Nomadic thoughts of a un-svelte girl who runs

She was a runner!

2009-04-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

I had a moment today to play on the internet. I have been so busy with a training project for work that my surf time has gone way down. We are talking, none, in the 8 hours that I am chained to my desk. This is a stark change to the weeks prior to the start of the project. So today I took some time to just goof off. I am an avid participant of the Runner’s World forums. I mostly lurk, but I am there. When I say avid, what I mean is I can spent the whole 8 hours there, as you can guess my job is not that demanding of my time. But that is not the story that I am going to tell today. That is a long boring story for some other time.

No, the story I am going to tell today is one about how the people we “meet” in cyberspace can have an effect on out lives. In my meandering about the forums today I found a post about running in honor of a deceased forumite (someone who hangs out in the forums). I clicked on the link half expecting to find out that one of the people who frequent the boards that have been in failing health had passed, this would be sad but not unexpected. But, what I found was that a 22-year old teaching student had been killed while out jogging. She was out for a 3 mile run, what could have been her last in perpetration her marathon this Sunday. A marathon that now she will never run. Her Aunt was going to run the ½, she is still planning on doing that. The last that I read Elizabeth’s boyfriend was going to run in her honor. They are planning a moment of silence at the start of the race. This was all at the hands of the people she talked to in the forums some of whom knew her only as esdinunzio.

I have spent time lurking in the forum where she spent most of her time so I had seen her posts. I have not talked to or even shared a thread with her that I know of. But for some reason this news leaves me with a heavy heart and an overwhelming sadness of such a young life ended in such a tragic way. A lot of people will say that if they have to “go out” suddenly, then they want to “go out” doing what they loved. From all the kind words that have been shared on the forums she was doing just that. It makes one stop and think. I am not really sure what I am thinking… how short life is… how we should live everyday to the fullest… that we should find something we love to do and do that… maybe, just maybe it is how sad that some of the new reports on the story call her a “jogger”, not a runner and put the blame for the accident on her, she was following the run facing traffic rule. Some time accidents just happen with tragic and life changing results.

I said this story was going to be about the people that we “meet” in cyberspace. I have had the opportunity to “meet” some world class people in my time at the Running Forums. Most of them, I may never meet in person to share a meal or a run with, but they are important to me. Just as important as any of my friends that I have know in person for years. So, if any of you (you know, who you are) read this. I am grateful, most of all, for being invited in to your fold as one of the trouble makers in the Beginners Forum on Runner’s World on-line. So this Sunday go and run some in memory of Elizabeth or anyone that you want to remember. I will. Remember be careful out there.

owwwwww! that hurts!

2009-04-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so last night was my first barefoot run in forever, also a run of any sort. It was a good run, longer then planned, but a good run with DS. But manoman my PF(plantar fasciitis)is killing me today. I am planing to run tonight, so I will have to remember to tape my foot. It is all due to the fact that I have been wearing tall shoes. Tall shoes are anything with a heel over one inch tall. Monday I picked a 3"+ high heels. Let me tell you they looked just fabulous, but my feet are still pissed about it. Those are not 8 hour shoes. Oh well time to stay away from them for a bit let the foot heal up and then go back to some shorter ones, bummer I do like how my legs look in the taller ones.

Starting over, this time barefoot sometimes.

2009-04-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

I have not been running for the last month or so, now I am have to start over. I am going to toss in one day of barefoot running just for fun, I am hoping to get to at least 5K distance so I can run some races barefoot. I will let you know how this goes.

I am starting this blog over again as well I am hoping to update it more offten. Wish me luck with it all, the running and the blogging!

Expo Adventure

2008-10-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

I am now on my way to the expo to pick up my packet. That makes this all very real now. Once I have the number it is really happening. I have been kinda crazy this week, it has hit me hard that I am about to take on this huge task of running a half marathon with little training not as much as one really needs to be successful at this task at hand, I did have a good 10 mile run on Sunday of last week so it is not all bad I guess. I know that I will be able to finish it, this being my first one there is no need to worry about a PR that is what I will have no matter how bad it is. The goal was to finish and that I will be able to do, so then way all the fuss about this race why is this one different than any of the other ones that I have run, I get crazy before them too but not like this why is this one a bigger deal for me. Is it because we have been thinking about this one for about a year now, is it that I have run badly in San Jose before, is it just the fact that I have never run a ½ before. I have a problem with starting out to fast at every race I have ever done I know this but somehow it doesn’t keep me from doing it. So what do you tell someone that start all fast and then burns out before even half of the race? Take is slow and easy so far has not worked for me , I know it is all about running your own race, you can’t run anyone else race, this is true for just a training run when you’re running partner is faster than you, and yet somehow it makes me mad when I cannot keep up with her. So what do I tell myself on Sunday, run my own race don’t worry about her or anyone else. Is that going to work for me? Is that going to make it a better run, not a battle with my body to just finish? Me giving all I have and then some just to have a crappy time? I would like to have a good run this time, and every time but this time for sure. Every one says that these races are a lot of fun to run but I take them to seriously I guess I don’t have fun at races. So the one thing I am going to do for sure on Sunday is have a good time, it is not that serious that I need to be all upset about it. I love to run and I can run it is not very fast but it is still running. That is really that this is required of me is to run and have fun. We will see how that goes.

Taper Maddness!!

2008-10-01T15:33:00.001-07:00

So, we hear about this but is it real? Can you lose your mind due to not running as much as you normally would? Is it some thing that can happen to some one who has been lax in her training due to issues with her hips and feet? Or is it just all in her head that is the 64 thousand dollar question. This week I have been a complete loony bird, well I would guess that my family and friends would all call me a effen ragn' bitch, but that would just be a guess on my part. Every little thing has set me off on some sort of rage induced fit, which makes them hate me. Tuesday it was all bad my right foot had started to swell and hurt, I am convinced that the hurt and swelling is due to a stress fracture that I got walking to my bank twice on monday after my first 10 mile run ever. I tend to go straight for the worst case possible, and then when it is better then I can be happier about it. So here I sit at work having a craptastic day:( I wonder if it would be better
if I went for a run tonight or would it just confirm my fear that I will not be able to run on Sunday due to the foot. So, here I sit wondering!

Sent from my iPhone

Test

2008-09-23T06:45:00.001-07:00

Let's see if I can blog anywhere!
Sent from my iPhone

It's back !!! Sorta.

2008-09-23T06:03:00.000-07:00

I have been having a love/hate relationship with my early morning runs. I love the way I feel when they are done. I hate the getting up at 4 am to go run. I love that I can run and for the most part I do OK at it. I hate that I am slow and have to work really hard to have a good run. I love that I am an adult onset athlete. I hate that I didn't start earlier in my adultness. So lets talk about the slow part, this at first was not a big deal to me. I would tell every one I run, but I am slow. Like I had to qualify the fact that I was slow, some sort of apology was needed from me to the running gods because I was slow, like I didn't have the same rights as the faster people as a runner. I think that this is part of the reason that I have not been in love with my running, I didn't take enough pride in the fact that I did run. It was like some high school boyfriend that you are embarrassed to be dating you are mean to him in front of your friends but are all lovey dovey when there is no one around. I have to take pride in the fact that I am a runner by my own definition no one else can call me a runner but me. After the Running America 08 "event", I was going to break up with my running habit, I was going to do the 1/2 and that would be it for me as a runner. I may still go for a run now and again but it would not be what I was. I have been "running" from running for the last few weeks, every morning we are to get out there I would have some lame reason not to go. On the run today I remember why I started running, why I love it. It is now part of who I am, I am a runner. There will be no more apologies from me about my running. Today for the last part of my run I was at that 12 min per mile speed, I liked it I want to work to get to that point, I want to run, I want to keep running for a long time. My running mojo is back. It will be 2 years in October and I am celebrating this with the completion of the San Jose Rock'nRoll 1/2, due to the hip issues I have faced this year I will not be running the full distance, but I will be completing it any way I can. I AM A RUNNER, even if I have to walk some times.

My not really Running America 08

2008-09-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I am all done running with greatness. We got there at 4 am and meet some of the other runners and a film crew from HBO was there we stood around and talked to the crew and each other. That part was nice, one of the runners was from FL she really wanted to run with Charlie, she is going to try to run with him in New York for the final leg. She talked a lot, so I made sure I stood next to her so I may be on film:) Charil finally showed up, we were given the official stickers and t-shirts that I will not be able to wear any time soon it is a size large, because all runners are a size large, right? we took pictures on the steps of City Hall and then they were off, yes I said they. I made it about 2 blocks before I just could not keep up with them. My chase team picked me up and we followed along the caravan with the other chase cars. I don't run 12 mm not unless it is downhill with a strong tail wind pushing me on roller skates. I guess I sound a little bitter, but I was not told that 12 mm was the minimum that you needed to move. "Anyone and everyone is eligible for submissions, no matter how young, or old, no matter if you are disabled, or if you have never run before. Great opportunity to be in front of the cameras, potentially meet some celebrities, and be a part of history." No where in that statement is there anything about 12 min miles. I am just feeling a little let down. We did follow the runner and crew so that was kinda cool. We crossed the golden gate bridge, and were able to watch then come across that is awesome to see. I was able to wish Charlie well and thank him for this unique opportunity to come out and do this with him, I told him that I fell off in the first few blocks, because they were too fast for me. He hugged me and told me that he was sorry that they were moving so fast and to keep it up.

Would I do this kinda thing again? Maybe the city is beautiful at that time of the day and i got to meet a running legend. It was not all bad, it will be interesting to see if I make the film :D

Plate to Plate RR

2008-08-25T16:58:00.000-07:00

Short version:
Plate to Plate was awesome again this year. 45:45 A new 5K PR for me!!

Long version:
Plate to Plate was awesome again this year A little back round, last year was kind of a struggle for me. Truth be, told most of my previous races have been a struggle for me, I like to start off to fast burn out and then die for the rest of the run. This year I fell in Feb on my right hip during an early morning run, darn sidewalks. I didn’t run on it for about a month, saw a chiro and it got better, so I thought. Fast forward to about a month and a half ago, and starting to train for my first ½ the stupid thing flared up again. So it was back to the chiro, but this time it didn’t help. So I thought I would try ART (active release therapy) at this point the hip had been painful for about a month, and I was desperate and beginning to think that running was not really for me. I found a wonderful ART practitioner in Berkeley. Things were looking up, I have had one set back and it was Friday before the race this weekend, the hip was back to hurting all the time. I was pretty sure that I was not going to be able to run the 5K on Sunday. The cool thing about Plate to Plate is that you get to run across home plate at AT&T park (it will always be PacBell to me), but you had to be in the stadium before 10am. I was shooting to walk the race and make it in time to cross the plate. I woke up on race morning, to my surprise everything felt pretty good. The hip was much better then it was on Friday. So I dressed to run and off we went, my DH and DS (who ran as well) and my training partner. We got to the parking lot at about 7:30 found our space and went in search of safety pins. We found DH a good place to watch the jumbotron from on the other side of the cove, after using the porta-potties. My training partner fell as we went out for our run on Friday and was not sure if she was going to run, but did so at 9:01 garmin time we were off and running. DS was with us until we got out in front of the ball park, then he was off to run his own race. It was crowded and so the there was a lot of weaving in and out of groups of people that were walking. I lost my training partner pretty early on, she is much faster them me, even with a bum knee and ankle.I was starting to fade but I found a lady that was just ahead of me I was matching her foot steps, so I stayed right behind her. As we moved along I glanced at the garmin, and thought dang I am moving, we were doing 13 and change at this point. I saw DS after he made the turn and was heading to the stadium, he is a fast little son of a gun, he was still looking strong heading in to the 2nd mile, he finished in 37 and change. I am still flowing the “rabbit” that I had found, I would like to take this time to thank her for letting me tail her, and listening to my panting as we ran. We reached the turn around and I found my training partner, she had slowed up some, I lost the “rabbit” at this point, I was hoping to see her again so I could thank her, but I never did. We made it to the stadium at about 9:30 ran on the track to the foul line and then across home plate. This year I hope I am looking up and not at my feet in the pic. Out of the stadium we go and off to the finish line, garmin time has me at 45:45 my fasted 5K time. Not bad for a bum hip and not much running in the past 2 months.

GET OUT OF MY POOL!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-15T22:12:00.000-07:00

So I have not been running due to hip issues, so I have taken up swimming as a cardio replacement. There are a few people who come and use the pool. The one that has been there constantly is the guy in the white swim cap, he is some one who swims for real, and he can do the fancy turns and all that jazz, quite impressive I might add. There have also been a few times 2 guys that I will call “thugs” I have no idea if this is true or not, it is a snap judgment made by me. Thug 1 knows how to swim (sorta) and sometimes comes by himself, thug 2 is learning to swim (swims loudly) so on days that thug 2 is there then it is “Teach a thug to swim day” Last week, “guy in black Speedo” showed up, he is a hairy gentleman who uses the sauna. There is also and older guy that uses the hot tub we will call him “old guy in hot tub”. Oh Creepy guy has been there some times too, he is creepy because when he was using the steam room he stood at the door and watch us swim. The came out and sat on the bench to watch us swim, he doesn’t swim well. Some of the other random people who use the steam room are interesting too, but they are not in the pool so I don’t really care.

So now that we have most if the cast of people in my adventures in swimming here is what went down today. Most morning it is just my training partner and I at the pool, some times it is just me at the pool. “Thugs” 1 and 2 are there, usually on Fridays. Guy in the white swim cap comes in some mornings, not really picked up on which days he is there but sometime. They clean the pool on Fridays at the gym so the water is on the let’s say effen cold side, not all bad tends to cut down on the time wasting maneuvers that I have developed at the end of the laps that do with the style I like to call my “trying not to drowned” stroke, it is a hybrid freestyle, crawl, doggy paddle type stroke. It does get me from one end of the pool to the other so I guess it works.

Today is Friday and I have no idea what the temp of the water in the pool was like when I got there this morning, keep in mind that this at 4:45am, yes am, in the morning. The pool was already in use by some lady in a blue suit, I have never seen her here before, as well as the guy in the white swim cap and “Thugs” 1 & 2. Blue suite swims like the guy in the white swim cap, she know what she is doing in the water, so they share a lane. The other lane was in use by the “thugs”, now I am not sure how to share a lane with more then 2 people and while the “thugs”, I am sure are quiet nice I was not about to ask them if I can use their lane as well. So crap now what do I do, Training partner is running today so she will be busy for at least 30 min. I know I will use the steam room, kinda like working out you get sweaty, and that is what matter right. So I shower before entering the pool area and head to the steam room, crap there is no steam in the steam room, they were not done cleaning it yet. It clearly state that the steam room opens at 5:00am. It is now 5:00am and there is no steam. Crap, now what, how about the sauna, maybe the steam room will be done soon and I can move over there. So, in to the room that I think smells some what like an old shoe, it is warm but not to warm, I kinda stand there due to the fact that none of the benches were in place. All the time watching the bodies in the pool swim, what is the reason behind me getting my butt out of bed. About 10 min in to my stay in the smelly old shoe room some one comes in to share the space with me. So out I go to see of the steam room is up and running…but no such luck, ok now what to do. I still have about 15 min to kill before training partner is ready to go. So I make my way to the hot tub to find “old guy” in the hot tub, he opens one eye to see who is entering his tub and tells me that it is not very warm. He is not wrong it was mostly a lukewarm tub. So, there I sat in the lukewarm tub willing the “thugs” to be done so I can swim for a little bit before it is time for us to go, but no one finished up. The lukewarm tub shuts off the “old guy” gets out, the guy in the white swim cap gets out of the pool, but at last it was time for me to meet my training partner so we can leave. So no swimming for me today, I hope that I can get to swim next week.

Days 19 and 20

2008-07-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

Day 19-Friday was full contact shoe shopping, I was trying on shoes next thing I know I am flat on azz looking up. This should have been a warning for how the rest of my weekend was going to go.

Day 20-Saturday we went kayaking at Lake Merritt, in Oakland it is the oldest wildlife refuge in the US. And on Saturday the water was quite nice for swimming in, which is what I ended up doing when I flipped my kayak at the end of the training what we were having. The “kid” that was our guide was on his way back to the boathouse when tipped over and hit the water. My best friend was in her kayak so I handed her my hat and shoes that were in the now full of water and not Kish kayak. So as the guide makes his way back to us I start swimming and towing my kayak back towards the boathouse. The guide came back and tried to radio the rescue boat, his radio didn’t work. So he was all just hang tight I will go get the rescue boat. I kept swimming; there was no way I was just going to wait for him to get back we were a good 15 min paddle from where we started. He finally shows up with the rescue boat, by this time we have hooked my kayak to hers and she is taking us in. So Skippy shows up with the rescue boat, the plan is to get my happy wet azz in the boat, here is the kicker he is about half my size and from where I am floating the boat is about arms length above my head and my PFD is trying to kill me. He take a hold of my PFD and we bob 3 times and I am to haul my azz up and in to the boat, YEAH RIGHT!!! We try this 3 times with no success. I am not having fun at this point. I asked him if it was ok if I just swim back to the launch area, he said not really. At this time I point out that I most likely out weigh him by at least 2 time and there was no way in hell we were going to get my in to that boat. So I am back to being towed in my best friend in the other kayak. We get to the dock there is still really no place for me to get to dry land, then it dawned on the kid that there was a ladder on the other side of the dock we were at, I finally get to dry land. So I got see the lake from a very unique prospective.
Other then the really wet part kayaking was great.

Day 15, 16 and 17

2008-07-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

Day-15 Gym day- was a no go; we are not going to move that to Thursday. Monday is just too hard for us to get our poop in a group to go, it is Monday after all.

Day-16 3.5 mile run- I would like to state for the record that I do not like this distance, it is longer then my short run and shorter then my long run at 5:00am I am having some trouble getting my person to get on board with this new distance.

Day-17 Strength- We have moved the strength training that was on Fridays to Wednesday mornings, we are now swimming laps at the gym, I didn’t hate it I was surprised that I was not unhappy about it. Water is not strong suit. I can swim enough to save my life, but that is about it. I would like to say that swimming laps is hard. I hope some day we will be able to do more then one lap with out stopping to gasp for breath between them.

Day-17 2 mile run-~~I am going to run this evening with my Vibrums again.~~ that didn't happen.

Days 3-15 So I kinda fell down on keeping up on this

2008-07-01T06:11:00.000-07:00

So what can I say, those 12 day were not so good in the training aspect of my life, but in the real world not so shabby. So day 3 was a Wed, we were to run 2 mile in the evening, but no one was feeling it so we decided to run it on Thursday in the am(rest day and day 4). So I am up at 4:20am as always, I get a call from my training partner that she was not going to join me on the run. I went anyway; it was a nice 2 mile in my vibrum fivefingers. We had a party to be at on Thurs evening and there was going to be drinking, so I was pretty sure that there would be no running on Friday. So that takes in account day 5. Day 6 is a cross training day. So now we are at day 7 which would be a long run day as well as Sunday, not really sure what happed with that long run but I am pretty sure that it didn’t happen. Day 8 was a go to the gym and work out day, also know as Monday that didn’t happen due to the fact that is was Monday and neither one of us felt like going…shocking, not! (We are looking at changing that day to Thursday and making Monday a rest day) Days 9, 10, 12 and 14 were all running on the deadmill days in the gym. Wow is it hard to get 4 mile (day14) on a treadmill that will only go for an hour, it takes me about 1 ½ hours to do it out side. This has been hard to commit to, I know it is something we have to do in order to be prepared for the 13.1 but man it is hard to keep it up and we are only on week 3.

Day 2- eek it's early and cold

2008-06-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

Well today is my first run of 1/2 training. It was only 3 miles but it could have been 300 for how tight my legs felt. Adding strength training and stretching is going to take some time to get things moving right, the next day, I hope. It didn't help that I didn't get to bed until late, due to having to clean the house for Shay's appt today. I hope that will go well for him. The house was spectacular, friken spectacular. We have a short 2 on wed, maybe I will run in my viburms.

Welcome to day 1 ! 1/2 marathon training.

2008-06-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

So today was the first day of my 1/2 marathon training, it was a strength and stretching day. All mondays are that. We have decided to go to the 24 hour fitlite place, it is about 30 min for a full body work out. Nice because most nights there is no way I want to go to the gym for an hour or so. It is a circuit training you start with a 7 min warm up on some sort of cardio machine, bike or elliptical. Then when your done with that you spend 1 min on each machine, there is a little dingy noise that sounds every min so you know that it is time to move on. At the end there is a place to stretch. It is a good fast work out. I was happy to see that this time it didn't hurt as bad as the first time. I am sore in places but nothing too bad, we will see when I get up to run in the AM.

eeeewwwww!!!!! SJ Muddy Buddy-2008

2008-06-11T05:58:00.001-07:00

This was one of those races that I really never want to do again. Every one that I talked to said that is was so much fun they had a great time, it was a blast. Well it was something but not really any of those. We were some of the first people there, my "buddy" was less then excited about this whole thing. We had a small tiff before we went to the pre-race meeting that we had to attend. That was fun! Then we had to stand in our corrals for what seemed like ever I was able to make it back to the van to get more water and we were still not off and running. Oh, did I tell you that it was hot?

So finally we were off they sent the bikes first then the runners. The first leg was all up hill, my buddy and a few others were forced to walk the bikes up the hill; I also walked up the first hill. I caught up with her at some point and we walked to the first transition point, there was a wall that you had to climb on to a cargo net thingy to get down the other side. I was none to happy to see this I am, let's say on the short side, lacking in upper body strength. I tried the wall twice and fell off both times, was not able to get a good foot hold or pull myself up. Punched the wall before my 3rd try and the guy was like "you can just go around if you would like". Sadly that is what I did. This kinda made me mad, because maybe my Buddy was right we should not be out here.

The next leg was my turn with the bike, the course description had said that the first part was a bitch of a hill, OK so I am paraphrasing some, but they said the rest of it was all down hill, well they missed one more hill not quite as bad as the first but it did make me have to push the bike for most of it. My buddy caught up with me, she was in bad shape, not sure if she was going to finish or not. Did I tell you that it was HOT! She was in a bad place. I kinda felt bad that she was out there having this bad experience and that I left her, but I was out there too. It was hard, not a lot of fun, but damn it I was out there, my fat self out there running this race to the best of my ability. I have just as much right to be out there as the skinny little bitches, that she thinks are better then us just because they are skinny. So I left her standing in the shade contemplating where or not she was going to quit.

I loved the down hill bike riding part, that was awesome, you just hold on for dear life and go. I got to the 2 nd transition point. It was some crazy thing that you had to go over and under with out touching the ground, well that didn't happen but I did do the task, sorta. I was off and running again. This part was mostly down hill and you have to run the down hill that is the rule of running trails, walk the up hills run the down hills. Oh, check this out there was a woman with 2 small kids and a stroller out on the course, they were doing the mini muddy buddy and got really, really lost. I was thinking to myself... self there is a stroller that you are going to have to race now... just great! I did lose them at some point so I was happy about that. There were 2 women in front of me that were dressed as salt and pepper, they were staying together and having no fun at this at all by this point.

They got the next transition point before me this one was a huge inflatable slide; on one side was a cargo net that you had to climb. Pepper was up and over in no time at all, pepper was having a hard time with it. So the course volunteer helped her with salt up to climb, then he looked at me asked if I was going to do this. I said, hell yeah I was! He was showing me how to hook my foot so I could start my climb. I had to just look at him like he was crazy, the cargo net started at about chest height so there was no way in hell that I was going to be able to get my foot up that high unless I was laying on my back, and that was so not going to work. So I took a "running" leap at the net, grabbed on with my hands and braced my feet on the "wall" worked my way up so I could get my feet in the net, IT WORKED!!!! I was shocked, so up I went, I learned that if you lean back some then you can get the net to pull away from the "wall" so you can get your feet in. It was awesome. Up I went just like that, over the top and down the other side.

Then it was back to the bike, and see if I could catch Salt and Pepper as I went. I heard the guy radio that the last racer had just left that station, so I was desperate to pass S&P. I was able to do just that, I am sure they heard the happy wooohooo as I went by. I was no longer last. I passed my buddy she seemed determined at this time, which is better then defeated that she was earlier in the race. The next transition point was a balance beam. I was so unhappy to see this, I had some how gotten the thought in my head that I was on the bike last, but no there was an odd number of point so I ended running the last one, sheesh I kinda with I knew that before the beam. But any who, I got up there and just stood still for a minute waiting to catch my breath, the helpful volunteer had advice for me about squeezing butt cheeks for better balance. I just needed to breath first.

Across I went, and then I was off and "running" this point it was mostly all I could do to keep moving, did I tell you that it was HOT! My Buddy caught up with me, then was off I was out there by myself. There were a few more teams but not many. I could hear the finish line crowds, but they seemed so far away. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other; there finally was the finish line. Bikes on the right, runners on the left. I tossed my bottle at the bike and kept moving. My dear child covered in dried mud is waiting for us he is on our side of the fencing, still not sure how he did that, off to the right of the mud pit is the beer garden, with tons of people who have been drinking, oh what fun that is.

We get to the edge of the mud pit, we have to crawl under this net stuff, it steals my pirate hat, but I was not going back for it. Then in to the mud, by the time we got there was not much mud left and the flags were all gone so you really didn't know how low you had to go. So here we are two fat girls wallowing in the mud, no this didn't get any comments for the lovely people who had been drinking in the beer garden, none at all, they were perfectly well behaved....not. I tuned most of it out, I just wanted out of the damn mud; on the pulse side it was nice and cold.

About half way through, what I thought was a football field’s length of mud; it was not that big but sure did feel like it was. She flipped over and was moving through on her back, she said it was easier on the knees and elbows, both of which are cut to shreds at this point, So I flipped over too so now I am scooping up mud with the back of me. We finally got to the end and had to climb out of the pit, I managed to slip and fall back in to the pit, the crowd when crazy, I got up gave a sweeping bow and dragged my tired muddy self out of the pit. I had mud in places that mud should never be.

We went and cleaned up after Shay took the pictures of all of us muddy, muddy people. We got changed and then had lunch at the van; it was a good thing that we had food with us every thing was gone by the time we were done with the clean up. It was a lovely day for a picnic, and over all it was not that bad of a time. I was not as sore as I thought I was going to be. That showers that I am in better shape then I think I am to go out and run/ride 5.5 miles and not feel like you did anything is a good thing.

Would I ever do it again.... I am thinking that no would be the answer, but the boy really wants to do it so I am have to do it one time with him, then my muddy buddy career would be over. I still not know that our time was, I guess I will have to go look that up.

PR's so what!!

2008-06-03T06:08:00.001-07:00

This was all at the bottom of my posts in RW BF but no more. It will have to live here. I think I will update it but I am not sure. Today I feel pretty crumby about my running. So for now this will be where my PR's live. I hope it is a nice new home for them.

5k PR: 47:35(8/12/07)
12K PR: 2:07:34(3/16/08)
4.2 mile(pat's run) 1:01:38(5/3/08)

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing the things people say we cannot do."
Walter Bagehot

So far this is what I have done this year.

2008-06-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

Jan 17.7 miles
Feb 0 miles, this is what happens when you hurt yourself
Mar 34.3 miles
Apr 36.5 mile
May 35.2 miles

So this is not so bad, month is in the 30's is good. This month is going to be lower a bit, due to the starting of 1/2 marathon training. That starts on the 16Th, I am kinds scared to commit to that, but we will give it a shot. Oh I do get my new tat this month I was able to get 4 weeks that had a long run of 5 miles. So once I get that then I will post a pic for all to see :D

2008 B2B RR :D

2008-05-19T16:25:00.001-07:00

So Sunday was bay to breakers, this is a crazy little race (65,000 +) people and no one know how many bandits “run” it as well. We were in costume this year, I feel that we did a great job with them, we were ladies going to a masquerade ball and DS was the court jester. We had a lot of people want to take our pictures; we were also photographed by people who do the B2B marketing I think, not sure who they were but they popped up every on and then and I signed a photo release.

It took up 35 min to get to the start line by this time the elites were done. There seemed to be a lot more people this year then in years past. We finished in 2:09:20 a whole 9 min better the last year. Not a PR but this is not the race for that to happen.

We went to the expo to get our packets; we got the boys just fine, but they were unable to find mine. I was kind pissed off just a little but, ok a lot but I got over it. I liked the # I was given, but no I had some stupid generic #, but when we did the time check it had my name on it so it all worked out.

Naked….hmmmmm, as always there was naked at the race, the only one that stands out was a guy that was on the sidelines with his package wrapped in plastic wrap, so I guess he was not “naked” but wow was that not a good look, it was moist and smashed looking. Not good!!! As we were standing the long line for the bus, there were people talking about the naked runners, and how perverted they thought they were. Can you say closed minded? I am guessing they were not from SF.

I got to meet some of the people from the BF (beginner’s forum on Runner’s World) that were having a FE. It was kind fun to faces to names. I do think that they thought we were kinda weird, but that is part of the charm of B2B all the weirdness that happens.

Tapper Madness, sheesh who knew.

2008-05-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

So, people who train for distance races always talk about tapering the week before the race. There is some debate as to how much one should tapper, if some one should tapper at all, and if there is tapper madness. I would like to say that I am not training for any great distance, it is just a 12k, but I do know myself and race tendencies, I need a few non running days before my race. This may not be true for everyone, and it my work to my disadvantage, due to pent up energy (maybe that is my race day problem right there,will have to look in to that). I guess my person is in the routine of running on Friday mornings, but no run today and I am in a grumpy mood. I can't wait for the tapper that comes with the 1/2 training, sheesh I am going to be a mess, but I guess I know it is coming so maybe it will be OK. I hope!

Just a thought

2008-05-15T10:14:00.001-07:00

I have been lucky in my life, I have always been fat. As a child, as a teenager, and all of my adult life. With that I have never been bogged down by the illnesses that come from being fat. There is talk that you can be fat and fit, and others say that is not true. If you are fat then you are unhealthily. So, I have to ask am I just lucky, or healthy? I can tell you that I am healthier then I have been in years. So, there were some effects of being fat I guess. Thankfully not as severe as some people. So even tho it is hard to be a fat person, people are mean and the world is cruel. It could be worse. I guess that is what I have to remember on day that I think my world sucks.

Fast, today was she.

2008-05-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

So this morning at 5:00am it was to be 3 miles, the same boring 3 that we run every tuesday and may run every tuesday for the rest of running time here on earth. Met up with Mer and we are off. But today is different then other days, Kish is feeling strong and having a great go of it. Mer's goal for today was to run for 30min non stop. She was going to try it at my speed with is about 2 min/mile slower then she is. But today I was putting down 15 m. m. I was moving for me. I would like to run 15 m m. I think the long run on Sunday is starting to show that more mile i do the faster the short runs are. I ran the last 3/4 of a mile barefoot, this time not even the socks just my feet on the ground. It was a great feeling. The ground was cold, rough and solid. I did step on one rock that was uncomfortable but it didn't stop me. I love to run barefoot.

2008-05-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

Well I did it, I ran 5 miles yesterday. WHOOOOHOOOOO!!!! So it was going to be a run with my training partner but she flaked on me, at first I was kinda pissed off about it, but then it dawned on me what it means that I could run where ever I wanted to. So off I went. Up was the theme of the day. The first hill that I came to was long steady climb, then there was some nice rolling hills much shorter then the first one. Then the next one was a steep short hill that one just about killed me, after I got to the top of that hill it was mostly downhill from there( in a good way). I ran through the downtown area, it was pretty quiet on a sunday at 9an. I thought I had go far enough to cut down and start heading for home but I missed by 2 block and had to run around the high school. Then I dropped back in to the area near home, which would take me my last 2 miles back home. I was feeling pretty strong leading up to mile 4 but then started to slowdown a bit. I got second wind and finished strong. 1:21 for 5 miles, not setting any land speed records, but when I start running 10 miles I will not be out there for 4 hours :D I hope any way. At the end of the run there were fist pumping and woohoos!! That is the farthest I have run the whole distance today. See what my training partner missed.

Runner!

2008-05-07T20:14:00.001-07:00

I have all my bibs on this, I got it from one of the members at the Runner's World forms.

How to not crash and burn.

2008-05-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

So here I sit wondering why I run races. I love the training part but so far I have not been able to complete a race with out walking; now I know this is not the end of the world and a lot of people do that every time there is a race, but it is frustrating to me. I had a race on Saturday and it was 4.2 mile. I have run that distance many times and ran the whole way, no walking, no gasping for air, no feeling of giving up. Ok, so there was that one time that we were running 4 and I felt like giving up. But Saturday was bruuuutal! With a capital B, I did cover the distance in a good time for me 1:01:36, but every step of the way was no fun, much, much less then fun. This is how all my races have been, for some crazy reason I push myself so hard that I don’t have a good go of it. And there is always walking. I need to learn how to keep from starting out to fast, I crash and burn in the first ½ mile. So I look like the fat girl who just started running and thought it would be a good idea to go run a race. Not sure that any one even notices me but that is how I feel they feel about me. I do know that I will never be fast and gazelle like, more like slow and steady like the tortoise. But I would really like to be able to cover the distance start to finish with out walking. I think I am going to enter some small 5K ( I run one most mornings that I run) and see if I can get over this “balls to the wall” way of racing that leads to me being disappointed in myself for not being able to run the whole way. Either that or I have to give up entering races, but I would never do that what would I do with out all the t-shirts, and I would have no reason to train.