She's a natural...

And it's winter...

Two beautiful photos for you on this beautiful day :)

Still cranking through this high school application biz...hope to be done tonight! But then it will be time to tackle the financial end of things. I remember complaining about college tuition going up over ten grand...we're looking at triple that for high school :P Keep wishing me some luck :)

Hope to spend some more time here later in the week!

Wishing you all a lovely day :)

Twosday

In the past two days I've done two things that two years ago I couldn't do.

First thing:  Last night I ran a total of about two miles with two of my kids.

To start, I went out with my big girl for her debut run in real running shoes. She was super jazzed. And she ran a strong and fairly steady 0.83 miles. This kid is no complainer...a trooper through and through.

Then I ran with G. We ran 1.25 somewhat steadily-paced miles fraught with huffing and puffing and intermittent naysaying...but he persevered and even picked things up considerably for the last quarter-mile. And once the kids were done, I ran a mile on my own and felt great. I think these slow, happy miles with the kids are doing wonders for me :)

Second thing:  Today I walked alone with my two boys and my two-year old...pain-free.

One of the saddest things about my injury has been my lack of availability to my family. My mobility being hindered by pain meant that I could last for about 30 minutes before I needed to shut down and go inward to cope...even when out for a simple stroll. If a kid took off (as toddlers are wont to do) I was screwed. So we didn't go for manyany walks without daddy...even though we live in such a fabulous area for walking.

It was glorious here today. I headed out with Q and G and little Miss C to our usual Bay Trail path. Even though I've shown you this place before and talked about walking or running or biking here before, today was really the first time I can claim 'pain-free.' Okay... I had a little tightness and stiffness...but no pain. We went slowly and everyone was fairly cooperative, which I am sure helped a ton :)

One super awesome thing about not being in constant pain is that I get to enjoy and appreciate the discoveries and ramblings of my kids instead of wondering when the #*@% we can head home so I can sit and ice and stretch...alone.

finding daisies ...

"Look, mommy...bird poop!"

"It's hard to walk on these big, sharp rocks..."

"I know G says I should appreciate this hard-packed clay surface with its light gravel dusting, 

but can we go home now?"

And so we did.

The Semi-Urban Athlete

Lately there have been some athlete blogs showcasing gorgeous scenery... mountains, trees, beachfront settings, sunsets... all inspiring vistas. Often, when I take pictures during my workouts I, too, generally focus on the pretty things (except when it is a pivotal bathroom or monumental dungheap). I tend to look one way and not the other.

I am definitely sequestered from reality, here all cozy in my little gated community. This hit me hard on Saturday morning. My husband was listening to the radio. "Did you know there was another homicide?" Another? I have been hiding my head in the sand... He went on..."There have been 8 homicides in (our city) this month!"

It is just over one mile from our house to the pre-ghetto... the edge of the Iron Triangle. Fortunately, between our house and the pre-ghetto are: The Gate, police headquarters and 6 lanes of freeway. When we moved to this city we were moving from the nation's #5 ranked crime city to #6... a step in the right direction :P but The Gate really makes all the difference when it comes to feeling safe.

Last night, I went for a ride. I decided to look that other way. Not the pretty way. I didn't head into Crime Central on my bike, though I do drive through it nearly every day. It doesn't really scare me, but perhaps it should. I guess I tend to not really think about it. It's there. I need to go through it to get where I am going. Just do it.

I headed, as usual, over to the water. For a change, instead of looking out over the water at this...

or noticing the lovely marshlands and all the interesting waterfowl or Mt. Tamalpais in the distance, I looked the other way.

About a mile of the ride is alongside a huge postal transfer center...

The razor wire lets you know you shouldn't hop the fence.

This mile goes by fairly quickly when biking but much more slowly when running.

Next door to the postal transfer center is ...

Home of $9.99 pizzas that are soooo bad for you.

Right near the Costco is a great little getaway spot...

Coffee Cup Beach

The pathway down to Coffee Cup Beach...

I thought I would find a litter-mess of coffee cups down there.

Nope... just a rainbow of colorful, used condoms.

A little further down the trail is this...

I know what you're thinking...

prison guard watchtower!

Wrong!

It has something to do with horse-racing...

the track grandstand is in the distance.

And here are the bales of straw and horse-trailers in the parking lot.

One of the exciting parts of the trail is where it parallels the freeway. Just a flimsy cyclone fence and 4-foot retaining wall between you and fast cars...

It's kind of hard to shoot video with a cellphone while biking down a trail, 

so a little slack in the professionalism department and a lot of appreciation for the risks I took :P

So that's the less-gentle side of my 'hood. I am working up the guts (or stupidity) to do a photo/video study of the harsh side.

Are you ever afraid where you work out? Of what?

Do you get to run or cycle in a lovely environment?

My New Best Friend

Please bear with me while I pull together the last installment of "You Ask, I Answer"... the fabulous Q & A game that bares all, tells all. (Answers vol. 1, vol. 2. and vol. 3 can be found by clicking on those numbers). The video is just boring and long, and I am figuring out how to spice it up and make it interesting and entertaining. I hope to debut it on Monday, at which point I will also announce the Nuun winners :)


In the meantime...

I would like to introduce you to my new best friend...

This is her good side.

She's doesn't have a whole lot going on on the inside.

My physical therapist introduced us. She goes by the name The Grid... click on it to read her specs. What I love about her more than other foam rollers are the following:

• the little ridges and groove things make it hurt more while rolling, thus making me hurt less after,
• no deforming over time... my other roller started looking like an hourglass, and
• the hollow, PVC-pipe core make her easier to take on trips... I can pack stuff inside of her so she really doesn't take up a whole lot of space in the bag/suitcase.

She and I have been spending a lot of time together since I was rear-ended a week ago Tuesday. I do believe she is helping get me back to running sooner than if we hadn't met. She wasn't cheap... but she's worth it ... and so am I :)

So... yep... haven't really run in over a week. It sucks. I did get a little, easy 3-miler in on Tuesday. I was going to run yesterday, but I was slammed by a migraine that sent me to bed at 7:30 (about 5 hours earlier than normal... and before my normal running window of opportunity). I hope the headache lifts enough by this evening so that I can log a few miles. I am working on my patience big time. I don't want to be a DASA.  I know that waiting until I don't feel off-kilter and bound up will pay off. And I know that not waiting will come back to haunt me... so I wait.

I've gotten a couple of bike rides in... one early enough in the evening that I was able to take these cool pictures...

At the southern end of my ride that day was an old city dump. 

People make all kinds of interesting things out of found objects

(read: junk)

This little amphitheater-ish thingy is one such creation.

There is a community of 'homeless' squatters who live in lean-tos and tents in the near vicinity...

I think they have little bonfire parties in this amphitheater sometimes.

At the northern end of my ride was the Rosie the Riveter Memorial...

These structures are an artist's rendition of ship-building...

I think this is the bow...

this may or may not be the part in the middle of the ship where the control guys hang out

(my Love Boat-watching self seems to think this was called the 'bridge')

and in the distance, out over the water, is the stern.

But I may have the bow and stern reversed :P

There are a whole lot of commemorative pavers between the bow and stern...

below are three of them...

Fascinating stuff, history. 

World War II, the war efforts and the ship-building industry are largely why my mom's side of the family wound up in these parts.

A less experienced athlete and younger person might be getting super duper agitated by needing to sit out for two weeks when in the middle of training for a half-marathon AND getting ready for a rapidly-approaching team event like the Hood to Coast Relay... stressing about letting her Nuun Platuun down. Well, I know that I will be much more likely to perform at my highest level by taking care of this pain biz NOW. I'll come back fresh and feisty... raring to go... Commando, I am :)

On the parenting front, I am struggling. My kids fight a lot. I know I need to get more authoritative with them... but I have been doing this for 16 years and am feeling a trifle burnt out. 

I just found out that my 6-year old has been going across the street to play Halo video games. We don't have video games over here... long story involving my stepsons, and husband hurling the nintendo down the street into the vacant lot to get them to finally stop needing to be glued to the darn thing. So Q-Man has been having nightmares and lots of separation anxieties lately... thanks, Halo. I just read the parental reviews on that one. What are those neighbor parents thinking? Clearly not what I'm thinking :P No more video games for now.

Baby X begged to go to another session of camp. She loves it so much. She has her father's awesome social streak. Lucky her :)

Big G is reading like the reading fiend he is. And fighting with his younger siblings. 

Miss C is into anything and everything. She can climb all the safety gates... they are now just decorative. She has figured out how to bust the doorknob covers off so can enter any room she wishes whenever she wants. She learned to push the chair over to and climb up on the kitchen counter to access the upper cupboards, where the cookies and chocolate live. She has started biting! Even herself! And now she likes to slide down the bannister...

But she gets stuck at the bottom. And screams.

Here's hoping for lovely weather for us all, enjoyable and healthy exercise, relaxing family moments and world peace :)

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

What's Up Friday...

Screw alliteration.


There's still time for you to come play Q & A with me... the game where you can ask about anything. 

• Why did I stop rowing? 
• How much could I bench at the height of my strength? 
• What are my old PRs? 
• What is my favorite physical feature about myself? 
• What do I find attractive in others? 
• Why did I buy an enormous RED sofa? 
• What the heck is up with my hip?
• Why did I marry a man who already had 6 children... and then make him have 4 more?
• Exactly how unpopular was I in high school and why?

You can even win Nuun! See the Q & A game post for details.

Here's what's happening today...

Since my hip is all hurting and cranky this week, I am not running :(  I am so sad. Wouldn't it be awesome if you could just work out and nothing ever hurt or got injured? Fortunately, my PT had some cancellations today and they can squeeze me in... you need to understand how miraculous this is... the woman is booked out until mid-August. She is the Goddess of ART... my friend Tricia recently posted about ART. After having this hip problem for over 8 years, ART is what finally fixed me.  Sure wish I had known about it sooner.

Being unable to run, I did some more bike riding... that doesn't hurt my hip. I am so thankful that I was urged to try out the bike because it is proving to be so helpful. While I am still not so sure how much I like riding, it is a life-saver in terms of sanity preservation and has become a wonderful cross-training tool. I think I pay more attention to my surroundings when I ride... even though I am going faster. And it's nice to be able to venture outside of The Compound at twilight... I wouldn't do that running... just a little too close to the ghetto to feel safe.  Last night's ride was another beauty. Aesthetically speaking.

The sun had just sunk below the horizon by the time I made it out to the trail.

At my turnaround, I needed to pump up that tire

(yes, I do plan on getting it fixed soon... still figuring out how to fit it and four kids in the car at the same time... oh, brainstorm! toss it in the truck and get my husband to take it in!)

which gave me a moment in which to discover this bit of urban art.

(that's a paint-spattered shoe stuck on the wall)

Then back to some natural beauty...

I really wish I could take better nighttime pictures.

This looks so lame.

It was spectacular in real life.

And a sidenote...

Beth at Shut Up and Run has called for people to expose their strange hidden talents (their SHT, if you will). And has thrown in a t-shirt to make a contest out of it. I can't remember the last time I won a t-shirt. She can fart in her throat. I will be brainstorming and developing my SHT ... I have until the 18th to perfect and video it. I know you all are rooting for me. 

I could always video myself making horrifically candid remarks at my 30th high school reunion tomorrow night. But I guess that since everyone already knows I have 'filter issues', that isn't really a strange hidden talent.

The Tenner.

I did the double-digit madness.

Ten miles.

It happened. In the daylight. I needed sunscreen. I haven't run with sunscreen on in about a million years... well, at least not since 2001.

The "talk" happened.  The one where you try to talk yourself out of it in various ways.

"I didn't eat enough."
"I ate too much."
"I just ate... I am going to puke."
"I ate so long ago... I am going to bonk."
"My hip is kinda hurting."
"I can't find my lucky shirt."
"Where is the iPod? I cannot run without the iPod! Is it charged? I'll bet it isn't charged."
"I need to go to the bathroom."
"I only have one hour now. I can't possibly run 10 miles in one hour. That's crazy. Oh, you can make the kids dinner and get them ready for bed? Oh, right... you've been doing that for 31 years."
"The seam on the toe of these socks is hurting. I need new socks. Do you know where the socks are?"
"I need to go to the bathroom."
"I can't do this. This is nuts. 10 miles is really, really far."
"My legs are still tired from my last run."
"I need to go to the bathroom."
"What if the sunscreen starts dripping in my eyes?"
"I need to go to the bathroom."

Finally I had the right socks, the right sunscreen, the right shirt, the iPod... charged, a snack, some sunglasses and went to the bathroom... then I had to go make it happen. Out the door. Ten miles.

I always forget that in the daylight, people can see me. I exited through The Gate and entered the general population...in my ratty running clothes, with my weird hairdo, singing out loud to my weird songs that no one else can hear. I guess it's kind of embarrassing. Fortunately, I am not easily embarrassed :)

It was a flat out-and-back with one mediumish hill at the turn-around. About a mile into it, the "talk" started again. "I think my hip hurts. It probably isn't a good idea to do this if I think my hip hurts." This, for me, is like saying "I think I'm in labor." When it happens for me, I know. No thinking involved. I was fine, and I knew it. Forging onward.

I ran past 3 bathrooms and two water fountains. I used them all and was very, very grateful for their presence at those precise moments. Of course, there were incidents. Not accidents... incidents. I'll share this one... because it showcases my resourcefulness ;-)

It occurred at Bathroom #2. I had to pee. I understand now that I have to pee about 4-5 miles into a run. Remember that downhill pee-fest last Sunday? That was about 4.5 miles into the run. I had the same thing happen in this run. It's .... A PATTERN. But I didn't pee in my pants this time... today was not a race, and I was running OFF THE CLOCK (yes, believe it. you can do it, too. trust me. it's good for you). So I used the handy-dandy, public, step-up-from-a-portapotty. I made the mistake of sitting down... and the mistake of not checking the toilet paper status before sitting down (in reality, I rather fell down onto the seat... or collapsed down). There was no toilet paper. But.... there were two cardboard rolls that had once held toilet paper! I shredded the cardboard and crumpled it up in my fist to make it soft... voilà. I am just like MacGyver ;-)

Another incident I'll share happened right at the end. Surprisingly, it began right where I raced the Drunken Bum. Another impromptu race took place. This time I was up against a 6' tall, 125 lb. man who was wearing what looked like his 16-year old daughter's pajama pants, a striped hoodie (with the hood ON) and Converse hi-tops. I was not interested in racing, but he was slower than I was going... so I passed him.

Since I was listening to a really great song very loudly on my iPod, I had no idea that he had started drafting off of me, inches away. If I had stopped he would have crashed right into me instantly. If I had slowed down, he would have given me a flat-tire. He was that close. I didn't notice this for about a mile and a half as I kept hitting  'repeat' on the iPod 'cuz I was so into the song. I think I need to not listen to the music quite so loud. What if he were something more dangerous than just a bad dresser?

As I peeled off the main drag, I saw him fall over. Just kidding. But he did stop. And he turned around and walked back in the other direction. I kept running... I had another 1/2 mile to go. But the song was over, and I was a little bit sick of it at that point, after listening to it 8 times in a row. That last 1/2 mile was turtle-style. Not quite super slo-mo... but almost. An ice bath was necessary. I sat in it for at least 20 minutes.

My first tenner in I think 15 years... there you have it an a rather large nutshell.

How was your weekend?

The Gate

We are renters.  We like it that way.  But with renting comes an element of uncertainty.  When we rather suddenly needed to move last year, we spent a lot of highly concentrated time looking at places.  Well, I spent a lot time, anyway.  Poring over Craigslist for hours on end.  Every day getting on there, hoping to see and snatch up the perfect home for us.  24 houses total over 3 months time... actual appointments and go-inside-of-it looking.  That doesn't count my drive-bys.  A lot of places.  And with a 6-month old...oh, and 3 other kids.

There were just a couple of neighborhoods in which we were looking.  Family-friendly, close to amenities, easy access for commuting... Schools were not an issue because our kids would be staying where they were.  We wanted something big enough so that we didn't feel like too many rats in the cage.  We wanted something nice but not fancy (fancy does NOT work if you have kids).  A nice landlord was also a must, as was a yard for the kids.  And, of course, we had a price range.  lol

We ended up in a place we would NEVER have considered in the beginning of the hunt.  But after seeing all that I saw and evaluating what was REALLY important to us, we wound up not in the charming, character-filled, 100-year old brown shingle walking distance to shopping and other amenities that we had envisioned but in a cookie-cutter development... a Gated Community (we joke about it, saying the words like the South African bad guy in the movie "Lethal Weapon" says "diplomatic immunity" and laughing uproariously ... we're weird that way).

It is right by the water and a stone's throw from a waterfront trail.  Because it is near the ghetto (no lie) it is very affordable... but it is quite separated from the scary places by a freeway, and there is a police headquarters in the middle.  And there is The Gate.  The Gate tripped me out at first.  Who wants to live in a place where you need to be locked in and others need to be locked out?  But I have grown to love The Gate.

The Gate means I can run at night!  That is pretty much the only time during the week that I can run.  I have a loop that is 0.6 miles and I can mix it up with a couple of figure 8's on the dividing streets.  And right now I don't really run all that far so it isn't too boring yet.  I can leave the front door open and if I scream from anywhere in the development, my husband would most likely hear me.  If it weren't for The Gate I wouldn't be here... on this blog.

The Gate also means that my kids can run around the neighborhood and ride their bikes right out of the garage into the streets without being nailed by an oncoming car.  This is not common in these parts!

When people get freaked that I run at night, I simply claim, "Gated Community" in my best Afrikaans accent.  They never get it.