 19 rounds. Yeah, my husband's a stud!

Oh, and by the way I was sore nearly EVERYWHERE from Saturday's workout. It's a good thing, right?

Modified Cindy

Did one of Tim's favorite CrossFit workouts modified for my capabilities. 10 TRX rows (instead of 5 pullups), 10 bench pushups, 15 air squats for 20 minutes. Got 18 rounds + a set of rows and 7 pushups. Like many CrossFit workouts, the first couple of rounds feel pretty doable and (dare I say?) easy. Get to round 4 or so and the ease is gone. By the 10th round it's focus city. And by about round 15 I just want it to stop. Good stuff!

Where I'm at.

Courage does not always roar.
Sometimes it is a quiet voice
at the end of the day saying...
I will try again tomorrow.

Author unknown

The right decision

I contacted the RD yesterday to tell her that I won't be running the American River 50 this year. This is a very good decision for many reasons, probably the main one being this: I don't want to do it. Really, I don't. Here are some other reasons:

I'm not ready. The training plans for running 50 miles include some back to back long runs that make perfect sense for getting ready to run 50 consecutive miles. But I haven't done any density training like that. I'm also not ready in the sense of having people who could help me run part of the race or cheer me on, both of which seem vital to this sort of effort. And while some runs

The last 25 miles of this race are on trails and I don't like trails. Maybe someday I'll like trails. And actually, I do like them, but for shorter distances at this point.

My lower back has been giving me grief. Over the last month my lower back's felt tight and sore most of the time and I can't seem to get it to feel better. So doing a max distance race right now seems ill advised.

I have lost sight of what I want. We've had lots of family stress in the last few months and as the stress increases, so do my miles. So it's made sense to increase my race distances. But just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD. And right now I just feel tired and not very strong. Not what you want going into a running-all-the-live-long-day race!

Preserving enthusiasm is priority #1. I still really like to run, and I've been doing it for a very long time. I want to like running for a long time to come. But moving forward to run a race I don't want to run, that I'm not prepared for? That seems like a recipe for killing part, if not all, of the enthusiasm I have for running.

So on race day I'll be running my own long-ish run. Maybe 20 or so miles isn't long by ultra standards, but it's long for me. And more importantly, it's what I want to do. And sometimes in life, you really do get what you want, right?

20 Tips For Finding Your Routine With Kids

When Austin was born, I returned to work after 3 months of maternity leave, working three 10-hour-days per week. So I packed a fulltime job into 3/4 of the hours, and it seemed to work for us. When I became pregnant for the second time, I really felt that the right thing for our family was for me to stay home once the new baby was born. So when Austin was just 2, and Tucker was a newborn, I quit my job in the software industry to stay home. And boy oh boy, it was TOUGH being home with two in diapers. Not because of the physical intensity of it all (although caring for a toddler and a newborn is NOT for sissies!) but because of the lack of routine. I just didn't do well with a big hangin' day and lots of toys.

If only THIS ARTICLE had been available at that time. Simple Mom tells you how to find your routine with kids, and it's exactly what I needed. To some extent, it's even what I need now. The idea of having a routine in your life is brilliant. The thing is I didn't know that you could create your own routine!!!

If you know of anyone who has small children, or who struggles with finding their rhythm with their free time, considering passing this link on -- it's that good!

Weekend update

It was an eventful 24 hours from Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon. Here are some of the highlights:

State championship basketball game

Austin supports his team 100%!

Friday night we headed to Arco Arena for the Division 2 basketball championship game. Before the game we ate dinner at Mel's Diner -- big mistake for this veg girl who planned to run long the next day. Dinner was a sandwich of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado on wheat. Not exactly the pasta feast I'd anticipated, as Mel's doesn't serve pasta. At the game I supplemented with half of a huge bag of M&Ms and a giant Snickers bar. Tim tried to convince me to stop, but I would not listen. :( This did not bode well for Saturday's long run. The game itself was really exciting, but alas, Rocklin did not win.

AR 50 training run

I draw on myself before every long run!

Got up early Saturday and drove to the Auburn Overlook. There were two busses: one for the 21 mile people and one for the 31 mile people. My bus had 20 men and 4 women. (Note to single girls -- get thyself immediately into ultra running, as the odds are fabulous and there are some very handsome ultra runners out there!) We were driven to the 19 mile mark (31 miles from the finish for the "real" race) and started running.

The run started going sideways almost from the get go. By mile 5 I had a pretty good headache going. By mile 7 or 8 my back was aching and my right calf was tight and feeling just not very good. By mile 10 my stomach was protesting the run. But what do you do when you're on unfamiliar trails with no option but moving forward? You keep on going.

By mile 17 or so I was practically in tears and mostly walking. Now it was raining, so you can add cold and shaking to the list of "symptoms." By this time I was telling myself I never had to run ever again after this day. I've never been so happy to see an aid station, and would have paid any amount of money for a ride back to my car. Thankfully a super nice volunteer was heading back with a bunch of stuff from the previous aid stations and was happy to give me a ride.

AR 50 training run aftermath

My shoes agreed to have a photo taken. Me myself absolutely refused! :) Note that these shoes were 100% white before the run.

I got home and took a shower. Tim had picked up a grilled veggie sandwich with pesto and a vegan cookie. I ate half of both and laid down for a nap. Has my bed every felt so good? I think not.

Last night we had 3 of Austin's friends spend the night. Thank goodness Tim's happy hanging out with teenage boys, because I was in bed by 9:00 and didn't wake up till after 7:00 this morning. I can't remember the last time I got more than 8 hours of sleep, but I guess I really needed it.

So am I running the AR 50? I dunno. More about that next time... Have a lovely Sunday!

31 turns into 22

Sometimes it's just not your day. The intent was to do 31 miles, but at mile 22, I gratefully accepted a ride back to my car. Details and photos (from before the race when I was happy) to follow. Actually, I'm very happy now, warmly wrapped in my fuzzy robe at 3 in the afternoon. I feel a nap coming on... :)

Note: After checking the runners handbook for the AR50, it looks like I ran 22, not 23 miles. I've changed the title of this post and my running stats accordingly.

Ready, set, GO!

Today and tomorrow will be busy. Here's what's on the agenda:

11:15 - 12:15 Train client (fun!)
1:00 - 5:00 CPR class (to renew my certification)
6:00 - ??? State championship basketball game at Arco Arena (our local high school, as the Nor Cal champions, is playing the So Cal championship team -- it's going to be a blast!)

Saturday
6:00 Wake up
7:00 Leave for training run
8:00 - 9:00 Take bus 31 miles to start area
9:00 - 3:00 or so Run back to car
4:00 - ??? VEG!!!

No plans for Sunday and I think that's a good thing! I'll let y'all know how the training run goes.

I have a nickname :(

I have always wanted a nickname. Alas, the closest thing I have is "Les" which a few people call me. Do I like it? Not really, but it's not a big enough thing to made an issue. Although you can't give yourself a nickname, I really want to be known as "elle" (first letter of my name). Alas, that doesn't seem likely.

So today I was at the grocery store. I'd actually gone to mail some packages, and after taking care of that, I picked up just a few things we were running low on. But I didn't have my reusable bags with me. So as I was paying, the bagger started opening a bag, and I said, "No, I don't want bags. That's my way of remembering to bring them in." He said, "Oh, you're the punisher!" What? Huh? Yep, I'm known at my grocery store as THE PUNISHER. The checker confirmed that he's told lots of people about how I don't accept bags any more and they call me the punisher.

Hmmmmph. I like Elle better! :)

Need more optimism and energy?

There's a great article on Basil and Spice titled "Tips to Boost Your Energy and Outlook During Tough Times." It should come as no surprise that their tips coincide with the practices that will also keep you healthy and fit. Here's the complete article. Hope you like it!

The running jacket

Here's my running jacket with the iron-ons from See Me Run. Notice the runner girl on the right sleeve.

Proof of reflectivity!

Adhering these to the jacket took less than 5 minutes, and it only took that long because I wanted the design absolutely centered and level. I'll be ordering more in the future for sure!

Fear of decorating

All those who are convinced they are decorating dunces, raise your hands. (See both of my hands waving furiously in the sky!) Well, in a gigantic grown-up step, I went to a home decor shop and asked them to design a flower arrangement for my kitchen. I brought in my own container (a colander) and chose the flowers I liked, and the designer assured me she could work her magic. Today I picked it up and I am delighted with the result:
(It looks even better when it's not being photographed by a camera phone!)

Stand by me

My friend Geraldine shared this video today. It gives me hope and makes me smile. Hope it brightens your day too!

Fear and trembling!

Spent a little time on the ultrunr.com site tonight reading about training for a 50 mile race. Perhaps I should have read this before signing up, or maybe more than 3 weeks prior to the race?!?! It looks like I will be somewhat undertrained based on their recommendations, and the 31 mile run next weekend, two weeks before the race? The experts seem to think this would be better about 4 weeks out. But it is what it is. As I was packing for Las Vegas tonight I was kind of panicking. Then I remembered several things that are true:

• I have no time expectations.
• I'm doing this because I want to try. (Originally my plan was to do a 50 mile race in November. But then I figured the 50K in February could count as part of my training, right?)
• There is no shame in trying.

I hope I can keep the right perspective for the next few weeks. All I can do is do my best though, right?

Running and stopping

Someone left a comment (hi Anonymous!) with a great question:

I'm curious as to how you log your miles -- is it total miles, regardless as to whether you ran them start to finish without stopping? Or do you only count the consecutive miles run? Personally, I guess short walk breaks COULD be considered part of a run (but, for me, I discount them as my total mileage run), but stopping to check email, drink water, etc.? I guess I would look at that as STOPPING. So, I could in good conscience say I ran several shorter mileage runs that equaled a total of 15 miles throughout the day. But, that is me. I am more of a black and white thinker and am hard on myself. I'm wondering if there is a "kinder" way to evaluate running performance, which it sounds like you do.

First of all, thanks for asking the question. I think of my runs as short (anything 7 miles or less), medium (8 to 12 miles) and long (13 miles or more). On short runs I only stop at red lights. On medium runs I usually plan to run by a drinking fountain (if there's a bathroom there, that's a plus!) and will stop for a minute or two. On longer runs, I will stop about every hour to eat an energy gel and have some water and kind of "reset" my brain.

So do I still count the miles I've covered, regardless of stopping? Absolutely! I can think of a few reasons why I choose this "kinder" way to log training miles:

1. Knowing I can stop helps to get me out the door on days when I really don't want to run. This is a biggie when you're running 40 - 50 miles per week!
   
2. Time on my feet is the point of my training these days, regardless of stops. In the training materials for the American River 50, they recommend a run/walk strategy for the entire race of run 20 minutes walk 5 minutes. And they count that as running!
3. Stopping on training runs was how I did my long runs for the marathon. Did I stop while running the marathon? No! Would the marathon have been "easier" if I'd pushed myself harder on the long training runs? Of course! But it worked for me.

I suppose that's the bottom line: it works for me. I know most serious runners would rather die than stop during a run. Well, I actually don't know that, but I think that's probably true. :) And I definitely stop more now as I train for the 50 mile race than I did when training for shorter distance races, as the impression I get from reading about ultras is that brief stops are vital to finishing. Does "brief" mean checking email? Probably not! :) But as I said, Monday's run was a strange one and certainly not typical of my training.

Finally, I really understand black and white thinking and being hard on yourself, as that's the land I've lived in for most of my life. I've worked very hard to find some "middles" and that's made life more fun and much easier. Years ago I was seeing a counselor who was talking to me about this very issue. She asked me if I knew what lived in between the colors black and white, and as I was angry at the time, I snapped back "Yeah, grey and I HATE grey! It's the worst color there is!" She gently replied "Actually, no. In between black and white is where all the colors in the rainbow live." I was stunned and speechless. You mean that something beautiful lives in the middle spaces? I've played with that idea in my mind for years.

Today I'm running 12. Will I stop? You betcha! But I won't be checking my email until after the run. ;) Thanks for taking the time to comment and ask the question.

Melange!

• Eating Healthfully in a Recession: 5 tips I'm so excited about this podcast! It's the latest episode of my all-time favorite podcast, Vegetarian Food for Thought. Colleen is one of the best podcasters around, and I eagerly look forward to each new episode. I haven't yet listened to this new episode, but I'm sure it will be as informative as the rest. I urge you to go to iTunes and check it out!
  
• 3 fast miles Yesterday in a departure from my usual training, I ran 3 fast miles. First mile was 8:05, second was 8:10 and third was 8:25. I also did AOS Providence. Today? Sore legs baby!
• A Good Bad Run Fifteen miles was the target distance for Monday's run, but I was SO not into it. I kept stopping back by the house to check email, pet the dogs, drink some water -- to do anything but keep running! At about mile 12.5 I started feeling shaky and hungry -- yes, low blood sugar! So I came back home and just about called it quits. I mean an almost 13 mile run is good right? And I ran 21 just two days before, so I don't have to run any more, right? Then I thought "This is where the real training takes place!" I got a quick snack and pounded out the last 2-1/2 miles. Was it fun? Heck no! But was it valuable? Absolutely!!! I'm sure there will be low points in the 50 miler, and to have pressed on is excellent training for that.
  
• Cirque du Soleil LOVE We'll be in Vegas this weekend for Tucker's Tae Kwon Do tournament and while we're there we're seeing LOVE!!! I've been listening to the soundtrack, which is a remastered mix of Beatles songs, for the last two days.
  
  
• 50 mile thoughts I'm both nervous and excited about the American River 50. It's 3-1/2 weeks away. This weekend I read the 20 page runner's information packet where it talks about things like how to avoid seizures and vomiting. What?!?! Guess there are things that can go wrong when you try to run 50 miles. I'm not at all sure I'll be able to finish, but the things that could cause me to DNF mostly out of my control. So I'll continue to train well, continue to formulate both my nutrition plan and my mental plan for the race, and be happy no matter what happens!
  
• Dinner success! Last night's dinner was a Greek salad (romaine, kalamata olives, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, and Feta with an olive oil + red wine vinegar + fresh lemon juice + oregano + a little mustard dressing) with fresh bread. I also cooked up some chicken for those who wanted to add it, but Tim was the only taker. It felt good to have made something that everyone could enjoy!
  
• Daily schedule A few weeks ago I wrote about the Daily Docket I'd found online that I was trying out. Well, I've taken that format and adapted it and it's really making a difference in my days! The form starts with "what's for dinner?", has room for 3 MITs (most important tasks), and has a "for the best possible day" section where you can plan exercise, connection, knowledge, and play! Wish I could post the form (it's a Word doc) but if anyone's interested, leave your email address in the comments and I'll mail you a copy.
  
• See Me Run I ordered some reflective iron-on designs so I could jazz up my black running jacket. I'm so happy with how it looks! I got the tribal hearts design and put it on the back. It's a cost-effective way to be safe when running at night.
  
• Zen Habits I continue to love Zen Habits! Leo is a wonderful writer, and what he writes makes my days better. For a great overview of his site, I'd recommend buying his eBook, "Zen Habits Handbook for Life." It's worth way more than the $6.95 it costs!
  

Art

I LOVE art. Do I know how to create art? No. Do I know much about art? No. But I love to look at art, particularly abstract and contemporary works.

This weekend we were at the state gymnastics championships, watching two of Austin and Tucker's former teammates compete. After the meet we hit Spaghetti Factory for dinner, and while we waited for a table, I saw a piece of art hanging in a wine bar just across from the restaurant. Curious, I went inside, and wow! I've rarely seen anything I like as much as these.


These amazing pieces are by Michelle Brunmier, a local artist. I'm planning to meet her at a reception at the end of the month (at that same wine bar) and I can't wait!

Roasted veggies

For years I've heard that it's really simple to roast vegetables, and yet I've been highly resistant to actually doing it. But yesterday I made these (see photo) using this recipe. I did not have fresh thyme but just went ahead like the renegade I am and cooked the veggies anyway. They were delicious!!! I ate them standing at the stove with a fork. So did Tim. The kids? Didn't touch 'em but that's just fine, as I figure it's more for me.

Hope this is me someday!

Saw this on Eric's blog, "The Runner Inside." Hope it inspires you like it does me!

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If it seems like I'm writing often...

...I am. This week I'm finally feeling like me again, after several months of feeling like not enough butter on toast. My dad's doing really well, and life is returning to normal, where I don't feel so stretched. So yeah, I'm writing more.

You know, I've kept a weblog now for nearly four years. It started when I was getting ready to compete in the Women's Tri-Fitness competition in Las Vegas. I'd lost weight and decided to take the plunge and do something I would NEVER in my wildest dreams have thought I'd ever do. And since it was so unusual, I let my friends know if they'd like to know what it's like getting ready for a fitness competition, I'd be happy to send them updates. From there I started a weblog -- someone mentioned the word "weblog" and though I'd never heard it before, I did a little research and decided it was for me!

So I kept a weblog for about a year and a half (as Fortysomething Fitness), but ran into some family issues as a result of the blog. As a strong statement about my loyalty to someone I love, I deleted the entire blog. (I regret it a little, but it mended the relationship.) A few months after that, I started this.

I write when I have something to say. If I have nothing to say (or more likely, something to say but no time to type it), I don't write. So there's no rhyme or reason to the quantity of my writing. Well, there is one pattern. When I'm feeling good (and have the time to write) I write a lot. So multiple posts are like a mood barometer of sorts.

Finally, I'm so appreciative when someone reads what I write. I actually have no idea who reads this, except for the very cool Blogger "Follow this blog" tool. Confession here: I am subscribed via Bloglines to more than 150 blogs, in subjects ranging from fitness and running (or course!) to food and parenting (well, duh!), with a little homemaking, simplicity and humor thrown in. Do these people know I read what they write? Probably not. My theory on commenting is the same as on writing -- I only comment if I have something to say. Maybe I should change this, as I often read something and think nice thoughts about the author -- perhaps they'd like to hear this from the source? (Having said that, maybe I need to comment more often!)

So to sum it up, it's feast or famine here, with zero predictability as to what you'll find. But if you do stop by, I really do appreciate it.

BREAKING NEWS

I emailed the RD for the American River 50 and asked if I could still do the training run. She emailed back that she'd just opened 9 more spots for the race, and if I got on it, I could register. So (deep breath) I'm signed up (and paying!) to run FIFTY MILES on April 4th! More to come...

Today's workout

30 minutes of garage play.
Ingredients:

25 pound kettlebell
40' AOS rope
Random set of 8 pound weights
Gymboss timer

Did 30s work/15s rest of whatever felt good. Movements included:

Farmer's walks (w/one kettlebell)
One-sided lunges (w/one kettlebell and bodyweight only)
Swings
Cleans
Figure 8 to holds
Pushups
One arm rows
Super long set of fast overhead press, lateral raises, rear delt flyes using 8 pound weights
And lots and lots of rope intervals

I feel quivery and spent!

P.S. I must've blocked out the jumping lunges and squat jumps, but those were part of the fun too!

Oops!

I just noticed that I posted my favorite salad dressing recipe -- TWICE! Can you tell I don't go back and read old blog posts? And that I've got quite a few "tracks" running in my mind at any given time???

Another oops -- guess I won't be doing the AR50, as the race is filled as of a week ago. Yep, 650 runners want to pay more than $100 for the pleasure of running 50 miles. I'm going to see if I can sign up for the 31 mile training run (there are aid stations!!!) anyway, and maybe target this race (and sign up early!) next year.

Health and Homemaking Hacks, and an update

There is a book I'd love to read that I don't own (shocking, I know!). It's called Lifehacker and it's subtitled "88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge Your Day." The author defines life hacks as "clever shortcuts and lesser-known, faster ways to complete a task." So using this concept loosely, I thought I'd share a few of my health and homemaking hacks, or H-Hacks, perhaps.

To get consistent with vitamins and supplements: Buy a pill keeper. You know, one of those thingies with multiple compartments for the days' meds, that I used to think only old people used. About a month ago it occurred to me that what keeps me from consistency is convenience. I believe multivitamins and glucosamine would be good for me. I just don't do anything about it. Well, that's changed. I now load a week's worth of supplements (I take the aforementioned ones, plus maca root which is supposed to be good for muscle recovery) into the container -- it feels a little like dealing cards! -- and I'm good to go for the week!

To save money on hair and skin-care products: Drag out all the half filled bottles that you shelved when you found a newer option and use them up! I suppose I'm not as bad about this as some, but I have my share of last week's "miracle" for shiney hair, smooth skin, and the like. Today I ran out of shampoo, but not really. Although the bottle in the shower is empty, it has several half-filled cousins in the cabinet. And one of those bottles is not front and center in the shower!

To include a crazy amount of nutrition in every day with relative ease: Drink green smoothies! Google "green smoothie" and you'll find a million options for making them. Although they look like a drink for Shrek, I promise you can't taste the spinach (right Katie?). And they help to keep you insanely healthy.

Update

Diet Pepsi-free me! Yes, it's been over a week since I've had a Diet Pepsi or any other soda. Yeah, it's hard and I miss it. But hey, what do you expect when you're trying to break a habit that's been decades in the making, right? To anyone who wants to know how I'm doing it, I'd say two things. First, I've heard some pretty horrible stories (thanks Jennifer and Diana!) about problems friends have had from artifical sweetners. And secondly, it's like anything you're trying to change: it's one day at a time!

Cool video from Atom Ant: Atom send this link for a video about an amazing ultra runner. Thanks so much Atom!

Grocery bags seem to have generated a lot of conversation. To clarify, I ALWAYS have bags in my car, yet I forget to bring them in. And even if I remember (usually when I'm in the checkout line) I don't go to get them. Well, today I REMEMBERED!!! I guess the memory of carrying out an awkward armful of foodstuff yesterday was enough to remind me. UnRuly25 suggested carrying small bags, which is also a great idea, especially as I love large handbags to fitting a Chico Bag in wouldn't be a problem at all. And Matt you're right -- we are just beginning to get the hang of reusing bags here in the U.S. Better late than never, right? Right???!

If only I could create a Venn diagram...

... I'd diagram myself, hopelessly stuck at the intersection of hormones and Girl Scout Cookies!

Remembering your grocery bags

I own plenty of reusable grocery bags. I also have a cabinet full of paper and plastic bags from the store. And yet when I go shopping I never remember to bring them. Today I think I came upon a solution. Here it is:

I'm not accepting new bags at the grocery store.

Today I bought kalamata olives, celery, cabbage, garlic, carrots, and a cucumber. And I carried them out by hand. My younger son was with me and told me I'm insane. What-evah! I'm guessing after a few shopping trips like this, I'll start remembering!

Monday Meal Melange

It's raining. Hard. I'm listening to some new music (Eric Hutchinson "Ok, It's Alright by Me"), finishing up a salad, and happy to be warm and dry, as opposed to yesterday's 2+ hour run in the rain.

I've been cooking more recently. Cooking and I have a love/hate relationship with each other. The bottom line is that I believe it's best for me to cook for myself and my family, but that's been hard to do consistently. The good news is that I keep trying. So yesterday and last Sunday, I decided to spend a few hours in the kitchen, prepping stuff for the week. Here's what I made:

• Better Salad (like tuna salad, but with chopped chickpeas instead of tuna)
• Hummus
• Oatmeal Raisin cookies (new recipe -- cookies spread into a gooey layer in the pan, so I cooked them a little more, then crumbled the cooked result as an indulgent granola-ey sort of mix. Tim and Austin both love it!)
• Rainbow peppers (well, I didn't "make" them but I chopped them and put them in the fridge

My hope is that by having some healthy basics around, it will be easier to eat better. Oh, I also made a salad dressing that has become my new favorite. I'm pretty sure I'd eat cardboard if it were drizzled with this:

Honey-Tahini Dressing
from March/April 2009 Cooking Well

1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh is best, of course!)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup tahini
2 tablespoons honey (I use agave nectar)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt

Blend in food processor or shake in jar with tight fitting lid. Enjoy!

NOTE: I JUST REALIZED THAT I POSTED THIS RECIPE A FEW DAYS AGO! OOPS!

So today's salad with mixed lettuces, shredded coleslaw, avocado, and that dressing. My friend Tracy Reifkind talked on her blog about using cabbage in salad, almost a year ago. Guess I'm a little slow on the uptake, but hey, I'm doing it! I like the cabbage because it adds the crunch of iceberg lettuce (but has vitamins unlike iceberg) and it's filling.

So what's for dinner tonight? I've got chili (beef, black beans, white beans) in the crock pot, and I'll be making cornbread and coleslaw when I'm done writing here. Remember the Daily Docket thing I was using? Well, I've refined that and created my own. So yeah, dinner's simmering (I'm inordinantely proud of that!) and that's a very good thing!

Rainy run

My house is warm and dry. And I'm about to go out and run 13 miles in the rain. Does this appeal to me? Heck no! I'd rather stay cozy and dry. Why am I telling you this? Because I'm setting myself up to succeed. Tim knows I'm running this morning. Now you know. And I really am big on doing what I say I'm going to do. So here I go...

Like a ninja

Shhhhh. Don't tell, ok? But I'm a mom ninja. Honest. What makes me a mom ninja? I've found the perfect way to keep tabs on my kids without them knowing. How, you ask? By bringing them and their friends food!

For example, today both kids were at a park with their different groups of friends. And I just want to make sure all is well, you know? So I texted both of them and asked how many friends they were with. 10 minutes later I showed up with Taco Bell for everyone. It cost me $10. But I created goodwill with their friends, and I get to keep tabs on my precious boys without them feeling checked up on.

The other day it was Hostess Cupcakes. (Yeah, the vegan stuff doesn't go over good at all, sadly.) Next week it will be something else indulgent and oh so appreciated.

Changing Habits

Is is possible to change. Truly it is. I bear little resemblance to the drunk-every-single-day girl I was in my early 20s, and I believe for all of us who are truly living, a similar transformation has occurred over the years as well.

This week I've been attempting to change some habits, and though change is possible, it's anything but easy! I came back from Hawaii with a list, created on the airplane, of things I wanted to do. It was a very long list, but thankfully I'm grown-up enough to recognize (finally!) that this entire list probably won't happen in one short week. So I knew that picking one or two items would be a much better idea, with a greater likelihood of success, than bolding and underlining every single thing.

So I've had no Diet Pepsi this week, and I'm starting to drink green tea. These choices may not sound like much, but they are surprisingly difficult for this girl! I've been drinking Diet Pepsi in some quantity or other for over 30 years. No, I don't drink a six-pack a day, but I was a "3 Pepsi a day" girl when Tim and I met, and probably have averaged at least one soda per day since then. My justifications have been many: it doesn't have calories, it fills me up, I have to have at least ONE vice (oh the ignorance in THAT one!). And while those are all true, it feels like it's time to let go of this habit. Do I miss it? Heck yeah! But I haven't had a soda all week!

In conjunction with this change, I'm also starting to drink green tea. I don't like tea. I don't detest it either, but it just doesn't taste good to me. And yet I like the idea of tea -- it seems sophisticated and calming and very very cool somehow. And the health benefits are numerous and growing. So I've had a cup of green tea nearly every day this week. And I'm noticing that while I wouldn't say I like it yet, I'm starting to get used to it. Looks like familiarity breeds, not contempt, but maybe benign tolerance?

Oh, and speaking of tea, I'm not putting anything in it, as I've also decided to stay away from Splenda. Time to go polish my halo now. ;)

Despondex

So much to, but no time to...

Crazy busy life has kept me from writing, but I have a whole list of things that I want to talk about. Perhaps over the weekend???

In the meantime, I came across this amazing quote on Fitness Chick:

Self Discipline is when you tell yourself to do something and you don’t talk back.

Melange

I SO appreciate the comments from my last post -- smart, insightful people read what I write, that's for sure! More thoughts on the comments later this week.

For now, it's time for a brain dump (or "melange" which is French for "mixture" and sounds way classier, somehow, than "brain dump!").

• I'm trying to decide if I'm running the AR50 in April. Yep, it's a 50 mile race. I'm so back and forth on it. The pros are that I'm probably close to being in shape to run it. Also I'd love to try a 50. And the timing of it is good. The cons? It's FIFTY MILES of running!!! There's a 31 mile training run with aid stations (how great is THAT?) two weeks before the race, and I'd love to just try that and then decide. But the entry deadline for the race is before that, and as this race is somewhat pricey (about $100) I only want to sign up if I'm sure I'm doing it. Stay tuned for details...

• This month's Eating Well magazine (April 2009) has a salad dressing recipe that I LOVE! It's on page 66 for those who get the magazine. For those who don't, here's the recipe:

Honey-Tahini Dressing

1/2 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup tahini
2 tablespoons honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt

• After eating veg in Hawaii (which meant eating lots of great tofu) I may be ready to try some new ways to prepare tofu at home, rather than just ordering it when someone else fixes it. On today's menu is soy-lime roasted tofu (recipe from same issue of Eating Well). I'll let y'all know how it is.
• To plan my days, I've been using a daily docket from simplemom.net. I'm using the mini version (I'll find the link and post it later). What I love about this is that it's flexible enough to work for my life, it has a space to plan what's for dinner (the saga continues, but it's getting better, little by little) and it's cute (which is important to me!).

That's it for now. Time to marinate the tofu, and then I'm off on a 7-mile run. As I have lots of new episodes of podcasts to listen to, I can't wait!

Fighting against -- me?

While on the plane, I had a chance to write down some ideas of how I'd like to change my diet and my training. And while nothing's set in stone, I already can feel resistance inside. So I think maybe my head needs a reality check. Because why would I resist doing things that move me towards what I want?

So as I'm considering a more structured approach to food (one that includes more whole foods and fewer processed vegan convenience stuff) and the addition of some good stuff (green tea) and reduction of some bad stuff (caffeine, refined sugar) I really need to take a look at approaching this with some maturity. Because once again, that little girl inside is threatening a temper tantrum (screaming something like, "I WANT IT BECAUSE I WANT IT!!!" over and over) at the very IDEA of limits or boundaries or structure.

Perhaps my focus needs to be on the end result I'm hoping for, rather than on the specifics of getting there. Really what I want is a healthful, sane, liveable approach to food and fitness. What I'm doing now is not bad -- not at all! But I really do feel like it's time to take it to the next level. And most of me is ready, with the exception of that tantrum-throwing little one who is part of the package that is me.

So if I focus on the end result, AND reassure the little one that she will get treats from time to time and no, we won't forget her, then maybe I can have some success with whatever kind of structure I decide to create.

Back to post-vacation laundry. I ran 10 miles today. Running in Maui is funner (which SHOULD be a word, even though it's not) than running in suburbia. :)

Vacation eating

I never quite know how to make sense of eating while on vacation. On the one hand, I eat WAY better than I eat at home, as I really do like healthy fresh foods, but find I lack motivation to prepare them for myself at home. On the other hand, I feel like "Hey -- it's vacation and I can indulge!". So I end up with ridiculous contrasts, like yesterday when I started the day with a tofu scramble (took some tofu from the miso soup area of the buffet and asked the omlette person to cook it with every vegetable she had) and lots of fresh fruit, but ended the day with a King Sized bag of M&Ms plus a pack of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Why? Because my inner three-year-old wanted them!

This bipolar eating wouldn't be a problem, I suppose, if not for how it affects my mood. Woke up this morning with my own personal rain cloud, and I know it was from the interaction between sugar and my brain. When did I start to feel better? After doing a P90X video with Tim. And then felt amazing after a 9 mile run and a nice swim in the pool.

The exercise thing I seem to have down as a habit (but after this week I'm going to be changing up what I do to get some different results -- stay tuned for more on that), but the food is a different story. I'm definitely eating better with every year that passes, and the years of the 3 Ds (Diet Pepsi, Doritos, and doughnuts) seem a very long time ago. But I'm feeling ready and willing to ... to ... I guess to uncover the next layer or go to the next level (don't really know what to call it). What I'm really saying is that it's time to tune up what I eat a little more. Why? Because I'm feeling ready.

Tonight's our last night on Maui and tomorrow we fly home. I'm feeling ready to get back to my kids and back to real life. But I'm happy I have one more night here with Tim. It's been a very romantic, very rejuvenating trip!

Paradise

Having a great time in Maui. You know how your iPod can have that little slice of red in the battery indicator when it desperately needs charging? That's kind of how I was feeling. But now? I'm feeling rejuvenated and happy!

My handsome husband on the balcony of our room.

On Valentine's Day I found that I could shape my hands to look like a heart, and because I'm still quite juvenile, I spent a lot of time annoying my husband by making the heart sign.

Me making the heart sign and Tim expressing his opinion!

On Sunday we took the ferry to Lanai, an island off the coast of Maui. Tim was playing golf and I decided to tag along and run. It was a blast! I walked/ran up to a water tower, then got on the road, and tried to make it to the top of the island. After 3 miles of up, I decided I'd gone far enough. (Lest anyone confuse me with Wonder Woman, there was way more walking than running on that part of the excursion.) (Now it's Tuesday and my quads are still painfully sore -- guess that's what 3 solid miles of running downhill will do.)

The view from about half-way up.

The Nathan backpack I used (Catra and Jo Lynn use the same one!) was WONDERFUL! It held everything from water to my phone to snacks to a book to sunscreen -- it worked out just great! But like I said, my pace was SLOW and I finished 15 miles in a little under 3 hours.

Yesterday we spent most of the day at the pool and the ocean.

Me heading back from filling Tim's water bottle.


My favorite picture of us. Sure do love that man!

Last night we went on a whale watching catamaran cruise. The boat left around 5:00 and we got back to shore right after sunset. We spent most of our time hanging out with a pod of about 10 humpback whales. I don't even have the words to express how amazing it was to watch them as they jumped, tail slapped, and generally played. Well, actually the captain said they were in competition over a female, so what we were watching was a giant game of king of the hill, where the prize would be the girl whale.

One of the best photos of the whales.

Us, windblown and very very happy!

Aloha!

We head to Hawaii in a few hours. My dad got a GREAT report from his doctor -- his arm is healing well and he is cleared to drive. I'm gonna miss my kids like crazy while I'm gone, but I'm sure Tim and I will have a great time together. I'll catch up with you from the land of sunshine and pineapples!

Shopping for bathing suits

Yesterday I went shopping for bathing suits. This is one of my least favorite activities -- in fact, picking up dog poop is higher on my list (for reals!) than shopping for the beach. I think the main problem is the fluorescent lights. They emphasize everything that's imperfect. Don't stores know they'd sell more suits if they had incandescent lights in the swimwear department dressing rooms?

So yeah, I shopped for suits and guess what? It didn't completely suck! I was actually able to just a teensy bit enjoy the process, and somehow found a way to focus on the positive instead of zeroing in on the negative. And guess what else? I bought a bikini! Yep, at age 48 I'll be sporting a bikini in Hawaii! Certainly the ultra race helped -- running 33 miles can't hurt when it comes to calorie burn, right? As did smaller food intake in January from stress about parents. But yeah, I'm pretty excited!

Today I take my dad for follow-up x-rays and a doctors appt. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that his arm will be as good as new and that he'll get what he wants -- clearance to drive!

Contradictions

I eat raw almonds and drink Diet Pepsi for breakfast.

I used to smoke cigarettes after doing aerobics classes. (This was many years ago, but completely true!)

I believe whole foods are the best thing you can do for your body, and I LOVE manufactured foods (protein bars in particular).

I'm a committed vegetarian who loves caffeine way more than the average bear!

The dissonance in my habits is starting to get annoying. I may be ready to make some changes soon. As awareness precedes change, I figured I should write this stuff down. Anyone else have any contradictory habits? I'd sure love to know that I'm not alone...

Something to ponder

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.

-Charles Kingsley

(I found this on PMKU today.)

Jed Smith 50K, the long version

So it's the day after my first ultra, and the body is sore, but the spirit is elated! Let's take it from the beginning, shall we?

I packed up the night before, trying to remember all I'd learned both from my own training mistakes and from other people's suggestions. Remembering my post-marathon underarm chafing (two areas the size of an entire large bandaid, stickey part and all!!!) I resolved to Body Glide anything that might even hint at chafing! I also brought a spare pair of shoes and socks, as well as some shorts (although when it's cold I prefer to run in long pants). Food-wise, I figured the aid stations would be enough, but I also brought some Accelerade powder (it works really well for me), a couple of Clif gels, as well as some Clif Shot Blocks, the margarita kind with extra salt.

So I got to the race and it was COLD! Picked up reg stuff, then set up my chair and my backpack full of goodies. (The course was a 3 mile figure 8, so I'd be passing by my stuff every 30 minutes or so.) One thing I noticed was that there was a line for the MEN'S bathroom, but none for the women. Don't think I've ever seen that! I went back and sat in my car and cleaned out the console and the glove box (I never seem to find the time to do this) and listened to music. Got out of the car with 10 minutes till the race start and there was my birth father!

I may not have mentioned this, but my birth father, in addition to being a great guy, is a record-holding ultra runner. When he was 56 or 57, he set the North American record in his age group for the 48 hour race, running 214 miles! So having him out there was like being with a celebrity who knows everyone. We chatted before the starting gun, and then it was time to run. Jim stayed out there for 4 hours and it felt so good to have someone who was there for ME, you know? Plus he's great at reminding you to take care of yourself out there, as he has so much experience with running ultras.

So the first 10 miles were a blast! The day was perfect for running, crisp temps, a slight breeze, no rain. The course was 1/2 flat trails and 1/2 paved and there was lots to look at, but during these easy miles, I spent most of the time chatting with other runners. Each time I saw Jim, I'd stop for anywhere from 2 to 4 minutes and talk. (I was SERIOUS about this not being a race where I focused on time.) And eat a Fig Newton. And drink something.

After 10 miles I pulled out my iPod and started listening to music, mostly the stuff from the SF Marathon, with some new songs thrown in (Mr. Blue Sky by ELO and Next Phase by The Isley Brothers are current favorites). Since I almost always run to podcasts, the music was a nice change of pace.

By mile 15, I was toying with the idea of running the 50 mile distance, but as my brain was a little befuddled (which I find highly amusing) it took quite a while to do the simple math of "Ok, so if I run 10 minute miles, that's 6 miles per hour. I started at 8:30, so by 9:30 I'd be at 6, by 10:30 it would be 12..." and so on. But as I approached mile 20, all thoughts of going another 30 were out the window.

I knew that Tim would show up at some point during the day and I was looking forward to seeing him. Well, as I finished mile 21, there he was! It was so great to see him. He'd come out ready to run with me. At this pont, I decided to change shoes (turns out to have been a good decision as I had no blisters after the race.) Then he snapped a quick picture of me doing more math, indicating 21 miles:

...and then we headed out together. I'm used to Tim being the faster runner, but today as I already had some miles under my belt, I got to set the pace and it was a slow one. (My Garmin, which is set to turn off when I stop moving, showed my overall pace as a 10:05 for the entire race.) After about a half mile, he was able to hold back enough so that I wasn't just trotting behind him. (Thanks Tim!) We chatted and waved at fellow runners and it was just so fun to have my husband out there with me. He stayed for 6 miles and took some video as I ran:




After Tim left it started to get harder and I could tell I was slowing down. I'd started the race slowly, but still faster than I'd planned, but I think what made this race tough is that I really didn't train for it. Yes, I've been running this year, but my longest run was a 15 miler on January 3rd and finding the time to run while helping my parents with their stuff has not been easy. So while slowing down didn't come as a surprise, it had me questioning my "I'm gonna do 39.3 miles because I can!!!" goal.

I crossed the finish line, but I don't know how long I took, as my Garmin was stopping when I stopped, and I didn't check the clock time. A volunteer removed my shoe tag and I was done right? Nope! I changed into a fresh shirt and trotted back out again, only I'd underestimated how difficult it would be, emotionally, to start running again after I'd finished! Also my left hamstring was starting to feel a little twingey -- never a good thing. So once again I was trotting and doing mental math, and when I realized I'd be out there for more than an hour more to hit my goal, I decided to stop at a nice number (33.3 miles in case you're wondering) and call it good.

And you know what, I really do feel great about the race! At one point I was feeling kinda bad that I was only doing the 50K, but then I thought back to the race in November where I had so much respect for the 50K people, and I thought, "Hey, I'm one of those people today!"

This brings us to today. My lower back, hamstrings, glutes, quads, calves, knees and ankles all feel overworked. Well, duh! I just made them run 33.3 miles! After church this morning we stopped by Starbucks. The day after an ultra, when you can't decide between a glazed old-fashioned donut and an apple fritter, guess what you do? YOU GET BOTH!!!

Malaise de L'Orange

This made me smile. Hope you enjoy it too!

Jed Smith 50K

Done! Ran 33.3 miles. Very tired. Very happy. Very ready for a shower!

Melange

"Melange" is French for mixture, and that's what I'm about to create -- a mixture with no rhyme or reason except that these are the thoughts that have been passing through my head.

• When you have NOTHING going on over the weekend, every cashier asks "So do you have any fun plans for the weekend?" Today as I was running errands (Vitamin Shoppe, Nordstrom, Buckle, Nugget Market, Sports Chalet) not one single person asked what I was doing, so I couldn't tell anyone. But in case you've forgotten, I'll tell you...
• I'm running 39.3 miles tomorrow! I know I signed up for a 50K (31 miles) but I want to do just a little bit more. So the plan is to run 39.3 (a marathon plus a half marathon). I'll be starting at 8:30 and finishing up by 3:00 or 3:30, I think. (As I've never done this, that's just an educated guess based on an 11 minute mile pace.)
• Running almost 40 miles doesn't seem like that big of a deal when the people I most want to be like when I grow up (Catra!) regularly run 100 miles. But when I step back and consider actually running for 6 or 7 hours, it strikes me that even though it's not 100 miles it's still a big deal! Right?!
  
• I'm starting to get a little of ME back. For a while there, it really felt like I was disappearing under a crushing workload and too little sleep. But as my parents situation gets more manageable, I can feel my sense of humor and optimism start returning. And I feel like once again, I can breathe deeply.
• Will I EVER feel thin? Probably not. I haven't been weighing myself, but my pants are all really loose, even the ones that I can only wear when I'm at my lightest. So I weighed myself this afternoon and the scale said 135.5. That makes me thin, as I've been carb loading for two days and not exercising, and afternoon weight is always heavier than morning weight, right? So I go into Abercrombie (I have a gift card I need to use) and try on a sweatshirt in a medium. It's too tight. So now I'm fat. And I buy nothing. Then I go to Sports Chalet to get a long sleeve shirt for tomorrow. I try on an Adidas medium. It fits just fine. But I'm still fat because the small is too tight, and if I'm not small, then I'm huge, right? (Please tell there's someone who can relate to this kind of thinking!!!)
• The Chicken-less Chicken was wonderful! Texture was so much like how I remember chicken (I haven't eaten it in over 2 years) that I double checked the label.
  
• One week from today Tim and I will be in Maui and I will be swimming in the warm Pacific Ocean!!! And one of the days we're there, we're taking a ferry to an island off the coast of Maui where Tim will be golfing and I'll be running for a couple of hours. I can't wait!
  

Trader Joe's unofficial ad

Half Habits

If you're looking for ways to get healthier (and who isn't?) check out this post on Zen Habits titled "Two Simple Ways to Form New Habits Without Really Trying." For some of us the all or nothing approach works. But for most, a gentler approach is in order, and that's what I like about these ideas.

Heading out to do this CrossFit workout:
Run 1.5 miles
50 air squats
Run 1.5 miles
40 pushups
Run 1.5 miles
30 walking lunges
Run 1.5 miles
20 squat jumps
Run 1.5 miles
10 burpees
Run 1/2 mile

50K race is just 4 days away!!!