Javelina Jundred

Have you ever imagined running 100 miles?  No, me either.  But my crazy husband has and did over Halloween.  Yes, 100 miles!  Its totally unthinkable to me but I was there so I know he did it :)  After Dave mastered marathons then it was 'what can I do next' and of course Ultra's came up.  He's done a few 50K's to prepare but this was his first real Ultra.  The Javelina Jundred was on Halloween in Phoenix at McDowell Mountain Park.  We went on Friday night to pick up his packet and eat their pasta dinner.  When we got there I couldn't believe that there were people already staged there with their tents ready to spend the night.  A lot of the people seemed to know each other and looking around it seemed like this 'culture' of people all camped out and excited to start their 100 mile journey the next morning.

I was at first a little taken aback by the people; mostly dressed in running type clothing and running shoes all camped out in the staging area.. especially since this was the night before the race!  I guess though for someone traveling from out of town its more convenient and cheaper to camp at the race???  It looked like a lot of people were doing it so maybe this is part of the experience.  Anyways, we checked it out, got his packet, ate dinner and listened to a guy who was speaking about running.  He was actually a guy we had read a book about so it was interesting to see him.  Oh, FYI.. it was freezing there!  After that we headed home to Dave's parents house for the night.

Up EARLY to get a start for the day.  Think we got up maybe around 4.. I can't quite remember but I know it was early.  Dave and I and his mom headed out and got a parking spot.  Once we were there we checked in and wandered a little bit before the race finally started.  Dave got geared up and headed to the start area.  Its not the same as a shorter distance road race where people line up and take off when the gun goes off.  Here people get close to the starting line but aren't really lined up and jockeying for position and its not so frenzied when the gun goes off..you just start running at a normal pace.  I guess when you know you'll be out there for over 24 hours you figure there is no rush.  After they left, Dave's parents and I headed over to our 2 cars to set up camp.  We snagged a great parking spot with Dave's car right near where the runners come in on every other lap and head out on every other lap so it was great!  We made a mini base camp of sorts right out the back of Dave's car with portable tables and chairs and table cloths and coolers.
Around the time we expected Dave to come in we headed over to the start area and the side of the trail that he'd be coming in on.  For the first lap he came in, replenished some drink had a light snack and took off again for another 15 mile loop but in the opposite direction.  That means at basecamp we were in for probably another 3 hours of hanging out before he'd be back in.  So we snacked and read and killed time.  Then we saw him come in on lap 2 right near our set-up.  He checked in, came back to us, changed some clothing and ate some before heading back out for another 15.  Repeat Repeat until after he finished 60 miles on his own.  Then it was my turn to 'pace' him which at this point meant walk with him and keep him company. 

At first I'm thinking..this is kind of fun.  We're walking and occasionally jogging and a decent pace.  Hey I could totally do this.  I wonder if I would be up for doing 100 miles myself.  So far so good.  Fast forward to mile 10 of my lap and I'm getting bored and looking at my watch for how long we have left of my lap.  Ok, scratch that whole idea of me doing 100.. I just don't have the desire or the attention span really!  Of course, I can't say anything to a guy who is 70 miles to my 10 miles that I'm bored!  Kind of funny; on this lap we passed a girl going the opposite way of us (meaning she was 1 lap ahead) who was bawling!  Not a weepy cry or whimper.. this is a full on sob.  C'mon you know what I mean.  The only reason its funny is that Dave said that everytime he passed her she was one of the few people that always said hi or some upbeat comment so you know she just got to that emotional breaking point and had a -lost all control sob-... you can't do anything else buy cry sobs but at some point soon she'd get it back together again.  Girl..more power to you if you made it to mile like 85 before crying.  I KNOW I would have been sobbing my ass off around 26.3 :)  We keep trucking along until we reach base and I get to hand him off to his brother!  Then I got to nap some in the back of the car until they came back around again and it was my turn to 'pace' with him on his last lap of roughly 9 miles.  Yeehaw.  At this point the laps have been taking progressively longer so I know its going to be a long 9 miles. 

This time it was all walking and me trying to be motivating while not pushing too hard and also remembering I'm not allowed to complain!  It seemed like it took forever to me (again.. couldn't complain since Dave was on mile 95 or something and I had done a total of 20) but it was getting old.  I kept looking at my watch and he called me on it at one point and I actually got irritated with him.. too funny.  So we make it to within probably 0.2 miles of the finish line and Dave suddenly decides its time to sprint to the finish and get it over with.  So I'm like...'yeah, c'mon.. let's go.. we're almost there'.  Then he was going really fast and I couldnt' really keep up anymore so I pulled the ol 'I'm going to let you finish it on your own...its your race'.  So that I could stop and walk.  Holy jeesus he was going fast.  I caught my breath and met him after he finished.  Woohoo!  It was somewhere in the 27 hour range.  Then we quickly packed up and headed out of there.  Dave swiftly fell asleep on the way home!

Of course once we got home I took the opportunity to hit the sack too.  Why not.  So we all napped a while and then went out for mexican.  Dave was sore but not debilitated like I thought he'd be.  Not too bad.  Of course his legs were pretty out of commission for the next few days but he got it back pretty quick. 

I think this means he'll want to do another one and being the good wife I am I'll be there to support him.  But I wonder if I can bring my cell phone next time and make some calls while we're walking to kill the time.  I'm sure he wouldn't mind, right?

The Chicago Marathon - October 11, 2009

Today was the Chicago marathon and its over and I survived ;)  Dave completed his 9th marathon with this and did it in 3:23 which was his second fastest.  This is my 4th marathon and I completed it in 5:14 which IS my fastest time.  I'm so proud of myself considering yesterday I was saying things to Dave like "if I drop out" which he was not having ANY of.  Which of course irritate me and I kept saying things like "well if I want to drop out of MY race its MY race so I will"...apparently I was feeling a little nervous.  We got to Chicago on Friday which gave us a chance to settle in and relax before the race.  Saturday we went out for a 4 mile run around the lake and then hit the Expo to get our packets.  Its pretty darn cold here which I'd say is hard for me to get used to.  My strategy at this Expo was to enjoy the free samples but not eat so many that I feel ill which is what I usually do.  Its so hard to pass up FREE samples especially when I like to snack.  Its so funny because some of the things taste so bad but I still can't help myself.  I've signed up for therapy. 

This morning the race started at 7:30 am so I set my alarm for 5:30 to give me time to get up and wake up a little before we walked down there.  So my alarm goes off and I go downstairs to the Starbucks to get myself a latte to try to kick start my morning.  There were tons of people in the lobby already!  What are they doing hanging out downstairs 2 hours before the marathon?  We both took our time getting dressed and eating and then headed down to the lobby to the mass of runners hanging out there.  I was wearing capri running pants, hat, 2 long sleeve shirts and my running gloves.  Dave was wearing shorts and one long sleeve shirt, running gloves and a running hat.  Looking around there was a vast number of ways in which people were dressed for the cold.  From just wearing their tank tops and shorts all the way to wearing full sweatsuits and scarves and hats.  I guess we were maybe somewhere in the middle perhaps (on Daves side) leaning towards the more sparsely dressed.  It was damn cold outside for sure.  We finally left the hotel and made the walk to the start area and I was trying to convince myself I still wanted to do this....I think this happens with every marathon I run but with the cold added ..it seemed a little worse.  I hated the cold this morning!! and I hated the fact that I still had 26.2 miles ahead of me.  This put me in a grumpy mood for sure.  We got down to the start area and dave cut off to get into the 'A' corral....which means fast...while I continued to walk with all the regular people down to the open corral. I finally found the general area where I was to be but they had fences blocking off the sides of the road and all the runners were supposed to be in the middle.  There were already a ton of people in the middle but it seemed like just as many people were wandering around on the sidewalk outside the gates like me going.. "where the f** do you get in?" literally that is what I was saying in my head and sometimes outloud to no one in particular.  It was a GIANT cluster that just made me more irritated.  Runners were walking along the sidewalk..both ways trying to figure out how to get in.  Some people just hopped the chain link into the street so they could get lined up.  Really?.. before a 26.2 mile race I'm supposed to spider-man my ass over the fence?  I figured it was best not to chance ripping my pants before I was running 26 miles so I wandered towards the 'end' of the line-up area hoping to find the opening which I eventually did but it was a small openining in the gate and there were a lot of us trying to get in. So here I am..pissed off about the cold, irritated that its so damn hard to get IN and now I'm stuffed like a sardine with all these other people getting through a one person sized hole.  Yeah... my thoughts of bailing are increasing.  I keep saying outloud.. this is f***ing ridiculous but I couldn't get anyone to jump on my bandwagon so I just shut up.  Finally I made it and and was wedged in a a spot waiting for the gun to go off.  People were cheering and clapping and I kept thinking 'um... you realize we are at the START of 26.2 miles, right"... I save my cheers for after I'm done.  So, the gun goes off at 7:30 and I can only tell because I hear a bunch of people ahead start cheering.  It takes the area I am in 25 minutes to cross the start line...that is how many people there are.  Let me say though that having that many people packed into the street does help with teh cold so by this time I'm ok with the temps and I've moved on from that and am now just thinking that I have 26 miles to run and what is my strategy.  So I see these Nike pacers all around and decide I'll start out with the 4:45 pace group knowing I will no way finish in 4:45 but at least I can start that way.  It turns out to be a good starting pace and I'm in a groove until I start to feel my bladder filling and pushing against my spibelt.  Hmm, at 3 miles I run towards the bathrooms and see the line is LONG so I ask when the next set is and learns its just 2 miles ahead so I decide to wait.  I get to 5 miles and stop to wait in the lines.  I have to go at this point and it doesn't matter how long the line is.  I guess A LOT of other people had to go too because it takes me a solid 15 minutes to get to use the potty and then I'm back on the course. 

Now I'm sad though because I lost my 4:45 family.  Now I'm way in the back with the 5:45's and its a lot more sparse.  So I decide to try to fun 'fast' and get back up as far as I can so I do that and make some ground to the 5:30's and feel pretty solid.  I do ok for a while and then I have to potty again at 9 miles so I stop and the line is only 5 minutes long which isn't too bad.  Then again I had to run run to try to gain some more ground.  I get back to 5:30 and even a little ahead of them and am doing good.  Its weird... in downtown Chicago I kept smelling whiffs of cocoa and then later on the smell of sewage.. so strange.  I guess they have a chocolate factory around there which is where the cocoa smell comes from and well I guess the sewage is just a downtown thing???not sure.  So I move up some more and have to use the bathroom again at 18 miles so I do that but the line is really quick so I barely lose any ground.  I make it to the 5:15 ground and I stick it out for the rest of the marathon.  I did it in 5:14 something which is my fastest yet!

Then it was back to the hotel and the walk back to the hotel in the cold
wind felt like a really long walk when I know in fact it wasn't very long at all but I couldn't wait to get back!!  A hot shower and a nap are a perfect way to end the marathon.  Ok.. then followed by hotdogs at portillo's :)

The Boulder Marathon - Delayed posting

The Boulder Marathon was September 20th but I'm only now realizing I didn't blog about it.  This will probably not be as descriptive because my memory isn't that great.  I've been to Boulder before for work and forgot how cute it is.  I really like the feel of Boulder and the neat small restaurants and shops that they have.  I think in general I'm a big(ish) city girl so I wonder if living in a smaller community like that would not end up being my thing but its fun to visit at least!  Its just got a great small town outdoorsy feel to it.  Lots of trails to explore.  The marathon took place out at the reservoir so it was removed from the main roads which is nice so you aren't always running near cars. 

It ended up being HOT the day we did the marathon.  I grew up in Phoenix so I guess I can't really call anything less than 100 HOT so I might be exaggerating but when you are running 26.2 miles anything above 80 tends to feel hot.  It was on a dirt course with not many trees around for most of it and the sun was blaring!  I remember at one of the aid stations they had run out of cups for water so they were handing out full bottles of water which I took advantage of since I wasn't running super fast.  I feel like I drank a lot on course but I never had to pee which is probably not a good sign but it was nice for once to not have to stop in the middle of a race to pee.. yippee.  There were a decent number of rolling hills so the race just felt hard to me... maybe because its 26.2 miles :)  that never seems to get easy for me.  It was overall a good race though.  It was an out and back so at one point I to see Dave as I was running out and he was running back in.  I finally made it to the finish in roughly 5:17 which is better than my last marathon.  I just keep getting better...but of course Dave was already done and sitting in the car when I finished.  UM..hello where was my cheering squad.  I guess we'll have to work on that one. 

More racing.........

It was another weekend of racing for us.  Yesterday (Saturday) we drove up to Big Bear, Ca and did "run the bear".  Dave did the marathon and I did the 1/2.  It was a nice change of scenery from what we are used to.  The course was around the lake up there with tons of trees and a 'mountainey' feeling.  It was actually really fun.  We had to get up super early to drive up there but it took us less time than we had thought so we had time to hit Starbucks and relax before the run started at 8:30.  Both races started at the same time, but the 1/2 marathoners were bused up the route a bit.  It was a fairly small race so it never felt really crowded which was nice.  I got to see Dave on the course twice.  Once when he passed me a few miles in and then after his turnaround.  I wasn't sure if I'd run the whole thing but I actually did...except for the 1 big hill I walked and the times I drank water from the aid stations, but other than that I ran.  They kept saying how we needed to make sure were were hydrating because of the elevation so thanks to that I had to hit the restroom 3 times by the time I got to about 10 miles.  I guess it gave me a little break though.  It was warmer up there than I had thought it would be and poor dave was really hot when he finished because it took him about 1.5 hours longer than me and it had warmed up quite a bit in that time.  Its funny because when we first got there.. maybe 6:30 am.. it was really chilly and I was worried I'd be cold.  After the run we headed back home to eat lunch and shower before our massages which felt really well deserved!  Then we headed home and picked up dinner from Tio's mexican restaurant and went home for some mojitos and mexican :)

The weekend before this one we were in Huntington beach for Dave to run another really small marathon.  It was along the path right by the beach there.  We took the dogs with us so I took Red and Aspen and walked 3 miles down to the dog beach there in Huntington and walked a little on the beach and then headed back.  In total we got 8 miles of walking which I could tell was more than plenty for Red.  We had some time to hang out at the car waiting for Dave to finish so they got to cool off then we sat on the grass with a blanket and waited for quite some time.  It was really hot and humid that day and Dave was feeling it so it took him longer than expected but it was still a fun day out at the beach (at least I thought so)!  After that it was back home for Dave to sleep before he had to go to work that night!

We've got one more marathon next weekend in Boulder, CO.  I actually signed up for the marathon but am kind of regretting that choice.  I guess we'll see how it goes.  It'll be a test for the Chicago marathon which we've got coming up in October. 

Back home for a little bit

We got back from San Luis Obispo this past Monday and don't have any trips coming up really soon so its nice just to get back to 'normal' for a little bit. Spend some time with the doggies and get some housework type stuff done. Plus, when I'm not traveling its a little bit easier to focus on work which this week has been busy with. That on top of the fact that I need to settle back into a good diet and drop the vacation 5 which actually turned into the vacation 10 and is now down to the vacation 7. So.. I can handle 7. It'll take a little while and I'm a little bummed at myself for letting it happen but I'll get it back. But then I had wanted to see if I could reach my goal weight which is 5 lbs lower than losing my vaca 7. It makes it hard when you crave dessert every night and sometimes after lunch too. So I probably need to work on that but really outside of that we eat good food..I probably just eat too much of it and the dessert thing is the kicker. I think really though it was the vacationing. A lot of our vaca's revolved around races and such so I was getting some good workouts but for me vacationing always = eating at great restaurants and pretty much no limits on what I order or drink so it can add up pretty quick. That coupled with the fact that 2 of my trips were not race related (Vegas girls trip and Phoenix work trip) neither of those included any workouts so here I sit with my lucky 7.

I do plan to do a long run/walk tomorrow of 12 miles. Running as much of it as I can and walking the rest but doing the whole thing. But it means I need to get up early because its been freakin HOT here. I don't particularly like getting up early so there is my issue. Have no fear though I will get it done!

So, not too much exciting around here lately besides cooking and working and working out. Oh...we are looking at places in Carlsbad and have actually made an offer on a place there. I'm so excited but a little nervous so we'll see how it turns out!

Falling behind again

Ok, so I've fallen behind again on the blog. We've done quite a bit since last time I updated this so I'll try to summarize. The weekend of August 2nd we flew up to San Francisco for Dave to do his first ultramarathon which is anything longer than marathon length. It was a 50k(31 miles) in a park just outside of Oakland. It was really pretty scenery and great weather. There was a lake there to run around and tons of trees which made it a great run. I didn't officially run but I got myself an 11 mile run stuck in there while I was waiting for Dave to come rolling in. He did great and actually really liked it so I know this is the next chapter of his running career - ultras! After the run we spent a few days in San Francisco enjoying the food around the city. We ate at a couple really great restaurants and before our wallet was empty we headed back home.

It was an easy week for me that week as we headed home from San Fran on Tuesday and I headed out to Vegas on Thursday night for my annual girls Vegas trip (this was our 5th annual!!) It was a great time filled with lots of drink, lots of food and just enough gambling. Such a fun time with all my friends :)

I flew home on Monday from Vegas and we took Dave's parents to Pageant of the Master's in Laguna Beach that night. It was our gift to them at Christmas and it came up really fast. I always love going to the Pageant. Its a great location and its an outdoor theatre so it just feels nice to be seeing a great show like that in that great weather. Of course we had dinner beforehand at Roy's which was great as always!

The next event we had was the America's Finest City 1/2 marathon in San Diego. We did this one as the finishing race for the "triple crown" which is a special medal you get for doing the Carlsbad 1/2, the La Jolla 1/2 and the AFC 1/2 in the same year. The race was pretty good but not my favorite. The traffic and parking situation before the race was awful. We even stayed down in San Diego near Balboa Park ... like a mile from there I think...which is where the shuttles picked up to take us to the start and it still took like like 45 minutes to get from the hotel to the shuttles. We did make it though and had just enough time to hit the porta potties and get started. Actually it was funny because I just left the toilets and headed towards the start and was taking my time and actually stopped and stood at my pacing time for a few minutes thinking ..hmm not many people in this group before I started making my way forward and realized the race had started! Good thing they have timing chips so I'd get a 'real' time. My knee held up pretty well in that race and I only had to walk maybe 4 miles of it which was less than I had expected.

While we were down in that area we met a realtor and took a look at some properties in Carlsbad. We saw one we really liked in our price range so we're thinking on that to see what we want to do about it. We would love to live there but this would be a small 2nd place since Dave has to still work in Fontana :)

After that I had to head to Phoenix for a few days for work meetings. I left on Sunday and got back on Thursday. It was really great actually to get there and have some meetings in person and get a handle on what is going on with this new project I'm leading

After Phoenix I got back and we left on Friday for another 50K .. this time in San Luis Obispo.. its called the Montana De Oro (Aug 23). San Luis Obispo is a really cute college town. We were here once before but I don't think I saw the whole town before. Lots of fun looking bars that we haven't had a chance to check out ;( We got here on Friday and just had the race today (Sunday) and leave tomorrow. The race itself was really tough. Dave did the 50K and I did the 25K. There were some BIG hills that you pretty much had to walk...and I walked a lot! I think it was a 1400 foot elevation gain in maybe 3-4 miles but most of it seemed to occur pretty quickly. I did ok in the beginning and then had to walk the steep hill which was painful but when I got to the summit it was really neat and then heading down it was SO nice to be going back downhill instead of up. So I finished that first loop..got to the aid station for some re-fueling and headed for the 2nd part. That part was pretty tough also I think mostly becuause I was mentally already over it. Plus, I got stung by a bee about 1/2 mile into that section! That really pissed me off. I think it was a suicide bomber bee. He had no reason to sting me but did it anyways. So I had to pull him and his stinger off..then started walk/running and it kept stinging so I stopped a couple times and had to feel around to make sure I got the stinger. Then I was completely paranoid about bees after that. Everytime I'd see one I'd say outloud 'please don't, please don't'... I was so paranoid but luckily I escaped without another sting. I also started to develop a blister in my arch which bugged me...but then again all this gave me something to think about to pass the time. That on top of the random singing and talking I do seems to help. Somehow I ended up singing amazing grace at one point and then another time God Bless America...who knows where it comes from...I'm kinda random. I was so happy to see the race end although I did kind of enjoy it. After it finished I had my snacks, cleaned up and changed. Then I saw Dave come back in for snacks and head out for his last lap of about 8 miles. Then I fell asleep in the car and relaxed and woke up about 20 minutes before he finished. Perfect timing. So now we're relaxing in the room and will go out for one last dinner here in San Luis Obispo before heading home tomorrow. On a side note.. We had one good dinner and 1 ok and 1 questionable dining experience. The one we really liked was Buona Tavola Italian. Tonight we're heading to Koberl @ Blue.. I hope its a good one and I plan to sample a few cocktails while we are there...we earned it!

Back to real life

I just finished posting about my awesome birthday weekend and feel like I sped through those posts..mostly so I wouldn't forget anything. But I think those speed posts don't let me get into the little details and observations which I'll make sure I try to do more often. I did forget to mention the killer dinner Dave made for us on Saturday night when we got home. We had stopped at the farmers market in Carlsbad before we left Saturday and picked up some lettuces, red pepper, jalapeno, broccoli and some fruit. So that night after making a trip to Henry's for fish Dave made a pan fried Sea Bass over black forbidden rice with a side of steamed broccoli and before that we had a salad with our farmers market lettuce, roasted red pepper and roasted jalapeno. It was all really really good...totally restaurant quality. I'm glad he was in charge of dinner that night :) I need to find a farmers market around here to check out. I like the idea of buying local produce grown by people in the area. We are trying our best to eat 'whole foods' and not as many processed things but we aren't fanatic about it. I also would love to eat more organically but need to do some more research on what I should focus on because some of it can get pretty expensive. Then on top of that I'd like to try to eat locally (food that isn't transported as far) AND we are trying to eat more veggies and less meat. Phew...it gets tough :)



Today I sit here and wait for the cable guy to come because our DVR broke before we headed out for our weekend. Its strange. I am not sure how I feel about it. On Sunday Dave had to work from 12-10 so I had the whole day alone with no work and no DVR. This forced me to really do some chores and get out of the house. I did feel a little withdrawal from some of my programs - c'mon..who can live without The next foodnetwork star or Kendra or Top Chef Masters. Ok, so I'll live. Its almost a little bit freeing to not have all this TV to watch... that isn't to say I'm ready to go DVRless and believe me once its back in the house I'm a slave to it but we'll see. Maybe I'll try to institute a no TV day a week. Dave says if we ever do get our house down in Carlsbad area that we won't get cable and only will have the TV for DVD's..hmmmm I'm not all on board yet.

That just left the rest of the day to do some work and prep veggie's for my Turkey chili which is always a satisfying and flavorful meal full of tons of vegetables. Then Dave had to head to work at 6pm but I had enough time to head out and get dessert at Berries yogurt :) So that just leaves me time to ride my bike on the trainer in the house and hit the sack. Tomorrow is Pilates and homemade pizza ;)

Birthday weekend continued

In my last post I talked about my circus adventure. So that was on Wednesday July 22nd, now I'll talk about how Dave surprised me for the rest of the weekend.. the 23 through 25th. Thursday morning we woke up and got packed and he whisked me off to Solana Beach for the weekend. I'd say the Carlsbad/Encinitas/Solana Beach/Del Mar area is probably one of our most favorite easy getaways. I love it down there.. close to the beach, relaxed, great restaurants. We headed down Thursday ate lunch in Carlsbad at Naked Cafe, then checked into the Courtyard in Solana Beach - great location and a nice place. Then it was a quick change and a drive to Swami's beach to grab a parking spot and run on the beach at low tide. After running we changed and headed to yoga at Yoga Swami. Doing yoga in the yurt at yoga swami just seems so fitting when you are right down there in Encinitas. After that we headed back to the hotel to shower quickly and walk down to have dinner at Blanca which we've been to once before and happened to be just down from our hotel. The dinner was great and it was time for bed!

Friday morning we woke up early to head down to have breakfast at one of my favorite breakfast spots in Encinitas. Honey's bakery. Such a great atmosphere...and always packed! We usually have to stalk the outside tables to pounce on one when it becomes available. I typically get the granola waffle but wanted to try something new so I ordered chilaquiles. They were good but my heart is still with the granola waffle. Got back to the hotel just in time for me to have a few meetings - oh yeah...did I mention I was still working - so I finished up my meetings around 1 and we walked down to the same shopping center that houses Blanca to a fun cupcake shop to have an afternoon snack. Cupcake Love makes some goooood cupcakes. I think my favorite though is the traditional vanilla bliss. Now after cupcakes comes reflexology. We found a little reflexology place online that seemed to get good reviews so we headed over. We had reflexology for the first time in Whistler in Canada and liked it so since then we've tried it in Redlands too. The foot massage can be kind of intense in certain spots and sometimes the back slapping/cupping they do seems a little hard...but in the end it feels nice. So we had our 1 hour foot massages (which actually include arms, legs, face and back) for $25..what a deal! Now it was time to run on those relaxed feet (except I just walked). Running on the beach is so much better than running on the sidewalk anyday! Of course after running comes dinner. So we showered and headed to my favorite restaurant down there - Q'ero. YUM YUM. Quick walk near the beach and its home for bed.

The plan on Saturday was to wake up and go to yoga...but instead we slept in. After waking up we walked down to Solana beach coffee co. to grab some coffee and morning pastries then walk along the beach. Then it was time to check out of the hotel. For lunch we ate on Le Passage in Carlsbad. I love their duck breast salad... the duck is SO good and not very 'ducky'. Then it was back home :( but that meant we were able to see the doggies!

What an awesome birthday 'weekend'. What an awesome husband :)

Journaling - a start

I kick myself sometimes for not journaling my life. I think..how neat would that be to have a written record of all the activities of my life...but then I get distracted and I don't start. So this will be my attempt at recording at least the interesting things if not the mundane. I have a horrible memory so I'm hoping this will be a record for me to remember the things I do....because I might forget them tomorrow. So, starting now I'll recall this past weekend and then we'll go forward. And when I say we... I mean me and whoever reads this...which I think will be me.. and maybe Dave if I remind him :)

This past weekend was my post birthday - birthday celebration. I was in Phoenix on my actual birthday. I had traveled there for work and stayed through the weekend to see the family and hang out with the girls. I had a great time with my mom shopping and eating out and a fun family dinner at P.F. Changs to celebrate the July birthdays. I also had a really fun party weekend with my girlfriends which was drinking, eating, gay bar karaoke and a pool day. ahhh, the little things in life.

My wonderful husband set-up a few really fun surprises for me to celebrate. First was on Wednesday night (July 22nd). He had told me that we were doing something for my birthday and that "I'd get a good workout". Hmm, that was scary sounding but I was up for a challenge. So he guided me on what to wear and he put on his workout clothes too and we headed out. We drove all the way to Culver City (near L.A.) and pull up in front of a few warehouses. Then one we park in front of says event planning and catering and I'm thinking...is Dave helping me change my career.. am I baking...why am I in my workout clothes. Then we walk around back and I see the actual building we're going to. I was surprised and excited...then we get inside and I'm scared and nervous. There was this big ring hanging from the ceiling and purple silk hanging down like a rope, and a rope and 3 individual trapeze bars. The people walking in all looked like they knew each other and I was like great.. so at that moment I SO wanted to tell Dave to get his money back and can't we just go eat dinner. Then my class starts and I start to relax. The teacher was this cute french Canadian girl who used to be in Cirque du Soleil and was super nice! It was 7 people including me so it wasn't an intimidating size. The class I took was "circus conditioning" which Dave said the lady told him when he called would be the best starter class. Its basically a fitness class doing some conditioning work on the floor etc.. then the last part is using the equipment. I got to climb a rope and the purple silk fabric stuff and sit on top of one of the trapeze bars and fun stuff like that. I totally missed my calling...I was AWESOME! No really, I was good. Ok, so we didn't do anything really cirque like but I was loving it. SO FUN. I might go back and take more of these classes and then maybe take the aerial arts class. Karyne (our teacher) told me I could jump right in with no problem ... see I am supposed to be in the circus! After my circus class we changed. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention..Dave putting on his workout clothes was just to throw me off. He didn't participate at all.. just watched and tried to take a few pictures but I told him he couldn't use the flash because I didn't want people knowing my husband was over there taking pictures of the newbie :)

After changing it was off to dinner at My Father's Office. This place was SO crowded. I thought it was a burger joint, but turns out they have 1 burger on the menu but I've heard its good. So we both ordered the burger and an order of sweet potato fries. The fries were awesome. The burger was really really good and don't you dare try to make any deletions or substitutions.. THEY DON'T DO IT .. and they are serious. So the burger had blue cheese on it..which I actually kind of like..but Dave does NOT. Turns out it wasn't that much and the burger was still awesome (Dave even said it was the best burger he's had in a while). Then we headed to Santa Monica's 3rd street promenade to get gourmet churro's.

The churros were good but the guy at the counter was such a dud. Dave said "so do people usually get 2 of these each" and the guys says "no, usually just 1...they are kind of expensive and not very big".. what the hell does that mean. This guy SHOULD NOT be working the counter. He had absolutely no idea how to get us into it. I think he really didn't want to be there.

Then we finally drove home after we had consumed our weight in burgers and churros.

Next post will be about the rest of the weekend surprise :)

2009 Los Angeles Marathon - May 25, 2009

I found this in my drafts and obviously never posted it. So here it is... a little late.

Year 2 for running the LA Marathon. Dave and I both ran it again this year. The race has changed organizations so it was a new date and a new course. I liked the course but I think I'd like it better in March where it was last year...although I do have to say the weather cooperated and was actually tolerable. So here is how it went down:


We didn't have as much time this year to hang out in LA as we did last year because Dave had to work so we actually drove down to the expo on Saturday and picked up our stuff and then had dinner at Craft - a restaurant owned by Tom Colicchio from Top Chef. It was really yummy!.. Side note: We saw one of the actors from Lost eating at the same restaurant at the same time. We are big Lost fans so we recognized him but looked like everyone pretty much left him alone. It was the guy who plays Richard from "the others". I don't know the actors name which I feel bad about but it was neat to see him while we were eating..anyways. We then drove home and then had to head back to LA on Sunday after Dave got off of work. On the way down on Sunday we stopped in Pasadena and ate at Gale's Italian. Good food - no actors in sight. We checked into our hotel - the Millenium Biltmore LA...which was surprisingly blah. The lobby is big and nice and the name is grand; but the rooms are actually not nice at all! Especially for what the hotel charges and we even got a discount from the marathon! So, we wouldn't stay there again. Basically we checked in, unpacked and went to bed. Monday morning (Marathon day) we woke up about 5:45 to get ready. This just involves eating, dressing and hopefully using the restroom :)... probably more than you want to know but a big deal if you are about to run 26.2 miles. This year the start and finish are right near each other so not having to take public transit to the start..just walking about 1/2 block... was nice. Its crowded but not too terrible. Dave and I separated as he was going to start in the seeded corrals and I was back in 'the pack'. Turns out he was supposed to get some kind of wristband to get through to the front but never got one so I ended up seeing him in the pack making his way as far forward as possible. If you've ever run a race this large you'll understand why he's trying to get to the front since his pace is actually a good one! If not, he'll be stuck weaving through walkers and slow runners for at least a couple miles. Me, I'm content to start mid-pack.


Finally the gun goes off and we start ambling to get over the start line. Next to me is a loud excited clapper who is really annoying.. I know I should be 'amped' because its the marathon and there are a ton of people but its 7:20 and I'm having a hard time getting excited. So the fact that she is clapping super loud and yelling louder is annoying. I try to ignore her and hopefully separate as soon as there is some room. We get started and so far so good. I'm just trying to find my comfortable pace which is difficult in the beginning because its early and my legs are still tired and because the pack is so big you can't really get a normal pace without running into someone. So eventually I weave and pass people and then get passed and end up settling into my zone. This race is interesting because you get to see a lot of great areas of L.A., some interesting areas of L.A. and some areas you'd probably never see on your own. The great thing is that everyone on the sidelines is so supportive. Random people take time out of their day to come cheer you on and some even hand out snacks they bought themselves. Like I said earlier, the weather was nice and a lot less hot than I thought it would be so that was a great surprise. This year I didn't have any incidents with tripping so it was fairly straight forward. I ran, I talked to myself in my head, I critiqued peoples running outfits, I looked for fat butts to pass and nice asses to hope to attain someday. I ran all the way until about 13 miles. Then I started my off and on running because my knee was giving me issues. I think I did a pretty good job of walking / running till maybe closer to 20 when I think I mostly walked. I had my cell phone with me in my little spibelt which was great, so I had signed up for text alerts of Dave's times so I knew exactly when he finished....which was WAY before I did. I called him once and texted him a few times to let him know my progress. He had time to shower and check out of the hotel (we had to be out about the time I finished...so now shower for me). So I finally finished in 5 hours something...about 1 hour off of last years time which I'm actually very happy about. Then I walked back to the hotel... did a quick clean-up and change in the bathroom and we headed out. Our plan was to grab a bite to eat in L.A. so we headed to Santa Monica and ate at The Reel Inn. Then we headed home. So in summary Dave did it in 3:25:34 and I did it in 5:27:03. Next year I'm shooting for an hour less than this year...around 4:30. Lets see if I can do it!!