Let the holiday madness begin

I broke from tradition this year by NOT hosting Thanksgiving instead opting to volunteer at the turkey trot..No problem we had a good time, got home around 11 and made a nice smaller dinner which we ate with T when he got home.
Sometime between getting home and eating with T, I called the in-laws to say Happy Turkey Day and before I could stop myself I suggested that we have Christmas at our house. I hadn't even spoke with T about it, it just sort've slipped out. I can only attribute this to some latent guilt I had about doing exactly what I wanted to do on Thanksgiving.
The thing is, I come from a small not-so-close family with 2 sibs out of state and the only family I see on a regular basis is my mom. T on the other hand has a huge family (in my opinion) and when we host party's the list includes aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandparents....Oh jeez it just goes on...suffice it to say theres a lot of them.
There will be 22 people here on Christmas day.
Perhaps some may see this as a modest number to me it's a little freaky.
All I can say is thank God for Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale and the fact that I'm a runner now!!!!
Tuesdays run was sweet, a light drizzle that got a little heavier at the end of my 35 minute run. There's a man I've come to know on the BART trail.......I'll refer to him as the "Happy Runner" when I first spotted him in my early days, I could barely run a full minute, he'd be singing as he ran , his form was noticeable too he sort've floats at a steady clip, always shirtless and always grinning. Over time we'd make eye contact and after about a year we'd say hi. Occasionally, we'll chat while running in place for a minute , give a high 5 and continue running in opposite directions.
In a weird way I feel connected to this guy, and to some of the other runners I see on the trail (not to mention my favorite bloggers!), whether it's a smile or a nod, a considerate gesture like sidestepping to let another runner stay on the dirt trail vs the pavement. There's another woman I can't seem to make eye contact with but I always try, she's got some type of gait disturbance, but I see her all over the place, sometime I'll work up the nerve to say "Hi" Then there's another older man, a stroke survivor, he wears a running sandal and I always feel a little guilty when I pass him.
I know, I'm a freak!!

Running on fumes is doable but I don't recommend it!

Didn't sleep well at all lastnight, maybe 5 hours tops, I did manage to pull off a 30 minute run.
It's easier to push through muscle fatigue than sleep deprivation.
So, no long runs this weekend. At least I got out there.
T's crazy schedule will continue for another two weeks then start tapering off, in time for M's winter break thank goodness.

No excuses.......

Yesterday's run and the weather had a conflict of interest...By the time the sun was out the desire to run turned into going to the movies. This morning appears to be clear and I have a window of opportunity to run, T will sleep in another hour ........Was hoping to hit the trails but that requires driving to Tilden . I'll have to stick to the nearby bicycle trail.....Getting M out for a bike ride could be fun once past the initial resistance she usually has! It's such a struggle for me to engage her in physical activity. She'd prefer to play on the computer or do art stuff, which is fine but geez, get some fresh air once in awhile!!
This is my husbands really busy time of the year, M and I are on our own for a good 6-7 weeks before life is normal around here. The early years were spent hardly ever leaving the house, hence I quilt and she has her indoors activities........But the past year since returning to running I've been itching to get out more and have had to get really creative with including the family.
M doesn't like riding on the bicycle trails so that cancels out me running and her following on the bike.......She only wants to ride in the neighborhood which never really seems to be enough for me, she's 10 and I just have to get my real workouts when I can......I get frustrated about this at times and I compare her to me when I was a kid.....I was sooo physically active, not that I played any organized sports or had lessons of any kind I was just bouncing off the walls all
the time riding my bike w/friends all over creation, pretending to be Olga Korbet on the neighbors lawn, climbing the mountain the reads "South San Francisco The Industrial City".
Today's kids really don't get to roam like we did. They are signed up for lessons and dropped off and picked up.
My husband has horrible allergy's and is not much of an outdoorsy person and I'm a nature freak! Opposites do attract and our girl is somewhere in between.
Okay, let's see how this run goes!!

addendum:

At the last minute I decided to hit the trail.....sheer genius considering yesterday's rain!W/brandy in tow I ran about a mile before turning around and walking back, the 5 pound mud waffles on each foot kicked my butt..sweat was pouring down my face. Not a fun work-out but a work-out all the same.

t

post-race letdown?

I was bumbed a little to learn my name didn't appear on the results list.
In the post-race email everyone gets there was a link to settle concerns...

So, I typed in my plea for recognition and feel a bit whorish for needing it in the first place.
I really had a great day, a great run and I totally trust my watch.
Hell I practiced setting it like 10x's!!

I had a nice 30 minute run this morning, a bit stiff still though, by the time I felt warmed up
I had to head back home to get ready for work.

I'm looking forward to a longer run soon.

King Oscar Presidio 11/20/05

The race description said some hills, a slight understatement if you ask me......Boy I was glad to have humped some hills is preparation for this one!!!
The upside however being:
Boing Boing Boing Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!
My new Montrails and I had a blast bouncing down the trail after climbing the hills, all three of them!!
The weather was GORGEOUS in San Francisco. Cool not cold. Sunny not hot.
Blue sky for miles. Just perfect, if you didn't think about global warming.

The start was a gradual climb from the parking lot to the trail head where all 600 of us bottled necked (twice) and on the last hill, even with pacing myself and NOT charging up the hills, with head down and arms pumping, I had to walk the last 3rd of the 3rd hill. Fortunately what goes up must come down and I happily bounced down the otherside. My groin is a bit stiff as I write this.
When I say pacing myself.....It's very low tech.....I just felt like I was running pretty decent, my breathing was right. The hills had a lot to do with not shooting out too fast that's for sure!
Trail running might just be my thing! The buzz among the crowd was this was a "long" 5k as was the 10k. The hills made it feel long to me.
For a nano second the jitters crept up, but once we took off, I settled into my groove and just had fun, totally confident I would finish and not stressed about a thing!
At the end ...The final kick, I dug in. I saw Miranda and Tom near the finish waving me on...it was the best feeling. I was winded but not whooped and no dry heaves this time. I actually carried on a conversation with a couple that came in behind me.
My unofficial time was 34:50:09. I rehearsed setting my stopwatch like 10 x's this morning in hopes of remembering to do it at the start-up. Need to check back on the results as they are not up yet.
A woman was the overall winner of the 5k, I think her time was around 25:00 mins.

Swag Up The Wazoo!!!

Along with a very cool technical shirt, a gel bottle, toe socks and gym towel. The goodies were a plenty. Following the announcement of the winners, the director of the event started calling out random things like who's been in ironman?, who's run Dipsea?, who's run a 100 miles?, who wears Montrail trail shoes?..I looked down at my feet and jumped up yelling "me!!". I got a $75.00 dollar gift certificate from Feet Fleet. I couldn't believe it!
I may not of broken any records running today, but I'm sure I was fastest at collecting on my prize, we headed over to Feet Fleet (had to wait 10 mins for it to open!) in s.f right after the race and I got 4 pairs of socks, a cool long sleeve asics shirt and a handheld waterbottle with a holder.

So, this was a better race for me all around. I was secretly hoping to be under 35:00, but I didn't want to jinx myself by saying so outloud.
My main objective was to not freak and to find my place amongst my fellow footers running, bouncing, laughing and feeling pure happy!

The proceeds go towards maintaining the Presidio trails and King Oscar is a Sardine company that sponsored the race.
Afterwards we headed to Fishenman's Wharf and ate at the Rainforest Cafe.....very fun day indeed!

I'm calm, cool and collected......so far!

This weeks workouts:

Sunday: 45 minute trail run, 45 minute bike ride
This was a good workout, new shoes felt fine. My glutes got a real workout, I've notice a mild soreness all week......I like it!

Wednesday: 4 miles in 40 minutes w/hills on treadmill
This was tougher than it sounds, I do hills on my runs in the neighborhood so I was prepared.

Friday: 3 miles in 28 minutes w/varied speeds on treadmill
This is the fastest I've run since bonking my toe, my singlet was soaked.

Current Reading:
The Competitivel Runner's Handbook, blogs, and Runner's world and the Lance Armstrong interview w/Oprah

Food Intake:
Eating has been not great just ok. I'm reading a chapter in my book on nutrition for runners. I tried a Gu for Sundays trail run, I had energy for the climb to Lake Anza but I was tired!!

Sleep:
So so....not great either though last night I slept very well.

Today Miranda and I will head into the city and try to scope out the race site.....the course is undisclosed and I've been hesitant to ask the event director for details, less I draw too much attention to myself (like he's gonna remember me!)

Things to pay attention to:
Start a bit slower than last time, but not too much slower
5ks are tricky like that too short to start slow too long to start fast

My book recommends segmenting the race into 4 parts:
Mile One
Mile Two
Mile Three
The final kick

So, it's not much of a strategy, but it's certainly more thought than I put into my last race. I could really use more practice on pacing I have no internal sense of it yet, I rely on the treadmill for tracking, at this stage i'll be too focused on just running and trying to avoid spraining my ankles on the trail to read info from a gadget.

Is it a coincidence.........

that a bad day coincides with a non-running day. Phone ringing again!!!! Damn those telemarketers.....thank god for caller ID!!!!
Thursday's usually suck for me at work, I'm the only full time OT staff and I usually have to double up on treatments..........Which is fine when (sick/old/confused) people are cooperative! Catch my drift?
The trouble starts when you have a group and one starts belly aching that their too tired, don't feel like doing there therapy, whatever the f...And than they ALL start complaining and there I am having to "educate" them on the role of therapy in their recovery and that a little something is better than nothing. blah blah blah. Today I was less than convincing.
Don't get me wrong, I like my work most of the time, I like the staff I work with, were a pretty cohesive bunch......But anyone who provides occupational therapy services in a skilled nursing setting can tell you, burn out is high. I like helping people help themselves, I believe that irregardless of age they can benefit from services that will help them be stronger and more independent. At times it is very rewarding. Today however, it was very draining.
I need a vacation.
So, I've been reading a book "the competitive runner's handbook" by bob and shelly glover. I went straight to chapter 27 "Mental Training" the part on fear of failure and fear of success were of equal interest to me........I tend to "choke' when the pressure is on.
I've never done well on tests or drills of any kind. I always choked during typing class drills. I failed getting my drivers license 3 times before I eventually passed. For awhile I was a seasonal fire fighter for CDF in Butte county, I didn't pass the basic training the first time. I did the second time around and while I kicked ass and worked as hard as any guy on my unit, I sucked at timed drills especially knot tying. I did eventually get my oxygen tank on in under minute, my unit buddy practiced with me every night. I didn't pass the math portion of my entrance exam into OT school, but managed to get another chance and with some tutoring pass on the 2nd try. I did manage to pass my state boards on the first try, you could hear my shriek of disbelief for miles around!!!!!
So, how helpful is it to recap past failures a few days before the race? I guess it's good to get it out in writing and to reflect that despite my failures I'm not a quitter. I've got heart. What I lack in natural talent or ability is made up for with hardwork. I'm not afraid of hard work.
And that friends has gotten me this far.