My First Ever Political Cartoon

I have managed to avoid getting political up to this point; however, my students are reading 1984 right now...so I have government and politics on the brain nonstop. To counterbalance the anger and confusion the political world gives me, I usually run it out and am good to go. However, since I decided to take the full month off to heal the hip, I had to find some other way to keep the blood pressure down. I opted for books on tape*.

And then they ended... yesterday. So today I listened to NPR on my way to work and was immediately reminded why I had switched to audio cds. One phrase from 1984 kept leaping to mind, "Ignorance is Strength." And in the case of this country, strength often means shouting bigotry and violent language at one another, using physical violence, or picking up a gun...(or a brick--as was the case recently).

The healthcare reform has caused such an outpouring of ignorant hatred that I am ashamed to claim it as a part of the country in which I live. When I heard about the bricks that were thrown through the glass doors of two Democratic Headquarters in New York the other day, the following political cartoon came to mind.



I've never made a political cartoon before... and I definitely did not inherit my grandmother's artistic abilities. I do not understand why calm, rational discussions are so difficult, and why when things get too "progressive" the opposition becomes violent and someone gets assassinated...usually by one who happens to be a member of a certain pachyderm-related party. The poisonous words and actions of late have forever rooted me against rejoining such a Party (should I have ever considered reconsidering.)

Sorry for getting political here. I promise it won't happen again. But without my roads and trails for the last two weeks I have had no way to release the disappointment and hurt over the amount of hate that's out there.

Everyone just needs to go for a jog...

*The books on tape that I listened to and thoroughly enjoyed were: From a Buick 8 by Stephen King, Locked Rooms by Laurie King, and Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann. Currently listening to The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Spring Break...

...is next week!! Freeeeeedoooom.
A rest from work and a continued rest for my hip.

Yes, I've (once again!) decided to stay off the leg for 3 weeks, maybe 4, just to ensure that it is fully healed. I thought, somehow, that since my hip flexor didn't hurt during or after the marathon, it had somehow been healed by the race. Not so. But, I do feel confident that giving it a nice long reprieve will ensure it is healed and good to enter the next round of training: getting faster.

So that's why my blog has been lackluster lately... but perhaps with the coming of Spring and its Break, I will become re-inspired, refreshed and ready to take on the new challenges I've set for myself.

'Till next week-
Keep on truckin'

Nike Women's Marathon: Lottery Reminder

Sorry boys. This one's ladies only!

I was reminded recently by my Florida-friend, Liz, that the Nike Women's Invitational Marathon and Half Marathon 2010 Spectacular Spectacular is just around the corner. Actually, no it's not. The registration and lottery to get into the race is just around the corner. The race itself is on October 17th.

So this is the reminder for me and all of you to put April 5th on your calendar!

If you're like me and have tried multiple times to get into San Francisco's Nike Women's Marathon, and have failed to do so either because you forget to enter the lottery during lottery week (like me) or you just never get picked in the lottery (also like me), then we should form a team and try to get in together! Typically a race is a solitary, sometimes lonely activity, but in this case there is strength in numbers. If one person on the team gets chosen, then all get into the race. I don't have many running buddies-- most are in the blogosphere--so let's do this thing bloggies. Let's get us a Tiffany's necklace (given to all finishers).

The following information is the group registration procedure taken directly from the NWM site. The group needs to be formed this week (tomorrow is the start date!) to apply for our group ID.
*******************************************************
OBTAIN YOUR GROUP ID BEFORE REGISTRATION
Group registration continues to be one of the most popular features of the Nike Women's Marathon. This year, if you are interested in registering as a group, you should create a Group ID prior to registering in the random drawing.

There are four easy steps:

STEP 1: Designate ONE person in your group to be the group leader
STEP 2: Beginning Monday, March 22nd, the group leader MUST create a Group ID on SignMeUp.com
STEP 3: Once the Group ID has been created, the group leader MUST send the Group ID to everyone in the group
STEP 4: Starting April 5th, every member of the group needs to input the Group ID in the appropriate box on their own random drawing application

Runners have the opportunity to enter as either an individual or as part of a group using a Group ID, but cannot enter as both. Duplicate entries are void and will be grounds for complete removal from the random drawing.

Check back on Monday, March 22nd, for the link to the Group ID form!

ONLINE RANDOM DRAWING REGISTRATION
Opens: Monday, April 5th, 9:00am PST
Closes: Friday, April 16th, 11:59pm PST
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I will be posting another reminder on the eve of the 5th with a link to the registration site. I haven't decided yet if I want to do the half or the full marathon. I could be persuaded by whomever decides to form a group with me.
Half Marathon $ 115
Full Marathon $135

If anyone has already formed a group, and you don't mind me tagging along too, that'd be great. Otherwise, I'm willing to be the "Group Leader" and organize it before the lottery.

If you want to read more about the San Francisco Nike Women's Marathon 2010 click HERE.

Why drink a beer with pizza when you can have it IN pizza...

...because I like drinking beer that's why. So, I also have a bottle of it with my beer pizza.

I love carbs. Carbs carbs carbs. They are good before a run, with a little protein they are good after a run, they are good for bad days at work and for no reason at all. I don't usually crave pizza or care much for it one or the other. But every once in a while, I feel like making it... mostly because I like the recipe and the process of building it. So, today was one of those days.

This dough recipe, which I stole from my teacher friend, Patti, is delicious and not so bad on the waistline if made with whole wheat flour and light beer. (Though white flour does taste better.) I make a margherita pizza with it-- but any old topping will suffice.

Beer Pizza Dough:

3 1/2 C flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Add one 12 oz. beer (I like Michelob Ultra, Amstel Light or Corona)

Mix.
Roll out with lots of flour.
Optional: put a light dusting of corn meal on the baking tray before pressing the dough onto it.

For a crispier crust, bake the dough alone at 350 for 10 minutes. Then add toppings and place back in the oven until cheese is melted and golden brown.

For a softer crust, just add the toppings on top of the raw dough and place in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown and the crust is cooked through.


Toppings for my Margherita Pizza include (in this order): tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese*, chopped garlic, chopped basil leaves, sliced tomatoes and crumbled feta cheese on top. Mmmmmmmmm.

*Tonight I used a foursome of: gouda, provolone, cheddar and mozzarella.

Back in Biz

PHEW! What a week... things are finally calming down and beginning to return to normal. The week before the Napa Valley Marathon, my husband and I moved out of our tiny, cavelike (moldy) apartment and into a real house! So exciting, but a lot of work right before we left for Napa. And now that we're back, the real work will begin putting it all together. But on to the fun stuff...

Napa was fantastic! (I want to apologize ahead of time for the excessive use of exclamation marks in this post!)
It is hands down the best race I've ever been a part of. It was organized, it wasn't too big and it was gorgeous!
Well...the motel we stayed at left something to be desired (we took to calling it the Bates' Motel!), but we weren't in Napa to sit in a motel all day... during our awake hours we did stuff.

Like... we went to the Marathon Expo where I nearly fell over with shock at the quality schwag we received! All participants were handed a super nice, spacious and durable duffel bag with the Napa Valley Marathon logo embroidered on it. Also, a better-looking-than-usual long sleeve technical T. The "goody bag" wasn't so bad either-- usually they're full of annoying flyers. These had mostly food samples and even a handy velcro arm-pouch for gu or keys or a cell phone. And then there was the free wine!... uh huh.


After that, on Saturday, we took a tour of the Castello di Amorosa winery (aka: The Castle).
It was beautiful. The wine was good, but the tour guide was full of you-know-what. In spite of that guy, it was the perfect way to spend a partly-cloudy day: four stories beneath an enormous castle, made with 1,000 year old bricks from Italy, sipping wine. Yes, I drank some wine before the race. Not much. Maybe the equivalent of a glass. Did no harm (that I'm aware of).

Race day was perfect. The morning was pretty darn cold. I didn't start taking off the layers until about mile 4. I had friends and family cheering for me every hour of the journey. This race, more than any other race I've ever run, showed me how much a strong mind can affect performance. Knowing that about every 6 miles a group of people who love and support me were waiting to cheer for a few seconds as I jogged by gave me something to look forward to and run toward. Of course I was always running toward the finish line, but thinking about the race in hourly cheer increments was so much easier than thinking about mile after mile of solitude.

I also have to say that the mantra "I feel good, I am strong" helped get me out of some nauseous moments and miles when I felt like my right foot was going to explode or break in half (...especially here at mile 25). After repeating it a few dozen times, I started to believe it and then feel it. The human psyche is pretty damn amazing. Oh! And the nagging hip left me alone! (It's sort of back this week...but the marathon was hip-pain free.)

Tomorrow will be one week since the race. I'll be 29 years old. I had a bit of a freak out yesterday. I think some of it had to do with post-marathon depression (which I've learned is very real) and the other part is the realization that I'm an ADULT.
I am almost 30.
I have one more year in the 2's.

So I've been thinking... to fight the post-marathon depression, I need to set my sights on the next hurdle...and the La Jolla Half Marathon coming up at the end of April feels like child's play compared to running a full marathon. Therefore, in the final year of my twenties, I'd like to accomplish these things (in no particular order):

1. go to Europe and see a really real castle
2. Run a marathon in under 4 hours
3. Grow my hair out again
4. Get a paycheck for writing something
5. Take the GRE, apply for grad school


Keep on truckin' onward and upward.

I feel good. I am strong.
I feel good. I am strong.

Spent

It is horrifying what happened to Chelsea King. It makes me sad, disgusted, outraged and sick to my stomach that women can't walk or jog in a quiet, peaceful place without the fear of attack. Men like John Albert Gardner III should be castrated. All the world revolves around that thing between men's legs...without it the world would be a safer more peaceful place. I have to stop talking about it because I am enraged at the moment and I don't have the emotional reserves this week to deal with it.

It's hard to think about the fact that I'll be running a full marathon on Sunday. It seems like such a frivolity after everything that has happened with Chelsea King. But nevertheless, the world keeps spinning. People living... dying. Students learning. Teachers teaching. Runners running. On and on and on.

I am relieved that the marathon is nearly here. Since Monday my husband and I have spent every spare moment between the hours of 3pm (when we get off work) and midnight moving out of our tiny cave of an apartment, and into a beautiful, light-filled, ocean-view home. We are extremely excited and extremely exhausted. We are spent in every possible way: emotionally and physically...probably even spiritually. I am sore in my body-- from the move, in my mind-- which hasn't stopped "running" (even in my sleep), and in my heart-- for a fellow runner who will never run again. I will be relieved when my feet are finally on the roads of Napa. Of all the weeks leading up to the race that felt so long and tedious...this has been the longest week of them all.

When I think of the race this weekend, I don't see the pain I might be in, I don't see the mile after mile after mile monotony I will face. Instead, I see burdens left behind and freedom ahead. I see something managable. Something I know how to deal with... after a week like this one, the marathon will be my escape, my vacation, my rest.

Thank you...

To Speed Struggler: you have been such a wonderful blog-companion these last few months. Thank you for your encouragement and input--it's been invaluable to me. I hope you continue to heal and stay on the road...one day we'll run a race together!

To Linsey: You know. (Camel...)