Time for a little patience...

Finally.

High school apps are in the mail. Our work is done. Time to wait.

The awesome thing is I get to model patience for my son. He must be patient as he awaits decisions; I must be patient as I coax and guide my body back to health.

After a few stutter-starts to my training plan, I think I'm finally starting for real. The plan is unconventional, as is my wont, but I think it will be effective for my purposes.

I was going over my training logs from a long, long time ago and was struck by how much cross-training I did and also by how frequently I did strength work. This was true both of my rowing logs and my old running logs. Stronger, faster, almost never injured...and of course, younger, but I'm thinking there is a reason why we keep hearing these words, "Want to prevent injury? Cross-train and strength-train and get some good body work done on a regular basis!" and "Oh, bummer you're injured? What have you been doing for cross-training and how often do you incorporate strength work into your routine? When was the last time you had a massage?" Many of us would truthfully have to say, "None and never and what's that?"

I'm going old school. Which is also smart school.

About two weeks ago, I started seeing a new bodywork guy who is awesome. Yesterday, I returned to my trainer to recommence strength-training after a 6-week hiatus. Yesterday, I also returned here...

You've seen it before...

blah blah blah...big hill...blah blah blah...

Sunny day made for awesome, leggy shadows...

I really am not picking my butt. And I do have clothes on...

even though I look like a pot-bellied naked person...

with a headphone cord.

I saw some spectacular sights...

See the hawk about to take flight from the top of the street light?

Whoa, whoa! Before you raise your eyebrow too high and wonder, "Isn't that a bit overambitious if you're taking it slow?" I didn't go long or hard for any of this. It was all chill and a beginning. And it felt really calm and really good.

My plan calls for running a maximum of three days a week, cross-training a minimum of three days a week, a little bit of strength work every single day, and bodywork (massage/chiro/ART) once or twice a week. All of this will ebb and flow...except the running part. MAXIMUM three days a week. For my body, I know this is where it is happiest. At least at this juncture in my athletic life.

As I sit here 2+ weeks out from my first race of the year...a sweet little 5K...I am excited to see where I can take it at the moment it is occurring. I am eager to see what a little patience can bring.

How is everyone else doing? Is training going well? Have you raced yet this year? What's coming up?

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 :)

High School

Who remembers high school? Okay...now who remembers it fondly?

High school for me was a mixed bag. Academically, the institution I attended was highly-ranked and well-regarded. It was our city's public high school. Very few people in the district sent their kids elsewhere because it was considered such a great school.

Ours was a school of tremendous diversity...in all areas: racial, religious, economic, cultural...you name it. Still there was a lot of 'fitting-in' angst. But I see now, after watching my 6 stepkids navigate this period, the angst is fairly universal even if it isn't always obvious.

Why am I talking about high school?

My big boy is about to embark on the adventure, that's why. And it isn't a simple procedure.

The local public high school is not a good fit for him. He would be miserable and afraid. He would for sure get jacked up and shoved into a locker sometime in the first or second week of school. I'm not a doom-sayer...I just know my kid. This school is my husband's alma mater, and way back when he was a student it was a great school for him, and he loved it. But my guys are different animals, one from the other. And so we've been doing the Private School Application Game with Big G. Lots of open houses, student shadow visits, interviews, and application essays. Fun stuff. And we're all starting to feel a wee bit stressed. Deadlines are looming...everything needs to be in by next Thursday.

He has chosen three schools to which he plans to apply. They are all great, and I do believe he would be happy in each one, but they are all as different as they are similar. I'm wondering how much influence I should exert over the decision-making process. I'm wondering if there will even need to be a decision. And I am a little overwhelmed at the parental pieces of the application! We have to write essays, too!

Long story short...I'm distracted from this blog right now. And top it off with not running for a myriad of reasons (actually, not exercising at all)... not much time and really very little to say :( So not like me!

So...

hold that thought!

because

as Schwarzenegger would say,

"I'll be back!"

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend!  :)

The Very First Race I Entered...

...didn't happen. Not for me.

my high school besties are identical twins... and they are still friends of mine :)

When I was a senior in high school, my best friends and I used to convince each other that not-so-fun things were actually really fun... like going out for the soccer team when none of us had ever played before...

SOCCER

I'm in the back row, next to the goalie who is in all black. My two besties are also in the back row, one next to me and the other is third from the left.

or going out for the field hockey team when none of us had ever played before...

FIELD HOCKEY

JV, baby :) My buddies made varsity. We sucked so badly. I am back row on the far left... goober-girl.

What you don't know is that our school colors were red and gold... those poly/nylon blend sleeveless shirts were a hideous shade of yellow and our lovely kilts were scratchy red.

or running in the 7.5-mile San Francisco Bay to Breakers when none of us had EVER run before... aside from the running we were forced to do for the above-mentioned teams.

GYMNASTICS

Front row, left... with all the hair... and taller than everyone else :P

My buddies are: second from right, front row and the one with the braces holding up her head.

I think we were using it as an excuse to delay heading off to gymnastics practice (another of our bonding sports... but they were actually good at it, and I was not :P ).  The three of us were not crazy about the new coach, and "training" for the B2B was a legit 'out' of going to practice... for a couple of weeks anyway until the race.  Our "training" consisted of going out to the school track and starting to jog, making it about a quarter of the way around while telling jokes or complaining about various teenager-y things, bursting into laughter that made us literally fall down and roll around in the grass of the football field until we nearly (or did) pee in our pants.  Laughing so hard that no sound comes out. I love laughing that hard. But it is not conducive to training for a long running race.

We signed up to do a Jog-a-thon somewhere in the middle of the training... as many laps as you could do in an hour... money pledged for each lap... money to go to a charity, I forget which one. I think we all ran 5 miles in that hour. We felt pretty freakin' awesome for just doing it... and pretty freakin' wiped and sore because we were totally NOT ready for that.

All the stress from the not training must have compromised my immune system because I got bronchitis within a week of the race. I planned on giving it a shot anyway... 'cuz that's how I am ;-)  But my mom flipped her lid. And since I was still a kid and needed to listen to my folks, I didn't run :(  But my friends did! They said it was awful and that they wished they'd had bronchitis, too. They said I was lucky to have bronchitis. Whew. After that race report, I was soooooo glad I had been sick :P

Ironically, the next time the Bay to Breakers entered into my life was when I had just moved back to the San Francisco area after being away for most of my young adulthood. I entered the race and did not run a step prior to the race. I did all my training on the StairMaster!  lol  I finished in 70 minutes and then raced off to work, where my legs seized up and I was pretty much useless for that whole day and several after it!  (= boss not happy )

Third time's a charm, right?

Here I am... poised on the edge of another trip to San Francisco to run up and over the Hayes Street Hill and then fly through Golden Gate Park (I'd say 'streak', but there will actually be streakers and I won't be running naked). This time I have trained. This time I will be ready. I might not be superfast, but I know I can finish it without losing my job... or, most likely, my breakfast!

I had set a time fantasy goal for myself of one hour flat. That would mean I'd run 8:02 miles the whole way. I am not that fast. I accept that. And someone reminded me that this is the 100th Anniversary running of the race ... there are 50,000 competitors and countless bandits and infinity meddling interested bystanders to contend with so speed is going to be very, very relative :)

Two weeks more weeks of prep... the focus will be on staying healthy and having fun! I want a new experience for this race :)