Woohoo! After much excitement and anxiety, the day of the RnR Half finally arrived. I did have some momentary regrets last night, like "why did I do this to myself?" and to quote a t-shirt I saw at the Health & Fitness Expo, "this seemed like a good idea three months ago".

Ready or not, 4am came much too soon and I was groggily up and about. I thought I'd have plenty of time to get ready and eat before making it to Qualcomm before 5am, when the shuttles were stated to stop running to the Balboa Park starting line.  Between the sunscreen, glide, mole skin, and everything else, I ran out without grabbing my breakfast bars and banana. Justin was kind enough to drive me AND to not give me grief while he turned around and made it back to the buses in time.

Once I arrived, I checked in my schwag bag to be transferred to the finish line, finished breakfast and energy drink, attached the timing chip to my shoe, and stretched during a 20-minute line for the port-a-potties. I did get to chat with some cool women in line, at least.

There were SO many people! To everyone's credit, people were extremely chill about waiting to get into their time corrals or just starting with whatever group. As a few of them joked "I already knew I wasn't coming to win it". The first few miles were the same course as the AIDS Run 10k, but soon after took a turn onto the 163 freeway. I saw gross roadkill and a guy get stopped by motorcycle cops for public urination.

I kept telling myself it was ok to keep a slow and steady pace, that it was fine to see more people pass, fine to let the pace runner disappear. What I really REALLY didn't want to do was hit the wall of suffering. I'd heard everything from "you'll be totally fine" to "I cried the last two miles". I'm grateful it was not the latter. My second and third toes started hurting in the last mile or two, but nothing horrible.

On the return, I met Justin for lunch and basked in the sunshine and luxuriated in being DONE. I've had a couple of lazy hours on the couch after thoroughly stretching, then took the dogs around the neighborhood because I felt bad about wasting a perfectly gorgeous afternoon. Man, I am hoping for the best sleep of my adult life tonight.

I love everybody right now!

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Eek, I feel like the flakiest person ever! I had talked to a friend about joining our team for Sunday's run, but online registration was closed and she was going to do it that morning. She ended up not doing the run after all, but we spoke briefly on Sunday about possibly hiking today. I had COMPLETELY put it out of my mind until today, when I found a thread of emails making plans about it with another friend as well. Oh well, surprise activity!

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It's kind of neat being up, dressed, and having my coffee at this hour. Not so neat the moment the alarm goes off, but shortly after it's not so bad.

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I'm excited about running the Iron Girl 10k this Sunday in Del Mar. A friend mentioned she and a couple other girls from our cohort were participating and asked if I'd like to join. Unexpected and spontaneous, and I'm so glad I'm going! I haven't done one since 2007, it should be a good challenge. As I was registering for the run, I got all kinds of info about the organization. "Iron Girl's mission is to empower women toward a healthy lifestyle". I like that!

I also like that the group I'm going with is made up of people I like, but not the same friends I usually spend time with. It'll be good to reconnect with them and hopefully get us to hang out more in the future.

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Visit with parents is going well so far. The housekeeper came in on Tuesday and I spent Wednesday morning shampooing the carpets. Yay for looking and feeling like we have our shit together! Unfortunately, our ALLEGEDLY super-deluxe aerobed sprung a leak and my parents spent a good part of the night re-inflating the damn thing. I was mortified they weren't comfortable. We had just donated the old futon along with some other furniture thinking it'd be better to use the queen aerobed than the double-sized futon. An executive decision was made to take this as the final nudge to finally set up a fully functional guest bedroom and we got a sweet Memorial Day sale deal on a bed. I was dreading wasting a day to deal with looking around and making a decision, but it went much faster and more smoothly than I'd anticipated.

I'm loving having my mom here going crazy with the cooking. We had carne asada tacos for dinner with a selection of fresh salsas. Oh, and in other news, my dad has become a hard-core Guitar Hero aficionado. My sister gets in today, and graduation is tomorrow!

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What a great run! It was perfect weather for it, and I thing at least part of the reason it was completely overcast was my lathering on a coat of SPF 70 this morning. I got a text from my friend letting me know where they'd parked and where to look for them, but by the time I got down there I ended up parking in a different area and had no luck finding them in the huge crowd. I hoped that I'd run into someone from the three different groups I knew were there, and I did! I heard someone calling my name and was happy to find a couple of my school friends. I ran with them and mostly kept up. I lost my crazy marathoner friend for a while, but later found her after she'd slowed down to take some photos.

It was a really fun event. Crossing the bridge on foot was amazing, what a view! I handled the incline fine, though it did feel like it was NEVER GOING TO END. I'm just happy I was able to do it without a walking break. Wooo! The cherry on top was running into some of Justin's work friends at the very end and getting a ride back instead of having to return via bus. I would have probably taken the ferry instead, just for fun, but I've no idea what the lines and wait time was for that. I *think* I completed the 4 miles in 38:55, but the official results will be posted sometime before 5pm.

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OMG, you guys, I'm scared! I'm joining some friends for the Bay Bridge Run on Sunday and I have no idea how I'm going to do. My friend warned me with plenty of time to train for the STEEP incline of the bridge. Have I done so? NO! I did some incline work yesterday and now I'm even more scared about how much this will kick my ass. At least it's only four miles. Oh, and the cool thing about this event is that they shut down the Coronado Bridge (or half of it, I'm not sure) for it. There's no other time pedestrian traffic is allowed, and it's going to be an awesome view!

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I had one of my nights without a single hour of sleep. Not even fifteen minutes here and there! I'm tired of this. I called my doctor to discuss some options and she's on vacation all week. I can't forget to follow up on this. It's not ok to not sleep!

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Instead of my weekly goal of four runs, I switched it up to three runs and two hikes last week. Nice! So for a timely day of muscle rest, I invited my friend over for lunch. I made salad with pears, goat cheese, walnuts, and champagne dressing. This has become my current obsession, sooo good. We also hung out by the pool for a while and were treated to the ukelele stylings of one of my neighbors.

Now it's back to a running day, outside even. I'm going to recommend the wonder that is Neutrogena Cooling Mist sunscreen. None of that stiff tacky feeling, just feels nice and light.

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Progress
In an effort to make my indoor runs more productive, I am on a mission to finally increase the incline from the 1.0 I've stuck to forever. I've worked on speed and endurance, but left the incline completely neglected. Today I did the warm-up at 4mph/4.0 incline in order to get used to it, then ran a little slower than usual, but alternating each song between 1.5 and 2.0 incline. I can do this! I can already feel it makes a huge difference on muscles that weren't getting the most out of the time I'm putting in. This is good.

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I wore the hell out of my favorite boots this fall and winter, and as a result the heels cracked and wore down to the nail. I love these, the heel is only about 2.5" and they're pointy, very comfortable and cute. I couldn't find a similar replacement and it hit me, DUH! Get them repaired! The place I took them to did an awesome job. They look brand-freaking-new and the service cost a fraction of new, not-as-ideal boots. I feel resourceful and less wasteful.

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The time has come. I have to tear myself away from the treadmill and start running outside again. The treadmill is good for my ego, I can put in a lot of miles. However, I don't think I'm getting the same toning benefits as the outdoor version, and the weather is too phenomenally gorgeous to let it go to waste. So today, I grabbed my new hydration belt and headed to the beach for a run. Wow, all the treadmill work is not for nothing! It felt lots better than the last few times I've run outside. I got in 45 minutes, around what I usually do at the gym. Wow, did it take a lot out of me! I think I'll start with aiming for one outdoor run a week, the rest at the gym, and go from there. It's much more of a production, what with all the necessary sunscreen and the drive to the location, but it's worth it.

Also, I think I saw more green bikinis this afternoon than I have in my entire life. Guess that whole drinking ban isn't scaring away the St. Paddy's revelers.

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Good start for the day, who knows about the rest. My friend came over at 8am this morning and we headed out for a hike. She hadn't seen the trail nicknamed "Glute Killer/Ass Mountain" and it seemed like a good one for today. It was just around 80 minutes, but just as steep as I remembered. It was a little chillier than usual, but it was nice to get it done early. Now I can get to a different kind of productive, hopefully.

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Surprise good day. After coming back home from running a bunch of errands in the morning, a friend came by to drop off a wig she borrowed for a party. Impromptu afternoon of champagne and talking. I like my friends.

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For the last two years, I've had some kind of hardcore Stats test the day after the big Mardi Gras event downtown takes place. The year before that I had to work late and didn't know enough people. This year I plain felt like staying home. I have stuff with good friends to look forward to this weekend, the giant street party just wasn't too inviting. I may still enjoy those if I get sufficiently enthused and ready for them. We'll see, maybe for St. Patrick's Day (oh, that day last year I had my crazy challenging Stats class and it seemed like everyone on campus was drunk).

What else? I had the housekeeper come in yesterday for a deep clean. In the meantime I did stuff like cleaning the blinds, folding laundry, and washing all the rugs and towels. I feel caught up for the time being.

Also, being home has led to some pointless boredom eating that needs to stop. At least I've kept up my running, so even if I'm a little fluffier I can feel some decent musculature underneath. I've stocked up on fresh produce and good protein and cut off the late-night "just because" snacking, and reduced the wine intake that leads to said snacking.


I'm in a good mood today. I'm feeling the love! Y'all are good people.

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Yesterday was one of those days when nothing terrible happens, but everything goes just a little wrong.

I left for jury duty without my summons, thankfully Justin was still home and was able to text me my group and ID numbers. Parking was retarded and I ended up going with my plan from last time to park in the mall's structure and use their free validation machines. During a break, I made a mad dash to move my car before the free three hours were up, but left the ticket in the console (machine and car were pretty far apart, I was hoping to validate on the way to the lot). I was not only totally late getting back, but I didn't even get to move my car. That was mortifying and I felt awful for keeping people waiting. I must have looked a sorry, sweaty mess, I didn't get the dirty looks I was expecting (and fully deserved). The major upside is that I was one of several potential jurors excused from the trial. I paid a total of $14 to park. Ugh. Later, just as I was getting ready for bed, I knocked a hair clip off the bathroom counter and it shattered on the floor. I had to laugh, it just resonated with the entire day!

To get off this lame negativity wagon, I want to remember my lovely Saturday. What made it so wonderful was getting in lots of good things, great and small, into a single day. Justin and I got massages at 8am, then were productive and got the car washed on the way home. We gave the dogs a long walk, then had lunch down the street and sat outside in the sunshine. After chilling at home for a bit, I got in a nice run. I even made a successful dinner, mole which turned out awesome (toasting the sesame seeds makes a big difference, who knew?).

So yeah, some days rule, some days you have jury duty. Next year I'm bumming a ride to the courthouse.

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I'm amused at the dress code on a party invitation I received, "Dress to Impress". While I know it means more cocktail and less afternoon semi-formal, the possibilities of subjective interpretations could be fairly comical depending on whom one might be trying to impress.

ION, I have jury duty tomorrow. Early morning, but at least the timing is good.

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January Stats:

16 runs (71 miles total)
2 hikes (2:10, 90 minutes)
1 elliptical session (60 minutes)


I have to say, that certainly cheers me up on a day I'm feeling bloated and cranky. I took yesterday to rest, so it's time to kick off February. Let's go!

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Decreased spending or not, I am enjoying some of these commercials. After all, Superbowl advertisements are like...the Superbowl of advertising.

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Let's Get Some Shoes
Well, hanging at home to sign for Justin's delivery between the "window" of 8am-7pm was rewarded with receiving a delivery of my own. Yay, Piperlime! I ordered two pairs that were on sale, used a promo code for an extra 20% off, and entered a $40 reward I'd earned through my Banana Republic card (it read "not applicable with other discounts", but I said WHATEVER, I'M TRYING IT ANYWAY!)

So it worked and I got these and these for a grand total of $68. Man, what a score!

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