May 16, 2009

7 Miles this morning ont the Schoolhouse Bicycle Trail, part of the Madison County Trail system. As it turns out the trail was just around the corner from our hotel, and I headed off at about 6:15AM to get a run in this morning. Midwest FLAT is what I experienced which made for an easy run...and at about mile 2 I had a gorgeous view of St. Louis off in the distance with a traditional red barn in the foreground. I didn't have my camera, so I'll just have to remember it.

Not many companions out on the trail, just one runner and 2 cyclist...I saw more animals than people -- 2 bunnies, several cardinals and other beautiful birds on the trail. I managed to get back before the rain came which was good.

Yesterday was another graduation festivity day -- ended with me visiting two casinos and making my own economic stimulus contribution to the local economy. Felicia was a newbie to casinos, and she was shooting dice and taking home more than she invested by the time we left the Casino Queen. Last party for Kates here in the midwest tonight at the home of Debbie and Jimmie in Edwardsville.

Big Red Women lost 8-0 to UMass last night in the first round of the tourney -- they came up against a very strong pitcher. Good news is that it is a double elimination tournament, so they have one more chance today versus Sacred Heart to stay in it. Lets hope it goes better today!

May 14, 2009

Saint Louis University Law School Graduation

What a wonderful day we all had at "SLU" celebrating our newest attorney in the family! There were 14 of us in the audience watching especially closely for one of the 305 graduates to come across the stage. A quick "Go Hoos" as loud as we could after they announced Kates!

We went out for a late dinner at a rooftop restaurant and it was a beautiful night for such a party. That just kicked off a weekends worth of festivities.

I had a crazy trip West as my flight to St. Louis on Thur morning was cancelled and United booked me on the next day. When I called them at 8:15 on Thurs am to say that wouldn't work - they offered me the only alternative of a 10:20 AM out of Reagan. Mom and Dad rushed me down to DC and after stops at Outside Baggage Check, American Kiosk, American Check in, United Check in and then finally American Check in - I had my boarding pass and rushed to the gate. I was of course in seat "E" in the back of the bus squished between two men who could have been wrestlers in a prior life...More a comedy of errors trip but one I won't forget. The rest of the family was surprised to see me on the flight!

hed

May 10, 2009

Happy Mothers Day!! I am blessed to have my Mom with me today as she just arrived from Florida on Saturday.

Saturday I returned to Lifetime Fitness and my CRT class and got my you know what kicked! It was an excellent workout and the weight training is causing some minor pains in my shoulders and arms today.

Spent the day yesterday getting Mom and Dad acclimated back in Virginia and we had a quiet dinner at home.

Up this morning for church and to celebrate mothers day. It wasn't until 2PM that I went out and ran the Fairfax 5 Miler (local just around the neighborhood). It was pretty hot, but I feel much better that I did it. Off to Burke for family dinner to celebrate Mom's!

May 6, 2009

Not much new to report -- 5 Miles in 41 at Fitness Pointe this morning. I feel very rushed as I have a 7AM CDT meeting so its been frenetic. At least I did the "right" thing and didn't skip it.

May 5, 2009

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Sabotage is the word that comes to mind to me today. Stress from work and other issues gave me good excuses to get off the exercise plan and onto an unhealthy eating plan. I saw the results this morning on the scale at Fitness Pointe, where I clocked my 5 elliptical miles in 39 minutes and hit the showers due to early meetings. Starting again and working hard--need to sign up for a race to keep the focus on.

Weekend took me to Ocean City MD where despite the rain, it was nice to be at the beach and get some things done to be ready for the season. The snow birds return from Florida on Saturday and we had to make sure their nest was ready for them, although I think they may spend a month or so with me before heading east.

Big Congrats to Coach Blood and the Big Red Women's Softball team -- they won the Ivy League Division on Sunday besting Big Green (Dartmouth) in 2 of 3 games over the weekend. They are headed off to the "dance" next weekend -- place and time to be determined!

May 1, 2009

Happy May Day!

Women's Triathalon -- 1/2 Mile Swim, 12 Mile Bike Ride, 3.2 Mile Run
Is peaking my interest...I've been considering buying a bike to ride this summer and had a great lunch with a colleague who is running a 1/2 Ironman Tri on Saturday. I'm only in the beginning stages of thinking about it, but the distances above don't seem too overwhelming.

Trek Women's Series Link: http://www.trekwomenstriathlonseries.com/

April 30, 2009

15 Miles this week at Fitness Pointe, trying to crank up my speed today and I did finish in under 40 minutes (but just barely).

April 29, 2009

5 Miles Ellipting at Fitness Point at 5AM (Might be a day of 5s :)!

Crazy week that I hope ends on the upside. Big negotiating day today.
I decided to stay in St. Louis and skip the Marine Corp Half in Fredricksburg...will hopefully run the 10K with the Marines for the marathon. I really enjoy running with them.

April 28, 2009

Back at Fitness Pointe for 5 miles on the elliptical this morning. Quads were quietly shouting that this was not fun, but after about 3 miles they settled down and got in the groove. I've pretty much dedided to skip the MCM 1/2 In Fredricksburg and extend my visit to St. Louis to celebrate Law School graduation for Kates.

Big thanks to everyone who checked in on Sunday to see how I survived NYC.

Thought the weather would be warmer here in the Midwest so I came without a coat -- it was pretty darn chilly at 45 degrees waiting outside for the 5AM open of FP.

April 26, 2009 2:49

Race Day Morning
Up at 4AM, relaxed and now have everything together for the day. Its a beautiful morning (sunny) and sure to be stinking hot as I say out on the course. Anxious to see how bad Harlem Hill is (and we have to do it 2x!) More when its over.

2:49 (The actual clock said 2:55)...under 3 Hours! I believe I shaved an hour off my time from last June which is pretty remarkable. The ice bath is preparing right now and then a shower and quick trip back to DC.

Ended up being a "fun run" with no timing, and they cancelled the full marathon due to the heat. It was pretty brutal, but a very nice course with 2 killer hills (in Harlem). More after some nourishment.

Great trip to NYC and back in DC by 5PM. I wasn't able to ice bath anything more than my feet, which might have been a bad decision (I'll know more tomorrow). I really enjoyed the day - especially as I was ready to stop at mile 7, glad I pushed through. I have to find a way to have energy past mile 1o -- the majority of the final 3 miles was power walking (and jogging down hill). The website reports there were 7700 of us out there!

April 25, 2009

Race Day Eve :)

8AM Shuttle to NYC, where the Hilton had my room ready for me at 10AM :) Headed down to the Fitness Expo on the subway and made several pretty cool running purchases. Pretty sure my suitcase will be packed going home. It was packed! 10,000 runners and I am #6309.

Quick lunch at Applebees and then up to TKTS where I snagged an orchestra row seat to Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theater. I remember wanting to go see this show when I lived in NYC eons ago. It was excellent.

From there up to Tavern on the Green for the pasta dinner. It was a gorgeous night in the crystal room (all chandeliers) and I met up with Deanna who is running her 2nd 1/2 just like me. She's from NYC but we partnered up for dinner. We were joined at the table by women from NC, Texas, and Sarasota Florida! (We talked about Siesta Key!) Rocco DiSpirito (sp?) the NYC Chef was our guest speaker and he was good, and very sociable with the group.

#1 Train from Lincoln Center back down to Times Square, picked up some water and a granola bar for tommorow morning. I think I'm in for the evening, but it might be too soon to tell.

April 24, 2009

Big Red Women's Softball keeps winning, even after claiming their division title two weeks ago. Lets hope they beat Princeton at home and Dartmouth and Harvard end up so that the division title is in Ithaca. Go Coach Blood and the ladies!

On a hurried trip home from the airport last night I was lucky enough to meet Officer Woodward of the Fairfax County police who cited me for Disregard of a Highway Sign ($92). A little bit of George McCabe was with me in that the red octagon didn't say "Positively!" Second ticket in 35+ years of driving isn't too bad.

Weather looks warm for the 1/2 marathon on Sunday in NYC. I decided to fly up and back since USAirways had weekend flights that made it economical. I've spent an hour or so making up a new playlist of old music for the journey since this race allows earphones. I've procured the gummi bears and will take my camera to see if I can capture some pictures equivalent to my San Diego experience. I'll spend all day in NYC tomorrrow enjoying the day and getting psyched.

April 23, 2009 (Take our Daughters to Work)

Watching Squak Box today on CNBC and one of the commentators had their daughter in to do a segment on "Green." Reminded me of the day, and made me think of the few times in my life I went to the Pentagon to see my Dad at work. I remember most the large offices and all the wood paneling and very much remember that women were secretary's at their desks and the men had the offices. Things certainly have changed. Hate to admit the project I have right now I wouldn't want to bring a young lady to....

Shortened my workout to 4.5 miles this morning as I had a 6AM CDT Conference Call so I had to rush through (but am glad I didn't give it up completely.) Really starting to focus my head around getting set for 13.1 miles on Sunday morning at 8AM EDT.

April 22, 2009 (Earth Day)

Earth Day!

Big Shout out of thanks to Debbie who provided support to the Susan Komen Foundation in support of the 5K I will run in early June with the GGN Ladies and others. Debbie and I participated in the TNT San Diego Marathon where she walked the full 26.2 miles and is now a mentor for the program. It was nice to hear from her, and get support of the fight. Right now, both Pat (from Maine) and Debbie are running in spirit with me in Pink!

Back in Indiana and yesterday and today I ellipted 5 miles at Fitness Pointe in the morning with a treadmill cool down. I received my email for the More 1/2 Marathon on Sunday and so far it looks like the weather in Central Park will cooperate (high of 70). Start time is 8AM and I have a reservation on the 2PM Vamoose bus back to DC, a quick turn around.

April 19, 2009

Go Rachel! While I was out doing my 9.4 miles around Burke Lake Park (2x) Rachel was competing in a 1/2 marathon in the Bay Area for Girls on the Run. She had lamented that it was a trail run and how that made it more difficult, so I picked my virtual run with her on the 4.7 mile trail around Burke Lake. I seem to be able to be pretty consistent in the 12 to 13 minutes per mile which should bode well for next Sunday in NYC (if its not too hilly).

Yesterday was errands extraordinare that ended with a haircut from *ell. I have yet to find someone that I really like to cut my hair so I continue to try new places. Anyone would have laughed at how he styled it when I left, I don't even think the cashier knew what to say/do. The good news is that the cut isn't half bad, so after I shampooed and styled again myself, I won't be embarrassed to head to the office on Monday.

Early mass this morning at St. Leo the Great and father was spot on with a good homily which I really appreciated. Getting ready now to pop 2 Aleve's and eat some lunch.

April 16, 2009

Spring is trying to make its way to Indiana -- while we still have frost on the windshield in the AM, the temps at the end of the day are creeping into the 60s! Would be nice to have better weather here to offset the "internal" weather at work :)

Five miles at Fitness Pointe this AM on the elliptical...not spending enough wall clock time working out which may not bear well for the 1/2 in less than 2 weeks. I'm in a "I will finish" mode, versus a time mode right now. I looked at the course in Central Park and am surprised how much the elevation changes throughout the course -- looks like there are a couple killer hills too.

Big Day in Sarasota today -- I'm hopeful for positive feedback.

April 15, 2009

Back in Indiana, and a 5 mile workout at Fitness Pointe this morning. It seemed a bit grueling as I was going at 8MPH, and my pace for the past couple of days has been slower down on the Key. I was able to book 6 miles yesterday on the beach before the rain hit Florida. Yesterday was a big day in terms of family decisions and I'm hopeful the rest of the week will go smoothly. Back in Indiana means back to work, so I've got a lot to do to catch up on 5 days away.

This is the prep week for two folks I know who have a 1/2 marathon coming up this weekend and my thoughts are with them in the taper week. As for me, I've booked my bus fare -- trying the vamoose bus up to NYC for $25 in two weeks. Lets hope it works out. This is my frugal 1/2 marathon.

Activities also continue up at Camp George - the dock posts went in yesterday - an early milestone for us and I heard there was kayaking around the ice on the cove!

April 12, 2009 (Easter Sunday)

5AM the beach band for the sunrise Easter Service began tuning their instruments. Lucky for me due to my proximity to the front of the house, I was up early. I left about 6AM and did the 6.2 miles walking today (a rest day). It was quite a scene watching people with flashlights walk down the beach to the public beach for the service -- I was absolutely going against the tide :) It was muggy but a good workout.

Great dinner last night cooked by Chef Rober..grilled shrimp appetizers followed by surf and turf (filets & scallops) accompanied with potatoes, beans and bread. Apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dinner. A good time was had by all.

Lets hope for another good day today here in Florida!

April 11, 2009 (Holy Saturday)

Set out with the moon on the Gulf of Mexico at 6AM this morning for my 9 miles...I should have done 12 but I just wasn't up for it. I may do another 3 later today on the Key with Robbie. The humidity was a killer today, and I almost went straight into the pool from the end of the run, but decided with all the senior eyes and the official rules, that might be a bad idea, so I skipped it.

Also decided to skip the $25 admission to the 5K on the beach and will send the registration to Emmanues Shelter in Ellsworth -- someone up there needs it more than I needed a number to go 3.2 miles this morning.

Rob and I journeyed north to Tampa last night to the Hard Rock Seminole Casino for a little bit of blackjack. Table stakes at $25 and $50 made for a quick night. I'm still glad we went and got to see it but it was a bit too steep for my taste.

April 10, 2009

Siesta Key (personal 5K) of walking this morning...just didn't have it in me to jog and walk, so I put on my "Wait Wait Don't Tell me" podcast and had a great time catching up on an old show while I watched the sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico.

Robbie (nephew) arrived at noon time and we went to the Salty Dog (which was a bummer on a meatless Friday), but I survived with the veggie burger. He's already stationed out by the pool getting rays, while I'm inside trying to finish up some work for the weekend.

Not sure where I'll do the 10/11 miles this weekend -- I'm thinking right now, I'll just do two roundtrips on the beach tomorrow (with the 5K that is being officiated) which would be about 12 Miles and call it at that. No need for transporattion and the views are great. Maybe nephew will come along for part of it to keep me company.

Found another TNT'r today through this blog. The TNT Team sure is far and wide. Now I know someone else doing a 1/2 on the same weekend when I am in NYC.

April 8, 2009

Today I made a good choice to exercise, even though I didn't have an hour to invest, so I clocked through 4 miles in about 32 minutes on the elliptical and hit the showers (early meetings at a client site a distance away).

Thought alot about "naked weight" or the weight we all state when someone asks us what we weigh, as I got on the scale by 0.2 I was in a new decade of counting pounds. Lets hope it holds through the weekend in Sarasota.

"Smart People have something to say, stupid people have to say something" A quote I heard by one of the fitness point members while waiting to get in at 5:00AM this morning.

April 7, 2009

I rationalized 2 days of rest since the C10M, and was at Fitness Pointe this morning at 5AM CDT. The bad thing was that I didn't bring my headphones so I was without any entertainment for my workout - so I set myself on an "express workout" on the elliptical -- 40 minutes and went 5 miles at 8MPH on average. It was a killer, but I was done with the workout and cooldown in less than an hour which was nice. Its still pretty chilly here in Indiana - no real sign of spring (they actually had snow on Sunday!)

Last night was a bit of a comedy of errors - I was in a hurry (tired/hungry) when I arrived at the hotel, so I pulled my suitcase out of the back of the rented SUV. Unfortunately I had forgotten that I had unzipped the bag, so ALL of my stuff came flying out of the suitcase and into puddles in the parking lot. A couple of expletives later, I threw it all back in the bag and was very happy that my suit was still in the dry cleaner bag so it didn't get wet. Gives me a small message to slow down a bit so I don't do that again.

Tip of the Cap to Coach Blood and the Big Red Women's Softball Team at Cornell - good results against Yale and Dartmouth this weekend.

Quick week here in Indiana as I head down to Florida tomorrow night.

April 5, 2009

A rest day for me after the C10M (as the bumper sticker says I got yesterday). Still a couple aches and pains in the old bod, but hopefully tomorrow I'll be back at Lifetime Fitness early before I catch the flight to Chicago.

I received three wishes today as I attended 7AM Palm Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Vienna,VA. I'll drive pretty far away to avoid mass in Latin (at my church on the 1st Sunday of the month's 7:30AM Mass).

I got caught off guard this morning as my clock "sprung ahead" automatically thinking this was the weekend for DST, so when I jumped out of bed at 6AM it was really only 5AM. I was already chugging along before I figured it out :) Maybe I'll remember it next year and won't get caught.

Surprise visit to Sarasota at the end of the week to catch up with Mom and Dad. I hope my wishes for a good week are at least listened too... :)

April 4, 2009

I arrived in Charlottesville last night and had a wonderful time reconnecting with Wynne and Vicky who were my hosts for the evening. We went to a delicious Italian restaurant where I got some carbs, but really enjoyed the conversation the most.

Up this morning early for a 7:45AM Start to the Charlottesville 10 Miler. It was an excellent race. I completed the course in 2:05 which was a PR for me (and just about where I wanted to be). The thoughts of 3.1 more miles to complete the 1/2 at the pace I kept right now seems a bit of a challenge, but pretty sure I could walk 3 more miles to finish. Target for the 1/2 is now to finish between 2:40 and 3:00.

I called today a virtual relay race, as I finished my 10 miler, my friend Rachel was most probably departing from somewhere in the Bay Area on her long run in prep for April 19th 1/2 she will run. It was sorta neat to think she picked up where I left off.

After the race a quick stop back with Wynne and Vicki and then Bodo's to get some of the best bagels I've ever had. The warm turkey sandwich on a plain bagel was a real treat for the 10 mile distance -- I really enjoyed it. Planning on having a chicken caesar salad from Bodo's tonight for dinner to complete the day.

Great bright red shirt and medal were provided as recognition of the day.

April 1, 2009 (Happy Birthday Michael)

Who knows what today will bring...I hope mixed among the tricks of the day are some good results on the project as we are pushing through to finish something this week.

I reconnected today with 2 good friends from Charlottesville that we befriended while watching UVA Women's Hoops about 17 years ago. They have graciously volunteered to host me for an overnight in advance of the Charlottesville 10 Miler on Saturday morning. Should be fun to reconnect and catch up and then do the 10 miles which looks pretty hilly from the website. Good prep for the 1/2 -- should help me set my time for the 1/2 at the end of the month.

6 Miles this morning at Fitness Pointe in Munster Indiana -- wish I could do the 1/2 marathon on the elliptical machine and eliminate the impact of running on pavement!

March 30, 2009 (Happy Birthday Beth!)

A treat for me to stay in Virginia on a Monday, and its Beth's 17th Birthday! We had a great celebration last night (family of 5 missing one :( ). Her official party is tonight with her friends, I hope she has a great time.

I reluctantly got up this morning and headed off to Lifetime Fitness and did 5 miles on the elliptical at 6mph or 9:00 miles (about). It was a killer, but now that its done, I'm glad I did it in prep for the 10 miler on Saturday.

March 29, 2009

17 Years Ago today we had a bridal shower for my cousin Kathy and a baby shower for my sister Louise in Bethesda MD. So tonight I head over to Burke VA to celebrate (a day early) the 17th birthday of my niece Elizabeth. Wow! how quickly 17 years go by but what fun I've had with her and her siblings over every single one of those years. Happy Birthday Bette Boop!

I was happy to spend the weekend back in Fairfax, but I do wish the weather would have cooperated a bit more. The sun has finally come out this afternoon. Saturday morning I was with Sue for the CRT class at Lifetime - and this time she went nuts with the weight and our shoulders, biceps and triceps. I should be happy about that as I completed 8 miles indoors today (due to rain again) and my legs are now screaming at me.

Next Saturday is the Charlottesville 10 Miler - my prep run for the 1/2 Marathon at the end of the month. I've reconnected with one of my best college friends who says she will come down to the city to cheer me on (her daughter is in school at NYU). I hope the weather is better for the 2 runs ahead, but I've secured a rain jacket for running just in case.

March 26, 2009

5.5 Miles this morning on the elliptical at Fitness Pointe and it felt pretty good in terms of intensity. Scale is moving in the right direction, just trying to pass through another milestone in the next week or so. Should be a busy day at the office.

March 25, 2009

5 Miles this morning (mostly at 7mph) at Fitness Pointe in Munster, Indiana. If I could only run at that pace -- the the lack of pounding on your body on the elliptical really makes it quite a bit easier. I took a 2 day rest from the 16 mile weekend, but need to get back at it. I've got 3 lbs to get to another milestone and I've been less than stellar in watching what I eat. I'm committed to getting back on program to get those 3 lbs off so I can shoot for a different milestone.

Weather in Indiana is improving as spring arrives. Lets hope it holds.

March 23, 2009

Sunday started off with a 10K around Forest Park in St. Louis -- neither of us realized it was 6 miles around until we saw a marker from a running team. Kate and I did the first 4 miles as intervals of walk (3) and run(2) and if Lili had had her say, we would have run the whole darn thing! It was a pretty morning and there are lots of sites in the park. The zoo looks like a good place to return to if I end back up in St. Louis with time on my hands.

Quick change up and we drove out to Edwardsville, IL and were hosted at a great lunch by Debbie and Jimmy. There full family was in attendance and it was a great deal of fun. Back to the city in the late afternoon, and an early dinner down in the square with Kates friend Natasha. A good relaxing and fun filled weekend!

March 22, 2009

A great Saturday in St. Louis with Kate. The picture above was at the Budweiser Brewery right in town and we took a great tour which ended with a free sample (along with some pretzels). It was our appetizer to lunch where we headed to a great wrap/bowl local place that had one of the best chicken/spinach/pesto wraps I've ever had.

We went to 5PM Mass at the Basilica -- which was an absolutely phenomenal church. After a quick trip home, we headed out to gamble a bit and get some dinner. We had a good time both at dinner and the casino, but overall we left more money there than we came home with. Today I get to see Edwardsville, IL which I have heard about for the past 30+ years.

March 21, 2009

Welcome to St. Louis! The picture above is of Kate and me at the top of the Gateway Arch yesterday afternoon as part of my tour of the city. I'm here with the NCAA Wrestling Championship so there are lots of "guys" in town too. We had a wonderful dinner last night wiht scallops and risotto that was delicious. I crashed early on Kates...

This morning I woke up to do my long run -- was targeting for 10 miles and actually went 10.4 in 2 hours or a little under 12:00 per mile. Makes me pretty confident that I can finish the 1/2 in less than 3 hours if I push myself for the last 3.2 miles. I ran through St. Louis and down to the Arch and back and then 4 times around Lafayette Square which is right near Kates house. I think we'll go back again with Lili in the afternoon, so I might log a 1/2 today in distance.

March 19, 2009

A couple of good things have happened in the past couple of days:

• I completed 6 miles on the elliptical machine this morning in about 50 minutes. Thats the farthest I have gone in my morning workouts ever. I hope it helps me get to 2:30 for the 1/2 marathon in April.
• My work colleague commented on a new suit I was wearing yesterday by saying "It fits you" which I implied that she noticed my older clothes were getting bigger.
• In the health club this morning I listened to woman say that she was working to loose 5 pounds BEFORE she went on vacation -- a real key to how people maintain better, versus going crazy on vacation and then coming back and having to loose. Pay first sounds like a better way to go.
• I signed up for the Marine Core Historic Half Marathon in May in Fredericksburg, VA. Its the day after I get back from St. Louis, so hopefully it will work out.

These are all good signs when I was personally sabotaging my weight loss efforts. Wanted to reflect on them to get back onto the path to goodness. Stress still sends me to food, I continue to need to work on that!

March 12, 2009

New Shoes Today! I went to Fleet Feet yesterday in Schereville, Indiana and had a gait analysis and foot analysis to pick out the right shoe (Misty was awesome). I think I tried on 8 pairs of shoes till I settled with the Saucony's. I test drove them this morning on the elliptical for 5 miles and no signs of blisters coming back. If I like them after road wear this weekend, I'll probably go back and get another pair for Indiana and leave the new ones in Virginia! Not to mention that the prices seemed more reasonable than Northern Virginia too. There is a TREK Bike store next door, I may go by there tomorrow night to do some exploratory searching on bikes.

I could have gone to a Brooks brand (I now wear Brooks Arial), but it was like buying the same car in a different color, so I tried a new brand.

Snow showers today but no accumulation. Another night in Indiana before heading back to Virginia.

March 11, 2009

It sure is easy to get out of practice of blogging. Its been a good month in terms of fun and fitness. This past weekend I clocked 8 miles on the W&O Trail from Vienna to Falls Church at 12:00 per mile which was a PR for me. This week I'm back in Indiana and have used the elliptical at 5.0MPH for 2 hours logging 10 miles over the past two days.

We had two great weekends of Cornell Softball down at George Mason for tournaments. They've started out the season 6-0 with hot bats as they head down to Florida.

February 18, 2009

Wednesday morning - back on the "normal" path of 5AM CDT at Fitness Pointe. 4.8 Miles in the 65 minutes -- a little soreness in my knee today on the last 3 minute run so I pulled it back and walked. Took a couple advils and we'll see how the day goes. Lots of rain here in Indiana today, and I have to say I don't mind it a bit ~ thinking that it could be snow instead. I'm looking forward to a couple days on the SE coast of Florida at the end of the week.

February 17, 2009

An evening workout. For some reason, I was awake at 2:30AM CDT today and I got up and worked for a couple of hours and then tried to go back to sleep around 4:00AM CDT..As a result I missed my morning workout and told myself I had to go tonight. I do not like evening workouts. I really struggled on the treadmill tonight - was trying for walk 2, run 3 and managed that for 35 minutes and then went down to walk 3 , run 2...total of 4.8Miles which was good, but I really felt it. The Fitness Pointe site was much more crowded and there was certainly more activity to watch. I'll be back at it tomorrow morning at my normal 5AM workout time.

February 16, 2009

9 Miles within 12 Hours :) I procrastinated my Sunday workout until 8PM EDT and did the 65 minutes while watching the kickoff of the Amazing Race at the Fairfax Lifetime Fitness. Back on the treadmill at 5:45 am this morning in Chantilly to squeeze in my Monday workout before the flight to Chicago. I'm hopeful our new President stays put this morning so that the air traffic in Chicago doesn't get messed up.

Great party Saturday night hosted by Nancy in NW DC.

February 14, 2009 -- 10K

George Washington 10K in Alexandria VA today. A personal best completing the 10K in 74:49 minutes (11:42 per mile)! I did it by walking for 3 minutes and running for 2 the whole way out. I came in 630 out of 659 runners, and 60 of 66 in my female age group. Its amazing how folks on intervals tend to pass each other but really stay together the whole race. It was a chilly 35 degrees when we started but my body heated up pretty quickly.

Great progress for me from a year ago, and I felt pretty confident that I could do the course again (maybe not at the same interval) so that I can get through the 1/2 marathon. Right now, I'm thinking I can complete the 1/2 in 3 hours (which would be about 40 minutes quicker than last June). Time will tell.

A great workout and a great race course (pretty flat)!

February 12, 2009

A good workout at Fitness Point..4.8 miles, I trimmed back on the running and split it with walking (30/30). Will most probably take tomorrow off to get ready for Saturday. Looks like it will be cold on Saturday morning for the 10K.

Found a mall in Illinois last night - what a trip back to the retro 50's mall. I felt at home in Macy's but when I went into the mall it was like going into the twilight zone. I didn't stay there long at all.

The scale appears to be working in the right direction for this uptick in training!

February 11, 2009

Wednesday Morning at Fitness Pointe, IN

A good 65 minutes with 33 of running (5.5) and the rest walking (4.0). For some reason its getting harder (versus easier)...might be because I need a break. I'm thinking I will take Friday off before the race on Saturday to give my legs a day to rest.

Found a Red Lobster restaurant here in Munster Indiana which was excellent. I had their new "fired" tilapia, broccoli and a baked potato. I did manage to eat only 1/2 of those delicious cheese rolls and called it a night.

February 9, 2009

5 Miles Interval!

Early morning at Lifetime Fitness, and this time I cranked up my run time to walk for 2 minutes (4MPH) and then run for 3 minutes (5.5MPH). I was ready to quit at 36 minutes, but I pushed through and when I finished my 5 minute cooldown I had clocked 5 miles! That gives me some confidence for getting through 6.2 miles next Saturday in an hour and a half in celebration of Washington's Birthday. We'll see how the rest of the week goes, but it looks like my quads survived the spin class.

Nice Sunday dinner last night in Burke with a crowd of 5..some discussion of the upcoming softball season and the end of February visit by Big Red to play at Mason.

February 8, 2009

Spin Class
Okay so I bit the bullet and tried the "Spin Class" this morning. OMGosh! it was quite a workout and a great deal of fun. I was very upfront that it was my first class so everyone was watching out for me. I was able to complete the 60 minutes without my quads falling off, but they are still screaming a bit right now :) I will absolutely do it again, but not probably until the end of the month due to scheduling.

Did 30 Minutes run/walk afterwards in prep for next Saturday's 10K in celebration of Washingtons Birthday. My goal will be to complete it in less than 1.5 hours (its 6.2Miles in distance). It will be a good guage for how I'm getting ready for the 1/2 marathon.

Pretty sure a nap is in my plan for today and I'm thinking about taking an Aleve just to be preventative. It is a gorgeous day here in DC today - should be up to 60. Could still be a walk around Burke Lake in my future today.

February 7, 2009

Chocolate Festival in downtown Fairfax today and I resisted the temptation!

I went to my favorite CRT class today and it was quite a workout. Increased the weights to 5lb when we were doing weight exercises and I can feel it in my arms now. Finished with 35 minutes on the treadmill (3 Miles) with 20 minutes of running at 5.5 (4 minutes of running to just test it out)

Great time last night at GGN in DC, a small crowd, but we had a good time catching up. The new food choices were excellent. Its a gorgeous day here in the DC Area -- might get up to 50.

February 5, 2009

Fitness Pointe -- Munster, Indiana, a pretty nice fitness facility. I found out mid week that it comes along with the HI since their workout facility is so terrible, so this morning I decided to try it out.

Same drill as the past couple days 65 minutes on the treadmill. I'll have to be ready to walk in the door at 5AM if I want a treadmill with a personalized TV set, but for this morning I caught up on last week's NPR Wait Wait which was good.

I'm counting on the huge boost in activity to make an impact on the scale too! Back to Fairfax tonight.

February 4, 2009

So today I learned a bit more about "Lake Effect Snow" ~ I am lucky to be west of where it normally drops, but its a pretty amazing phenomenon where this stream of snow dumps (18" today) down across a swath of Indiana and heads east. Luckily I've moved hotels and the work site so that for this week, we avoided it.

Early bird caught the worm this morning -- on the treadmill at 5:00AM (6:00 AM EST) for a 4.9 Mile 65 Minute trek, walking at 4MPH, jogging at 5.5MPH in walk 3, run 2 intervals. This one really got to me, maybe because I've been at it for three days straight with no break. May take an easier trip tomorrow morning. I'm pushing hard to try to break through a decade on the scale this week. (One I've been sitting in since December!)

February 3, 2008

Happy Birthday Peggy!

Orland Park, Illinois Lifetime Fitness this morning at 5:30AM. I almost took the "totally strength" class in lieu of the treadmill - but will think about that next week. 4.8 Miles in 65 minutes (I think a record for me) 3 minutes walking at 16:00 (4MPH) and then 2 minutes running at 11:XX (5.5MPH) with the last interval of 4 minutes running. Man that was difficult.

The good news is that the 6-10 inches of snow predicted for today hasn't started yet so I was able to get my workout in (early).

February 2, 2009 -- Week 5

Schedule (3x per week) 6 Walk Run Intervals; walk 4 Min at 17:00, run 2 min at 12:00 for 36 minutes or a total of 2.6 Miles.

Achieved today: 12 Walk Run Intervals; walk 3 min at 4 MPH (15:00), run 2 min at 5.3 MPH (11:19), distance of 4.7MPH in 65 Minutes! Whew! I got to the health club early this morning and did my 60 minutes pushing myself. Week 9 is when the schedule calls for 60 minutes (at a brisker pace), so all I have to work on is increasing my pace and minutes running. Its fun to think about a schedule and a goal again

Looks like snow this week both in Northern Virginia and in Chicago - for the past three weeks it has snowed in Indiana on Tuesdays - looks like we are going for a three-peat.

February 1, 2009

Ok. Here we go again! This weekend I was getting a bit bored with my treadmill workout and went surfing and found the MoreFitness Half Marathon in New York City for women only in late April 2009. I went to their training calendar - and saw that week 4 was walk for 4 minutes, and then run for 2..so I took this to the treadmill and yesterday and today I walked for 3 and ran for 2! Seems like I can catch up with the schedule and get ready for an April event. I've asked some cousins to come along, so I'm not sure yet whether its a solo trip or not, but I think I've got the bug.

It didn't help that I was also getting all kinds of requests for TNT funding from my California friends who are training for the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon in June 2009. And I look back at the blog and on 2/2/08 I had my first run in San Francisco and hardly made it a mile. Today I logged 4.2 miles in an hour on top of an hour step class!

Follow along as you want, as I now try this training thing from Virginia!

28 Years of Working Today!

28 Years Ago today I showed up at New England Telephone Headquarters in Boston to start my Management Training Program! While I have left the "phone company" I certainly haven't left New England (or Maine) and still remember fondly all I learned in those first 18 months in Portland Maine, both professionally and personally.

Stadium to Stadium 10K/ 100 Minutes

This was an urban run, from AT&T Park down 3rd Street for almost 5 Miles and then a left turn toward Monster Park (where the 49rs play). It was hard cause there were no mile markers and the volunteers had no idea about distance or where the water stops were. Thank Goodness for the SFPD who had three stations where they would spray you with water and I took advantage of all three of them. It wasn't as hot as the 8K in Fairfax, but for San Fran it was pretty darn hot. I finished #827 out of 930 at a 16:11 pace which gives me a target to get under 16 for a 10K. I was #70 of 86 for my age category.

The transportation back to the start was abysmal and I had to wait 1.5 hours in line to catch an 11 person van back. Regardless, it was fun. Had several "Go Teams" given I had on my TNT shirt. After a bit of relaxing I'll head down to Mountain View to visit with Sheila.

6.75KM Turning up the Heat

Back to the workout room - did the first 2 miles on the elliptical at a 12:00 mile pace. Leads me to believe I could run a bit longer than I do when I'm going for a long distance. Moved over to the treadmill for a more leisurely 2.2 miles. I completed the 4.2 miles in under one hour which is a record for workouts for me.

Signed up today for a "Stadium to Stadium" 10K on Saturday morning. The path goes from AT&T (Giants) Stadium to Monster (49rs) Park through the city. I think it will be fun and it starts right at my condo (like the Fairfax run).

Congratulations to Aimee from my TNT team who has been selected to be a mentor for the Fall Season! She's committed to running a full marathon at the Rock & Roll in San Antonio Texas. Makes me want to sign up again for a 1/2 in San Antonio (or at least think about it!)

Weekend Update

The picture above is from North Beach area of San Francisco where I spent Saturday Morning at the 54th annual North Beach Festival. A juried craft fair with lots of jewelry, pictures, paintings, clothes and food. I made a small purchase, but had fun walking around and checking out the goods. Hopped on the cable car back to Union Square for my first "standing" cable car ride -- at times it was a bit scary, but overall FUN.

Spent the rest of the weekend in San Jose and Mountain View catching up with Karen, Sheila and Ann.

5.8K for Pat

Thanks to a note from Pat that said she was stuck on June 8th due to no posting, I got off the couch and put in 3.6miles tonight while watching Who's Line is it Anyway. A big shout out to Naples for getting me back in the game this week, when I was a slacker.

I've started a 10 week program today following one of Oprah's Book Club's books entitled, "A New Earth ~ Awakening to Your Life's Purpose." The first chapter and lesson was very philosphical but gave me a good bit to think about -- biggest takeaway was to be in every moment versus planning for the next.

The weather here in San Francisco is a bit like Maine -- cool in the morning and mid 70's during the day. A girl could get to like that a bit.

Rock the House 8K with Kates

Humidity is overwhelming. In the high heat of June here in Fairfax County, Kates and I kept a 16:10 pace to finish at 1:20 an 8K (5 Miles) called Rock the House. It was wonderful to have Kate along to keep me company. There was a young man (around 10) who had come out too quickly so we called him our "pacer" and when stuck with him. (His uncle came back to walk him in with a mile left). When Kates and I went to jog in the last .25, he blasted out and came across the finish line :)

I checked the race results and we were officially numbers 153 and 154 out of 155 women. Kate was 36 of 37 for first time racers. There were 16 women aged 45-49 and I was #16. The fastest completed at 32:06 (WOW!)

Pretty good crowd, and I'd do it again if I'm here this time next year. Thinking about formats, I've now done an 8K, 10K, 12K and 1/2 marathon. I'm scheduled for a 5K in San Francisco in August (Plate to Plate).

3 Miles in Fairfax, VA

Returned to my old haunts here in Fairfax Village this morning. Started out the exercise trip accompanying Dad on his way to pick up the paper and then headed out for a 3 miler (in prep for the 5 with Kate on Sunday). Whew! The humidity and ~70 degree temperature really made it more difficult than the cool humidity free Marin trips.

Big shout out to the Johnson's of Siesta Key who "tipped the cap" to take me over my $3,500 goal for Team in Training yesterday. And speedy recovery to Joan who is up and walking as of yesterday.

Back on the East Coast

Arrived back here in Fairfax late last night. The smell of rain (and probably humidity) was refreshing and wonderful. Will be a busy week, hopefully will find some time to workout before Saturday.

2 Miles -- 35 Minutes the Day After

Well so much for what I thought this morning! Once I got home my quads were still kinda sore so I decided before dinner to do a quick workout to "warm 'em up" hoping that will alleviate some of the dull pain. So far its working....I may have caught a bit of a bug with this training as I signed up for the "Rock the House" 8K on Sunday in Fairfax VA and my niece Kate has agreed to accompany me on the trip.

Big shout out to the Benton family who weighed in again to settle a bet on my finish. They have a challenge this week that we all should add an extra prayer for.

Recovery Day

Since 8 is my lucky number, thought I show an in progress shot as well. I was a couple of minutes behind the official start due to all the runners, so I'd like to call this at 2:00 or 15 minutes per mile.

So I am able to walk today, thanks to Aleve and the ice bath yesterday. While I was having breakfast in the hotel this morning, I heard one of the coaches say "I ran 6 miles this morning" and I almost didn't want to eat any more breakfast! I can't quite imagine 6 miles today, but could think about doing something tomorrow.

The calls and e-mails yesterday of support were great! We had a nice Victory Party last night at the Convention Center where everyone was a "HERO!" Overall this race in its 11 year history has raised $134M in the fight against blood cancer which is awesome.

So far, my only reflection is that this is my 100th post on the blog and if you think that most posts were on an exercise day with at least 3 miles, that would say it took me almost 300 miles of preparation for the successful 13.1 yesterday!

On the flight back up to San Francisco I met a woman from the NYC team who trained for the 1/2 and ended up running the full (Oh My!). Also talked to an Army gentleman who also ran the 1/2 as part of his army training (with little or no preparation).

Its Done! 3:38:26 (16:40 per Mile)

Around 10:30AM PDT, thanks to the help of Casey (mentor picture on bottom righ pane) and Jackie ( a woman just walking along the course) I made it across the 1/2 marathon finish line. I'm very proud of the accomplishment, and thankful for all the family and friends that supported my journey.

The statistics: 3:38:26 duration, or 16 min 40 seconds per mile. Within the 1/2 marathon, I was #716 of 808 finishers, 41 of 49 for my female age group and 596 out of 684 women. There is room for improvement, but I was really pleased to be under my personal best of 16:55!

San Diego -- I'm Here

7AM Flight with about 40 of the 123 seats for Team in Training members and we were at the hotel by 9AM. It was overcast and chilly (60) in the morning, but this afternoon has turned into a beautiful San Diego Day.

I took the SD Trolley over to the Convention Center for the "Expo" and bought some Marathon Memorabilia -- as did everyone else, it was flying off the racks.

There are 4,000 members from the LLS, and an expected crowd of 22,000 people running the full and or 1/2 marathon tomorrow morning at 6:30AM. I'm number 23038 in corrall #22. I think you can see real time results from the rock and roll website (link on the right pane).

I've met some more people,and am just getting ready to head out to the pasta party after a quiet afternoon (including a nap). I woke up to find out that Michigan got 50% of their delegates. I say a "Card layed is a card played" and they should have gotten 0.

2 Days -- Checked in

Today i picked up my purple run shirt (we all wear them to contribute to the "cult" effect) and checked in for my flight to San Diego. Cross your fingers the hotel doesn't make us wait till 4PM to check in when we will probably be at the hotel by 10AM!

Today is a scheduled rest day - so I will take it easy and have some more angel hair pasta for dinner. I've got this visual image that the wind of support will push me through the 13.1 miles!

Big shout out to Peggy & Family who weighed in big time with their support to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society today :) I still say the posting from Tim about Oakie the Acorn back in January has been the best one by far on this blog to date!

3 Days || 3 Miles

Morning workout to provide some time for a trip to Los Altos this afternoon to see Aunt Sheila. Spent a good bit of time thinking about the upcoming race and my plan of attack, which is slow and steady. Yesterday got the coaches e-mail about getting ready and he said to start carbo loading now, so spaghetti for dinner.

4 Days YOYO

Returned to the workout room at the Beacon tonight and really reflected on how "easy" 3 miles is now compared to January of this year. 13.1 still seems like quite a challenge, but I'm getting excited and lots of data is coming in about what to do and how to get prepared. I got my number today :). Looking at the weather for San Diego - its looking like it will be a good day - with highs in the 70s.

5 Days to Go back in San Francisco

So today I received the "what to bring" list from my TNT Mentor Gayle for the trip. Lots of things, I never would have thought of, including a trash bag to lay down on the wet grass to stretch out on after the race. All looks achievable, and I'll work through my last workouts in prep for the big race on Sunday.

I recorded a podcast for IBM that was posted on the "Jobs in Pods" website today - check out the link on the right pane if you want to hear something about IBM and the talent we are looking for.

6 Days to go From Ojai, Ca

Spent a great weekend thanks to the hospitality of Teddy, Karen & Dick down in Oak View(Ojai), CA. (they are in the picture above)

Saturday I was a slug from a TNT perspective, but we were able to go up to Solvang, CA (a small danish community) as well as Santa Barbara for sightseeing. The weather was chilly, and both towns were full of tourists, but we had good times and good food.

Sunday morning I got up early and did 6 miles on the Ojai Trail which goes over 20 miles down to the beach at Ventura. Later in the day we went to Ventura and the Navy base there. Afternoon highlight was trying to get the bluetooth to work with the voice recognition software in Teddy's new car. (It definitely is a location joke, but it sure took us a long time to execute a very simple task!)

Sunday night Karen, Teddy & I relearned Cribbage and I lost $5 due to some luck and strategy on Karen's part as she beat me to 120 points.

Monday morning after a great fruit breakfast, I put in another 3 miles on the trail and then we visited with Teddy's family over a great dinner made by Teddy & Dick. Took me about 6.5 hours of driving to get back to San Francisco by 10:15PM.

Its a Legal Day!

Big shout out to two of my favorite attorneys -- one a cousin the other a lifelong friend who both made a great contribution to help fight blood cancers through the LLSociety. Makes a girl want to get right out there and run 13.1 miles!

Kevin's note had the email I sent out in January asking for donations - pretty interesting to read it now and hear all the trepidations in my typing.

Tuesday Workout

Big Shoutout to the second Ms. Perry to support the cause! Thanks for adding to the fight against blood cancers!

Bay to Breakers 12K! What a Show!

So Julie, Jeff and I paraded with thousands of others under the floating tortillas at the start of the race. At this point, Jeff deserted us to "run" the race, and we stuck with the parade. And true to form there were naked people (coded NP) and floats and other such stuff that I just can't explain. (Ask us about Swingy!) We didn't see the "Elvis" group but Jeff reported they were at the front. It was a complete blast.

We crossed the finish line jogging at 2:34:04 for 7.5 Miles (I was 1840 out of the females aged 40-49), and then they made us walk another 3/4 of a mile up to the "party." We stayed for a bit, but the fog rolled in and it was very cold.

I'm really glad Julie made us get hats -- as most everyone was in costume -- she was a Maryland Crab and I was a Maine Lobster -- even got a marriage proposal, called Rock Lobster and Red Lobster. We want it next year to be a GGN Annual event!

Update:
There were 60,000 participants in the race, 33,000 actually registered. Out of the 22,439 finishers, I was 19,264! 9,532nd woman to cross the finish line and 1840 of the women ages 40-49). It looks like Rachel had a good run, but I didn't see her on the course!

This article calls out Swingy referred to above
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/19/MNFE10OMG3.DTL

Here's an except:
"A cold day to be naked
The bright sunshine turned to fog around Ashbury Street, but it didn't dampen many spirits - except, perhaps, those of a few of the naked men, who nevertheless soldiered on.
One of the nudists, who identified himself only as Jack, was, by all indications, downcast during the post-party celebration at the Polo Grounds, where an icy wind joined the fog. He had by this time wrapped his manhood in a sock.
"I'm trying to find something to put on, but at least one of my socks is helping," said the shivering 62-year-old South Bay resident. "I've got to find a T-shirt, a trash bag or something. I'll have you know, though, that I put the sock on after the race." (we can validate his last statement!)

6 Miles on a Gorgeous Morning

Well after taking too many days off (heat wave was my excuse) I got up this morning and headed out before 7AM to catch the cool morning. I made it from home to Fisherman's Wharf and back and I remember fondly writing in January that I hoped some day to be able to do it.

This afternoon Julie and Jeff arrive for an overnight (from Virginia) so we can do the Bay to Breakers 12K tomorrow. Its quite a San Francisco event and I'm looking forward to it and may take my camera to see what I can capture. I hope it stays cool like today.

Isn't it crazy that 7.5 miles doesn't seem that bad? I remember back with Robbie in the Emerald Nuts how it just killed me! Right after the race headed down to Disneyland for an overnight.

Tuesday Morning Workout

I think this is the first time (since late January) when I didn't enter my blog update after a workout. It might be because my alarm went off at 4:40am as I had a 7AM meeting at the Venetian Hotel. While I was frugal on my hotel choice, its quite a distance from the convention.

HGI Treadmill was acceptable, and so I did 45 minutes and almost 3 miles to get the morning started. The day at the Cognos Forum has been interesting but disappointing from a content perspective. I have been able to avoid the tables though, so one might say I'm up from a gambling perspective!

1 Mile and Viva Las Vegas

Got a mile in from the rental car to the office (pulling the suitcase) to the office. Headed over to Las Vegas to attend the Cognos Forum. Hope the workout room at the HGI has a good treadmill.

Mothers Day

I have one of the worlds best moms:

• She loves me and my sister unconditionally.
• She has a laugh that makes other people laugh
• She fixed dinner for the family every night while we were growing up
• She's a wicked good gin player and because of her I love to play cards
• She brought a great mac and cheese recipie into the family that everyone loves
• She let me drive her '68 Nova everywhere
• She gives a great hug

Best wishes to all the Moms out there who celebrated with their kids. I had a great chat with Mom to start the day. I hope it was a great day for her, she deserves it!

Next time you see me, ask me about the story of my purse and the pastor at Notre Dame this morning. I couldn't think of a way to type it and make it as funny as it was.

12 Miles 192 MInutes (16:00)

Whew! This one wiped me out -- I did great on the first 10 miles in 2.5 hours (or 15 minute miles) but the last two miles really killed me - -but I pushed through. Of course, this was nothing compared to my teammates who RAN all 20 miles in prep for their marathon (including Rachel who only had to run 18 but did 20 just for fun!).

This trip took us back to Tenessee Valley for miles 4-7 and it was just as hilly as it was the last time when all we did was the 4 miles there! If the goal was to give us killer hills so that San Diego will seem flat, mission accomplished!

We had 3 TNT teams at the event, so it was nice to see so many people. Raul played chaueffer for the trip (which was great), and I've done my 10 minutes in freezing water to help my joints. Not quite sure how I'm going to get enough energy to head south to San Jose for dinner with Karen, but I will, after lunch and a nap :) -- as it turns out I didn't go south, I couldn't do it!

3 Miles and A Fire Alarm

After a great phone visit with Cheryl on the east coast where we talked about everything from GGN, work to politics, I kicked it in and went over for my workout -- 3+ miles 55 minutes. At the end of the workout the fire alarm went off in the building I live in (The workout room is in the other building).

So I sat in the lobby of 250 King Street looking like a drowned rat (the outcome of all exercise events) and read David Chen's Wall Street Journal. Well don't you know someone comes up looking for their paper and I had to admit I was reading someone's paper. Lucky for me he wasn't David Chen (but he looked none too happy when he thought I had his paper!)

Weather has turned a bit chillier here tonight - I hope it improves for Saturday. I meet Rachel at 6:15AM for our trip up to Marin. My 12 miles seems like nothing compared to the 20 miles the folks doing the full marathon have to do. Cross your fingers for me!

Blisters and $64 Day of Race

Bet in Place with one of my favorite Florida supporters: "I will make you a bet. An added $3 per mile on run date plus $25 for finishing."
After I accepted the bet, i received this:
"You are on. Good luck. Glad you think it is easy money. I think it is doggone hard. Be sure you are wearing the right kind of socks and maybe some cover for the blister area when you run or I will win in a landslide."

I volleyed back with a counter to contribute to their charity in the unlikely event of a landslide in the wrong direction - any other takers? Email me :)

Morning Workout 3.2 Miles

I am so much a morning person, and I just need to reorient myself to morning workouts. I jump started the day with 3.2 miles in 50 minutes (way under my 15:00 pace) but completed my commitment to TNT before the workday begins. Blister is now a non event and socks have been narrowed to 2 pairs. I'm not doing my best for a green environment as I'll have to do wash more than once a week or go to Sports Basement and buy a couple more pairs of wool socks.

Start the Day with 2.3 Miles

I started at 7:30am church this morning, but then decided to walk home on the Embarcadero to get a couple miles under my belt. Google maps has a pedometer function so you can see how far you walked and it was 2.3 miles home (the long way from Church). Rewarded myself with an egg sandwich and a read of the San Francisco Chronicle at Panera bread before returning to the Beacon.

Yesterday was a great day at Muir Woods with Carmel and Karen. Its a place where a picture really doesn't do the visit justice, but I've tried by putting one up here at the top..We did a 2 mile hike at Muir Woods too - so a total of 6 miles yesterday - lets see if I can do the same today. Gotta gear up for 12 on Saturday.

YOYO 4 Miles -- Back at It

Thank goodness I'm back in the game. Yesterday the blister settled down (not gone) and this morning I was able to get in 4 miles in an hour with no pain. I think I've figured out which socks are coming with me to San Diego and next weekend on the 12 miler :)

Had to get done early as we are headed up to Muir Woods today to see the famous California Redwoods. Carmel wants to buy a new car, so she rented one today and will spend the full day driving it to see if she wants to make the purchase. I'm excited about actually seeing Redwoods -- years ago (25+) Neil and I drove from Seattle down to San Francisco and kept looking for Redwoods and never saw them -- we even paid $5 to drive through one that had been cut out with a saw!

Spent yesterday morning at SAP HQ in Palo Alto, CA, and then spent the afternoon with Sheila and Ann in Los Altos. It was a nice visit ~ Carmel and Karen picked me up and we went out for pizza in Santana Row and bling shopping at the end of the day. Karen's going to shine today!

Big shoutout to Aimee who heads north for her 1/2 Marathon tomorrow!

First Injury

So working through the blister last night was NOT a good idea...today a bit of a limp and pain in my foot. I'm going to try to ease up and rest until the foot gets better so that I can at least walk without hurting. Pretty bummed that this is the way I start the last month of training :(

Cure for Blisters? One Month Away

The ten miler (which Coach Joe now admits was probably 10.5 miles) got the best of my feet and I'm sporting a blister on my left foot the size of the State of Maine. I used this to procrastinate why not to exercise on Monday and Tuesday, but tonight I just pushed through it for 45 minutes. Robbie suggested I try duct tape over them -- maybe that will help. I need to find a way for it to settle down before 12 miles in 2 weeks.

Yesterday i went to a Professional Business Women of California session at the Moscone Center for some networking and I got to hear Madeline Albright and Cokie Roberts speak. Both sent jabs at the political process going on right now, although Madeline made a point of saying she's been out on the stump alot for Hillary.

Sunday in San Francisco

Started out with Sunday Mass at the Notre Dame Church on Bush Street. I've mentioned it a couple of times before, but this time I wanted you all to see the beauty of the church!

10 Miles || 16:6 per mile WOW!!

So I made the full 10 mile journey today -- we got to see Golden Gate Park (the flowers were gorgeous) and Ocean Beach (lots of surfers and crashing waves) as well as the San Francisco Zoo. (I was on the lookout for roaming tigers). In the spirit of Robbie (nephew) I did my best to jog/walk the first 7.5 mile, and frankly walked the last 2.5 (with a couple blisters). But I'm happy with my time and I felt like I could have walked another 3.1 if I had to (which I will in a month).

I tried gummy bears at the half way mark and they really seemed to provide some energy - might have to get some to carry along on the course when I go.

One of our team, Sara has an injury so she's not sure if she will be able to compete in the Spring but she was there cheering us on. She reminded me that in early February, I had difficulty doing a mile down at Sports Basement (Presidio)...3 Months Later I've logged my first 10 miler EVER.

Got to meet Raul (Rachel's husband) who was such a nice guy to come out with Toby (their 11 year old dog) to cheer us on during the run. As I said to Rachel in the car "You got a good one!"

I also tried the cold bath today - for 10 minutes -- to see if that will help recovery along with my standard Aleve. Carmel and Karen are coming up to the city tonight for dinner and show -- I need to rest up.

Big shout out to the Knapp family in New Jersey who sent a "you can do it" message this morning that really helped get me motivated.

Only in San Francisco

Ever wonder whether San Francisco was a liberal democratic town? Well check this out, "As first reported by the San Francisco Business Times, a group of San Franciscans is pushing to honor President Bush by renaming the city’s Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility for him the day he leaves office. " (See link below) I'd say thats downright dirty and low :)

The Article
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/04/21/daily44.html?f=et78&ana=e_du
Vote in the Unscientific poll
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/poll/index.html?poll_id=5505&ana=e_du

45 Minutes J/W

Not too much to call attention to today. Worked out before dinner tonight and made the mistake of wearing cotton socks -- I should remember that "cotton is rotten" and I will now that I'm sporting a blister on my left foot. I hope its better before Saturday when I'm scheduled for 9 or 10 miles. Silly me. I'm throwing out my cotton socks tonight. 3.0 Miles in the 45 minutes, lets hope I can keep that pace up through RNR.

A Tragic Story

This morning I came to the office to find out that the 1st Habitat for Humanity homeowner in San Francisco who emceed the Gala event I spoke of last week was murdered in the streets near his house (Link to the article below). He invited all of us to attend his son's college graduation in Tennessee next week.

http://www.sfchroniclemarketplace.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/23/BADC10A2MH.DTL

Tonight I have planned to attend a Habitat for Humanity Orientation for new Volunteers. Sure adds a somber note and some uncertainty to my commitment. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends today.

Earth Day 2008

The day started with a 4AM Global call for IBM, reviewing 1st Quarter earnings. How bout that stock price lately? $123.67 at last look - lets hope it keeps it up.

After work a quick trip to Talbots for a couple spring sweaters (you seem to need them here in San Francisco) and I heard that one of their bankers pulled back a credit line, so I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity.

Workout schedule called for cross training (walking qualifies) and I just couldn't push myself to up the speed past 3.5mph, so about 3 miles walking in the 55 minutes while watching CNN and Big Brother (yes, I do watch that show!)

From what I can see, Hillary got her 10 point spread in Pennsylvania so the Dem's keep fighting it out (keep it going!)

And theres this thing called "rain" falling down outside -- its been a long time - we need it! Maybe cause it was Earth Day we had to have a little rainfall :)

Ruby Relaxer || 50 Min J/W

I continue to learn new things from my almost first/favorite manager (at New England Telephone). She was reading the blog from yesterday and says we can make the Ocean Beach even more delicious by adding a shot of Malibu Rum to get a Ruby Relaxer! I think we are really onto something now, and I will definitely have to stop at the NH Liquor Store on my way to Maine to get all the fixins!

And did I mention that when I was a new management trainee and came to work hung over just a couple days too often she also gave me a sign/poster that said "He who hoots with the owls at night cannot soar with the eagles in the morning" :) I guess I'm allowed to be corrupted now that she is in retirement!

3.2 Miles in 50 Minutes tonight on the treadmill -- several intervals running 2 minutes at 5 MPH, which pushed me quite a bit but enabled me to keep on my 15 minute miles. Not sure I am going to try to shave any time off that -- just be happy finishing in less than 4 hours. Back to the condo in time to watch "The Bachelor."

Legion of Honor and Cliff House

Today was a visit to Annie Liebovitz's Show at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Franciso. Karen, Debbie, Trina, Rose, and Jim also came along and the show was great. After the show we went to the "Cliff House" restaurant for brunch, and a bit thanks to Rose for suggesting we spend the hour wait at the bar. I was introduced to an "Ocean Beach" -- vodka, peach schnapps, pineapple juice and cranberry juice ~ it was delicious. We had a great day.

5:30 mass at Notre Dame on Bush Street and once again a wonderful service and a very engaging priest and music was great. Pretty pooped but had a great weekend with Karen up in the city.

Missed Mentor Run

Instead of a drive out for a 45 minute j/w, I stayed at the Beacon and did a solo 50 minute for 3 miles with at least one 4 minute jogging stretch. Will have to do something tomorrow as I missed Thursday night (completely forgot about the coaches workout and I would have liked to have gone).

To completely get this you might have to see the Beacon but we are two buildings on one city block. My building on the 4th floor has a grassy area to walk your dogs, the other 4th floor terrace has the workout room. This morning, I traveled with a woman who walked from the other builidng and took the elevator up to the 4th floor of my building to walk her dogs. Have to wonder why she didn't just walk them on the ground floor of our block? Regardless I think I shamed her into working out as she showed up on the treadmill next to me about 15 minutes later!

Karen comes up to San Fran to visit today for an overnight and we see Annie Liebowitz (sp?) tomorrow.

Habitat Gala || 40 Minutes

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending the Habitat for Humanity San Francisco Gala Dinner fundraiser at the Palace Hotel. The hotel is one of the oldest in the city and the building is beautiful after a renovation. A very nice event where I got to hear Mayor Gavin speak as he received the humanitarian award. (I was interested in hearing two other dems debate really).

I left around 8:45pm so I could geta workout in (since I missed last night). Treadmill along with Hillary and Barack in PA. Glad they continue to bicker with each other, hopefully PA will put some light on where we are headed even though I expect Hillary to be in until they kick her out.

55 Jog Walk

Whew! Schedule called for 40 minutes J/W but it is REALLY chilly out here (I'm beginning to sound like a Californian!) So I went to the workout room and no treadmills. :(

25 Minutes 2.25 Miles on the Elliptical really pushing myself something like 12 Minute Miles, and then I transferred over to the treadmill at 3.5mph for 30 minutes and logged in another 1.25 miles -- so 3.5 miles in less than an hour. Thinking back to January that would have seemed impossible.

Had a great chat with the cousins who are enjoying Sarasota and ran the 10K on Sunday without me. Their times were awesome and they said it was well organized and a fun run. Maybe we should plan the first annual Branch Pond 5K this summer and raise money for BPA?

Rest -- KCD in San Jose

Rest day today - I went down to San Jose last night after a couple of Aleves. Had the benefit of riding with all the mad Giants fan after a loss late in the game. Great kabob dinner by Karen for me and Carmel. I crashed early (after another Aleve).

Today we shopped and cut a wide swath through Talbots, Bath and Body and then a kitchen store in Santana Row. Lunch outside at a Mexican restaurant with a jazz band. Seemed very Californian. Watched the South African cutie don the green jacket from the Masters from Aunt Suzie's house in San Jose.

Late train back to San Francisco - leaving my cellphone in San Jose. I hope to connect to it tomorrow through the generosity of Karen and Debbie doing a cellphone relay.

8 Miles/1:58 Longest Yet

My first "Coaches Run" and it was awesome! We were once again in Marin County and had a beautiful place to run (including crossing over 101). I was thinking 7 ,but pushed myself to the 4.0 turnaround where I ran into Rachel -- who successfully completed a 1/2 marathon today!

Despite the fact that my legs are screaming at me right now, I'm pretty darn pleased about 15 minute miles in a time better than the Emerald Nuts (but it wasn't as hilly). Was accompanied at the end by a young lady from Chantilly VA who went to JMU and just moved out here to San Francisco -- what a small world.

Big thanks again to Rachel for tranporting and to Aimee for providing backup. Not quite sure what the rest of the weekend will bring, but heck - I went 8 miles today!

Rest -- 7:20 #10 Bus

Today is a "rest" day on the schedule. This is the second time I remember catching the 7:20 #10 Bus to the office - and there is a bus driver who actually knows her clients and greets some of them by name. What a surprise in a huge city, that this level of personalized service exist. She also likes to chat quite a bit, so you get a bit of a tutorial/lecture while you ride. Today was all about not extending yourself too much at work so that you loose the balance between work and family -- something that at least hit home for me.

California Gentlemen

I'd have to say that the men in California have an extra ounce (or cup) of manners. 9 times out of 10 when I am in an elevator with gentleman, they invariably wait until I exit the elevator before they do. This is not something I am used to (but certainly could get used to it). I know it might be a sweeping generalization, but I'd say overall the men in California have a bit more courtesy to those old fashioned manners than my east coast experience.

I thought of this as I went for my 40 minute workout tonight (after procrastinating for 40 squared minutes). First time in probably 3 weeks I've done all the scheduled workouts called for. This might prepare me for the 7-8 planned for Saturday. The official run is in Marin, so if I can find Rachel again, I'll hitch a ride and go with the team -- if not, the Embarcadero will certainly fit the bill.

Free Speech no Torch

Extremely dissapointed that Mayor Gavin decided to completely reroute the torch today in San Francisco, wonder if anyone who wanted to see it got to see it. Congrats to those people out on their lunch hour on VanNess who got surprised by the torch run by. As for me, I was able to see about 1.5 hours of "Free Tibet" demonstrations with a little pro-China and Darfur mixed in. Check out the guy above with the "I can't afford an actual sign!" The top picture is the view from the office down at the Ferry Building when it started to cool down.

On the good side, I met two nice ladies from Minnesota who were sight seeing here in San Fran and we kept each other company. Big thanks to Kaytee who tried to get us some info so we wouldn't waste anymore time.

Workout tonight was 40 Minutes Cross Training, which I did walking at 3.5MPH for 2.5 miles while watching Larry King Live and Top Chef back and forth. Pretty scary that polygamy stuff going on in Texas. Happy I've been on program for three days straight!

Morning CT Workout

Today was a 40 Minute Cross Training Workout, which I accomplished before 7AM leveraging the treadmill and a 3.5MPH walk for 45 minutes (a little over 2 miles), It will be nice to start the day with the workout behind me, which is a first for my San Francisco days.

Lots going on here in SF this week with the Olympic Torch arriving today. Depending upon the workday tomorrow, I may journey down to the Embarcadero from work to catch a glimpse of the torch.

Thanks Sponsors 35 Min J/W

With 2 months left to go, I needed every last one of you sponsors to get me to my workout tonight. I need to get back on track for workouts during the week, and I started tonight with 35 minutes on the elliptical.

Thank goodness for the Men's College Basketball Final where Kansas took the game from Memphis due to poor foul shooting in the clutch. It got me through the first ten minutes, and I just persevered for the remaining 25 minutes.

But most importantly, thanks to all of YOU that have supported the LLS Society and my journey. Without you, I would not have gone to the workout room, and wouldn't have heard from an elevator companion "you look like you worked out hard, I'm jealous."

Great news on Sunday in Florida -- Jude Blood and Danceman's sister Judy will be joining me for a 10K in Bradenton.

Burke Lake Park 4.7 Miles

It took me a while to get back out in the exercise mode after being diverted in Philadelphia for training that went from 7AM to 9:30PM each night. Friday I let my taxes be my excuse, but today I put myself over at Burke Lake Park for a 4.7Mile trip in about 1:10 around the lake. There were lots of people out and I felt like I was making good headway with a bit more jogging than walking in the first 4 miles. That last 0.7 seemed alot longer than that.

Here's a link to where I was
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/burkelake/