Run DMZ

I was going to mark the holiday with a trail run until I remembered that it's also special for me to go to the gym at 8 in the morning, and especially to not to feel pressured to get back home in time for work. To make it interesting, I created a mini "gym triathlon," the first in a series to gauge my fitness level. For the first few months, about every three weeks I'll row, cycle and run for 20 minutes each and record how far I get in all three. Today, I made sure to maintain a 28 to 31 pulls-per-minute pace on the rowing machine, then I took a three-minute transition to wipe down the machine and grab some water before averaging 95-105 rpm on the stationary bike. One downside to this system is I can't predict equipment availability and, sure enough, when it was time to hit the treadmill, they were all taken. However, the gym just built a brand new outdoor track and hardly anyone was on it, maybe because it had just rained. So I ran there but was very disappointed

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&#

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

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, accordin

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

I woke Sunday morning the same way I went to bed: stiff, sore and tired to the bone. Still, I'm running the Navy's 4M Bridge Run next Sunday and figured it might be wise to get some mileage and hills under me, so I began my Mother's Day with a short run over various hillsides. Next week's run up and over the Coronado bridge is purely for fun, and I'm letting my friends visiting from Florida set the pace. I'll start "racing" later in the season. For a mom whose children are many hours from home, I sure had a hectic holiday. Soon as I returned from the run, I showered and headed with another running mom to visit our injured friend Vicki at the UCSD Medical Center. She looked much better than expected and seemed in good spirits -- both sure signs she's going to be OK even if she's still recuperating by the time her son's college graduation and daughter's wedding roll around next month. The cyclist turned out to be a very successful loca

Today was my last stint as the Welcome Committee chair. The weather was again perfect for both runners and volunteers. The setup and execution went swimmingly, thanks to the fabulous efforts of fellow Welcomers like Louise, Peter, Sally, Marison, Hutch, Cindy (especially Cindy!), Cathy and an injured but nonetheless enthusiastic and always-on-the-spot Irene . And everyone that returned to Hospitality Point looked tired but not terrible. I even was congratulated on being named Volunteer of the Week, and there was still plenty of food and even a few semi-solid popsicles and ice bags by the time the final runner arrived 5-1/2 hours later. And yet, despite the great day, I sit here hours later with a heavy heart. We were working the second water station, 7.4 miles into the 22-miler, when we heard an ambulance siren, and runners began to report someone had collided with a cylist about a half-mile up the road. The runner was my friend Vicki, whom I've written about on this blog before. V

The weekend my daughter flew home for her biopsy was one of my best in awhile. We went shopping and to the movies. We went to the beach and called her big sister to rub it in. We had a nice meal or two, with and once without Dad. The pace was perfect, with the errand-running and the mandatory housekeeping seamlessly integrated. By the time she boarded a plane back to college, a fog of fear was lifting. And what trace amounts had lingered evaporated instantly with a call a few days later. She did not have lymphoma. Of course, we were all grateful it was merely “reactive lymph nodes,” swollen for months in response to some yet-determined, persistent viral invasion. But a part of me felt guilty, knowing that for every one of us whose dread is cancelled, somewhere someone else’s is confirmed. Then, hours after watching the Boston Marathon on television, my doctor called with my MRI results. The source of my migraines remain a mystery, but an anomaly found in an earlier screening register