Back to the Training Schedule, Sort of...

It feels as though I'm being a huge lazy slug and not working out at all. I know that's not exactly correct, but it feels that way.

• Last Saturday was a back down and we only went 9.5 miles.

• Sunday I did a TNT fund raiser. I learned that on a hot day a cold Grabassier Belgian-style beer is very good.

• Monday was our normal TNT workout in Balboa Park. We ended the workout early so that we could enjoy a team picnic and enjoy a performance of Brits on Broadway with music from The Lion King, Tommy, Phantom of the Opera, and Spamalot. It was very fun evening.

• Tuesday night I skipped the workout. I spent the day getting chewed on so hard the I felt like rawhide. Rushing to the team workout was one extra stress that I just didn't need.

• Tonight is my swim night. Whee!!!

• Tomorrow Steve and I are playing hooky from TNT and going to a Padres game. I'm going to have to get some sort of daytime workout.

• Friday is the rest day.

• Saturday is another short training at only 13 miles.

• Sunday and Monday I'm taking a girl's trip - probably relatively little working out then.

It feels like I need to work much harder in my training. I'm getting antsy. How will I manage to do a half marathon and full marathon in October if I don't kick my training into high gear?

What Time Is It?

My co-worker just stopped by my office and said; "It's ice cream o'clock. Then he handed me an ice cream sandwich. Add that to the great times of the day: Starbucks, a.m., Beer:30, and 5 o'clock-somewhere.

Really, this week I've eaten every last thing that wasn't tied down. I'm not sure if it was the long training session last week or something else, but I've been hungrier than I've been in a long, long time. Hopefully, my appetite will calm down with tomorrow's short training session. Otherwise I'll be waddling through the marathons.

Happy Anniversary to Me

Yesterday was the first anniversary of my move to Southern California.

Why I Love San Diego, Part 1 of a Bajillion

It's always beautiful here and people want to be outside. Houses in San Diego are tiny, because a house is for storing your gear and sleeping. Why would you be inside when you could be outside? Have you seen our outside? It's awesome.

Last night Steve and I went to see some Laurel and Hardy silent films in Balboa Park. The films are shown at Spreckels Organ Pavilion. (Fun facts: It's the world’s largest outdoor pipe organ with over 4,500 pipes and it sounds amazing. San Diego has its own Civic Organist who gives free concerts each week.) The films were accompanied by a live organist as they would have been shown originally. If you've ever seen silent films, then you know how much the added music makes a difference. The films were very sweet, especially Putting Pants on Philip.

The Organ Pavillion seats about 2500. It was jam packed - as were all of the spaces around it. On a Monday night, a few thousand folks came out to the park to enjoy one of the world's great free public art spaces.

You can get dinner and a movie anywhere. Here you can have dinner under the stars, a silent movie festival, a beach blanket, a live organist and 3000 close friends to share it.

15 Miles

Yesterday's training session was 15 miles on Coronado Island. Sometimes you just need to chug through the miles even when they aren't fun.

Today is the America's Finest City Half Marathon. (America's Finest City. That's San Diego, my home.) The event is sold out and I didn't register in time; ergo, I slept in today instead of getting up for a race. Next year. This morning I was watching the news coverage of the half marathon and who do I see waving to the news camera - my buddy Zeke! He's finishing the San Diego triple crown today. It'll be two medals for him today. Go Zeke.

What A Week, What A Year

It's been crazy-humid in San Diego this week. That's really put a cramp in my training style. When it's muggy, it's very hard to get me to workout. All I want to do is lie on the bed and let the World's Most Powerful Fan™ blow on me. In fact, that's what I'm doing right this minute. In spite the humidity, it's been a good week - went to my first Padres game, had the best training session evah, even my work has been manageable.

I'm coming up on the first anniversary of my move to San Diego. My brain swings between thinking a year already and only a year. When I left Dallas last August, I comforted myself with the knowledge that I could always go back there.

In Texas, I was blessed to have two groups of incredibly close friends: the Tribe and the CoolGirls. None of the Tribe members were in serious relationships and we had a standing date for Friday night Mexican. Some of my favorite memories of Dallas will always be sitting in the back room of Avila's Restaurant and laughing. Laughing at Carla's ironic, intellectual musings, Ray's sage take on the world, Leia's naive wholesomeness, Ru's Scottish charm, Blyss's outrageous rampages for booty, Roger's vengeful colon and Tina's "terrorist" attack in Lutin Aiport.*

The CoolGirls are a group of women friends that bonded with a complete lack of bitchiness. We have nothing in common - age, marital status, background, but we love and defend each other. We met every month and laughed until we cried (and occasionally cried until we laughed). Through divorces, first dates, misdirected love affairs, jobs, kids ... we hung together. Fueled by Crown and Coke, Nicotine and low-carb diets we had these marathon gab-fests. We'd spend so long chatting, that people would fall asleep on the floor, then wake up and resume their part of the conversation.

Over the course of the last few years, both the Tribe and the CoolGirls have changed. People have gotten married which expanded the groups, but also diluted us. They've conceived children, moved across the country and across Oceans. This weekend Jim and Leia are moving from Dallas. It's hit me very hard. I could go back to Dallas as a place, but not as the community that I miss.

Of course, then I look at my adorable neighborhood in California, the friendships that I'm building here, the Ocean and I realize that things are good. I'm still incredibly blessed.

*There were other people that made my life in Texas special - Tony, Nick, Moni, Annella, Josh, Jim, AB, Lyn, Vanessa, Michele, Erica, Ashlee, Nat, Jon, Natalie, Karen...I missing tons of people and I love you all.

Choose Your Own Adventure

I finally filled out my recommitment form today. For Team in Training participants recommitment is the real decision to do the event. Before that, you've agreed to train. Now the commitment is financial. At recommit you're accepting responsiblity to raise the full amount of funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. If you don't meet your goal, you're agreeing to donate the remainder yourself. The official recommit date was Wednesday. I've been out of the office so I haven't had a printer to print the forms. Our Team in Training coordinator kindly agreed to bring me a set of recommit forms to today's training session.

For the past few weeks, I've been kicking around an idea. This session Team in Training participants are training for 1 of 2 events - either Nike Women's Marathon or the Dublin Marathon. I wanted to do both, but signed up for Nike since all my friends were doing it. But Dublin just called to me. For the last few months, it seems as though everyone I know has gone to Ireland for work or vacation.

About two weeks ago I asked Steve what he thought would happen if I did the half marathon at Nike (October 21) then the full marathon in Dublin (October 29). Other than the fact that I might get sore, he couldn't find a reason not to do it. I asked a few other people, and they didn't have a good reason either. I'm fit. I'm strong. I train consistently. In truth, everyone is sore after a marathon. Soreness is no reason to skip Dublin.

When I filled out my recommit forms, I was still massaging the Nike+Dublin idea in my head. That's the decision point - not the money, which I'm going to raise anyway - but the event. Selecting the Nike Half Marathon means I can go to Dublin too. It's hard for me to do half of anything, but two full marathons in 8 days is insanity. I stared at the form for a long while, and finally checked off the half marathon box.

That's the adventure I choose - 2 continents, 8 days, 39.3 miles.

Nike Women's Half Marathon and Dublin Marathon - Get Ready, Because Here I Come!

Bouncing, Swaying and Other Wasted Motion

1. Plans for the October-Make-My-Own-Goofy are underway.


2. With extra help and attention from Coach Marcy and Coach Peggy my form has improved in the last two weeks. Part of the problem is that my natural stride is bouncy - so my energy was going upward instead of forward. The other issue is that I wasn't rolling my hips correctly. They were swaying side to side which is a waste of energy. Forward, everything should be moving forward. It's hard to believe I finished a marathon with all that wasted motion.
   
   Coach Peggy explained the physics to me. Once I could understand the motion and the forces, I was able to change. Coach Marcy worked with to have some verbal cues and visualizations to help me recapture my form when I flounder. It's harder than you're thinking it is.
   
   All in all that's amusing. I've spent my entire life thinking that I'm too tall and my hips are too ample. My natural stride makes me bounce myself taller and sway my bottom wider.
   
   
3. Changing my hip roll has made me realize my hips aren't as flexible as they were when I took dance classes. I'm still very flexible, but I'm not the Stretch Armstrong Action Figure I once was. For the next few weeks, I need to add some hip opening asanas to my yoga practice.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

My friend Blyss and I had a chat this weekend. It was great to hear how she's doing, because I've missed her. I've missed her wickedly funny insights into the world.

I was giving her the update on everything and she observed something that is painfully true.

"Damn girl. Even your play is work."

It's true. And it's not a good thing.

Proposed Addition to the Marathon Schedule

Trying to select my January marathon has been a really difficult decision. The options are:

• Carlsbad Marathon - If I select Carlsbad, then I can do the San Diego triple crown next year. The triple crown is Carlsbad, the La Jolla Half Marathon and the America's Finest City Half Marathon.
• Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge - This is Disney World Marathon weekend. The Goofy is a half marathon on Saturday (the Donald), followed by a full marathon on Sunday (the Mickey). You put the Donald and the Mickey together and you've got the Goofy.

Here's the rub - Carlsbad and the Goofy are only a week apart. I can't do both.

I actually have this crazy idea for a make-my-own-Goofy for this October. I have an itch to do two events that are very close together. I'll have to think about my options there.