A Change of Hobby...for the day

Over the summer I had the opportunity to work with the incredibly talented visionary, Jesse Rosten, and his incredibly talented crew, up in Redding, California. I became a boxer for the day-- it actually screwed up my shoulders...boxing gloves are heavy! So, I'm sticking with running, but it was so worth the soreness for the funniness that came out of it. I hope you follow the link below, enjoy what you see, and then share it around.

Click Here:Fotoshop (fake) Commercial by Jesse Rosten



Over a million hits!! Whoohoo!

Father Joe's Turkey Trot Report

My husband and I did the Father Joe's Turkey Trot in Balboa Park for the first time this year. Typically, I don't like running with my husband, but I figured this was only a 5K and just a fun run, so what could go wrong? In fact, it was fun and nothing (too bad) went wrong. We saw this guy at the start:
What a cute little turkey.
And while all the dogs were cute at the start line, it quickly became annoying once the gun went off. With thousands of people and many of them with dogs, it and was more stressful and chaotic than fun for about the first 10 minutes. There was a weimaraner bark-howling at every other person and trying to break free from it's leash, some kind of little wiry terrier kept jumping on passersby, and then there were multiple owners who let the retractable leash go too far...you can imagine. So, for the first mile my husband and I jogged slow and circumspect while entertaining ourselves by making gobbling sounds and then going "Ppiwww" like a shotgun. The two guys dressed like turkeys did not think it funny when my husband pretended to shoot them...and I was mortified. Which brings me to why I don't like running with him: when he's not actively doing things that he knows will embarrass me (like making farting sounds as he jogs passed someone getting into their car, or walking with their child), he's listening to his headphones shouting observations at me over his music, "DID YOU SEE THAT GUY?!" which is even more embarrassing. So that was the last 2 miles of the race... me being annoyed that he couldn't run a stupid little turkey trot with me without headphones.

I know I shouldn't care. I should let him do whatever makes running easier for him, but it's just not what I imagined when I asked him to run it with me. I always forget that when I ask people to go on runs with me, it's more like asking them to run beside me and ignore me while they listen to music.

Oh well. I'm still thankful for running, and I'm especially thankful for the fact that I can function as a runner without headphones. I know so many runners "incapable" of running without them these days. Running in and of itself is what's enjoyable to me-- not my pace or my finish time or my playlist.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
Remember to be thankful that we can run whenever we want!

The Benefits of Running Naked

I was re-inspired today by a running buddy I only know through the blogosphere: Paula (AKA Struggling to be Speedy). And she suggested that I, in order to get out of my running funk, go back to the basics with a little naked running*.

*Naked Running: To perform the action of running with only the necessary gear; to run without electronics.

Today I was reminded of a few reasons why running has stuck with me all these years-- and it's not because I can forget that I'm doing it through a song on my ipod. Let me take you through my run pre and post Pandora Station music:

Pre: Golden Hill to Balboa Park (1 mile)

1. Adele, First Love... Boring... slow. (Change station)
2. Arcada Fire, Sprawl I (Flatland)... Slow song again...eh I'll listen to it...uhk, no it's depressing. (Change Station)
3. Black Eyed Peas, Just Can't Get Enough... I hate Black Eyed Peas, but this is a really good song...Boy I think about it every night and day...I'm addicted and I just can't get enough
4. Jay Sean, Down...Good beat...Dang it's getting hot...Baby are you down, down, down, down, down...
5. Timbaland, Carryout... This is a new one...wow...autotuned like crazy... (Change Station)
6. Pandora won't reload at this point... cuss cuss.

Post Pandora Meltdown: Balboa Park to Point Loma (7 miles)

1. Hear a scream behind me and turn just in time to see a kid fall in the Balboa Park water fountain. Funny.
2. Lady to the right trips off a curb due to texting. Funny cuz she wasn't hurt.
3. Stop at a water fountain and hear a "Caw, Caw" like a crow: See a large man in blue jeans, no t-shirt, standing on the grass cawing at a flock of crows. He then dropped and started doing push ups. Weird. Eventually made me laugh--after I vacated the immediate area.
4. Waiting at the stoplight on Harbor and Laurel: See a man across the street also in blue jeans & no t-shirt, only he's small and bald and doing the grapevine along the running path. What the what?

Had I been listening to my music, I most likely would have missed these observations that got me through the second part of my run and ultimately made me feel better about myself.... It makes me wonder what I missed during the first part of the run.

In My Secret Life...

I can run 5 minute miles.

I write for Runner's World.

I have perfect classroom management.

I'm a spy.

And a bounty hunter.

And a travel writer.

Oh, and a food critic.

And I always look this happy when I run:

Thanks, Megan Guerrero Photography for taking a good shot and keeping my thunder thighs under wraps!

Stonewall Mine

Mission accomplished for the month: I walked a trail I'd never been on before...and I'll be honest, it was a bit of a disappointment.

A girlfriend and I have been wanting to find some old ghost towns in the area--left over from the gold rush days. We thought that the old Stonewall Mine in Descanso, off the 79, looked promising based on what we read about it online. But, like most things on the internet, it proved to be misleading. The "mining town" is little more than a fenced-off hole in the ground. There were a few cool mining tools laying around (behind the fence) and we saw some people riding horses and the views from the trail were pretty OK, but all in all...it should not be classified as a ghost town.

If you decide to go to Stonewall Mine, don't go just to see the mine. You'll see it and be done "exploring" in less than 5 minutes. Go because you want to hike around Cuyamaca Lake or camp in Cuyamaca State Park. It's a calm, slow little place to get away from the rush of the city, and all the oak and pine trees and dried grass reminded me of Northern California. I will go back as a camper, but not as an explorer.

7 Midsummer Moonlight Runs

An intriguing idea these night races. Unfortunately, I don't live in Utah or I could run one of them. But then... I'd live in Utah.  The last race listed is in my hometown, Redding, but my in-laws will be down here visiting; that would have been a good excuse to take a trip up north. On second thought... the run may be at night, but Redding in August is still 90 degrees at midnight. I'm not acclimated to that. Not even close. I'll leave it to the hardcore locals.

Short Story Challenge

I decided, at the last minute of minutes, to enter the NYC Midnight Movie Making Madness Short Story Competition (that's a keyboard full...) again this year. If you want to see what this competition is about, and possibly do it next year, then click HERE. However, here's a quick run down: Contestants are placed into heats of about 20-30 people, and then each heat is given a different genre and subject. (Examples: Fantasy/Sewing Machine or Historical Fiction/Chocolate) Contestants then have 8 days to write a short story using the genre and subject.

Last year I entered the competition and had to write a horror story involving a metal detector. If you're interested in seeing what I came up with, you can read it by clicking HERE. (I'm not gonna lie, it is cheese ball!) It was fun and stressful...but mostly fun. I won my heat in the first round, which allowed me to move into the final round. I competed against 30 or so people, in a 24 hour round, and had to write a sci-fi story involving a neighbor. This final round happened to fall on the 24 hours of my birthday, so I...being the selfish person I am...wrote a crap piece in 8 hours, slept the whole night away so that in the morning I was fresh to edit, send it off, and go to Disneyland for free. You will find no link to this particular story...smiley face, smiley face.

This year, the final round does not fall on my birthday--so I can't use that as an excuse for a crappy story if I am lucky enough to get into the second round.

The first round starts tonight. The assignment is:
Genre: Drama
Subject: a computer hacker
Due: before midnight on January 23rd.

If you want to do the challenge along with me, for fun or just to practice some writing, link it to my page. I would love to see what sort of story you can come up with in 8 days. Let the fun begin.

Decade Resolutions...

In honor of the new year, a friend of mine was asked to write an article for a Rhode Island paper about the last 10 years. She decided to do something about creating decade resolutions rather than new year resolutions. I love this idea.

Think about the last ten years of your life. The things you've achieved over a decade are probably much more grandiose than what you have done over the last year. So it makes sense to give yourself 10 years to change your life, rather than only one year. Most common resolution: lose weight. Much more manageable if you give yourself ten years to do it, ya?

What have you done in the last 10 years?

Sometimes I feel like haven't done anything. But, purely for my own indulgence--to make me feel better about me--I am going to recount some of the things I've accomplished over the last decade. You should do the same...a little pat on your own back.

Ten years ago I was 18. Since then I have...

~moved over 500 miles away from my hometown to San Diego
~earned a Bachelor's Degree, a teaching credential and a Master's Degree
~become a teacher. with seniority.
~bought my own car
~driven the equivalent of the circumference of the earth, twice over, to visit family. (That's over 48,000 miles.)
~been married for a third of the decade
~ran 1 marathon and over 10 half marathons
~lost 10 pounds
~learned how to buy appropriately fitted clothing
~accepted my hairy arms and size 11 feet
~stopped biting my nails...when I choose
~developed friendships that will easily last another decade
~(my favorite one) become an aunt...though I had very little to do with that one.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

I've heard a lot of people say recently, "I'm not a resolution maker" or "I try to improve myself constantly, not just because it's a new year." Well la-te-da to you all. I think New Year's Resolutions are fantastic because it means you are reflecting upon the last year of your life. It means taking a look at your successes and failures and then assessing the ways in which you can improve yourself and your life. It may not seem that way when you write "go skydiving," or "lose 20 pounds," or "walk along the Seine," on your list, but it's the meaning behind those things. They represent something bigger than what they actually are.

For Christmas, a coworker gave me the refrigerator magnet pictured above. It reads, "She was suddenly struck with an overwhelming metaphor for her entire existence." Kind of a depressing magnet, really, but true of me nonetheless. I do tend to focus on the more negative aspects of this world and life--something I would like to change in the next decade--and I am addicted to life metaphors. I won't do that here (your welcome) but it is symbolic of how life requires dwelling upon, reflecting upon, and improving upon as we grow up and grow old.

At the end of the next decade, I'll be 38. My resolutions, based on reflections of the last decade, are:

~Be closer to family (in the literal or metaphorical sense. So I metaphorized a little bit. So what.)
~Love my job (whatever that may turn out to be!)
~Be more positive and/or optimistic (blegh)
~See Europe (any part of it)
~Pick a doctoral program (notice I didn't say, "earn a Ph.D?" Baby steps...)
~Get paid to write stuff
~Learn to accept my thighs and addiction to soft cheeses.
~Meet Tina Fey. Earn her respect and friendship and......

That'll do. I'm getting a bit too detailed. Generality, I think, will be my friend here in long run. Ah! Long run. Perhaps the metaphor I've been looking for. It's kind of perfect if you think about it. Sorry. I lied about getting metaphorical on you....

In the long run, there will be pain, there will be indescribable joy and empowerment; if you run long enough you will cry and whimper, you will hurt and feel sick. You will want to quit. You will want to go the extra...you know. But, over the course of the long run, you'll get stronger, you'll get better, and you'll have done something good for yourself that will inadvertently do something good for those around you. That is, of course, if you're running a good race.

That's all.

Happy New Decade!

Go do good.

Away From HO-lloween

I went to San Francisco this weekend for a bachelorette party. I know you might be confused by the title, "Away From HO-lloween," because wouldn't the crazy peps of SF be more scandalous than those in SD? Nope. The Halloween party peeps of San Francisco actually dress in a COSTUME for Halloween! They do not take professions like Nursing or Firefighting and turn them into a "Slutty Nurse," or "Slutty Firefighter" costume. They dress up in the traditional sense--and to top it off--they're SMART costumes that make one think. Like the guy who carried around a bag of pennies to give out for those who write a "thought" on this paper shirt. He was the, "Penny for Your Thoughts Guy." Creative. And then there was the girl who hand sewed dozens of plastic balls to a leotard, wore a white wig, and was Lady Gaga. I felt lucky to be hundreds of miles away from the high school campus where I would have spent the entire day trying to avert my eyes to avoid seeing cleavage, cracks, and bulges... high schoolers are just too much gross at Halloween. (Mothers: Please check your daughter's backpack before she goes to school on Halloween!)

But, the reason for this post is to officially announce that I am in marathon training. San Francisco got me fired up again (I ran a half marathon there this summer). I'm a little jealous of my friend who is training in SF, because the hills are so fantastic in the city. If I could train in San Francisco, I could run any race in any place. The hills in SD are too easy to avoid. Don't get me wrong, San Diego is a beautiful place to train, and it's convenient because morning, noon and night the weather is never so terrible as to impede upon a long run schedule. That is one thing SF doesn't have going for it, but it probably breeds stronger runners. (See the "I Found Solitude" post for the type of runner I happen to be...)

I think the race I'll be training for is the Napa Valley Marathon. I like the race philosophy about running without headphones. In case you aren't aware, there is growing hostility between those who run with headphones and those who consider themselves "purists" and run sans headphones. I happen to be a "purist." But, that's partly because I decided to let my ipod go for a swim in the washing machine....

I'll be using a mix between Hal Higdon's training plan and Bart Yasso's (which I clipped out of a Runner's World Issue). I like these plans because they require only 3-4 days of running a week. I fudge a bit on the "Cross Training" days and usually just go for a short walk or maybe a bike ride. I also do my long runs on Saturdays instead of Sundays. I'll keep a running tally in the sidebar on the right to track my weekly mileage and goals. Tomorrow's goal: 3 miles easy. OH, I forgot. The saddest part about marathon training: saying goodbye to wine. Sigh.

(Picture at top was taken at Dolores Park near Noe Valley, San Francisco.)