Wednesday, April 30, 2008

I'm very spoiled...

Not one but two weekends, I've gotten to go on girls' trips. In a row! I haven't been away on a girls' weekend for probably three years, and that one was actually a business trip for me where two friends came along. Not that I wasn't spoiled already, but all this relaxing is addictive!

Friday, Annnnn, Jennifer, Duchess and I headed up to the mountains. Our plan was to do some biking and running and maybe even some swimming thrown in. What we actually did was some drinking and lounging with a little hiking thrown in. It was great!

Here are the four of us. You can tell who Duchess fell in love with over the weekend! Annnn bailed on us after making yummy banana pancakes and mimosas Saturday morning. That's why she looks so much better in the picture - she was leaving and we were going on a hike.


Here's a scenic view:


And here's some wildlife we saw. I think it's a beaver but Scouter disagrees. He's offered no viable alternative so I'm going with beaver. That'll get me some more hits on my blog if nothing else.


We also saw deer and two owls that perched very close to the window of our house. We're pretty sure they were eyeing up Duchess as dinner material. Given her frantic and incessant barking, I was tempted to offer her up.

We on the other hand opted for a more tasty dinner. We clean up pretty well, don't we? The highlight of dinner for me was when the waiter asked if Jennifer and I were sisters. On a completely unrelated note, that's when Jennifer burst into inconsolable sobbing.


I'm up for another girls' weekend this weekend but I don't think Scouter is going for it again. Ever.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Coach's Corner

And here's Jodi's version of Rocketman's Boston Marathon. Thank God they are athletic and I can post someone else's achievements... otherwise you'd get no workouts or races on this blog!

This is the version that makes me laugh and cry...
~~~~~~



After reading Rocketman's recap of the marathon, I thought you may be interested to hear what it was like to experience the trip with him. From my perspective....certain fictional liberties have been taken...

Start....December 2005. Bruce ramped up to his training program back in December. Five days a week minimum. He felt he needed to run that much in order to enter in Hal Higdon's 'Boston Bound' training program that started in January - not for the faint at heart.

January 2006. Nutrition was really a focus for Bruce. I have never had so much organic, multi-grain everything, ground flax seed containers, yoghurt smoothy machine parts around our house in the 15 years we have been married! Zehr's (our local grocery store) was also a benefactor in this training program - talk about grocery bills. Reports of running on snowmobile trails, getting frostbite (not from snowmobiling but from running in the bitter cold) have all been documented in the infamous blog.

February 2006. The cold, ice & hard running surfaces would push Rocketman out into the malls to shop! Right up the coach's alley...what a plan! 3 pairs of shoes in 2 days...not bad. The coach introduced Rocketman to her new gels (concentrated carbohydrates necessary to fuel your body during endurance sports).

March 2006. The aches & pains started for Rocketman. He has never been injured to the point where he had to stop running. The coach suggested that he implement a little bit of rest into his training program. It worked for her, why not him??

April 2006. Spring. The ice has long melted. The feet were feeling good. The coach had to shop for new shorts & shirts because she could not keep up with the laundry. The piles of things started to mount around the house in preparation for the road to Boston. A pre-race party at the house the week before helped to raise the excitement for both of us. Naps, early dinners & early bed times were the focus for this month. What a great plan!

April 14. The packing begins. The coach has to stop her athlete from putting almond butter into his travelling case. Rocketman has never eaten almond butter on the day of his long runs. She insists that he pack what he's used to...peanut butter. The fact that Rocketman could not have done this without his coach jumps to the forefront of her mind....

April 15. Depart for Pearson. Reg, Barbara & Tracy met us at the airport. Bruce is instantly surrounded by other runners heading to Boston. Our normally quiet & reserved guy is chatting to everyone wearing running shoes or a previous year's Boston Marathon jacket. He is especially interested in people who have run the race before to gather insight & tips from them. He hears of carnage when the temperature reached 85+ two years ago. He hears of people who hadn't done any research into the type of course Boston is (hilly) & those who have done all their hill training on interstate on-off ramps. Take it with a grain of salt the coach tells him. It takes all kinds to run marathons. Stay focused. Stick to your game plan. Arrive in Boston. It is marathon mania. It is crystal clear that this city and those that live there love the marathon. Head to the race expo. Pick up race kit, bib number, timing chip and a few goodies: shoes, pants, t-shirts, caps - all the things necessary to walk the walk & 'posture' as Rocketman calls it. He will not wear the race jacket that his coach has given to him. "Not until after I run the race," he says.

April 16. Girls go shopping & tour the finish line area. I figure that there is no way I'll ever run this marathon so I ham it up for the camera & crawl across the finish line. Boys do sight-seeing trolley & boat tour to allow the runner to stay off his feet as much as possible. Nap in afternoon. Ride to dinner & we are joined by a professor from U of T who is leaving town to fly back to Cape Town & had run Boston the year before. She is also married to a guy named Bruce. Coincidence? I don't think so. Rocketman sleeps well until about 5am.

April 17. Race Day. Nervous energy everywhere. Rocketman orders oatmeal & fruit for his 1st meal. Tracy & I go down to get coffee & return to the room to find the runner & all his gear gone. We head back to the lobby only to find him coming back up in the next elevator to meet us. Formal good bye's & good lucks are given & Rocketman heads off to get his bus that will take him out the 26.2 miles to Hopkinton where the race starts. The rest of us have 5 hours to kill before we even need to think about getting to our viewing spots. Showers, leisurely breakfast, more shopping & we are off. The coach takes the "T" (subway) out to Boston College - directly after Heartbreak Hill - 21.4 mile of the course. The rest of the family stay close to the finish & family meeting area. I find a spot on the left side of the course beside a couple from Chicago who are cheering for their son. Behind me is an elderly couple who are there just for the experience - they don't know anyone running the race. They know nothing about running marathons. They are lovely & funny to listen to. I put on my Dr. Seuss Canada hat (it makes it easier for Bruce to find me in the crowds). I start receiving the updates from Bruce's timing chip to my blackberry. His first 10k time is slow or so I thought. It was clock time & not his chip time. I relax when I see he is right on track. Projected finish is 3:07. Next update is 21k. Projected finish is 3:06. Heart jumps. He's fast. Next update is 30k. Projected finish is 3:07. Good. I start looking at the runners more closely. He should be coming by me in the next 10 mins. 12 mins pass. Worry. 14 mins pass. Pit in stomach. I see him. He sees me. I fumble with my lens cap. Try to get a picture. I panic when I see he is stopping to hug me. I know he's faltering. He gives me the most salty kiss I've ever had. All I can get out is, "Are you OK?" He tells me, "I'm OK." I know he's not. I snap a picture as he leaves. His head is down. Feet barely off the ground. He still has 4+ miles left (6.4k). I jump back onto the T to head for the finish. I know I can't catch him again on the course as the traffic is too busy. I hold my blackberry willing it to tell me that he has finished. Nothing. The race started at 12:00. It's 3:15 and I haven't heard a thing. 3:20 - I'm feeling nauseous. Others around me are hearing that their runners are done. Finish times of 3:02 to 3:07. Finally Tom emails to tell me he's done. 3:12 was his time. I know Bruce wanted faster so I am sad for him. I am totally relieved. Thank God it's over & he finished well. I get to our meeting spot & at first glance I can't see him. Tracy meets me first. I tell her that he's not standing so we need to look at all the people laying on the ground. I see a guy who looks like Bruce but his shirt is different & he doesn't have his cap on. I touch his shoulder & then apologize - I've got the wrong person. No...this is Bruce. He's crumpled sitting sideways on the hard, cold concrete. His lips are blue. He has no colour in his face. I hug him & let him cry. My parents arrive & don't say much. Tracy hands me a cap she has bought to give to Bruce. I ask her to hold onto it for a few minutes. Bruce is cooperative & tries to eat & drink when the Red Cross guy & I ask him to. Slowly, he comes around. His smile is genuine. The pride he is feeling for finishing is able to creep into his punished body. Soon he is standing & looking for his fellow competitors. He eagerly puts on his Boston Marathon jacket & new cap. He tells me in all sincerity, "Jode, you don't want to do that." (meaning you don't want to run that course!). I believe him and firmly remove running the Boston marathon from my list of things to do.

Rocketman has completed something that less than 1% of the world's population has done and he did it in a great time against the world's best runners. He respects the course. He gave it his best effort. He knows he could not have run any harder & had left nothing in his tank. Running at this elite level is incomprehendable for me...heck, I think I can train twice a week & run a 30k race. Bruce set his goals high. He requalified to run the race again next year. Will he? We're not sure yet but what I am sure of is that his coach could not be more proud.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Boston

In honor of Susie Q's triumphant Boston Marathon earlier this week, I'm taking the liberty of posting my dear friend Jodi's husband Rocketman's 2006 race report. He is normally a man of few words but Boston made him eloquent. Enjoy!
~~~~~

The general understanding of why people run marathons equates to the general understanding of U.F.O's. Some believe they truly understand, others don't even believe. This email acts both as a thank-you for your support as well as an inside view to competing in the world's most prestigious marathon - Boston. I've likened it to a heavyweight boxing match with the defending champion Boston vs. Rocketman - the challenger with only 2 previous fights (Chicago 02' & 04'). Some people are still asking whether I won or not. Well, to put the speed at which the winner would run into perspective, I would gladly wager $10,000 (weak - but I don't have much of a line of credit) that anyone receiving this email would not be able to run from a rested state at mile 26 and beat the lead runner to the finish line! I'll make the same offer for beating Rocketman but need to lower the wager to a case of beer.

BOSTON vs. ROCKETMAN

My journey to the 06' Boston marathon involved various training stages including 2 previous marathons to qualify, 4 years of consistent running, 100 day training program involving 6 out of 7 days a week, core strength classes, yoga, swimming, cycling including a single 237km ride, hill training, cold weather running peaking at -34C and a " on the wagon" commitment for 4 months.(sort of on the wagon) The respect I gave this one event seemed to be honourable. On April 17th at 3:12 pm, I realized it wasn't enough. This marathon is often called the Superbowl of running.(or Master's - Daytona 500 - World Series - Stanley Cup etc.) The following is a summary of emotions I would experience over the 26.2 mile course.

The day started with a breakfast at 7am consisting of oatmeal,fresh berries and juice. The noon start necessitated two meals of approx. 500 calories each with the second meal consisting of a power bar, banana and coffee. My body must have known of the upcoming punishment for it was all I could do to force this food into my stomach. Fellow participants(approx. 21,000) scattered the field like ants. Posturing, posing, sizing up the competition was part of many a pre-race routine. After all, every runner had earned the right of passage. Skill and a competitive spirit was a common thread. It was all about your time. As the bid numbers advertised your seating in the race, every number meant something. Similar to wearing your net worth or total sales on your chest at a business convention. No gloating, just mutual respect. Vane to the uninitiated, a measure of skill or success to others.

A national anthem, followed by 3 to 4 minutes of calm....... then a single gun shot! The race had started. I expected more hoop-la. Although I wasn't able to drive the course, I had studied its trigger points. The first portion was designed to lure the undisciplined out too fast. Taboo in distance running. For marathon running is all about managing your physical & mental resources to the best of your ability. The clock is each competitors opposition - even the eventual winner cares less about fellow competitors than he does about the clock.

The spectators were amazing - down-home apple pie type people - children at the forefront looking for a high 5 from a runner; similar to the way a kid would look for an autograph from an NHL hockey player. For the whole city of Boston knew of the race - every cab driver, doorman, waiter. I avoided all initial contact from spectators since two Elvis impersonators were grabbing the crowd's enthusiasm. An easy run with Elvis for the first mile (7:46) was just the distraction I needed to calm my nerves. At mile 2 (7:05) I spotted a solitary 4 year old boy in a wheelchair. He leaned towards me as far as he could with his hand - a high 5 for him translated to a low 5 for me. We both benefited. It relaxed me and brought new perspective to the race. I thought back to the fellow runner met earlier on the subway. His '05 Boston jacket caught my attention to ask the usual, "How was it? What was your time?" I couldn't get my second question in for he proceeded into "his" story immediately. He ran a 3:01 - wanted to run another marathon in a sub 3 hour time immediately after Boston but was diagnosed with leukemia. He was still taking a form of chemo (pills) while entering this year's race. He knew all too well of the importance of what time and the clock meant to runners at his level. But one of his last words to me would be "I'm just glad to be walking." Good perspective. I thanked him - he thanked me - for I sensed he enjoyed telling the story as much as I enjoyed hearing it.

The course would continue on a downward slope. Mile 3 (7:03). Mile 4 (6:58). My game plan from here was to turn it up a notch for the next 10 miles were relatively flat. Looking back now, I guess I started to speed up a little early. Tip - you can't make up downhill what you lose uphill - focus on the flats. Like a tachometer in a car, I knew my red-line: 4:20 mins/km or 7:00/mile pace. Like a car, exceeding red-line has its consequences. However, you achieve optimum performance at red-line - operate under red-line, you waste potential - over red-line, engine wear & fatigue are sacrificed. I figured I was due for a re-build anyway, as I would pull red-line for the next number of miles. Mile 5 (6:58). Mile 6 (6:53). Mile 7 (6:20). Mile 8 (6:20). Mile 9 (6:56). Mile 10 (7:00). Mile 11 (7:04). Mile 12 (7:05). Mile 13 (7:07). The hills would begin around mile 14 with only three memorable inclines that would necessitate me to gear-down. I felt if anywhere in the course, here I would have an advantage. I likened myself to a diesel motor compared to most gas powered runners. For the torque of a diesel is beneficial in towing & climbing long inclines. My larger body size, however, would not be beneficial at this point.

I stared down the first imposing incline daring it to rise up and challenge me, for in my mind, there were only two imposing inclines left. The top of the first hill came quickly, I utilized arm-pump, thought of my football days of weight lifting which instilled much needed confidence. At the top of the second hill, something wasn't right. According to my elevation charts, the second hill seemed too short - that's because there was a third hill. Heartbreak Hill. Remove this hill and place it on its own, like a biker removed from his gang, Heartbreak Hill isn't that tough. But put the biker in the middle of his gang- so is the placement of Heartbreak Hill at this point in the race. I pulled, I pushed, I looked down at my ribbon on behalf of my friend Sharon who fought cancer courageously for 5 years. I made it to the top with decent form but the six miles left were the beginning of what runners call the second half of the marathon. That's right, I was half way. I had asked Jodi to be somewhere around mile 22 as I knew I would require some type of smelling-salt-boost. I figured the next mile would give me an opportunity to get it together. Like two heavy weight boxers leaning on each in the late rounds of their match, it was Boston vs. Rocketman. A few jabs, the odd body shot, was all that Rocketman seemed to have left. The course would be relatively downhill for the next 5 miles. They said your quads would be punished here - they were right. My quads felt like seized brakes on a vehicle - I wanted to rip them off & toss them aside. Step by step was my focus. I was being passed but still passing others. The casualties were starting to mount. Some had given into Heartbreak, others seemed to make the grade but were unable to deal with the mental anguish of the "second half of the marathon."

I looked up to find Jodi on the left side. I pointed at her to catch her attention. I caught her off guard by stopping for a hug, as she was focusing to take a picture. I needed something....anything. My bag of inspiration was empty. She asked me if I was OK. I said I was. But as I turned to leave she knew Boston was starting to land a few punches. No tears, no emotion. It was a little scary. I would try a few times to get it going. I wrote "Quick Feet" on my hand prior to the race. I followed other runners closely for 1-2 minutes but only to fall off my desired pace. Negative thoughts were invading every corner of my mind. My mid-section felt rock hard, a hot knife had been slowly pushing its way into my right shoulder but a new knife was making its way through the middle of my chest. The stretchers were now coming out as - Red Cross staff were running out onto the course. Anyone walking at this point could not walk a straight line. I stayed clear to avoid collisions.

The intensity of the crowd was mounting - cheering was replaced by screaming. One spectator screamed "Only 3 miles left!" Half a mile later, I saw the Mile 23 marker. That wasn't nice - I had been down to calculating by steps - I didn't need someone to be off by half a mile. I remembered a change of course was somewhere in the last 2 miles which added another couple of slopes (highway underpass). I couldn't feel whether I was running uphill or downhill. One last left hand turn. I searched for the time clock. In the fight, I knew Rocketman had lost points in the last few rounds but I still had hoped for victory. The clock read 3:15 as I approached. I had started approx. 3 mins. after the gun had gone off. So my unofficial time of 3:12 fell short of beating my PR of 3:11. The boxing match was over. A split decision went in favour of Boston.

I would labour to gather my silver blanket, food bag, medal, water and have my timing chip removed. I needed the usual down-time. Unfortunately the meeting area was a street & sidewalk area. I couldn't drink or eat. Jodi would trip over someone accidentally only to recognize that curled up body in a ball to be her husband. She was worried. I was worried.

It was only after a long embrace when the emotions of defeat would finally surface. Defeated, beaten, dejected. I wept not out of pain but of falling short. A Red Cross assistant would see if I needed help. He wasn't reassured by my comments. But as a fellow runner would collapse behind me, he became occupied elsewhere & left me. Jodi's parents & sister merely stood over me, preventing others from stepping on me. They were confused as their once strong son-on-law lay helpless. They whispered back & forth. Slowly I regained strength, drank water & ate some potato chips (good for the salt intake). Rejection & despair were soon pushed aside by my family's love & support. Thanks.

Pre-race posing & posturing was now replaced by humility and respect by virtually every competitor. Boston is to be respected. It's got my respect. I am proud of this day in my life. I have learned to respect those standards set out before me by previous generations. Respect the past. Challenge the future. Stay positive. Reject the negative. Surround yourself with love & success. My learned advice for everyone to share.

My stats...

Official time: 3:12:28
Placement: 2560 out of 19,300 finishers
Age ranking: 724th
Average pace per mile: 7:21
Team Black (Bruce & Judy) beat Team Red (Andrew & Stephanie) by 51 seconds...not that time matters! After the experience, we all know we are winners!

Mmmmm

Scouter and I did something way out of character tonight and went out to dinner... in a real live adult restaurant... in the fan no less. It was awesome!

A little back story - when I first joined TriGirls a year and a half ago, I saw a last name on the roster that I recognized, emailed the TG and asked if she was related to one of Scouter's fraternity brothers. Turns out, she was his wife. We reconnected with him and got to know her and they are very fun.

Alas, we don't see them very often. We've been trying to find a time to get together since oh about January and finally settled upon tonight. They suggested a new restaurant, Verbena, in the fan which is fabulous! It is pretty new and it was in the food review section a few weeks ago with four stars. We couldn't wait to try it!

So we strayed out of our little west end enclave tonight to enjoy salmon wrapped in phyllo dough with oyster mushrooms and goat cheese (me), crab cakes (Scouter), and creme brulee (split). Man it was good! And it was so great to catch up with our friends.

Now since I don't want the night to end, I'm sipping some Cabernet and blogging while Scouter hangs in front of the TV.

Oh the wild life we lead.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Year of the Bean

Beanie turned 40 on New Years Eve and declared it "The Year of the Bean" - kinda like the Chinese year of the monkey.

The celebration continued this weekend as Beanie, Cate and I took off for a wild weekend in North Carolina. We're crazy like that.

We arrived around 7:00 on Friday night and proceeded to lounge around, drink a ton of wine and tell funny stories from our younger days. I would share them, but I don't remember any. Except my own, and I'm not drunk so I'm not tellin'. And if Cate or Beanie chirp, I'll deny every word. They are lying beotches you know.

Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day and we spent the first part of it whining about our headaches. Then we got our acts together and went to a cool local restaurant for burgers, fries, and pomegranate martinis. Okay, that was just me but it was tasty! Cate and Beanie are good friends and didn't let me drink alone. Here we are at the restaurant:


I felt much better and zoned into a happy place lying on the dock all afternoon. Check out my dock-head:


Since we had blown it out Friday night, we were pretty lame Saturday afternoon and evening. Highlights were watching Juno and eating a delicious shrimp and grits dinner. It has momentarily edged out Kate O's orzo and shrimp as my favorite meal. Here's Beanie in peak party mode on Saturday night:


That's what she gets for not reading my blog! Tee hee...

Sunday morning was pouring rain so we made the best of it by going out for coffee. The sun came out briefly and we got outside, but then right as we were getting ready to leave, the sky burst open again. It was really cool watching the storm come across the water. We had hail for awhile which was also cool looking.

Sadly, the weekend came to an end. It was seriously the most relaxing time I've had in years. I'm already begging them to do it again.

I'm in for next weekend. Anyone else?

Workout Week in Review

Damn I had an awesome workout week last week!

Actually I'm just f&cking around. I was as lame as ever. If Kermit wouldn't call me out, I'd stop doing these stupid weekly reports. Anyway...

Sunday: Nothing really. Once again pretending that hiking (slowly, with small children) counts.

Monday: Ran four miles, actually at a decent pace for me - 9:16 min/mi average.

Tuesday: Yet again, nothing. This time absolutely nothing. Even I can't pretend that eating a candy bar and drinking wine counts as exercise.

Wednesday: Ran five miles more slowly though, 9:48 min/mi average.

Thursday: Nothing. Surprised? I didn't think so.

Friday: Here's a shocker - I went to weights class at the Y. I hadn't been for so long that my butt was sore for several days afterwards. The class was actually on the ball which was a lot of fun.

Saturday: Ran four miles. This is actually quite impressive, for me anyway, because I was away on a girls weekend (more on that later). Cate, Beanie and I ran a little over a mile together then I broke away and ran three more on my own, at a good clip. My average pace was 9:33 min/mi but the first mile was ~ 11:20 pace so I was actually sub-9 for the other three. With a vice grip on my head from too much fun the night before no less...

So I've been pretty consistent with the running over the last few weeks but I can barely manage to fit anything else in.

Hep me!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Lost in the Deciduous Forest

Rainbow wrote a story in school this week. The topic was "lost in the (blank)" and she selected the deciduous forest. I couldn't even pronounce it correctly! Here's her story, with her own spelling and punctuation:

Taz and Rainbow where in their car and they had their windows opened. The din't know the door was unlocked! While they where playing they fell out into the deciduous forest! When they first got there a grop of anmals croued them. They felt kind-of scared.

After they stayed there for a little bit they got uesed to it. They heard birds chirping and hawks crowing. Deer came and cirlced around them. Squirrles came and jouned the deer. Taz was a little bit scared but Rainbow was up and dancing to the chirping and crowing.

Taz said... "What are you doing?" Rainbow said... I'm dancing. Taz said... "Stop it right now." But she did not stop. Then Taz jouined in. They stayed there for there hole life.

Now Rainbow and Taz are not scared. Now the animals hunted. They got Taz and Rainbow stake every day and night. Taz and Rainbow shared the food. Taz and Rainbow found water and showed the animals.

One night they had a feast. Rainbow and Taz danced all night long.

~~~~~
In the "about the author" section, Rainbow described herself as "adventurous, friendly and funny." She also said her favorite food is "macuroney."

OMG that child is hilarious.

Sage Advice from Rainbow and Taz

A month or so ago, Scouter's little brother Tweet came to visit us. To put it in perspective, Tweet was Taz's age - seven - when I first met him. He's now in his mid - hell maybe even late - 20s. I still have a hard time remembering that he's an adult.

Anyway, Taz and Rainbow took it upon themselves to inquisition him about why he hasn't married his girlfriend yet. By the end of the weekend, they had planned his wedding. Apparently, we're hosting the reception here at our house.

Then last weekend, we saw one of Scouter's other brothers. On the way home, Taz announced, "Uncle B needs a hot rod.”

When I questioned why Uncle B would need a fast car, Taz said, “No, no, no. Uncle B is almost 40 years old. He needs a girlfriend.”

At which point Rainbow yelled out, “You mean a hot chick!”

I'll be amazed if we see either of them again any time soon.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Workout Week in Review

This past week was slightly better than last week, but not by much. Here goes!

Sunday: Nothing. I laid on my ass and read a book all day.

Monday: Ran four miles. I have my Garmin back, but somehow I managed only to turn it on for the first and last miles, which averaged only 10:39/mi. Apparently I can't eat Girl Scout cookies exclusively and still run fast.

Tuesday: I actually went to the weight room for the first time in months. I generally go to a weights class, which is lower weights and higher reps, but I haven't even done that for about three weeks. I didn't have much time so I did 20 minutes on the elliptical machine then punished myself with heavy leg press, calf raises, chest flys, and reverse flys. I threw in just a few shoulder, bicep, and tricep moves at the end. Damn I was sore the next day! And the day after that. My quads in particular were burning. It was good for me.

Wednesday: Ran four miles with the Bean. My mouth ran 90 miles an hour but my legs only managed 11:20/mi average.

Thursday: I had good intentions of going to the gym. I had my stuff ready and everything... yet somehow I talked myself out of it.

Friday: I was still in no mood to work out and for fear that I would convince myself to skip it again, I asked a friend for a ride to a function at my kids' school, took my running gear, and ran home from there. I stuffed my iPod, Garmin and sunglasses in a teacher box while I went to the function. I chatted and procrastinated for so long that no one was left for me to bum a ride from so nothing left to do but run! I ran four miles, 9:07 min/mi pace which frankly was a relief. I was getting worried that I couldn't move my fat ass below a 10:30 pace anymore. I tried to talk myself into an extra loop to total six miles but out of fear for blowing my pace, I skipped it. It is hard to run by my house and not stop.

Saturday: I had school Friday afternoon and all day Saturday and this time, it completely beat my ass. I am whipped. Probably, exercise would make me feel better but I am sipping a glass of wine instead.

When will I be sufficiently embarrassed to have a decent work out week? Like the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop, the world may never know.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Yet another dog post

A poem, by Rainbow... with some help from her 5th grade journal buddy, I suspect.

Duchess
Crazy, Jumping
Loving, Caring, Licking
White Beauty
My dog

Workout Week in Review

Last week was not quite as lame as the one before, but close...

I ran on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (four, five, four miles). I left my Garmin somewhere so I don't even have stats. I felt fast but suspect I wasn't at all.

And that's it!

Hopefully I will embarrass myself soon so I'll start working out again.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Another Funny Dog Pic


Doesn't she look happy?

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Rainbow's First Date

Scouter took Rainbow to the Girl Scout father-daughter dance last night. She has been looking forward to it for weeks!

The night before, she asked me to help her pick her outfit. She positioned me on my bed with a notebook and proceeded to model five different dresses. She rated each on appearance, comfort, swirl, and length when she danced with her arms over her head. On a scale of 1-100, three dresses somehow scored over 1000 with her rating system. She finally settled on one dress if it was cool and another if it was warm.

Let me just remind you that she's six.

On the evening of the dance, she was dressed, ready and waiting well in advance. She looked beautiful! She and Scouter went out to dinner beforehand with three other dads and daughters.

When they arrived at the dance, there was a huge arch of pink balloons for pictures. Scouter even got a few action shots of her boogying down on the dance floor. In one, she's channeling John Travolta in his Saturday Night Fever phase, one arm pointing in the air. In another, she's flashing a peace sign.

Poor baby has learned some of her moves from me!

She told me that she and Daddy slow danced together and described it as "kinda awkward." She liked it when he picked her up and spun her around.

While the girls and dads were shaking their stuff, four moms and three extremely wild boys were hanging out at my house. The boys were so insane that at one point, I had to throw Taz in the shower to clean his act up after making mud balls in the yard.

A good time was had by all!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

A non-event for some but a giant step for me

Today I stepped way out of my comfort zone.

You will laugh when I tell you what I did.

I invited a woman I barely know to lunch. I very rarely take the initiative in social situations and I was nervous. I sound like a 14 year old boy, don't I? But seriously for me it was a really big step.

Thank God she said yes and I got some positive reinforcement. We had a really good time and had a lot more in common than I would ever have known otherwise.

I felt strong and confident and empowered.

Going back to school has caused me to do a lot of self-assessment and frankly it's not pretty. So I'm trying to recognize and confront my weaknesses. They are many and social ineptitude is a big one.

Silliness is another.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

What Passes for Exercise...

Well I didn't do any biking, running, swimming, Zumba, or yoga last week but I did manage a little hiking with my kids. Here are some pictures from Monday in the mountains. Enjoy!