Run DMZ

To my sister Colleen, who was first to leave a comment and only because I said she better. To those wonderful runners in the SDTC Rockin’ ‘n’ Runnin’ marathon training program, who indirectly inspired this blog by supporting an online diary I’d done for another web site. They left encouraging comments on the message board, many anonymously, or came up to me on the track to let me know they liked what I wrote. One fan turned out to be one of the speedy runners I’d secretly admired. To Mark of Complete Running, who accepted me as No. 188 in the Running Blog Family network. Today, there are more than 1,800 of us. To Jeanne, CRN’s editor, who once rejected one of my articles, and rightly so. To those of you who went through serious surgeries and showed we can be better runners afterward. To those of you who poured out your souls, letting the rest of us know we’re not alone in our anguish. To those of you who lost loved ones. To those of you still trying to hold on to someone. To those of y...

Both of our daughters were home for spring break. Within a day the place resembled a sorority house, with hair products, clothes, makeup and junk food everywhere. They brought over various friends, who didn't seem to mind the unclean state of the house as much as I did. They went to a different beach everyday. I took them and a visiting friend to Coronado on Easter; it was heavenly, with the seas glistening and the air the perfect temperature as you can see from the previous post. On the way home I gave everyone a tour of the “island” and luckily found a parking spot on the main strip just a block from the very popular Moo Time Creamery. Alex grew faint and almost passed out while we were there. I stayed in line (hey, we were finally up next after waiting for 30 minutes) to order her Tangy Moo smoothie, while a woman behind me got her water. “Way to go, Mom,” my other daughter, Elise, said to me. My CT scan showed no tumors. But it did reveal something else that I'm hopeful isn...

Early this morning I tiptoed out the door while the rest of the family and a houseguest peacefully dozed upstairs. It was another rough one, with the headache making it both impossible to sleep and difficult to concentrate while awake. Already it was 54 degrees and cloudless as I found the trailhead near my neighborhood and headed into what counts for wilderness here. The full moon was ahead of me on the horizon; behind me I sensed the rising sun. At this hour, the night creatures would be settled down and the other animals preparing for the hunt. There were no other humans for miles, but I made sure to amuse the hidden deer and the coyote, the rattlesnakes and the water rats by tripping no less than three times, falling hard on the final face plant just beyond dense foliage. My heart rate and heavy legs reminded me I don’t do this as often as I should. My mind continually soaked up the solitude, signaling it could stand to be unburdened a little more frequently. Following a braid of s...

I’m heading to the hospital tomorrow afternoon for a CAT scan. For a couple of months now I’ve had a headache that isn’t vision-related, according to the ophthalmologist. Nor is it due to TMJ or me grinding my teeth at night, according to my dentist. My general practitioner is baffled but immediately discounted my husband’s catch-all diagnosis: “I’m telling you, it’s hormones.” I’ve tried everything from meditation to migraine prescriptions, but the pain persists. I’ve been stuffing steroids up my nose for a week now, and I don’t even have bigger biceps to show for it. (However, if I lose my temper and end up in trouble, you better believe my defense will be “’roid rage.”) The CAT scan is to rule out the most serious causes, but that’s also opened the realm of possibilities. Running this morning, my overactive imagination began to wonder if it was normal to lose both short- and long-term memory as rapidly as I have; or to get to a stop light and suddenly forget where I’m going; or to s...

Southern Californians have a few speech quirks that set them apart. One is putting "the" before freeways. As in, "I live just a mile off the 15." Or, "You'll have to get on the 5 if you want to go to Sea World." Another is weather. This time of year someone's always saying, "I love weather, don't you?" They mean dark clouds, wind and, if we're really lucky, a little thunder and driving rain -- anything besides the usual sun and warmth. Local meteorologists say a storm is migrating this way, and from the looks of the clouds at sunset (see picture from my second-floor window) we're in for a treat. It seems apropos, given right now I myself am under the weather.

1. I can keep a secret, but obviously not everyone knows that. 2. My favorite movie as a child was Hand in Hand , about a Catholic boy who befriends a Jewish girl. It was featured one Saturday on the CBS Children’s Film Festival with Kukla, Fran and Ollie , a program I tried never to miss and that I credit with my lifelong love of foreign films. 3. I rarely ask my husband to get up early to, say, drive to the desert for an already announced wildflower hike. But when I do, you’d think I’d inconvenienced him his entire life. 4. My best friend in high school worked hard to achieve great wealth and is still there for me. My best friend in college married into great wealth and decided not to keep in touch. 5. I think chronically abusive parents should be thrown in prison with murderers and rapists for a mandatory 18 years, just so they know what it feels like. 6. This is so weird. I discovered I was tagged by Triteacher to do this seven meme just after seeing a production called The Seven ...

But celebrate we will. Our little Elise turns 21 today.

In Southern California, in the spring, pilgrims travel near and far to witness wildflowers. For San Diegans, it means heading east along meandering two-lane highways to Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Like fall foliage elsewhere in the U.S., a previous season’s wetness or drought greatly determines if the highly anticipated displays will be dazzling or demure. Buds are closely monitored by park officials. Hotlines are established to alert explorers to what’s blooming and where. Locals sell maps for a dollar to support one non-profit or another. Even city TV news crews are dispatched to ordinarily unnoticeable hamlets for a little “local color.” My husband and I arrived this morning just after the Visitors Center in Borrego Springs had opened, surprised at how tight parking already had become. No wonder, given there typically is only a month at most to get in on the action. March is the best month for viewing, well before everyone and everything begins to wilt in the desert's oppres...

Time for another DMZ post. This one has to do with what you divulge about your health online. A conference here in San Diego touched on people who blog or comment on social networks about their illnesses. These web sites are not protected by health privacy laws, so the information can be used elsewhere – such as against you in court. That’s what happened to one woman who sued her insurance company to pay for medical expenses related to an eating disorder. The insurer used her MySpace and Facebook postings to prove her illness was psychological, not medical, and therefore her treatment not reimbursable under her policy. Apparently even searches for specific illnesses can become a legal tool to show someone was aware of a preexisting condition (and I’ve discussed before that everything you’ve ever typed into a Google search engine is stored out there, just waiting for some subpoena). The article mentions several new sites coming online to privately store health information, and the soft...

If it's possible to have a favorite race at which you volunteer -- and why wouldn't it be possible? -- then mine's decidedly the Sue Krenn 15k. I'm always in a great mood before, during and after. First, I either helped bring order or contributed to a chaotic registration, what with some 900 people signed up and bibs being distributed from two different locations -- and using leftover running numbers from other races. I like the race director, Frank, whose resourcefulness and wry sense of humor go a long way on these long mornings. (This time Frank ran around in an old white T shirt with the handwritten message "The Official Sue Krenn 15K T-Shirt" on the front and "Accept No Imitation" on the back -- get it?) I like all the other volunteers, who bring a lot of enthusiasm to their job. And I love love love working the finish line, where this year I got to see and congratulate every runner as the lone tag-holder used for scoring. The calvacade of sweat...