Pacific Grove Olympic Triathalon

well, it appears that i've finally gone an registered for a race...my first olympic distance triathalon with the team in training....though, i don't think my head has actually registered with it just yet.....between the .93 mile open water swim or the fund raising commitment i can confidently say i've got some challenges ahead of me this year.

a good cause

while i've been running purely for pleasure and thoroughly enjoying myself it's been haphazard and i've had a hard time tapping into "race mode". when kate mentioned she was going to a Team In Training information meeting conveniently located in my city i was intrigued. when katrina got interested my curiosity grew. so i'm going just to check it out. the thing i'm most worried about is the fundraising as i have very little experience with it. we're all interested in doing the half-marathon but i'm not ruling out another triathalon. so we'll see....

sisters

happy feet

there ain't nothing like a good running shoe. the fine folks at TRANSPORT on solano turned me onto to a new brand. normally loyal to asics, i tried on saucony's progrid omni 7 ultimate. we've been running together a couple of months now and during today's 5 miler when fatigue started to creep up i'd check in with my feet and they felt damn good. the weather today is GORGEOUS just perfect for a run....i know we need the rain....but nobody was happier than me to be outside in the sun today. not even the ipod batteries pooping out after the first mile could alter my good mood......and things just got better when i called in for jury duty and didn't have to serve. woohoo!

welcome to the middle of the road

the comedian dana carvey said it well when he pointed out the as one enters middle age you can get hurt doing absolutely nothing.

last year just before thanksgiving towards the end of my shift i was careless about body mechanics and strained my back while transferring a not-so-small brain injured marine back to bed. luckily i had requested friday off so i had 5 days to recover...i never said a word to my employer. i returned to work after my holiday cautious but able to resume my duties. the incident was however a wake up call that i really needed to get myself back on track with exercise and especially core fitness.

not long after i discovered bikram yoga. i've been to 10 sessions since i started in mid january and the 90 minute sessions are tough. the running is still not where i want it to be but but about halfway around ceasar chavez this morning i caught a glimpse of hope that i'm still a runner and just have to build up again.

so back to my opening comment, on monday about 15 minutes into my shift i was at a patients bedside and as i reached to adjust his pillow my right upper back seized up and a sharp knife like pain swept along the my intercostals.......wtf! i was in agony and all i did was extend my right arm, no lifting , no twisting, again wtf!!!

i had to speak up this time and make the walk of shame to occupational medicine and get checked out. the most obvious limitation was trying to twist to my left side ...it hurt allot! my doctor, who looked about 20 and more like a model than an MD was despite my immediate disdain for her quite sweet and after a few other choice moves that hurt like hell gave me a slip for modified duty and a bottle of ibuprofen...800 mg of course.

so i iced and ate ibuprofen the next 2 days, on wednesday morning i woke up at 5 am in pain and decided to go the 6 am yoga class and it totally blew. i forced myself to stay the entire session and i just did what i could. after wards i wallowed in self pity for a few hours and then i re-read some of my past blog entries and a few others and before i knew it i was picking myself up and dusting myself off. i've always said a shitty workout is often better than no workout.

friday i awoke pain free and when i went to occ. med for a check-up i was given a clean bill of health and am back on regular duty. i went for 3 miler this morning and took a few walk breaks with no weird ego issues, just glad and grateful than i can move and work and be active.

still around

in the last few weeks i've managed to climb back on the fitness train. i'm not interested in registering for any races still but i've been getting in 2 pre-dawn runs a week. i broke up with "Y" and found an awesome bikram yoga studio in el cerritto...i crave heat and have taken to this form of yoga like a duck to water.

my laptop has been in the clutches of repair for weeks....don't ever send your computer in for repair over the holidays...slow, slow, slow.........so at i'm at M's mercy when she's in a rare good mood to use hers...arrgg, meanagers! happy belated new year to anyone who still stops by....i try to check in when M is not looking....when i get my laptop back i'll write more about my comeback, HA HA HA!!!

climate change and sustainability

sheesh,you hardly know how to dress these days. last weekend i was rummaging through boxes digging out sweaters and long sleeve shirts and yesterday i tore the closet apart searching out tank tops.
last week i was baking lasagnas and quick breads and this weekend the thought of even entering the kitchen is unsettling.....things better chill out soon or it's chips and cold-cuts come thanksgiving!

so, apparently i'm no longer a early bird runner..still a runner just not at the butt-crack of dawn kind of runner. i left the house this morning around 8:45 and ran mostly on the asphalt along Peralta and over to Colusa, both nice long stretches that wind through berkeley/albany residential areas. by the time i got to the big hill on colusa i stripped my shirt off and mostly ran to the top. i'm usually more modest but the heat factor dismissed that right away and i ran in my sports all the way home.

i'm not putting anywhere near the mileage,time or energy into training these days but i get in 1-2 runs a week, somewhere between 3-5 miles a pop and you know, it's all good. i logged onto active.com recently looking for a race that might appeal to me and nothing really did.

i've been happily spending time at my new studio getting my sewing and craft materials organized. i'm really lucky to have such a sweet husband who finally agreed that the extra expense was worth it. i have a nice clean well lit space in emeryville, 5 mins. from home to work on various projects that can be left out for me to pick-up on at my leisure.

i've been lurking allot and a few favorite bloggers seem to be resurfacing here and there. i've not spent allot time blogging myself but i check in on many of you daily.

i really like the new job. i just had my 90 day review and i'm so happy i could go on an on but i'll spare you. suffice it to say the right job at the right time in my career has made a profound and positive difference in my well-being.

M and i were out last night and we ran into her pre-school teacher and her partner. Laila, was more than a pre-school teacher, more like a pre-school goddess. she has the most amazing way of saying so much in so few words. she along with her staff literally taught me everything i know about parenting. we've been casual contact over the years and running into her last night was timely.

M is a teenager now, and to be honest i tend to think of how much of a drag this fact is for me, the tortured mom of a drama queen. Laila put it so succinctly when she said "the only thing harder than being a parent of a teenager is being a teenager" i don't know why but it was like a loving smack upside the head rendered by a loving trusted alli that resonated deep down. for as hard and unmanageable as it seems at times, being what i need to be for M, Laila reminded me of how important perspective is and how tough this time is for M too. it's so easy to get caught up in the "all i do for you", "your so ungrateful...", or "when i was your age...." instead of focusing on how hard her behavior is on me it really makes sense to step back and remember how fucken hard it was at her age, how insecure and frustrated i was...(am still sometimes..)

so i find myself spending less time high on a ridge somewhere, less focused on training or the next race and more time in places like Sephora or Claires or Ikea. i still have to carve out me time, i do but with less intensity. i like the pace at which i'm moving right now. it feels sustainable.