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's T...

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, according t...