New Digs

Hopefully I will be getting keys to some new digs in the next 48 hours. I am super excited because there is some good running and wide open country to explore!!!!! Between the gym and the pools, I am hoping that I am get into a more respectable level of fitness. In fact, I think I am going to run 13 miles this weekend just because I can. Hollar!

The stress of finding a place to live is entirely overwhelming. When you are staying with someone you work with, it is particularly important not to overstay your welcome. Let's just say Danielle is getting a pretty nice baby shower gift as a "thank you" for putting a roof over mine and Gunther's heads. It is going to feel so good to have the keys in my hand. I am not thrilled about having to commute now (30 minutes...wahhhhh!) but I am totally stoked about the money I am saving (like HUNDREDS of dollars) because I am not in Napa. Woohoo! Maybe the distance will help me manage my workload and not spend so many late nights at work. But then again, I have NO FURNITURE for my apartment, and can't even think beyond purchasing a mattress, so maybe I will be staying at work. Mom, if you read this, I think I need a living room for Christmas.

I can't wait to tell you all about my upcoming run... I have been scoping this route for a year and now I am going to be living near it! And, now I live only a half marathon away from the Bestie (a whole different run!), so you better bet I am going to run to her house and beg for a ride home!

Ah, stability is just around the corner....

It's that time again...

I'll be hitting the road in 6 hours to move back up for 10 more months of work. No furniture, no place to live, but at least I have a decorating scheme planned! I'm thinking geometric print accents in Navy/Royal blue and grey, with tan and/or white as base colors, depending on what color the walls/doors/cabinets are in the new place. I've been walking around a lot of model homes lately...

OK, maybe not that much blue patterned crap, but you get the idea.

In the meantime, my homelessness might interfere with blogging, as well as running, healthy eating, and general sanity. So you might not hear from me, but don't loose sleep over it :)

I hope to return sooner than later with good news about not being homeless, starting the new school year, new training routines, and all the awesome things that must be awaiting me.

Chao!

Monsoon Moisture YUCK!!!!!

Like a good girl, I set the alarm and got up at the weee crack of dawn so I could do my 12 miles. Even when the alarm went off and I was laying in bed, I was ALREADY covered in sweat. Big nasty monsoonal moisture clouds have been attacking the region, making it terribly uncomfortable to be outside and flash flooding some areas. Beautiful but scary. Where did my friendly marine layer go? WAHHHHHHH!

So, because it was already in the 80's and 80% humidity, I did not go out for a run. The last thing I need is to pass out and die alone on some country back road, found only when some hillbilly looking for roadkill follows the vultures circling my dead body. Instead, I kicked out some amazing work for the next school year, working on a classroom webpage as well as researching some alternative grade books.

I am not a big fan of the educational system and a lot of the decisions that are being made way above my head, but I do love teaching.  Even though the state of public education is quickly spinning down the crapper, I am so excited to get back in the classroom and try to make a small difference. I have a new classroom in the main building (yay!) an have a new class (geometry), and I am very excited to take my Standards Based Grading to the next level. I think this is going to be a very good year.

So, as far as training goes, this is probably going to be a pitiful week. I missed last week's long run (the 12 miles) and MOVING AGAIN, I doubt I am going to be getting in a lot of miles. But, I do want to make the gym membership a priority, so no matter where I am living for the first few weeks of transition, I can at least get my fitness on after/before work. I am hoping I can hit a really good streak once I get back north; if I don't I am probably going to fall a little short of my 5 hour goal (but still PR).

Most importantly, I need to get back into shape and get ready for vegas. I really hope my work clothes still fit me when school starts, yikes. So, once I get back up in Northern California, all this indulgent eating is going to have to come to an end! Fitness is a mindset, so for the 8 hours I am driving back, I am going to program my brain into a fitness and healthy eating machine!

At Last!

10 miles/2:02:13

FANTASTIC long run yesterday! My average pace of 12:13/mi was ahead of the 13:12 pace on my training schedule, but I just kept a pace that felt good. I really did feel great and didn't struggle with the hills as much, so it was a huge step forward. This week is an easy week, three 5 mile easy runs, which will have plenty of hills and hopefully I can keep a 13:08 pace.

Not going to lie, I was SORE and TIRED today. Naps and extra strength tylenol helped, as well as all you can eat sushi buffet. I am a glutton, it is no secret. Even with the pain today, it still felt good to get a double digit run in and not feel like I was going to die. I am very optimistic about my 12 mile long run at the end of the month. I might just finish this marathon sub 5 hours after all...

A couple of things probably made this run better:

• New shoes. Well, same model, but fresh pair. More shock absorption, it was time for a new pair.
• Hydration Belt. Brought along fuel and had gatorade in one bottle, filled the other with water and refilled both along the way. It is H-O-T even when I leave at 7:15, so I am going through a lot of fluids. 
• Garmin. Beeps at me when I fall below pace and helps me keep track of distance because I ALWAYS take wrong turns and end up somewhere I didn't plan of being. 
• iPod Nano radio. I am sick of my play lists so radio adds some much needed variety.
• Country Roads. Ran a lot on undeveloped country roads, so I didn't have much traffic or pounding of pavement.
• Nice people. Runners in the area keep hoses outside of the gates of their properties so runner can refill. Super important when the only thing around are sprawling horse ranches and gated estates. This kept me from drinking reclaimed water from a sprinkler at mile 6.

and one more little thing.....

• Having a job. I was rehired back at the High School, so I will be doing another year of math, definitely with a better course load (some non-remedial classes!!!!!) and hopefully with a better classroom.

This means moving back up to northern California and finding furniture and a room mate because I sold nearly everything when I moved. This will be quite the daunting task, but I am so thankful to have work in this education-unfriendly economy. I was seriously getting worried, which is probably why my runs were so sucky. Running is a mental sport. If my mind is not in the right place, my body isn't either. People think I exaggerate when I tell them that the marathon is 80% mental, but for me, it is all about if I can get my head in the game.

Hardest Easy Run EVER.

The lucky winners of the training books are K who will be getting the Marathon/Half Marathon Training Guide and Steph (aka Anonymous) who is getting the Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women. Steph, I am bringing your book to Vegas and K I will be contacting this you for an address this week.

I would be a fool to think I could hide the fact I took last week off from training due to the physical/emotional stress of moving, so I won't pretend I did anything related to training over the past 7 days. oops. Looks like I am taking these PR's really seriously...

I am officially temporarily relocated indefinitely (read: no job, living with parents). It is true that you love your parents (and that your parents love you) so much more easily as you get older. So far I still can not see why I was so afraid of moving back home for so long. The running is (potentially) great, I have someone to rip on The Bachelorette with, we take turns making dinner, and I get to relax with a glass of wine and good conversation every night. Why get married when I can just live it up with my mom?????

Speaking of potentially great running....

Today I tried to get back into the training plan with a 4 mile easy run, which ended out being the hardest 4 mile run I have run in a really long time. This training tragedy is brought to you by sloth and procrastination!

What made it so difficult? Instead of getting out the door by 7 am when the marine layer is still cool and thick, I got out around 10:30 am when the fires of Satan are sweeping across the land. No problem, I thought, I'll just plan a route around parks with water fountains, bring a bottle, and drink plenty of water. Can you suffer from hyponatremia on a 4 mile run? The answer to that question feels like "YES!!!" at this moment.

So after slothing around the house, not eating breakfast or doing anything to help this run be a good one, I took off. About mile 2 I learned the dotted line on map my run meant "dry river bed trail" and proceeded to run in the sand with full sun exposure. Not the nice sand by the water at the beach, but the ankle twisting shoe filling sand by the beach parking lot. I got lost and had to backtrack at least 3 times to find the trail that didn't dead end in a rattle snake death pit. I could see the rich people sitting in their air conditioned mansions looking down on the stupid girl running in death canyon and laughing as I kept getting lost, but I was still trying to be positive and kept running in the sand even though it was ridiculously hard. At mile 3 I had to stop regularly in the shade to cool off, I was already through about 24 ounces of water. By the end of a very hilly mile 4 I stopped because my chest was hurting and I felt dizzy, so I used the last half mile as a cool off and walked home.

I didn't bring the Garmin because I want my easy runs to be easy running: no paying attention to pace and just enjoying the miles. I have no idea what miserable pace I kept, and I am just happy to be alive. Upon my return I battled the potential hyponatremia with the saltiest thing I could find in the pantry: beef jerky, mini saltines, and easy cheese (cheese in a can). And a glass of chocolate milk. Within about 10 minutes the weird headache/pain behind my eyes has pretty much gone away and I don't feel like vomiting and passing out.

Next time I am going in the AM and bringing a camera so you can see the new sights!

Moving makes me SICK!

There is something about packing and moving that is physically revolting to me. I hate doing it, and have done it nearly every year for the past 10 years straight. Packing boxes and making moving arrangements makes me sick to my stomach, literally nauseous and sucking the life out of me. At first I thought it was dehydration and now I am quite certain it is stress. It just isn't my time to become settled yet. Boo.

The only way I can escape it is to get out of the house and see people. So once a day I try to plan a little something to keep me from feeling like puking my brains out all day long. Get out and chat with people who make me smile and help me forget the stress of sorting through past memories and dealing with the aftermath of a really long year.

Moving the training schedule back a day this week and dropping a cross-training day. There were not enough hours in the day to get in my 4 miles, so I have set my alarm to rise bright and early for my easy run. Hopefully it will help me prepare for a little more packing and make it all a little less sickening.

Am I weird? Does moving/packing/major changes make anyone else sick? Like food poisoning feeling, stomach sitting in your throat, extreme yuckiness?

A Covey of Quail!

Masters of camouflage, surprised I saw them!

Seen on my long run, a covey of quail! Tiny quail are so cute, they just bop around like little feather balls. No wonder everyone wants to eat them up!

A day delayed, today ends my first week of training for SBIM. I approached it as a "get your life together and just get out there week" and it went over quite nicely. Getting back into a training rhythm is a little challenging, but it is turning out to be very rewarding, as always.

Week in Review: 15.5 miles run 

Models make it look easy.

Monday: Crosstraining. Paddleboarding on the American River. Awesome core workout, you gotta try it! Made me want to learn to surf and windsurf.

Tuesday: Easy run. 2 miles on treadmill, supposed to be 3 but I pulled up the wrong training plan. whoopsie!

Wednesday: Rest. Had to save my energy for the DMV.

Thursday: 5 mile tempo. Warm up, 3 miles @ 11:32/mi pace, cool down. Had to break it in half because there was a dude hovering near the treadmill only 15 minutes into my run (HATE THAT). Of course, I stick to the time limit (30 minutes) and when it is his turn he totally goes over. After 40 minutes, I started to hover to give him a taste of his own medicine. It felt kinda dirty, but it worked. Did 20 minutes weights, 10 minutes core, 5 minutes stretching while I waited for Mr. Hoversby.

Friday: Rest. It's week 1, so I needed to not get too excited and over-exert myself. Especially since I crammed in weights and core with my tempo run Thursday. However, I did play some frisbee at the park, which got my heart rate up for a few minutes. Any activity counts for something, right???

Saturday: Epic hike. Palomarin trailhead to Alamere falls, 7.5 miles 600 ft elevation gain. Waterfall goes right into the ocean. Anyone in the bay area MUST do this hike. You can even lay out on the beach after. We were a fast moving bunch, practically trail-running, so it was a really good workout.  

Sunday: Rest. My legs and butt were hurtin' from the hike, which is how I knew it was a good one. Planned to run 8, but my running buddy was too sun burned from the hike so we just ate pancakes her husband made instead. After a beautiful drive up the coast and over the Golden Gate bridge to get home, it was too hot to make up the run. So I took a nap instead!

Monday: 8.5 miles. Supposed to be 8 but took a detour to stop by a school to refill water bottle and soak my hat. Running hats are terribly dorky, but they sure get the job done! It took me 2 years to break down and wear the goofy thing, and it has changed my life (or at least my body temperature). Supposed to be run at a 13:21 pace, but I didn't bring the garmin. With water stops and breaks in the shade to cool down (I slept in too late and had to run in the heat), the average was 14:07/mi. Which means my actual pace when running was probably around 13:00/mi. 

Today wasn't about hitting the paces, but committing to the miles so I can get into my training plan. I know that if I want to hit my goal of a 5 hour marathon I am going to have to really pay attention to my times, but for the first week I think i am off to a promising start. I was not in a good mental place for my Boston training cycle, it is really affected my ability to log good miles. Now I am in a much better place. I could immediately feel the difference today on the long run. Of course the first few miles were really crappy, but I fell into a great rhythm and really enjoyed the miles logged. Best of all, the past week I really feel like I have returned to my old self again, and it feels great!

Week 2 training plan:

Tuesday: Easy run 4 miles @13:17

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 4 miles speedwork including warmup, 2x1600 in 10:58 w/800 jogs, cool down

Friday: Crosstraining (probably pool with some core & weights)

Saturday: Moving day, so lots of lifting!

Sunday: Long run 9 miles @3:17

Excited for speedwork (although 10:58 isn't really speedy at all) and I am loving crosstraining. My final week in Napa so I am going to have to take advantage of the beautiful scenery!

It's moving season

A year ago today, I was offered the position at VHS and accepted my first teaching job. I was so excited to have a job, after 40+ applications and tons of rejection letters, it was the peace I had been desperately praying for. I was headed down south to wait out the interviews and low and behold, the offer came when I was on the road. Two offers, actually. Within an hour of each other. I felt so blessed!

365 days, 15 applications, and 1 pink slip later, it's moving time! A week from tomorrow the parents come up and i'll try to cram all my stuff into the back of the truck so I can move back down south and play the waiting game. Although I have had an offer, the salary was much too low for me to support myself on, so I had to say no. Now to cross my fingers and patiently wait for an interview.

To occupy myself in the interim, I registered for the 13.1 Heartbreak Ridge on Camp Pendleton early September. I hope there are lots of handsome Marines there to cheer me on! Having my marathon training plan really helped me get through the stress of job applications, moving, and starting a new job. Although it also caused me to spread myself a little thin last year, I think the absence of grad school will make it a little easier to meet the goals I am setting for myself. Being that my stepdad is a Marine, it would be cool to do a race on his own training grounds. Plus, a goal of 2011 was to set a new PR for the half, which I think I might be able to do with some training. However, this is a hard course so we'll have to see how that goes. My other half marathons were flat, so I am really setting myself up for a challenge!

I also was able to convince my mom to do a 5k in Temecula in late October! I am not sure if I am going to do a 5k or half, but I am really excited to do another race with my mom :)

I still haven't selected a Marathon. One of my goals for the year was to run a marathon without having to stop and walk part of it. I am also going to try to PR again, hopefully with a sub 5 hours time! I have narrowed it down to Mailbu International Marathon or the Santa Barbara International Marathon, both the weekend of November 12. There really aren't a lot of races to choose from in the late fall, I am guessing it is because of all the holidays. Here are the pros and cons of each, and maybe you can help me decide:

Malibu International Marathon
Pros:
Only 2 hours from my parent's house
Runs along the coast
Pace team
Beach towel instead of shirt
Coconut water and other hippie stuff on course and at finish
Potential Groupon? (They had one last year around September)

Cons:
Expensive ($145 entry fee)
Pay to park ($8)
Inclines in the end (eerily similar to Boston)
Heard the first half near Camarillo is boring farm land, but flat
Sunday means no rest day before going back to work (if I have a job)

Santa Barbara International Marathon
Pros:
In Santa Barbara, which is amazing and beautiful
On a Saturday, so more rest time after race
Gu on the course, which is my gel of choice
hills are more rolling, less challenging than Malibu
Cheaper than Malibu ($115 Entry Fee)
Cheaper hotel rates for the night before
Cons:
3 hours from the house means Friday night hotel (cha-ching)
Course is difficult to understand

Obviously I am leaning towards Santa Barbara. If anyone wants to run it, we can split a super cheap hotel room from Friday and Saturday nights (I do believe it is a holiday weekend). Whatcha think???

OK, enough typing about running. It's time to get outside and start doing some. I forgot how to like running and need to train myself to like it more than being lazy. Time for some tempo miles!

Good Things!

I have kinda been slacking on posting good things every Friday, but this week I will not let you down.

This morning I had the best run I have had in a long time. A new route and I felt AMAZING the entire run.  Usually I have to fight through the three mile funk before I warm up the exhilaration of running, but not today! I might have even been SMILING while running. Imagine that! I didn't get the hills in as much as I was craving, but I found a spur off this new route that is going to promise some very sweet climbs. This is the second wind I really needed to get for the last 2 months of marathon training. Three runs already this week and I am going to try to squeeze in one more. Hooray!

More good news? The Bestie is starting a book club. I am stoked. I swear, she knows exactly what I need and delivers just when I need it! I doubt she did it because of me, but I am going to give her credit for it anyways. She is amazing. I never been in a book club before. Another first to add to the list in this new chapter of my life!

The cat has finally calmed down and stop mauling me and all the people near and dear to me. Dare I say she is happy?  (Dare!Dare!). I haven't had one problem with her since we got to Napa, and I am relieved. If she didn't shape up, we were going to have to explore other options, which wasn't looking so good for her. Guess she just doesn't work well under stress. Or perhaps it is the fact that now I have my classroom keys and curriculum, I am finally settled into my place, and I am starting to meet new people, I am no longer wallowing in my own stress, bringing her down with me. I hope she is not a barometer of myself, because she was really terrible the last 2 months. I'd like to think I was not that bad.

The big 5-0!

50 blog posts... I never would have thought I could stick with this for so long. So now I have given myself a pat on the back and polished my gold star, you can also send me your warm love-filled congratulations for not giving up like I did on my photoblog.

Summer is that time of year when everyone moves. I try to move once a year because I get bored with my housing, enjoying bruising my legs and arms so I look like a black and blue giraffe, and like the magic of searching for everyday items hidden away in a sea of boxes. I bet you are asking yourself if you still have time to take advantage of the finer points of moving, and the answer is yes. Moving season is open until Labor Day. Score for you! (No, I will not help you move!)


For a single girl like me, moving means time spent with the parents, the only people who can't make excuses for not helping you move, even if they live 8 hours away. I am very VERY fortunate my parents made the drive this weekend to help. It is also fun to observe other twenty somethings moving with the help of their parents. The gusher of pride that comes with knowing your child is becoming financially independent is radiant and overflowing. Parents will go out of their way to make their kids uncomfortable, introducing them to any neighbor who walks by. Mine are guilty. So are my neighbors. Like children, parent scramble around through boxes and piles to find artifacts to present to new neighbors that showcase something you might have in common with their child. My neighbor's dad dug through his clothes to find his Chico State shirt, much to my neighbor's dismay. It was that funny/cute/awkward thing you still deal with, no matter if you are 10 or 30. You gotta love parents.

Blogging on stolen wi-fi, I will be very happy to have TV and internet tomorrow. After all, The Bachelorette season finale is tomorrow night.  Plan A is to watch it on while running on the treadmill for 2 hours for my weekly "long run". Plan B is to sit on my butt and watch it in my box dungeon. Both sound fabulous, am I right? Expect a snarky reflection on ABC's biggest contribution to society later this week. Good thing it is coming to an end so I am not distracted planning for the new school year. That makes me wonder... when is Glee starting back up? :)