Nobody Puts Emu in the Corner

Now I've had the time of my life...

and I owe it all to you...

I really appreciate the tremendous response on my Garmin bitch-session, I got some great advice about an elusive 'average pace' setting (thanks, Jeff, Tricia, RoadWarrior and Lauren). And was shamed into reading my manual (thanks, Patrick). And was reminded about traveltime to and from outer space (thanks, Jill). I used my Ivy League degrees and your pointers and figured it out. Go, me.

This newly-discovered setting made my speedwork Tuesday so much more enjoyable! (skip ahead if that's all you're interested in) Especially since I did it after walking around the zoo all day long. I spent a split-second getting twisted about the prospect of tired legs, but a quick slap reminded me that these guys are my priority right now...

So I shelved my stress, and we had a blast.

Our closest zoo has rides. I never force my kids to see the animals as a condition of getting to go on the rides...I hear a lot of other parents loudly stating this requirement upon arriving at the gates. For me, whatever the kids want at the zoo is what we do. So it was rides first...most importantly the Outback Express train. Miss C had been seriously screeching for hours about seeing these guys..

Wallaroos...bigger than a wallaby, smaller than a kangaroo.

None of them were moving. 

It is debatable whether or not they were lawn ornaments or living creatures.

Big G and I appreciated how the zoo tried to authenticate the Australian Outback experience...

And I never knew how awesomely an emu's camouflage is suited to the California chaparral landscape...

That hairy-ish, haystack-y grey-brown thing is the emu.

I know... you can't hardly see him even when you click to biggify...

see? camouflage in action :)

Big G insisted I take this exciting picture of a motionless alligator...

But I was more interested in cute things like this...

I swear this is the first-ever zoo visit where one of my kids did not fall in on the Lily Pad Crossing.

For real. A miracle.

And action shots like these fighting bats...

One on the left was just a bully. 

Dude on the right was just hangin' out... and other dude just started going nuts on him... 

all males at this zoo (it's right there in front of you, in case you hadn't noticed)...

And these grooming apes...

I started giggling so hard.

This one ape totally looked like he was sunning his balls. And he was. 

Then the other one started grooming him... picking crap out of his groin area...

that is what you see here :)...clicking will enlarge.

But the highlight of the day had nothing to do with male mammal genitalia. The highlight was feeding time at the otter enclosure!

Check out this movie for all the action and squeals of delight!

I love otters!

At the end of the day, when everyone else was finally in bed, it was time to get my speed on. And I did. Total distance was about 5 miles. After a mile and a half warm-up, it went like this...

2 x 0.25 mi with 0.25 mi rest between.... 1st one @ 7:36 pace, 2nd one @ 7:27 pace

2 x 0.6   mi with 0.25 mi rest between.... 1st one @ 7:39 pace, 2nd one @ 7:33 pace

And I followed that with a mile and a quarter cool-down. The workout didn't destroy me. Don't get me wrong...it was hard! The idea was to hit 5K pace... and this was faster than that for sure.

I must say this increased the level of my awe for some of my Nuun teammates. I already knew them to be fast, stellar athletes, but Dorothy (incredible mom of 3 who pushes a triple stroller while running a 6:05 mile), Emily (super sweaty Ironman), Susan (nurse on the run) and the aforementioned Lauren (relay-running goddess) hold this pace for 26.2 miles! While elite/world-class athletes are waayyyyyy faster, I find myself more impressed, more 'wowed' by what I'll call "ordinary" people who are capable of extraordinary things. And running a seven and a half minute mile for an entire marathon is definitely extraordinary in my book! 

Here's wishing those ladies the very best in the upcoming weeks! A few of them are running the  Marine Corps Marathon or the  NYC Marathon ... and Emily is still being a sweaty animal while rehabbing a freshly-broken foot :( sad face for the broken foot part. Go, ladies! You are amazing and inspiring :)

My Moving Comfort Giveaway ends tomorrow (Friday 10/28) at midnight. Be sure to enter here!

And I've noticed that I am startlingly close to 500 followers. There will definitely be some kind of super weird cool giveaway once that happens! Encourage your irreverent friends to check out Taking It On and follow if they know what's good for them ;-)