Let Me Root, Root, Root for the Home Team

In No Particular Order

The other week Kara tagged me to take part in a meme. I'm finally ready to make good on my promise to participate.

The Rules:
Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’ve been tagged, and to read your blog.*

*I need to research who hasn't been tapped for this one yet and if the omission is intentional. So that part of the list will be delayed until 'further notice.'

Having done these lists in the past, I decided to be truly random and just jot down the first eight things that come to mind.

Hence:

1. I am watching The Young & The Restless as I write this. I've watched the soap opera on and off since it started in the 1970s. I even was around when they renamed the title of the opening and closing music "Nadia's Theme" after the Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who represented Romania.

2. I'm feeling intense pressure to join Facebook.

3. I swipe Tazo teabags from work, but only up to 1 per day. I'm sipping a pilfered Passion at the moment.

4. I bet I'm one of the only running bloggers that knows Nadia Comaneci was on The Celebrity Apprentice this winter. I know because I watched it every week. There, I admit it.

5. Those debilitating headaches are finally fading -- just when I'm scheduled to see the neurologist in about an hour.

6. My baby sister's having a baby herself today. He's going to be named Lucas John. Lucas John of Terrabonne. It has a nice ring, doesn't it?

7. Oh, you know that waterfront hotel that blew up in San Diego this week? My friends and I were standing right next to it the day before. I even suggested two of them use the restroom since they both had to go -- badly. They ended up at a liquor store across the street instead. I could never have forgiven myself if they both perished while going potty.

8. Growing up, I had a crush on the U.S. Olympic gymnast Bart Conner. I seriously thought someday our paths might cross and I'd leverage my middle school gymanstics experience to win his heart. Alas, he married Nadia Comaneci instead.

Wordless Wednesday

While I Can Get a Word In

Our younger daughter just called to say she made the UC Davis Dance Team!

Walking on Pins and Needles

When my friend Irene first mentioned her symptoms on her blog, I had a hunch she'd fractured her hip. A physician told her it was muscle, but when she came to help me welcome home runners at a track club training run, I was even more convinced she'd done more damage than the doctor had declared. She limped just like I had two years prior and seemed in the same state: part denial, part optimism. Well, you know what they say is the difference between an optimist and a pessimist, right? The pessimist has the facts.

Irene on Saturday had surgery to fix a cracked femoral neck, which is the ball that connects to "the hip bone."

I suffered the same injury at the very same time in the marathon training program, so I know what she's going through and I know what she has to look forward to and I wish her a speedy recovery and a precription (with refills!) for Percocet. We've talked a couple of times on the phone now, and she's in excellent spirits and, according to the surgeons, otherwise great health. She's due to come home in another day or two and will resume blogging so we can get all the details of her ordeal. Until then, I'll keep sending happy thoughts and warm wishes her way.

Race Report: Bay Bridge Run

I can’t ever remember getting race instructions in the mail that began by encouraging you to bring your camera. But, boy, am I glad I did. And others probably are too. The Navy’s 22nd annual Bay Bridge Run offered sweltering temps, an unexpected stop and spectacular views of downtown San Diego and Coronado.

As I mentioned in a previous post, this one wasn’t run for time. Good thing too because despite an official Runners Start and a Walkers Start there were plenty of both types in each section, so it took awhile to actually get running and keep moving. There were no timing chips to accurately record 8,000 runners, which proved a bit of a problem at the end since there also was no one keeping order. But I’m getting ahead of myself – and the actual run.

The start was at the western base of the Gaslamp District in downtown San Diego. Here are my friends Sue, Vickie and Tina, who flew in from Florida for the weekend. It should be noted the day prior we went hiking in the morning and spent the entire afternoon walking around Del Mar and La Jolla. The wine and falafel happy hour, followed by a sushi dinner, were a wonderful way to carbo load, let me tell you.

We first headed up an overpass that runs along Harbor Drive (see top picture, which is my favorite shot). Less than a mile into it, we all had to stop to wait for the Trolley to pass.

The water station was in Chicano Park in National City. I stopped to snap a photo of the only spectators. This area doesn’t host many road races.

The climb up the bridge began in earnest after the water station. We slowed, not because of the hill or the weaving, but because I just couldn’t stop taking photos. It’s a good thing my friend Sue is so patient.

The Navy had a helicopter hovering overhead at the bridge’s high point.

The descent went well, except my sunburn and the concrete’s heat made it feel like my face was on fire. Sue and I weaved in and out of crowds to the very end, where we finished together. The finish chutes were interesting, given no one stayed in order – or even in their own corral. Everyone just started handing over their name tags, which pushed back some finish times and pissed off Sue. (You gotta click the below photo and look at all of the runners on the bridge still coming in....)

After we were all reunited, we grabbed our Padres tickets (the race premium was a ticket to next weekend’s baseball game), T-shirts, bagels and bananas and then headed toward the ferry (see photo below). The line would prove too long and our wait for the buses too much for my weary visitors. Somehow, we ended up moving ahead of the hundreds and hundreds of others waiting in line for a coveted spot in a 32-seat Trolley. Actually, I know how we did it, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy.

You can click on each picture for a bigger and better view!