Melody, Is That You?

My vehicle looks so nice all washed and waxed! So you know what that means, I got a good look at the new neighbors. They were in and out of their house, still trying to get settled in. I thought they looked pretty "normal" (now I feel guilty saying that after my post a couple days ago but you know what I mean). Anyway, after spying them for quite some time it got to the point that I either had to go across the street and welcome them to the neighborhood or establish a no-contact neighbor relationship. What to do . . . what to do . . .

Finally, I gave in and walked over and introduced myself. The woman was outside and the man was inside the house. I thought this would give me the chance to see if it was "Dave & Melody" (yesterday's post) after a few decades. Not wanting to be too friendly, as I was crossing the street I called out,

"I thought I better come over and welcome you to the neighborhood!".

She smiled at me and started walking towards me with a warm,

"Thank you".

As she got closer and I stepped up the curb I imagined she was an old Melody, I held up my hand and said,

"Whoa, you might want to stay back until I can get a handle on this head lice
problem that's been plaguing me".

I thought that would establish a barrier between us so that she wouldn't come trotting across the street any morning while I was still in my jammies. Oh, BTW, of course I did not really say the head lice lie. I just thought it would make interesting reading. So, shall we move along with the story?

We chatted a few minutes and then her hubby came out (whose name really is Dave) and I met him too. So, here is my assessment of the new neighbors:

I think they are friendly but a bit stand offish to about the same extent I
am. Maybe Dave & Melody lived by them once too. She's a hospice
nurse and he works in the oil fields. They bought the house in particular
because of the walk out basement. They're going to finish it off and have
her elderly parents and mentally handicapped brother move in. (I'm not sure
what the mental handicap is, I'm hoping it's not some personality disorder. Remember the "Ted Bundy was some body's neighbor" line
from yesterday's post?

Anyway, I think it will be OK. Like I said, it's a wide road but they seem nice enough.

Later on we went to the track to do speed work. Unfortunately, it was closed for some high school activity so we ended up going to the park. We had just started the cool down from the first interval when this woman (she was sitting beside the track watching some girls play soccer) jumps up and excitedly exclaims,

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it, it's YOU!"

She appeared as if she was seeing Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie or something. It sort of caught us off guard. Anyway, long story short (thank God, right?) it turns out that she sees us running everywhere. It's a small town and I think hubby and I stick out since we're older runners and we often run during the day instead of real early or real late like most people have to when they're running around a job. After talking a minute or two, her daughter (one of the soccer players) comes up and the woman, still excited, says,

"Look Ashley, it's THEM, the ones we see all the time!".

Needless to say Ashly wasn't much impressed, nor did she share her mother's enthusiasm. She pretty much uttered,

"Oh"

and that was it. Anyway, after telling us she'd beep next time she saw us (she went on about how it would be 2 quick beeps so we wouldn't think she was being rude but rather just to say hello. She took Ashley and left and we continued with our intervals. As I continued running I started wondering to myself if her name could have been Melody.

So tonight we'll do our usual 6.3 mile hill run. Then we'll take 2 days off until Monday when we do another long run. That will give us a "normal" running schedule. It sure feels good to get back to the regualr schedule again.

Tomorrow evening we are going to the church to run "security" again. The word is that this group appears to be "closer to the hood" and it's anticipated we'll be really busy enforcing the no alcohol rule. From there, we're going to the tail end of a BBQ at Shane & Rachel's house. So, should be an interesting Saturday.

Across the Street

I just got back from the dentist and am now in the process of re-staining my freshly cleaned teeth with a cup of coffee that is sure to play havoc with my acid reflux. Ah! These are the good times, aren't they?

I'm just waiting a bit and then I am going to make good on my promise to hand wash and wax my vehicle (it's a 3 year old promise). Right now the driveway is in full sun but shortly that should no longer be the case. I have additional incentive too. It gives me a chance to eye the new people who moved in across the street.

At first I thought I might just walk over there and introduce myself. But what if I don't like them? That could be too risky, being all friendly right off the bat like that. I'm not one of those touchy feely types who go around being all happy to meet new people. No, life has taught me to guard who I let into my world, especially when they're just across the street. If I'm inviting right off the bat, it would be more difficult to keep someone at arms length later.

I know this all sounds odd but really, Ted Bundy had neighbors now didn't he? I think all the famous murderers had neighbors. I used to be the person who would go meet the new people right away. Then I had Dave and Melody for neighbors. Not only did they not respect boundaries, but they were insulted whenever there was a mere suggestion of boundaries. They brought me my mail every morning. They ate meals with me. Damn it, they smoked all my cigarettes (back in the day)! They were so close (physically) that having my own Siamese twin would not have been closer. They were the ones who taught me that pissed off neighbors make good neighbors.

Luckily I was only a renter in those days. But I NEVER want that to happen again. So for now, I will wash my vehicle in the driveway and steal glances in their direction to try and determine if they are needy, clingy types or more emotionally sound.

I'll let you know how it goes. . .

Couple of Pics

I just remembered that I had a picture of Mary & Mike from when they went to the ball game a couple games ago. They are newlyweds, can you tell? I might have mentioned it before, but we have a digital picture frame and it is a HUGE hit with the grands. The minute they walk into the room they are watching for their pictures to come up on the frame. And of course we have lots of pictures of them to look at too.

Jackson likes to identify everyone in the pictures. But of course his favorites are the ones of him. Last night he was also transfixed at his image in a full length mirror. Gotta admit, the child knows what he likes and it's him!

Today we're headed out to see The Proposal with Shane & Rachel. After that, we're headed to Dillard's to check out the additional 40% off clearance sale. Sometimes it's good, other times it's picked over. But most the time, it's good quality for a cheap price so it's worth stopping in and checking it out.

We have new neighbors moving in across the street. I don't know anything about them. Maybe in a day or two I'll introduce myself. I'm not in a hurry though. I had "bad neighbors" once in my life and it scarred me forever. Luckily, if needed, it's a wide road.

This morning we went for a 5 miler but I pooped out after 4 miles. Mostly a mental thing I think. Later, after I checked my GPS I found out I was running much faster than normal, over 20 seconds off my pace. That'll do it. I think for the hill route run on Friday we'll wait until evening so we don't have the hot sun pounding on our heads. We don't have any ball games the rest of this week so we can be more flexible. And on that note . . . I'm outta here!

Weird

I wonder what makes people "weird". First of all, in defense of weird people, I'm not saying that weird is a bad thing. I mean it can be, other times it just makes someone more interesting. But most people fall within some imaginary category of "normal" and those who do not fit into that are left to be labeled as weird.

To complicate this thought a bit more, I think most people who are considered as normal, do have some weird aspects to them. I'm not sure how many weird aspects you can have before you've moved into the weird category. Maybe it just depends on how obvious the weird aspects are. If they're not obvious and there aren't too many of them, you get to be labeled as normal. Otherwise, you are pushed into the weird category.

I think it's very freeing to embrace the weird aspects of ourselves. For instance, I really hate shaking hands. I don't like touching people (almost an understatement) and there's the whole germ-a-phobe thing too. A few years ago I decided to just quit doing it. I am much happier although sometimes other people seem to have a bit of a problem with it. Hey, me and Howie Mandell, ya know?

I also hate touching rubber bands, and if they have printer's ink on them, they're even worse. No big deal, I just avoid touching rubber bands. Weird? Maybe, but it's not a big issue.

Whenever we go into a place where you pay an entrance fee and they stamp your hand, I always tell them I don't want my hand stamped. This didn't used to be an issue until once at the county fair I saw this one kid get his hand stamped and he had the chicken pox of something all over the top of his hands and it sort of grossed me out. So now it's an issue. Weird, or just smart thinking?

So now I'm wondering, anybody else got any weirdness to them?

The Reunion

Once again I set the alarm clock to go running. This was our return to our long run route after having a messed up schedule from the race at Bryce. At first I thought it had only been 2 weeks since we last did this route but the hubby straightened me out, it had actually been 3 weeks. Oh, I just knew that long ol' hill at the front end was going to kill me.

So after the alarm went of and I pushed the snooze button a requisite two times, I drug my butt out of bed. Yep, it was dark out. But like I said before, it takes an hour to actually start running. We started running from the yoga studio, so that gave us about a mile warm up before we hit the hill. I was feeling pretty good, but a bit slow. I'm not sure why that was because my overall pace wasn't that bad. Anyway, once I hit the hill, I knew I hit the hill!

What started out as a light breeze became a hurricane as we got closer and closer to the top of the road. Of course, I knew that was going to happen and even though it made moving forward (and up) more difficult, I was happy to have the cooling effect of it. It was blowing so hard that I had to take my hat off to keep it from blowing off my head.

A couple more miles into the run and I was going along Mountain Road, just enjoying the rolling hills. I noticed that my legs were 100% recovered from the race/hike just over a week ago and was just feeling happy about returning to my regular running route (and routine).

As I saw the sun flowers preparing to open up alongside the road, I thought about all the different seasons I've run down this road. I've sweated along it in the summer, rejoiced the miles in the autumn, bitched about it in the winter when it's cold and snowy, and thanked God for it in the spring. This path I was taking had seen the best and worst of me. I have left a lot of sweat behind on these roads and these roads have witnessed my many prayers.

I knew exactly where I'd be when I reached the first spot where the sun peaked over the mountain. And I knew that it would only be a short distance before the mountain would again block the sun from my body. I knew where the winds are strong, where they are gentle, and where they are absent.

I knew how my body would react when I saw 5 miles on my GPS and I knew how it would react when that number doubled at 10 miles. I know where there's water available and I know how many miles I need to go before I can use the bathroom.

I know where there's camber on the road, and I know where the bumps are too. I know which dogs are waiting for me behind their fences. Their barks always tell me whether they are happy to see me, or would rather chew me to pieces given the chance. I know where the traffic is and where it itsn't. I know these roads.

I knew the last three miles would be the toughest. It's on flat road in the full sun and there's no breeze. It's not a very scenic spot on the route either, it's along the highway. The good thing is that the shoulder is wide and there's no camber. But today, the sun wore me down and at mile 13 I decided I'd just as soon walk the last mile. It was a bad decision because that just kept us out in the sun longer. I'll remember that next time and push through for the last, the hottest mile.

But all in all, it was a good run. It felt good in a lot of different ways. But most of all, it just felt good to be running the same ol' long run route that I always run. It's like seeing a good friend after being away for awhile. It was a good reunion.

Quick Note

I've been too busy to post anything and it doesn't look any better today. But hang on and I'll see where this goes. We have a ball game this afternoon, but before that, I have some other things I need to get done. Then, starting tomorrow, we're going to return to our normal running schedule so it's long run day. Because it has been so warm we'll have to get up VERY early to get a start on it. God willing, it will be a 14 miler.

We registered for the Fresno race today so now it's official. While we're there we'll hit Yosemite since neither of us have ever been there. Other than that we don't have any final plans.

Yesterday, before we went to the ball game, we did "security detail" at our church. The gym was rented out for a party and it seems the only person in the world who did not realize there would be alcohol at this type of party was the person who signed up the rental. The rental contract specifies that no alcohol is permitted but this has been violated enough times that the church is starting to be viewed as not being a very good neighbor by the surrounding homes. Under the circumstances, I can't say as I blame them. It would make me mad too. So we were on hand to search bags, bust parking lot drinkers, etc., whatever needed done. Since we had to leave early to get the ball game we didn't "see any action". But next Saturday looks promising. Maybe we can get a Lutheran CSI thing going on here.

Anyway, that's all the time I have for now. Hopefully I'll have to time to update on tomorrow's run.

Feels So Right

Since the race was last Saturday, that makes it 5 days without running. When do I ever go 5 days without running? Maybe if I was injured. And there was the time I had foot surgery (and then 1 day short of 3 weeks later I was on a padded track starting to run again). Well, there was no doubt that I could not let those 5 days turn into a 6th day.

Because it's been so hot out, I had to set the alarm for 5:00 a.m. I knew if the sun came up while we were still running that we'd melt into the pavement like the old witch in The Wizard of Oz. And I surely didn't want that to happen. So even though it goes against everything I believe in and stand for (as a non working person), I set the alarm for that ridiculously early hour.

You see, I knew that once we get up it, takes about an hour before we actually do any running. So that would have us running by 6:00 a.m. Hmmm, maybe we could even catch a breeze at that time of morning.

We decided to run a route that we hadn't run in a long time. As a matter of fact, the last time we ran it was when I had my quad issue last winter (when they sort of died on me). I'm not sure how else to explain it but you might recall that for about 4 weeks they were nearly non functional and all I did was whine over and over about my poor quads. Anyway, it's a 7 mile route and that was the one we targeted.

So the alarm went off at 5:00 a.m.. And I pushed the snooze button. At 5:07 the alarm went off again. And I pushed the snooze button again. At 5:14 the buzzing sound returned to reawaken me from my slumber. Once more, I stretched my arm over and pressed the snooze button. There are times in my past that I have actually fallen back asleep with my finger perched over the snooze button. We are well acquainted with one another. At 5:21 the same sequence was repeated. Only this time I opened my eyes and became alert enough to realize that I had to do what I had to do. I turned off the alarm and got out of bed. Oh, that was the hard part since I went to bed at midnight and I'm one of those people who really need my sleep.

I went to the bathroom, came back to the bed and hubby hadn't moved an inch. I began making my side of the bed. I guess he got the message and drug himself out of bed as well. And by 6:15, we started running. My legs weren't 100% yet, but they were good enough. Ah! It felt so right.

Outta My Way!

Rachel's comment on yesterday's post got me to thinking about something I read once. I think it was from the book entitled "The Art of Practice" or something like that. Anyway, the author stated that the human body is designed so that we all have perfect singing voices. The trick is to get the sound out of the body without distorting it. The sound is distorted by tight vocal chords, breathing that is irregular and a number of other factors (many caused by stress). The thing this author was talking about, and also another author of a similar book, is that our ego gets in the way of our musicality. When they're talking about ego, think of it in terms of Dr. Freud. It's that part of our personality that seems to get in our way every now and again.

So anyway, this was on my mind and it got me to thinking about all he other times the ego (my ego) gets in my way. Of course piano playing is just one of them. If you compare new adult learners and young children, the kids aren't stressed about looking stupid and therefore, they tend to play more naturally, more relaxed, the music flows. We adults, having learned to not look stupid, stress out, our muscles tighten, and somehow we continue to try and squeeze some fluidity from a body that is mostly stiff as a tree. OK, maybe a slight exaggeration but any adult who has participated in a piano recital knows it's not a very far stretch at all.

I think running is similar too. You can't have a lot of ego and learn to run. OK, there are some "natural athletes" who are full of ego and manage to break the ribbons at races, but I'm talking about the rest of us mortals who are a bit older, a bit out of shape, a bit over weight. In other words, the majority of the population.

You can't run and look real good. At least most of us can't. Our mouths hang open gasping for oxygen, sweat pours from every pore in our body, everything is bouncing and not always at the same rhythm, sometimes our shorts are riding up our butt and of course we're just wearing the slightest amount of clothing so there's no way to hide the bumps and bulges. But if we can get past that, like the body that wants to express its musicality, the body also wants to move. Our bodies were created to run.

There's a great article in the current issue of Running Times magazine (although I much prefer Runner's World we do subscribe to both) that talks about the changes that take place when a person starts doing long runs. The body becomes more efficient and actually creates more of what it needs to feed those hard working muscles. This process starts taking place with shorter runs as well but it really gets efficient when a person starts running long on a regular basis.

Anyway, my point here is that I think we have a lot of capabilities that we are blind to because the ego gets in our way. We don't want to look foolish, or worse yet, fail. What if I'm the worst one? What if I'm last? I think there are a lot of things we wish we could do, that we are actually very capable of doing, if we'd just get out of our own way.

Like Bach

One of the things I did when I turned 50, is I ask myself what were the things I wanted to do "someday". I realized that there were some things that required a long time to achieve, so the possibility was that I'd either better get started on them or drop them off my "bucket list". Anyway, without going into detail about all the psychology associated with this thought (that's for my other "aging" blog anyway), I decided that since I'd always wanted to play the piano, I'd better get started (before arthritis set in on my fingers).

Not only did I want to learn to play the piano, I wanted to be able to play it well. Well enough that I could comfortable play the grand piano in the lobby of one of the local hospitals (and not have anyone be so repulsed by my playing that they'd jump off the balcony).

So I signed up for piano lessons. This was actually my second attempt at piano lessons. I tried it about 5 years prior, with group lessons. After about 4 months my teacher dropped the class and I wasn't far enough into it to keep myself going so my piano became just a piece of nice furniture. This time, I signed up at a piano school, for private lessons. Oh, I also bought a new piano since the other one "didn't take".

I went to the piano school for a year, then realized it was too regimented and that I had to fit the program rather than have the program fit me. So I switched to a private teacher, Anna. I've been with Anna for two years now.

First of all, I have to explain that I have no "natural" talent or ability when it comes to music. I sing flat and off key (at least I'm consistent). I understand the mathematical concepts of rhythm but something gets lost in the demonstration of it. I am challenged in about every way one can be challenged. Well, maybe not so much in understanding music theory. Anna says I'm at college level on music theory. Personally, I thought college level music students knew more than that but what do I know?

Anyway, this is the first summer that Anna has taken off from teaching, so I have been out of lessons from late May until September. I've enjoyed the time off since it gives me more time to work on repertoire. The catch there is that I actually need to sit my butt down on the bench and open the music. Funny how you can't play repertoire without actually playing repertoire.

Anyway, while we were at Bryce, I noticed that I was playing piano on my lap. It was the first time I'd been able to play music, the fingering anyway, without the actual keyboard. I thought that was a good thing (there's an actual term for it but I don't recall it this minute). So yesterday when I sat down to the piano, after almost a week of being away from it, I was interested to see if anything had changed.

Usually when I take time off from the piano, my first time back my fingers are making stupid mistakes. So yesterday I started with my Hanon exercises, then played repertoire, a whole lot of it. And I played well. My fingers remembered what my mind did not. Actually, I think taking a week off improved my playing. So now I'm wondering if I don't play for the next 3-4 weeks, will I be able to play Bach? Hmmmm, probably not, but it's an interesting concept to actually improve by not playing.

Other than that, I don't have much on my mind today. My legs are at about 70% in terms of recovering from Bryce. I'm toying with the idea of running tonight after the sun goes down (it's too hot otherwise), or I may not. It depends on how my legs feel later. One thing I know for sure is that I want to get back to my normal running schedule next week. After all, I want to play piano like Bach, not run like Bach. I don't think Bach was a runner and Bach probably wouldn't think I was a pianist.

Race Report (Warning: - Very Long!)

I found it! The bluebird of happiness was perched upon a rock, just waiting for his/her picture to be taken. So of course I had to oblige. (Actually they're everywhere but this is the only one that posed for me). So, back to the Bryce trip story. I'm not going to write about how beautiful it was, or even how much I enjoy hiking the "very hikable" trails. I'm not going to write about the fact our water heater (in the trailer) stopped working for a brief period, or that the shower sprung a leak that had to be temporarily fixed with duct tape.

And I'm not going to mention the "space invaders", well, actually I am but it will be on the other blog.

I'm just going to talk about the race because I think that's what most people are wondering about. So, here goes . . .

.

The race started at 6:00 a.m. Since we had to get our vehicle down to the finish line, we had to get up extra early, drive to the finish line, then take the shuttle bus back to the start line. So, we set the alarm clock for 3:30 a.m. That would give us an hour to wake up and get ready, a half hour to drive to the finish line to catch the bus, then put us at the start around 5:30ish.

.

I didn't get much sleep the night before the race because I was worried about hearing the alarm go off. We were using the cell phone alarm since we had no hookups in the park. It seemed like I woke up every 30 minutes and thought to myself that it surely must be minutes away from time for the alarm to go off so I better not fall asleep because it was coming any time now. Then I'd fall back asleep, wake up 15 minutes later (so I thought) and go through the process all over again.

.

Finally, the alarm went off and we got up. I thought it would be cooler than it was (it usually is) but it was in the lower 50's so I can't complain. That is a good running temperature but not a warm enough "standing around" temperature, so after I put on my running clothes, I added my warm ups to keep me from freezing. I also put on a "throw away" shirt and some of my 35 cents end-of-season-clearance gloves for when I was waiting at the start line.

.

We exited the trailer at exactly 4:30 a.m. When I first stepped out the door, I was taken back by how dark it was. I couldn't see anything! This is very unusual for Bryce Canyon because it usually has the most magnificent view of the starry sky. This is because of the lack of light pollution (due to its remoteness) and the lack of air pollution. Unfortunately, there was a nearby forest fire that had been burning for some time now so there was a haze in the sky and the smoke hung heavy in a few spots, almost like a fog.

.

Our drive to he finish line was uneventful. We quickly parked and hopped back on a shuttle bus heading back to the start. Once we got to the start (just a bit past Ruby's Inn), we saw that we had 20 minutes to kill so we walked up to Ruby's Inn and used the restroom, then walked back to the start line. We only had to stand around a short while before it was time to put the warm ups in a bag for transport to the finish line. I noticed that there was a larger group of runners this year. This is the 6th year for the race and it has been growing rather quickly.

.

Unfortunately, the race isn't chip timed. I hate the idea of gun time since I like to start further back in the pack. So my official time for the race will be my GPS time. As I prepare for the gun to go off, the announcer humorously reminds us all that he will not be shooting AT us, so don't be scared, and maybe even think about covering our ears. The announcer reminds me of Larry the Cable Guy in many ways. The gun goes off and like every other race the pack starts moving then comes to an abrupt stop. I wonder why this always happens in every race but it does. Anyway, the pack starts moving again and I start with a slow run.

.

Initially the pack is very crowded, having gotten all bunched up with the false start. It seems I should have started a bit more forward because I find myself passing so many people that it's almost hazardous. Finally, I make my way to a group that is not running so much slower than I am. (Not that I am a fast runner mind you.)

.

By the time we get to where the road makes a turn I have decided that I am very glad to have the gloves and throw away shirt. A man offers me $10 for my 35 cent gloves. Remember, it is rather cool and still dark out. There's also a steady, but light, breeze. Once the sun comes up this will be a very different temperature.

.

We make the turn and the road makes a slight ascent but it is so slight that I don't feel it, I just know it's there from prior experience. I'm feeling pretty good at this point and reminding myself that at mile 2 comes the dreaded 8% decline. I'm staying loose as I run, mentally say my usual long run prayer, and moving closer to that 8% grade.

.

It doesn't take very long and I see the grade sign so I know we're on the doorstep. I start the downhill run, telling myself that this year will be different. Reminding myself that this year I trained on some downhill. Although we do a lot of up hill, very long up hill in fact, our past history has to break down the downhill sides so we don't get much training on down hill. But this year we intentionally added some longer downhill stretches in preparation for this race. I told myself that I am trained for this, and this year I won't turn into a cripple from the relentless downhill.

.

A realize that I'm holding my quads a bit tight and intentionally relax them as I fall into an easy stride. I notice that my gait seems to be rather smooth and am surprised by this since in the recent training runs, my downhill gait has been very bouncy. I work at staying relaxed, making my way down the hill, trying to keep my quads relaxed, keeping my feet under me and not over striding. I discard the throw away shirt as I have warmed up sufficiently. Minutes later, the gloves are tossed along the way side as well. I know in my head that once I hit mile 5, the steep down hill will give into gentle rolling hills (with the exception of two steeper uphill sections at miles 5 and 10).

.

I pass by the first few aid stations and then at mile 4, stop for water. It is no longer dark out and I drop my sunglasses down onto my face. I don't want to see that morning sun come over the mountain any sooner than I have to because I know that once it makes its appearance it will be uncomfortably warm. As I stop for water, I realize that my quads are feeling the effects of the downhill. However, they're not thrashed like they have been in prior years. But they do feel the strain of the load they've been under for the past couple of miles. I remind myself that in prior years my quads got so bad that they just quivered under the strain well before the end of the race so I better pay close attention to them and stay as relaxed as possible. Having quenched my thirst I continue on.

.

Once I got to the 5 mile point, I was at the bottom of the steep descent and began going up the first of two uphill climbs. The second my body felt the change from descent to ascent, and my muscles switched gears, it was like they shouted, "Oh yeah, we KNOW this feeling . . . uphill is very familiar and we're all good!" I swear, going uphill felt so good, so familiar, it was like I was running on the flat or something because my body was very comfortable with it. Some of the runners around me started walking and were breathing very heavily (and loudly) as they began their uphill ascent. Of course, we were at a higher elevation and that was difficult for some runners but the difference between 5,000 feet and 8,000 feet was not noticeable to me. I was going up hill and very happy about it.

.

As they say, all good things must come to an end, and the uphill climb gave away to another descent. Ouch! My quads didn't want any more down hill. But still, I kept telling myself that I trained for this. I didn't push too hard because I was concerned about making my quads last for the whole distance. I knew the rolling hills, though gentle and probably not very noticeable under normal circumstance, would be a challenge to my very fatigued quads. And I kept heading down the road.

.

As the miles ticked away, I maintained a steady pace. I do not look at my GPS to see what my pace is when I run, I only watch the distance, and after the run, I check my pace. While I'm running, as much as I like my data, I just rely on how my body feels. And right now my body was feeling like it needed to pee. Damn, I hate it when that happens.

.

As I pass by all the porta potties along the course, I tell myself that I REALLY didn't need to pee that bad, even if it did feel like I had to. I remind myself of all the times during the training runs when I THOUGHT I had to pee bad, and then after stopping to pee, apparently the sensation was much more intense than the actual situation. (Come on, you didn't think I'd make it though this whole long story without talking about peeing again did you?)

.

So I talked myself out of stopping to pee by reminding myself that if I did stop it would automatically add a minute to my time. My evil brain eyed the bushes and calculated 20 seconds for a "bush stop" but my mind triumphed and I continued thinking about other things (even though the thought/desire would return off and on for the rest of the race).

.

I remember mile 9 from prior years and how difficult it is both mentally and physically. The first year I ran this race I had to stop and walk because my quads quivered so badly they were almost non functioning at this point. Last year, it was challenging as well but not quite as bad. This year, they were obviously very fatigued but I noted this time . . . no quivering! Hallelujah! I'm making some improvement.

.

As I head out of the little town, back into the remoteness, I know I'm getting closer to the finish line. I'm also getting closer to the last incline. As I make my way up the hill, around mile 10, I repeat a mantra I've often used "Pam and I OWN the hills". This is in reference to ultra marathoner Pam Reed. She once told me (or else I read it in her book, I don't recall which it was) that she loved the hills because she knew she could do them better than all the other runners and no matter who passed her on the flat, she knew she'd pass them on the hills. It's a very empowering thought and I've recalled this many times, including at this particular moment.

.

One by one, I pass my fellow runners . . . "Pam and I, we OWN the hills!" I'm getting tired but I know I'm feeling better than in prior years. Besides, I've got less than a 5K to go and anybody can do a 5K right? One foot in front of the other . . . the sun has come up and it's getting warm . . . not much more time and I can relax all I want . . . just one foot in front of the other.

.

The last few miles pass quickly and before I know it, I'm heading into the right turn that will bring me to the finish line. I make the turn and silently rejoice that I'm nearly done. I look for the finish line and realize there's one more quick left turn. As I make the left turn, I see the finish line about 150 yards ahead of me. I also see the runners around me starting to sprint for it, so for some insane reason I decided I better do the same. I also noted that the distinct possibility existed that I might pee my pants before I crossed the finish line. (Most experienced runners realize this is occasionally a reality to finishing a race). I kick it into high gear and make it a race for the finish line (photo taken at final left turn).

As I cross the finish line, I don't notice the clock (besides, it's gun time anyway). I see the official finish line drawn on the street and as I come across it, I click off my GPS. I make my way through the chute and receive my finisher's medal at the end of the chute. I know hubby is around somewhere, since he's faster than I am, but at this moment my thoughts are not on finding him, or getting some water (despite the fact I was very thirsty). My thoughts were on getting to the bathroom - I HAD to pee!

.

Hubby finds me wandering around the runner's recovery area. By this time I had a bottled water in hand but hadn't opened it. I asked him where the bathrooms were. He didn't know and after wandering around a couple more minutes we located the line of porta johns. I handed off my medal and water to hubby and dashed into the porta john. I made it just in time . . . almost.

My time was 2:11:53 (a PR for the course but not the distance). I beat least year's time but I really did hope to trim off a couple more minutes. As long as I know I can do better, I'll strive to improve. But in the meantime . . . I'll take it. Photo: Me & Hubby after race.

PS - After all my concern about being crippled after this race, I felt much better this year. Although my quads were sore, it was an improvement over the prior 2 years. I felt good enough to go hiking the next day, which of course, was just enough to over stress my sore quads so once again, I feel like a cripple.

But how could I not go hiking when I'm at a place like this?

Preview of Coming Attractions

We are home from Bryce but I don't have time to give all the updates on the race. So in the meantime, a few photos for your viewing pleasure . . .

Hubby standing on an outlook and the beauty of Bryce Canyon. This is Bryce Canyon. I think it is one of my favorites places. We usually go once a year. We've been there during all seasons, even in December when there's snow on all the trails.

Some people hiking down one of the trails into the hoodoos.

More tomorrow . . .

Clarification

Jen's comment on the earlier post got me to thinking that I might not have totally explained my history of obesity. I posted some photos a long time ago. I don't have any full body pictures when I reached my fattest levels but these demonstrate that there was a lot more to me than there is now. I was well over 200 in each of them. Most of my fat pictures have been destroyed. I'm not sure how these survived but I did find them one day. My fat pictures.

When I was married to my first husband, who I affectionately refer to as Dip Wad, I gained a lot of weight. I was up to 230 pounds before I decided I needed to lose weight. So I lost 100 pounds and got down to 130. (Then I lost an additional 180 pounds when I got divorced. ) I was single for about 5 years before I remarried. During that time I regained 60 pounds. Just prior to getting married, my hubby-to-be and I joined Slim For Life and I lost 20 pounds. After getting married, you know how it goes, I relaxed and found myself back up to 230 pounds. Then I did the only thing I could do, I stopped weighing myself.

Then one day I realized that I could stoop down but could not get up without reaching for something to push against. I also tried to reach forward when sitting in the car seat, to retrieve something that slid onto the floor, and could not reach the floor because my stomach was in the way. So the alarm went off and I started dieting again and I got down to 155. I don't know where I started but I do know I was over the 230 mark. Anyway, at one point, after losing some of the weight, I joined Weight Watchers. Once I reached 155 and became a lifetime member at Weight Watchers, I started slowly regaining weight. When I was getting dangerously close to the 190 mark, which is way too close to 200, which is nearly 230 again, I decided I needed to stop this extreme yo-yo dieting and once and for all make it a life change. That is where this blog began.

So my struggle may appear to only be over a few pounds here and there, but I assure anyone reading this that I have been the face of obesity before. I have been publically humiliated for being fat. And it is my vow to never again return to that condition - EVER. That is why a couple of pounds seem enormous to me. Because I am only a couple pounds from 230+ pounds every day of my life.

I hope that gives anyone reading this some understanding of where I am coming from and where I've been.

Naturally Thin

I read a blog post the other day about a blogger who referred to her friend as "naturally thin". The point of the post was that she wanted to "self medicate" herself with something higher in calories and the "naturally thin" friend chose to "self medicate" with choices that did not lead to weight gain. This particular blogger is struggling to figure her way out of obesity. Anyway, the words "naturally thin" stuck in my mind.

I wonder if the person writing those words realized that her friend was not actually naturally thin, but was making choices that kept her from being over weight. It wasn't something out of her control. She made choices that supported a healthy body. Those are the same sort of choices the blogger was making that were keeping her over weight. I wonder if that point was lost to her feeling of being a "victim" of obesity.

I think a lot of people who are over weight consider themselves victims. How many times have I heard someone say that "everyone" in their family was over weight, that it was genetic. How many times have I heard people offer the "medically problem" excuse for being over weight. It seems like we're really quick to jump on the excuse wagon and real slow to point the finger back at ourselves. Sure, there can be a genetic propensity to be heavier but that does not automatically sentence anyone to a life of obesity. Besides, many of those medical reasons (which really are few) can be treated. But my guess is that for about 99% of the people who are over weight or obese, it's because too many calories are being consumed.

People can say they don't eat that much and yet they're still over weight, and I believe it. After all, it doesn't take too much of any high calorie or high fat food to put anyone over the daily limit of calories. But again, it's all a choice, no predestiny comes into play.

I think as people of this nation, we're slow to accept personal responsibility for most anything. We make excuses, and our polite friends accept our excuses, and we continue to float down the river of denial.

I believe we have so much more control over our health than we're willing to admit. Because if we admit it and then we're lacking or deficient in some area, we have to blame ourselves. And no one wants to be left holding the bag of accountability.

The other day 2 people commented on my "Is It Just Me" post. I am glad to find that we were all like minded and that it really isn't just me. I appreciate those comments. But I'm compelled to add a few more thoughts to that topic.

I think if someone is blogging they don't necessarily owe anything to the readers of their blog PROVIDING, they do not permit comments to be left on the blog. Any blogger who allows comments on their blog is opening themselves up for criticism because now it's a two way communication. How a blogger deals with that is very telling. In my opinion, I think most bloggers only want to hear positive comments that support whatever they're blogging about. The reaction from anything that is less than totally supportive of the blogger's views or actions is usually very unappreciated.

Of course, the blogger does have the option of not allowing a comment, or removing the comment. I used to have that option turned on where I had to allow the comment to appear. Only once did I ever not allow a comment and it was because some "tagger" stopped by and just wrote various profanities. I decided to turn that option off because I wanted people to get a sense that I wasn't filtering out comments from someone who might take issue with what I wrote.

Eventually I did get a negative comment. (Actually, it was on my other blog). Someone wrote and basically said that I was narrow minded and lacked sophistication in my thought. Of course I disagreed with the person commenting, but I had to think about what I would do with the comment. I could have removed it. I could have defended myself. But after a lot of consideration, I just left it there and did not comment further. I feel really good about that decision. After all, I'm not writing to please anyone and I'm not stupid enough to think that my thoughts and opinions are THE only ones or THE right ones.

I hope that anyone reading my blog might consider my thoughts and opinions and somehow benefit from the insight. And if they don't agree with them, then I hope they'll respectfully let me know by leaving a comment and perhaps I might be enlightened by their thoughts. Or, in the case of the comment I referenced, perhaps not. Either way, I accept full responsibility for my thoughts, decisions and choices. Some are good, some are very good, but some are bad, and a few have been very bad. But . . . they're all mine and I am a product of them.

New "Do"

All is right in my world today . . . balance has been restored. Today was the hair appointment. Once again I have fresh highlights and no gray hair. My hair has been reshaped/restyled so it no longer has that "what-the-hell-is-she-doing" look to it. Katie had to cut the back (since I'm trying to get it the same length as the sides) so it should grow out a bit more gracefully than it was. It looks better than in this picture, in part because I didn't think to take a picture until after I cleaned up the trailer. Then I didn't fuss with it, I just shot the photo. Anyway, you get an idea of what it looks like. Maybe I should have looked at the back before I shot the photo but this gives you an idea. It's actually a long ways from the spiky do I used to have and I'm excited to have it grow out more and more.

Like I said, I got the trailer cleaned out. So now all I have to do is load it up with food and clothes and we'll be ready to go. We're leaving Thursday morning so I have tomorrow to get it ready. Really, it won't take that long because I have a master list that I use to stock it up. Also there are a lot of things already in there like linens, dishes, etc.

So . . . here's where we'll be living while we're in Bryce "roughing it". The bedroom has a queen sized bed. When we got our new foam mattress and upgraded to king size, we put the pillow top mattress in the trailer.

This is the kitchen. There's a fridge on the opposite wall. We probably won't use the microwave since we'll be staying in the park and there are no electric hook ups in the park. But we'll take a generator in case we're just dying to use the toaster, coffee pot or hair dryer. Usually it's the coffee pot that makes us fire up that noisy thing. We also use it to recharge the trailer batteries.

This is the living room. It has the most uncomfortable couch in the world but it's a lot more comfy than a lawn chair so I'm very glad to have it.

It also has a shower and toilet. For years we camped in a tent and wondered why people would haul RV's into the wilderness. Weren't they missing the point of getting away from it all? Then, after spending one night in a trailer and having that hot shower in the morning, we knew the answer.

Just Me?

I'm really wondering why it is that there are certain bloggers, who are trying to lose weight, and have huge followings, despite the fact they're not very successful with their weight loss. And their followers are loyal too. The followers are quick to offer support and almost never mention what is glaringly obvious to even the most casual reader.

There are two different blogs I have in mind. They each have literally hundreds of followers. Each one lost a little bit of weight then one regained all of it back plus a bit more, and the other one has regained all but about 20 pounds of it back. Again, these are reportedly very obese people who even with their initial weight loss, remained morbidly obese.

The other thing both of these bloggers have in common is they are isolated and really lay out their thoughts and emotions for their readers to witness (or share). They talk about their shame and disappointment too. In reading the comments, it appears many of the followers can identify with this type of blogger. But near as I can figure, they're just enabling someone to make more excuses as to why they can't lose weight.

I think it's this type of blog Judith Beck was referring to when she said (last autumn) that there is lots of support but very little accountability on the Internet. When the followers are supporting this sort of behavior I'm reminded of a group of people who all want to quit smoking and it's the #1 topic of discussion as they all sit around and smoke.

Is it just me?

Making Plans

Tomorrow starts the "getting ready" process for heading to Bryce for our race on Saturday. We'll drive down on Thursday but between now and then, I need to get the trailer ready. It's the first trip of the year so I need to put the stuff in that we took out last fall and clean it up a bit.

We're going for a shorter run tomorrow morning (5-7 miles), then I'll give my legs 4 days off so they're nice and fresh for that killer down hill. I really want to beat my old time for this race since I never did run it very well. Basically it was all "survival mode" because of all the steep down hill.

We never did make it to the track this week for speed work. Maybe we'll squeeze some in on Tuesday although at this point it really doesn't matter. The priority for Tuesday is the hair appointment anyway. And of course we have ball games on Monday and Tuesday.

It's supposed to be near 100 here next weekend so it will be good to be away. Surely it will be much cooler at Bryce. After all, it's about 8,000 feet in elevation. So, that's the plan . . .

157.2 Living For Tuesday

I'm not having a bad hair day, or even a bad hair week or month. I'm having a bad hair quarter! My hair appointment is Tuesday and I really don't think there is anything Katie could do that could make this mess any worse. It's baaaaad! So I have to be excited for improvement. I'm not sure what the problem is with my camera either because my hair is much longer than this. This is short hair, my hair is so much longer than this. Why can't the camera see that?

Tuesday . . . Tuesday . . . Tuesday . . .

Didn't Wanna Do It

I didn't want to do it! This morning when the alarm clock went off at 6:00 a.m. and I knew that meant I needed to drag my butt out of my comfy bed and go run hills - I didn't want to do it! So I pushed the snooze button. Actually, I ended up pushing it twice, then turned it off all together. All the while, my evil little brain was ticking off all the good reasons I should not get out of bed. Then, I got up. That was the hard part. Or maybe getting ready to go running was the hard part. I'm not sure, but I think the getting out of bed was harder. Anyway, I did it.

Once I got out the door I realized that it was still rather cool out and that the run would likely be rather reasonable in terms of temperature. As it ended up, I had a great, albeit challenging, hill run and got a PR to boot! Running those hills faster each week brings me a great deal of satisfaction.

I need to change things on how I am eating at the ball games. I take a granola as my treat but that is hardly satisfying when everyone around me is eating nachos, hot dogs, garlic fries, etc. The thing that pacifies me is knowing when I get home I can have my treat, a muffin and piece of cheese. Unfortunately, eating so late at night is causing me problems with my acid reflux. So, I need to knock that off and eat a few more calories earlier in the evening, at the ball park. So I think I'll add pretzels. I can eat those more slowly and it might be the little extra I need to satisfy me in terms of the social aspect of snacking at the ball games. We'll see how it works tonight.

Last night's ball game was rather boring. Our team got no runs and the opposition had 3. Then in the 7th inning we got 4 runs. We held off the other team and managed to pull out a win. I guess the moral to that story is not to give up hope. Tonight is Tommy Lasorda night at the ball park. They're going to retire his number (his career actually started here). There's also supposed to be a special surprise that "people will remember". Hmmmm, I wonder what that could be? Anyway, it was a great run, I'm changing my ball park snack habit around, and going back to the ball park tonight.

D-Day

Today is D-Day, the day I dread . . . the day of the dreaded gyno appointment. I have to leave for the appointment in about an hour. I'm anticipating the possibility that he may tell me it's time to get off the estrogen. I don't take much of it, the lowest dose they make. It's enough to get me by. The thing that concerns me about getting off the hormones is that I can't sleep without estrogen. And I've always been a good sleeper so that is a totally foreign (miserable) experience for me. I went off them once and had the displeasure of experiencing it. I hate the mere idea of having sleep problems.

The only good thing is that when I start getting the hot flashes, it will finally warm this ice cold body up, (which doesn't happen very often). Of course, the night sweats will arrive when the estrogen levels decline. But since I wouldn't be sleeping anyway I guess taking a shower at 2:00 a.m. won't be such a big deal.

Oh, the pleasures of getting older. Hey - I just realized I should be putting this post on the other blog. Oh well, too late. If anyone figured out a way to make cut & paste work in blogger, let me know.

I went to Weight Watchers this morning for my monthly weigh in. I got another star on my "Maintenance Book Mark". So I have officially maintained my weight loss for a year and a half, plus a month. I have to remember that even though I wish I was 153 instead of 156.8 (this morning's weight), it is a huge accomplishment nonetheless. Never before have I maintained a weight loss.

I still fear waking up one morning, stepping on the scale and seeing 188+ pounds. The lesson I've learned is that I have to make my weight maintenance/loss a priority and that I cannot relax about it. I have to remind myself EVERY day, sometimes every hour of that day, that this is a priority for me. I have to constantly question whether my actions will benefit me in keeping the weight off. It sounds like it is an all consuming thing, and actually, sometimes it is. But most of the time, I just have my plan and I eat what is on my plan. But it doesn't matter how much hassle it is. Yep, let me reiterate, IT DOES NOT MATTER. That's because no matter how many foods I have to weigh, count out, otherwise measure, or how many times I deny myself something I really want to eat, or how many times I total up my calories for each and every day, it is worth it to maintain my weight. Again . . .

IT IS WORTH IT!

The Body Is Strong But The Mind Is Weak

Last night I watched the ten o'clock weather forecast and they said that it was going to only be 82 degrees out today (for our high) and that it would be very windy. So I figured if it was windy that it would make up for being a tad bit warm and I didn't need to get up early to go running. So it turned out that the weather forecaster was wrong about the wind, (unless it shows up later on), and I was wrong about not getting up earlier. And we all know two wrongs don't make a right.

It wasn't terribly late by the time we got out to run, around 8:30. There was a very light (emphasize light) breeze coming out of the south. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to negate the warmth of the sun. But, I had to get my run done so it was a matter of mind over matter. If you don't mind, then it doesn't matter. So on we went.

Considering that I do my long runs on Monday, my expectations aren't real high for my Wednesday 5 milers. After all, that's just allowing one day of "repair work" for my muscles. So I just run at whatever pace my body tells me to go. And I knew today it would be slower because of the warmth. So I started off.

The first thing I noticed is that my right ham string that ALWAYS gets tight from a long run, the one that ALWAYS felt tight on the Wednesday 5 milers for at least the first mile or so, wasn't tight. I just started running and there was no bitching from my legs.

"Hmmmm, this is odd", I thought to myself.

But not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I carried on.

As I was running through the "adult community" (the one that we had past issues over dogs with) and down their private road, I noticed that my turn over seemed a bit smoother. I thought perhaps it was a result of the many (emphasize many) weeks of speed work on the track. And I kept running.

After about 2 miles I noticed something else,

"Damn, I'm hot", I thought to myself.

So I tried to distract my evil mind by thinking of something else. The thing that occupied my mind for the next mile or so was something a person could say as a comeback to something someone else said (as told to me by a friend's teenage daughter). I thought of all kinds of responses and they even rhymed. But they were "low enough into the dirt" that I'm sure my friend would not want me to share them with her daughter. But it did occupy my mind for awhile. Then I noticed something else, my evil mind was telling me,

"It's even hotter, there's no shade, the VERY SLIGHT breeze is only in one direction, and do you REALLY need to run 5 miles today when you're just going to taper next week anyway?"

It was at the 4 mile point when my evil mind took total control over my body and brought my legs to a standstill.

"So this is it, this is how it ends", I said to myself.

"Right here, right now, you're stopping at 4 miles", my evil mind confirmed.

I turned off my GPS and was done.Once I got home, I updated my running log with my stats for my 4 miler and saw that I was actually running about 20 seconds (per mile) faster than my norm. No wonder I was getting so toasty. I guess next time I better not trust the weather forecasts and just get my butt out of bed early for not just the long runs, but these shorter ones too. Yep, summer time is here!

Happy Birthday Carly!

Carly turned two on Monday. She enjoyed her cake and ice cream. Carly loves two things . . . Elmo and sitting in chairs. Any time there's a child sized chair, she climbs into it and her face breaks into a wide smile. For her birthday, she got an Elmo chair and she thought that was pretty neat.

I can't believe it has been two years since she was born. Hubby and I were there when both kids were born and were able to hold each of them within minutes of birth. The first time I held Carly, I told her mom, "You've only waited 9 months for her. I've waited over 50 years".

Jackson had a rubber snake and was having fun trying to make everyone think it was real. It was hard for him to let his sister have all the presents. I asked him if he was going to share his birthday with his sister and he didn't bat an eye and quickly responded, "NO!"

I adore both these kids and look forward to seeing them grow up. But there's no hurry because these are sure fun times.

Double Post Day

I'm posting on both blogs this afternoon. Wow - what an accomplishment! Sometimes I forget that I'm running two blogs instead of one. I think it will be easy to let the second one go after the "Year of 53".

Anyway, we've been looking at the Fresno Marathon in November and it seems like there are so many reasons that we should do it that we're just going to have to do it (the half). They give a hat for registering before the cut off. The shirt is a long sleeved tech shirt, and there is a finisher's sweat shirt. The course has good feed back on it, the medal looks nice and most of all, they have beer at one of the aide stations. Now I don't drink beer, but I fully support a race that offers beer at an aid station. I like the attitude! The price for the race is pretty cheap too.

Another thing is that we can swing by and check out Yosemite. Neither of us has been there. Also, the weather averages look about perfect for running. Of course, some warmer weather will definitely be a welcomed reprieve from out usual November weather. The date is early enough that we'll still be well trained from our summer/fall running program. And, it's only a couple hours away from my BFF Ellen's city so hopefully we can run it together.

We haven't registered yet but we do have a hotel reservation. Unless we miss the cut off, we're probably going to do it. I think the current plan is to register at the end of the month. Gotta get that free hat (that I'll probably never wear)!

The other race we're thinking we'll probably do is the Phoenix Rock and Roll Marathon in January (again, the half). We've always wanted to do a rock and roll race and January is a great time to leave the snow behind and go to warmer parts. Also, my best friend from high school lives there, (as does a cousin), so it would be nice to see each other for the first time since we got old - ha! ha!

We have our next race a week from Saturday (Bryce). This is the one with the killer downhill so hopefully I'm better prepared for it and won't be a total cripple after the race. But really, my money's on being pretty much crippled. But one of these years . . .

After Bryce we don't have another one until late August. It just seems like I haven't raced a lot this year. Maybe that's why we started looking at Fresno and Phoenix.

Anyway, we did our long run today (14 miles) and now I have to run some errands. Later!

Stink B Gone

Yesterday we went to some friend's house for a BBQ. We had a good time even though much of our conversation was "right up there" with what 12 year old boys would talk about. I wonder what the neighbors thought about grown adults talking about the things we discussed. It might have cemented the thought in their minds that those who are not Mormon are doomed - ha! ha! You know you just can't get a couple of runners together without the mention of body functions (and dysfunctions). We're just so earthy . . .

Anyway, Laura thought I would blog about my remorse for eating too many brownies (3) and too much potato salad (since I made it and it tasted good to me how I could I not have extra?). But, I am not going to blog about that. Instead I am going to talk about something I wanted to mention before and kept forgetting to talk about . . . stinky running clothes.

I finally had to break down and buy a sports wash detergent. Actually, I had to buy a second bottle since the first one was almost gone and decided to chose a different brand so I could compare them. Here are my findings:

FIT - This was the first one I tried. First of all I had to get over the cost of it because it is more expensive than my Costco sized Tide. But, it did work and did what it said it would do. It got rid of the stink. Before I used this, when I opened the washer after washing a load of running clothes, I could still smell the funk. After using the FIT detergent, the odor was gone. I bought it at Sport's Authority for around $6.99

Penguin Sports Wash - This was the second one I purchased so it is compared against the FIT. The purchase price was about the same but since you get more washes from it, it's actually cheaper. It's "HE" too. Plus, I bought it at the local Kroger store (Smith's), so it was more convenient to purchase. This detergent made the same promises as the FIT but also said how it restored technical fabrics and left them softer. I was interested in that since the other detergent did seem to leave the clothing less soft (since fabric softener is not used on these fabrics). Softness can be an issue on a long run where seams can cut into flesh. This detergent also said it restored the wicking properties to the same as when the garment was new.

THE RESULTS: I liked the Penguin Sports Wash better. The load of wash has no scent at all and the fabrics did feel softer. I will stay with this product.

156.2 - Happy 4th of July!

How I dropped from 157 yesterday to 156.2, after eating potato salad, is a mystery. Of course, I did do a tough 6.3 mile hill workout yesterday so maybe that burned off the calories from the potato salad. This morning we did some intervals at the track but that isn't enough to burn off the potato salad I'll eat today. But, today will be the last day to eat potato salad. After all, all good things must come to an end (although I'm not sure why).

I'm wondering why we have the technology to do so many things and yet we cannot make good tasting foods that are low in calories. Why can't we have delicious tasting potato salad at only 50 calories per serving? Why can't we have delicious chocolate at 10 calories per bar? I suppose there are more important things for the world's scientists to be working on but this is our food supply after all. Oh well . . .

I'm getting excited as my hair appointment creeps closer and closer, now less than 2 weeks away. I am sure by the time I find myself in Katie's chair I will sob with joy. But the down side of this count down is that I have a gynecologist appointment next week, days before the hair appointment. Of course I'm dreading that. There was a comedian once that talked about the dreaded gyno visit and said they should just do them at a drive through window. You just drive up with a bag over your head, 1-2-3 you're done, and you pull away from the window. The idea is partially good (the bag over head part). The more anonymity the better. I just hate those appointments. As soon as the day comes when my gynecologist says I need to get off the hormones, that's also the last time I'll hear, "scoot a bit closer to the edge". Because there's no way I'm continuing those visits without a hormonal pay off. (Why the hell do we need all our business on the edge of the damn table anyway?) OK, don't get me started. Ugh!

Anyway . . . having done the interval work this morning, I'm planning to spend some quality time at the piano, then go to a BBQ. And on that note, I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

Show Me The Money

I guess the report came out yesterday that the obesity rate in this country is one in four adults. Wow - that is shocking, especially when you realize they're talking about obesity, not just being over weight. But after a trip to Walmart this morning, and I know I've said this before, I am surprised it's not worse. I saw three women in scooters and none of them I would bet was under 350 pounds. They were carrying around so much weight that you typically just don't see someone that obese in the stores, much less three together. They were all together too, in a scooter caravan, so maybe it was some sort of organization.

Something has to change. I mean I've been really, really fat before and one day I looked at myself and said "Damn, I'm fat. Something has to change". The time has come for more people to do that and then follow through with whatever it takes to get healthy.

But I didn't intend to post about obese people today. It was just so "in my face" that I couldn't help mentioning it.

I may have mentioned that Carly has a birthday coming up. The big 2! So after trying to figure out what to buy her for her birthday, and reflecting about all the money we spent on her brother for his birthday presents which I am sure he doesn't even play with or remember, we made a decision. We are going to be the $$$ grandparents. Yep, we're opening the savings accounts (we should have done that by now anyway) and for these occasions there will be deposits made into the accounts. When they turn 21, they will gain access to the accounts. In a few years we'll even take them to the credit union, and help (force) them to make the deposit and watch their money grow.

We buy them things throughout the year if they need something. Like Jackson needed a bigger bike a couple months ago and we bought him one. So we're not stingy, but we're not going to waste any more money on toys that all too soon will be broken or laid aside. One day they will be grateful. And in the meantime, maybe they'll learn to be savers instead of spenders. Come to think about it, maybe it's a lesson that applies to a lot more than money (maybe even to those people who need the scooters). Delayed gratification . . . can make us more healthy in a physical sense as well as a fiscal sense.

Muggy Run

We went for a 5 miler this morning. It was warm and rather muggy. Humidity isn't something we see often around here so our "tolerance" is really low. I keep reminding myself that it was much worse in Hawaii. While I was running I was thinking about Jinxy and Jen who run in humid states, and I felt sorry for them. Ladies, you have no idea how much harder it is to run in humidity!

We're going to do our interval work later in the week. I think it was a mistake doing it on Wednesdays because really, my legs aren't totally recovered from the Monday long run. Then I run 5 miles in the morning and was hitting the track in the evening. It felt much better last week when I hit the track with fresher legs. Duh! Why are these things so clear in hindsight?

Tonight is our last ball game for a few days. I think the garlic fries they have this year are different because I can't even smell them. In the past, the smell of them was thick throughout the whole stadium. Good thing, less temptation. So far I've resisted eating anything there (except for what I take "on plan") with the exception of Monday night. Since it was the day of the long run I figured if there ever was a "safe time" to have something, that was it. So I ended up eating half a pretzel and sharing half a bag of peanuts. I'm sure the calories were way too high but I thought I handled it pretty good. Last night I didn't have anything because that is one habit I do not want to start! With as many more ball games as we have for the rest of the season, that can easily add up to a lot of pounds. I can't help but wonder if the other season ticket holders I see around me, who do eat the junk food every time, think about that. I'm thinking the answer to that is no.