Pink Is The New Green

She’s pink, but not pink-pink. I always thought I’d be attracted to blues or greens or reds, but I liked her the minute I set eyes on her.

She’s a Diamondback hybrid, more on the road than comfort side, I’m told, though her wheels are good for the dirt trails closest to my house. The guy who sold her to me, Ian, says she’s good with klutzes like me.

I woke before everyone today to take her for a test ride, and I was the one tested. Within minutes my heart was racing and sweat was forming on my brow, no matter which settings I chose. I made it midway up the first hill before I had to dismount and walk the rest of the way. It happened again on the return, which ended up, oh, 14 miles shorter than intended.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

I now understand the bond between [wo]man and bike. In our case, we’re both heavy lightweights who need each other to make this work. Speaking of work, I’m obviously going to have to build up to commuting to mine.

I like it though. I like the minor accomplishment when I crest a long incline still sitting in the saddle. I like the terrifying exhilaration of speeding downhill. I like that I’m going to be sore tomorrow, but for a change it’s a good sore.

I’m naming her Penelope.

It All Changes From Here

This is my last Saturday morning at home for the next six months, give or take a week. Next Saturday is the first run of the 4th Annual Half Mad or Whatever Marathon Training Program.

Given it’s already the midyear, and the first half of the year hasn’t gone as planned runningwise, I’m going to treat it as a fresh start. Not another false start.

What I’m doing differently:

1. Buying a hybrid bike this weekend (yes, finally!) to commute and to hit the canyon trails some evenings.
2. Signing up for a hatha yoga class that meets Tuesday evenings. This precludes me from joining the track club for speedwork, but in my current state I can’t do sprints or hill repeats for awhile anyway.
3. Signing up for a Sunday morning yoga/Pilates combo class. I decided on this instead of a spin class because I’m finally recognizing I need a kinder, gentler regime to avoid being sidelined so much.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to buy a bike after breakfast and then get the house ready for out-of-town company.

Hey, Don't I Know You?

What does it say that I know every person in this article, which is all about the back of the pack crowd and their different marathon experience? There’s:

• Michael, Irene’s husband;


• John Cross, an octogenarian I’ve welcomed home in many races;


• Chuck, Louise’s old training partner (old as in former, Chuck, not agewise);


• Erin, who I’ve shared a run with and who is part of our core SDTC half marathon training program;


• and Sue, who I just spoke to on the phone the other day.

I hope they and everyone running this Sunday are greeted by cool weather, great music and a spectacular group of spectators. I’ll be thinking of you.

Wordless Wednesday

Advice To Sleep On

Many of us have trouble falling and staying asleep these days, so it's no wonder that articles on sleep are popping up all over the place. This morning's local newspaper has one such item on the issue that I thought was worth passing on, particularly since sleep is as important as nutrition and fitness to runners.

Here's an excerpt that might prove useful:

"Although we spend one-third of our lives sleeping, many of us don't do it very well. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says about one in five adults fails to get the necessary seven to eight hours a night, and the economic downturn is making things worse.

The trick to catching this elusive bedfellow is learning how to let it come to us.

1. You can't fall asleep.
Don't stay in bed. It turns your sanctuary into a torture chamber and actually decreases your sleep drive, says Zee. Instead, practice good “sleep hygiene” by reducing your caffeine intake, exercising (but not too close to bedtime) and avoiding stimulating activities, such as TV and computer use. Resist the urge to knock yourself out with wine, because alcohol prevents deep sleep. If anxiety is keeping you up, keep the lights dim, get out of bed and listen to music, talk radio or an audiobook with your eyes closed. Go back to bed when you feel drowsy.

2. You wake up in the middle of the night.
Don't turn on the light. This “tells the brain it's morning and it stops producing melatonin,” sleep expert Michael Breus said. Don't go to the bathroom simply because you're awake. Instead, he said, distract your monkey mind by counting backward from 300 by 3s – that requires more calculation than counting sheep. If you wake up within an hour of the time you're supposed to get up, then just get up, Breus said. “If you stay in bed longer than 30 or 40 minutes, your body could push you back into a deep sleep,” he said.

3. Your bladder wakes you up.
Don't drink liquids after 8:30 p.m. If you're worried you might be thirsty in the middle of the night, put a small cup of water near your bed so you don't have to get up. You probably won't need it, said Breus, the author of “Beauty Sleep” (Plume, $15). If you're male and feel pressure on your bladder, have your prostate checked."

3,000 Miles Later

It felt good to sleep in my own bed again.

It felt even better to wake up and run 20 minutes early this morning.

Focus on Family

If I have to be sidelined with an injury, I can think of no better time than now.

We're taking a week off to drive to northern California and celebrate family. I've put my to-do list in the sidebar. Notice there isn't much involving computers and emails on it? That's why you won't hear from me, on this blog or yours, for a bit.

Enjoy.

Wordless Wednesday

H2Ooooooh

Last year city officials asked every residence to cut back on personal water consumption by 10 percent to help conserve our most precious natural resource, water. As you can see by one of our recent water bills, our household went above and beyond. (This month’s bill was even better -- 51% lower!)

Unfortunately, the majority of San Diegans did not share our enthusiasm and continued to wash half-full loads of laundry and dishes, water lawns during rainy weeks, wash down walkways and take long showers. Overall consumption dropped a mere 5%. Now we’re all about to suffer.

The agency that regulates our water supply is cutting back because of prolonged drought, which means we’re forced to cut down – and pay more for the water we will use. Other water authorities are doing the same elsewhere in the state. Beginning in June, each San Diegan household is going to be given an allotment and will pay stiff fines if it goes over the gallon limit. Habitual offenders, I’m told, will have some kind of device placed on their valves to force conservation.

It’s even worse in agricultural zones, where farmers are being forced to let fields go fallow because they can no longer irrigate them. Given California’s Central Valley provides the bulk of domestic produce and nuts for the rest of the U.S., you can expect the price of those goods to go up as well.

The other day there was a sign at the gym warning everyone to limit showers to five minutes or less because of the water restrictions. It got me thinking. Will the city turn off water fountains we use on our runs? Will the cost of races rise even more to compensate for more expensive water? We have volunteers who refill 16- and 20-gallon jugs for our track club’s training program aid stations – will they still be as generous if it costs them part of their daily allotment?

Starting Off On the Wrong Foot Again

The only thing I dislike more than paying a late fee for registering on race day is paying in advance and then not being able to run because of an injury. To save $10 I just blew $25 for a 5k I’m now unable to run.

I had reached the stage of recovery where I could walk a couple of miles pain free and thought I was ready to resume a run-walk routine. I was wrong. Now I’m limping along again and reevaluating a lot of upcoming plans.

From the Dr. Foot Web site:

CAUSES OF ACHILLES PAIN
--The biggest contributing factor is ignoring the pain in the tendon.
--Achilles Pain commonly occurs from shearing and stretching forces placed on the achilles tendon. Excess Pronation (rolling over of the foot) causes extra strain on the tendon. Inflammation of the tendon is a common result along with tightening of the calf muscles.
--Sudden increases in training can lead to achilles tendonitis.
*--Excessive hill running or speed work.
--Inappropriate shoes. If the soles of the shoes are too stiff, this causes the forefoot to have limited movement. This can lead to increased tension to the achilles tendon.
--Studies have shown that excessive heel cushioning can be a contributing factor. Air filled heels are not very good for achilles tendonitis. If you wear a shoe that is designed to give greater shock absorption, what frequently happens is when the heel makes contact with the ground and continues to sink lower while the shoe is absorbing the shock. This causes the achilles tendon to be stretched.
*--Tight calve muscles.
*--Mechanical abnormalities of the feet such as over pronation.
*--Women who take up running are at a greater risk. This mainly affects women who wear high-heeled shoes, which effectively shorten the achilles tendon. When the individual then takes up running in "flat shoes," the achilles tendon is put
under increased tension.

*Guilty

Wordless Wednesday

This Early Morning Thing Really is a Lark

Love this column about those of us who are up -- naturally, not with an alarm -- well before sunrise. It appears we really are the happiest people on earth.

A brisk run before dawn sheds light on 'larks'

I'm Getting Tired of This

Never thought I'd say this, but I think Microsoft is better than Google, at least when it comes to slide show software. I'm going back to Windows Vista, but first here's what I just spent a few precious Sunday hours creating. The photos and audio sync perfectly in draft form, but it gets messed up each time I publish it. I'm willing to let a lot of things go, but when it comes to photography, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. The software auto-cropped vertical shots poorly, but I gave up trying to fix each one manually. It also didn't let me lay down my own audio so I couldn't fade or even get to the very end of the song before it cut off 6 seconds too early). Arghhhh. The song, by the way, is from the CD "Party" by the PanJammers steel drum orchestra in Blacksburg, Va. My sister made me buy it a few years ago to support the band and I'm just now discovering she sold me a bootleg!

Excellent Filler

While I work on the final installment of my Puerto Rico travelog (Seriously, I once spent days discussing a 5k -- did you honestly think I was going to let you off easy with just two lengthy posts?!), I wanted to share the recipe for the mango-melon smoothie sitting right next to me. I swiped it from Runner's World, which said the treat comes in at about calories. I use a "lighter" version of organic vanilla soymilk, so I'm putting my concotion at 300 calories.



3/4 c. frozen mango chunks
1/2 c. banana slices
1/2 c. diced cantelope
1/4 c. vanilla soymilk

I upped the mango chunks so it would be the dominant flavor, but I still could smell the cantalope and taste the banana with each sip. It took me less than 5 minutes to chop, blend and serve. Enjoy

A Marital Mystery

My husband is upstairs showering before we head together to the gym. He does this every Sunday -- showers to go sweat, then comes home and showers again. This makes no sense to me. Then again, some days neither does he.