My Two Cents

I won twenty cents! Yay! Today I went to Churchill Downs and over the course of 3 hours ended up...twenty cents ahead. Not bad for 3 hours of entertainment. For those of you who have never been to the track, lemme tell you how it's done. This was my first time; I had a blast. It's not about the horses, well at least for me it is not. If you OWN one of the horses, I am sure you care a lot who wins. If you are a big better, you care a lot who wins.

But since I am neither, it is just a fun way to pass a few hours. First of all, I only bet 2 dollars each race. I know, you can't win big unless you play big, but I am not about to waste a bunch of money (just in case!) I am happy when I win a couple bucks and am not too sad if I lose a couple.

You can pick win, place or show. Win is self explanitory. Place is 1st or 2nd and show is 1st, 2nd or 3rd. I was not brave enough to pick "win"; although the payoff is better the chances are slim. I picked "place" all four times; I lost the first two and won the second two, hence the 20 cent gain. But the fun I had in the few hours I was there was worth a lot more than twenty cents to me!

Running On Empty

I arrived in Louisville at 11:50 p.m.on Friday. My flight was late. It was supposed to arrive at 11:15, which was already bad enough. All I could think was, "I have to get up in...a little over 5 hours." As I walked to the entrance of the airport, took the cab and then finally got to the hotel, I couldn't stop thinking, "5 hours of sleep"..."4.5 hours of sleep"...."4 hours of sleep". I finally got to bed around 12:50.

On Saturday I woke up at 4:30.

I got ready, ate a powerbar, drank a liter of water and then walked to the Louisville Convention Center, where I picked up my bib, stretched, ate another power bar and then boarded the bus to Iroquois Park, where the race would start. It was 6:30. It was freezing (it is all relative of course; it was probably about 50 degrees).

The race finally began at 7:30. I had decided that, in lieu of a partner (Mira, I miss you!), I would join a pace group this time. By joining a pace group, you maintain a steady pace of...say..10 minutes per mile... the whole time. I had two choices. There was a 4:30 pace group (these are measured by "marathon" time - a 4:30 would be a 2:15 half *which is what I ran at the Mardi Gras Marathon*) and a 4:15 pace group (2:08 half). I had planned on being in the 4:20 pace group, therefore striving for a 2:10 half. However, in the absence of a 4:20, I decided to join the 4:15. That would put me below my goal by 2 mins + and get me that much closer to my ultimate goal of 2 hours flat.

The pace leader explained to us that if you needed to go to the restroom or if you were tired, you could slow down/stop and then catch up to the group later. He suggested taking at least a mile to catch back up to the group, as you don't want to tire yourself out right by trying to hard to catch back up.

I ran with the pace group for the first mile. Then, oh horror of horrors, I felt the need to pee. So I ran a little faster (and actually at a more comfortable pace) than the group, thinking that the next porta-potti I saw I would stop at and then it would give me a chance to catch back up to the group. Around mile 2, I finally saw a bathroom so I stopped. There were about 8 people in line. I weighed my options. GO. Stay. Go. Stay? I stayed. Until the two bathrooms that were there never emptied. There were 8 people in line. We waited. Finally I could wait no more. I ran again. Into the bushes.
I ran up hills and down hills; My legs were burning; My ankles were sore...and I was only on mile 4. It took me 5 more miles to catch back up to my pace group. By this time we were at Churchill Downs. From there to the next mile seemed to take hours..then all of a sudden I saw mile 11 up ahead! Only 2 more miles to go! I sped up and raced to the finish as fast as I could go (which, by now, was not very fast at all!)

I made it to the end at 2:04...only 4 minutes slower than my goal, but 11 minutes faster than my last half marathon!
If only I hadn't had to stop and pee...

Music! Makes the People! Come Together!

Yeah. It is that time of the year again. Jazzfest.

This is a 6 day event (starting this Friday) that we attend in order to see hundreds of bands that we could normally see for free at any time of the year. We also go to eat hundreds of different local foods that are double in price as any normal time of year. Oh - and to spend more money on one beer than we normally would on four.

Having said that, I am still mysteriously drawn to it. There are 8 or 9 different stages and usually the two or three bands I really want to see are all playing at the same time on three different stages that are the farthest amount apart. Again, and I don't know why, but I am mysteriously drawn...

So...I will go. For two days probably. I will pay 50 bucks to run back and forth between stages, eat 18 different kinds of food and drink way too much beer, causing me to fall asleep around 7:30 (music ends at 7). GOOD TIMES!

THE LINEUP:
Friday, 27: Van Morrison, Subdudes, Bonerama, Kermit Ruffins, Astral Project
Saturday, 28: Rod Stewart, Norah Jones, Ludacris, Rebirth, Groove Academy
Sunday, 29: Brad Paisley, Bonnie Raitt, Jill Scott, Jerry Lee Lewis, Theresa Andersson
Friday, 4: ZZ Top, Counting Crows, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Ellis Marsalis, Better Than Ezra
Saturday, 5: Galactic, Cowboy Mouth, John Mayer, John Legend, Allman Brothers, The IguanasSunday, 6: Allen Toussaint, Steely Dan, Papa Grows Funk, Anders Osborne, Joss Stone, The Radiators, New Edition, Taj Mahal

If it Seems Like Nothing is Happening...

In case you forgot, there are more posts/photos (race related) on my other site (http://cankyriarun.blogspot.com)

Upcoming endeavors:

Saturday, April 28: Kentucky Derby Mini-Marathon

Sunday, May 20: San Francisco Bay to Breakers

...and newly added today...

Sunday, August 5: NYC Half Marathon

New York City?

Call me crazy, but I just put my name in the lottery for the New York City Half Marathon. The race is August 5th so if I did get chosen, I would have plenty of time to train. They pull names sometime between May 15 and 21 and announce the "winners" on the 22nd.

Seth, a friend from NYC that I worked with in Baton Rouge, also has his name in the pot. So hopefully if one of us gets picked, both of us get picked...

So - stay posted!! Keep your fingers crossed!!

There is Something in The Way You Move

Maybe I am tired of moving. From Hotel to Hotel. From Desk to Desk. From City to City.

Or am I?

For a long time I have been living out of a suitcase. Carrying my belongings on my back. Not really having a place to call home. Except that I have always been told that home where the heart is. Well, I left mine in San Francisco...

I get a kick out of going to new places, seeing new things, trying new things, meeting new people. I love to travel; I travel light; I travel for extended amounts of time. But when does enough become enough? A friend of mine told me that at some point we would all have to "be responsible". He defined that as owning a house, having kids, having a steady job, settling down...

By his definition, I may never be "responsible". What if you have one or two or three of those things but not all four? Are you then only "partly responsible"? Why can't I just be partly responsible for the rest of my life?

I still want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, to see the Amazon, to go to the Pyramids, to see if Iceland is really green and Greenland is really icy, to see the Northern Lights, to go to the South Pole, to go Salmon Fishing in Alaska, to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, to wrestle a Kimodo Dragon, to see a Rhino....The list goes on and on.

Having said that, I have made a few descisions:

1. My heart (and home) will always be in San Francisco.

2. I will always be only "partly responsible".

3. I am NOT done moving.

Countdown to Kentucky

Whew. I think I mentioned in my last post that I only had 4 weeks to train for the next half marathon - the Kentucky Derby Mini-Marathon... Well, now I am down to...4 days. Ouch. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I spent a total non-fitness week at the beach last week, where the closest thing I did to "training" was to walk to the cooler for a beer or to the water to cool down.

Having said that, I have not done a very good job at training this time around (if you can even call it that at all!) However, it will be interesting to see how I do on Saturday. Perhaps I will finally prove that training is not the answer! But then what would I do for the next few months?

After this is over, I have decided to do a couple of things:

1. Next vacation: ACTIVE vacation - aka. hiking, biking, rafting, kayaking, tree climbing or all of the above.
2. Run the NY City Half (if they will have me - this is done as a lottery) on August 5th
3. Triathlon - still TBD

If anyone knows of any fun activities I have overlooked, let me know!

Going Swimmingly

When I got in the pool, I was not sure what I was doing. I have swum before. I can swim. But I had no idea how far or how long I could swim. I didn't even know how far you could go in what amount of time. In an attempt to find out, two weeks ago I started swimming at the gym.

The first time, I swam for 10 minutes. It went something like this. Minute one through minute five was easy. During minutes six to eight I had a little difficulty because my arms were getting tired (damn useless sticks!). I struggled with my tired arms as well as my breathing through minutes nine and ten and finally came to a stop at the end of the pool. I had done 10 laps. Ten long laps. I felt like I had swum miles. In fact, I had only swum about a third of a mile.

I have a long way to go still.

I have always been a swimmer; I grew up by the river; we swam every day in the summer time and even some days in the spring and fall. My cousins and I would race each other from one side of the river to the other, often going back and forth many times. I have swum far; we used to see how far up the river we could swim. However, I have never swum for an extended amount of time. And I have never had to swim while being timed, or when it mattered at all. I recently decided to train for a (so far un-chosen) triathlon and so now am swimming not only for fun but for braggin rights.

Luckily, I am getting better.

I went back to the pool last week (I am only going once a week right now) and swam for 17 minutes. 16 laps. 800 meters. HALF A MILE! Which is what I will need to do (if not more) for a sprint triathlon. So...all is not lost. Now I just have to try and build my endurance. And figure out how to get from the lake to the bike to the road without hurting anyone or myself... I guess I still have a long way to go.

And They are Off!!!

Next Up: Louisville, KY
What: Derby Mini-Marathon
When: Saturday, April 28, 2007

This half marathon marks the beginning of Derby season. The first Kentucky Derby will be on May 6th with many to follow after that. Before the weekend of the Derby, there are week long festivities, one of them being...the mini-marathon.

Part of the race, and the most exciting part for me, is run around the track at Churchill Downs!!

This time I only have four weeks to train, rather than twelve like last time...So I have kicked it up a notch, am running more and am trying to clock as many miles as possible in the next four (well, more like three from today) weeks. Which is hard because for the last month, I have been completely slacking.

So we shall see how it goes, shant we?

So Much To Say

I feel like I should have a lot to say, but I don't. I have actually been so busy that I cannot think about anything other than my next run, my next trip or what is going on at work tomorrow/next week/this weekend...

First of all, I have been taking advantage of the fact that we are allowed to travel on the weekends by...traveling on the weekends. Every weekend. As fun at it has been, I am getting tired... I have been to Pensacola, San Francisco and Baltimore in the last 3 weekends, and this weekend I am going to Grayton Beach, FL for some Easter weekend fun in the sun with some friends.

Secondly, I am training to run another half marathon. This one takes place in Louisville, KY. I am very excited about it, because we get to run through Churchill Downs as part of the course. Afterwards, there is beer and free tickets to a horse race, which I have never been to before. And at...Churchill Downs! That is pretty cool.

After that, I am planning on doing a triathlon, so am also trying to train for that at the same time. I just started swimming today and it is kicking my ass! I only swam about a third of a mile - it took me 10 mins - it zapped all my arm strength (haha - WHAT arm strength you say?) and it took my breath away...Literally! For the race, I will have to swim at least a half mile, if not more. Whew.

So, the rest of my time is spent working (which is good but I recently switched positions and so have been trying to learn the ropes etc.), eating (I tend to do a lot of that!) and sleeping. Pretty much in that order.

So...that is the reason I have nothing to say.

St. Pat's: What we Have to Look Forward To..

I had a really good video from St. Pat's, but I can't get it to load on here for some reason. Youtube hates me. So... Here are a few pictures of our wild and crazy day. We started off with breakfast at Atchafalaya, then went to the Bulldog on Magazine for some cider, green beer and nasty green jello shots. I think I was ready for bed by 8 p.m. I almost forgot - we also went to the French Quarter and we were starving but everywhere was

PACKED, so we went to Wendy's (yeah the first time in a LONG TIME I have had fast food!) thinking it would be fast. It wasn't. We waited for a long time with a lot of drunk people and finally got up to the front just to be served by a girl who was wearing her visor so low there was no way she could have been able to see us (or anyone) at all. Then we watched a guy get kicked out by the rent-a-cop for calling Wendy's a Dick or some sort of nasty word. What an adventure!

Oh What A Day!

I stepped in dog poop twice today. Twice in one day, what are the odds of that? Both times I was wearing my sneakers and of course the poop was inbedded deeply in the tread. Where I was there was no grass, only cobblestoned streets, which do nothing to aleviate my problem. I scraped and I scraped but nothing. On the other hand, the city that I am in is beautiful. It more than makes up for the fact that I smell like crap (literally!)

I wonder what is next?

And Then It Was Over

So I ran the half marathon. Now what?

For the last twelve weeks I have had a goal, a so called "light at the end of the tunnel". Now I have reached the end, I have seen the light. So what do I do now?

Options:

1. Another half marathon - I saw an awesome looking one in Salt Lake City... or there are dozens more, all over the US and abroad.
2. Sprint Triathlon - shorter than a hard core normal triathlon - usually about a .5-1 mi swim, 3-4 mi run and 12-16 mi bike. This is what I am leaning towards. I even bought a new swimsuit.
or 3. Aids bike ride - from San Francisco to L.A. in a week in June- average of about 100 miles a day. I could do this but to do so you have to raise money...5000 dollars, I think. Hmmm. Not my cup of tea.

I think my June turnaround will be activity based. So...if anyone has any good suggestions of places to go/activities to participate in...Let me know!

...And I'm Spent!

Its over. We are done. We finished in just over two hours, which was my goal. We didnt quite make it as fast as I wanted, but we were only 2 minutes slower. If we hadn't stopped to pee, we would have been fine. Actually, out of some 900+ people, we were about 300. Not too bad; I think on a bell curve that would be a B.

It was a beautiful day, 65 degrees, not a cloud in the sky... We ran the first few miles pretty easily, then Kaylen joined us around mile 5 and ran with us to about mile 10. Those miles flew by; I don't know if it was becuase Kaylen was there or what, but we seemed to reach mile 10 very quickly. It was more difficult to get from 10 to 11 and even more so from 11 to 12. When we reached the 12 mile marker, we tried to speed up a little, but by that time I could not feel my legs and my feet felt like they had been trapped in my shoes for weeks. Mira was having leg trouble; I was having foot trouble. We limped along until the last little bit where Dad joined us and ran with us to the finish. We sprinted the last 100 yards and made it across the finish line at 2:13.

Not bad for someone who could barely run two miles without having a coronary three months ago.

So - what is next, you ask. That has yet to be determined. Possibly another half (it is a good excuse to travel around and see new places) or maybe a sprint triathlon (3-4 mile run, 12-16 mile bike, roughly a half mile swim).

The world is my oyster!

Day 82: The Pressure is On

Countdown until the race is almost over. 2 days left....Yikes!

Today we are going to take one last short run. The weather outside is beautiful; it is about 70 today. We plan to run a few miles just to stay loose and then rest all day tomorrow. Tomorrow night we are having a carb load (pasta) pot-luck where we will stuff ourselves silly in hopes of sustaining energy for the next day, and then....

...we will run. We will run as far and as fast as we can.

The race begins at 7, so will we will be out there at 6, jiggling up and down, stretching, peeing one last time... I don't know what it is (nerves maybe) but right before a race I always have to pee about 45 times. If you wait until 10 mins before the race, there is a line about a mile long. Actually, random fact - we were talking about what serious runners do when they have to pee (or worse!) during a race. Apparently they just go. On themselves. Obviously I AM NOT a serious runner. I don't mind adding 1.4 minutes to my time in order to experience the comfort of peeing in a toilet.

Another thing you often do not hear about is the chafing effect which comes from sweating and then rubbing your legs together for over two hours. This is a serious thing. To avoid it, many people take large handfuls of Vaseline or Boudreaux's Butt Paste and shove it down their pants and between their legs before and during the race. I have yet to witness this, but I cannot wait. Luckily, I do not really sweat, so hopefully I will not be using the Butt Paste.

I am nervous; I am excited; When I complete this, I will have completed my longest run ever AND a half marathon. Next up - sprint triathlon...

WEEK 12 (the last week):

Total Miles Run: 185
Ave per week: 15
Longest Run so Far: 12

Parti Gras!

Parades! Beads! Booze! Boobs! Costumes! Birthday Suits! Kids! Toys! Boys!

Yes there is a little bit of everything here in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. And this year, we were all a part of it. My brother came to visit, along with Lil John (from Costa Mesa), Big Jon (from Beantown) and Rachel (Nashville), who is a permanent "guest" of ours.

What did we do? We saw a lot of parades, each very cool, with great floats, marching bands and lots of loot. Our favorites: Muses, Baccus and Zulu. We drank a lot of booze, but that just can't be helped..it is Mardi Gras! We showed our boobs to everone passing by...Just kidding! Only Doyle did that... We got TONS of beads...what do you do with them all when it is all over? I have enough beads to kill a small horse. Or should I say "FILL" a small horse. We went to the Maringy, the French Quarter, Uptown, Downtown and all around...

Day 73: I am Not Dead Yet!

…And it keeps getting easier. Last Friday, we ran 11 miles. The week before that, we ran 10 miles. After that 13 is just another drop in the bucket.

We began to do this after looking at a map and realizing that from the office to our hotel was roughly 10 miles. We have since switched hotels and now it is 11 miles to our new destination, which is even better. It is a nice run too – from the office, we run along the levee for about 5 miles, then cut over to the park, run along the park for about half a mile, then cut over to the street and run up St. Charles Ave the rest of the way. St. Charles Ave is where the streetcar used to run along before the hurricane and so now there is a nice area right in the middle that is not being used and is a perfect running trail.

Last Friday, everyone was getting ready for the Mardi Gras parades, so it was quite an adventure. People with BBQs, kids, booze, food, chairs, tents and dogs were setting up all over the place. There were cops everywhere; in fact I think the average was about 5 cops for one block. I did not know that there were that many cops in New Orleans! I think they must bus them in from Disneyland or something.

We arrived at the hotel in about 1 hour and 50 minutes, which is consistent with our 10 minute per mile pace. I think we are ready for a full 13 miles!

Day 49: You Geaux Girls!

Why is it that some days I really don’t feel like running even a mile and then others it is absolutely no problem?

Yesterday, Mira and I ran about 8 miles and it was easy! It took us about an hour and twenty five minutes, which is not too bad except for that it means it will take us about two and a half hours to run the half marathon. Two and a half hours seems like a really long time!

Earlier this week, I had a hard time running 4 miles. What is the difference and how can I make it so that every day is as easy as it was yesterday?

I read an article in Runners World about “the bonk”. This is when your body or mind gives up and you want to stop. There are many reasons for this bonk, the most common being not eating enough to sustain energy and not drinking enough, which causes dehydration and slows gastric emptying, which in turn causes cramps.

Even after reading this article, this still does not make sense to me. Four hours before running four miles the other day, I had a hearty lunch full of vegetables and carbohydrates as well as about 8 bottles of water throughout the day. Yesterday I ran at 8 a.m. and had not eaten since the night before. I drank a glass of water before leaving the house, but did not drink during my run.

Maybe it is just all in my head. Maybe it is only my own misgivings that are holding me back. In that case, now that I know for sure that I CAN run 8 miles, I should also know that I will be able to run thirteen miles just as easily. It is just a case of mind over matter.

AT END OF WEEK 7:

Average miles run per week: 13
Most miles run in one day so far: 8
Hours spent in the gym/at the park: 65

$$ spent on gym membership: $90.00
$$ spent on running gear: $158.74
Running farther than I ever have before: priceless
(sorry couldn’t resist)

Day 46: 6th Inning Slump

My lack of posting does not necessarily equate to my lack of training. Or maybe I am just fooling myself. The last couple of weeks have been incredibly difficult. It has been hard to get out of bed; I have no motivation to shop, run, hang out, do laundry or go to work. I am doing all these things, but I am dragging along as I do it.

What causes this? Is it because it is winter and dark all the time? In Physiology class we learned that light produces Melatonin, which in turn produces Serotonin, which is what makes you happy. If there is not enough light, your Serotonin levels drop, causing one to be tired, unhappy, bored and unmotivated.

As a runner, this dark also forces one to run inside a lot of the time, which for me just is not as fun as running outside. The track in the gym is small; 11 laps equals one mile. So if you are running any more that one mile, you have to run around and around the track for what seems like millions of times sometimes. I get tired of looking at the same walls, the same people's backs and the same boring brown track.

So what is it - the dark, the boring track, or just my own complete lack of motivation? Perhaps it is a combination of all three… It is difficult but I am pushing through and ignoring all the voices in my head that are telling me to just go home and crawl into bed and skip the boring workout. I have to escape the 6th inning slump and make it to the 7th inning stretch.

Jackson Day Race

I ran and I ran and I ran and about an hour later I ended up red faced, sweaty and 9 kilometers from where I began. It was wonderful and terrible all at the same time.

The Jackson Day Race is my longest race run so far - 9 K (5.6 miles) of relatively flat road on a relatively cool morning in New Orleans. This race is run to commemorate the Battle of New Orleans on January 8th 1915, when the British invaded the city and the brave American soldiers ran the exact same route in order to defend their city and fight off their attackers.

I ran with Noel and Mira; Lea and Rachel were our loyal supporters. We finished in about 55 minutes, which is a consistent 10 minute mile. This may not be extremely fast, but our goal was to finish and finish we did!

Next up: 10 K race - "The Wall" on January 28th.