Mermaid 10k Race Report!

I am fried! But happy.

This morning was COLD and WINDY. Yes, that requires shouting. But I was out there at 7:30 a.m. to meet M and the Smofit crew, plus MK, the Team Mermaid folks, and the other 900-odd women who were planning to run, walk, wog, or otherwise make their way through the 5k, 10k, and half-marathon courses. We prayed it would not rain during the race, and for me that was mercifully true. The half-marathoners were not so lucky.

So MK and I set out to hit 80 minutes or fewer, since we managed the practice run at 85. I thought going in that it would either be a breeze, because I'd be running so fast to keep my toes from falling off, or it would be miserable and slow. It ended up somewhere in the middle--my toes finally defrosted as we passed the 2-mile marker, but I can't say it was a fun race as these things go. What was fun was all the company we had out there! Most of them are people I've met through M, but have now become my friends. It was great to cheer as Heather, Molly, Chris, and Justine blew by me on their way in, as I was nearing the turnaround. Once MK and I hit the turnaround, we got to cheer for M--she was right on our heels!

MK is really hitting her groove these days and honestly is much faster than I am, but she insisted on keeping our 8 min/2 min interval and waiting for me to catch up on the walking intervals. Once we got to the 5k turnaround--3/4 through our race--I insisted she should go as fast as was comfortable and finish strong. She had a great last mile and a half and finished at 74:32. I came in not too long after, at 78:07, which means we both hit our time goal! M also blew hers out of the water, by quite a large margin. Yay all of us!

I thought I was going to Sonoma for a much-deserved wine tasting adventure, but last night my friend E, an old buddy from my camp counselor days, called and said he was in town for one day only. A graciously offered to postpone the drinking trip, and so C and I met E and his girlfriend to wander around North Beach and catch up. Hopefully all the walking (from Washington park to St. Mary's Park in Chinatown and back) stretched out my legs well enough that I won't be hurting tomorrow.

Want pictures? Go see Molly's race report and Facebook.

You may notice that I updated my list of races--it's an ambitious schedule, but it should keep me on-track all summer. I haven't signed up for anything past UVAS, just because circumstances can change so quickly, but I hope to complete them all.

Happy Sunday! I'm going to collapse now. :P

Rainy day, again

Rain, rain, take a break
Come again to fill the lake
But for now, take a hike
'Cause I would like to ride my bike!

I am looking forward to going to work tomorrow after a full week of convalescence. Wonders never cease! The cough syrup with codeine is a miracle drug, seriously.

Sadly, I gave C the hacking death so he had to miss his sister's family birthday celebration brunch in Santa Cruz yesterday. I made a yummy egg scramble with chorizo and her mom made buttermilk pancakes. Then we hung out with her friend H for a little bit, ate some cake, and headed downtown to the Spokesman to talk bikes--M's getting one with her bday and Christmas loot, and I'm thinking about it too. After getting our ears talked off (in a good way!) and learning a lot about bike shopping, we headed back for a friendly family game of cribbage before braving the rainy drive back over Highway 17.

I know we desperately need the rain, especially if M and I want to swim in the Uvas Reservoir in May, but it's been 2 weeks of rain and hacking death, and I still haven't really tried out my new pedals! I'm hoping to bike sometime this week, at least, so I'm not a complete mess if I want to try out new bikes with my own pedals.

Tomorrow I try to run 3 miles with my other friend M--wish me luck!

The Hacking Death

I has it.

Fatigued and sore on Monday? Check.
Feverish and congested on Tuesday? Check.
Mostly dead on Wednesday? Check.
Coughing up a lung on Thursday? Check.

High on inhaler + cough syrup with codeine on Friday? Double check!

Why don't I fall asleep? I really tried, but just managed to snooze for about 20 minutes before waking with an itch to clean (to be fair, my roommate came home from school and said "it smells like sickness in here." And she was right.). Picking up the living room accomplished, I have moved on to trolling the internet for something interesting. Facebook? Nothing new. Message boards? Always quiet on a Friday. Hulu? Already tried to sleep through The Office, 30 Rock, My Name is Earl, and several episodes of CSI: Wherever they are today.

I'm going to lie down again, but please, someone make something fun happen soon!

Fits and Starts

We have done very little of what we planned to do today. But it has been a great day anyway!

C woke up early after 4 straight days of opening at the bakery, so when I rolled out of bed around 9 he had already been awake for hours and was ready to Do Stuff! He made a yummy scramble (eggs, potatoes, and cheddar) that I paired with fruit and we made plans to take a bike ride and then hit up the movie theater to see Coraline, after which I was going to make tilapia with mango salsa for dinner.

However, once breakfast was over things went all pear-shaped. First, it was too rainy and cold for biking. So I decided that I would do the Firm video I bought over Christmas instead. Ten minutes of staring at the tv, bewildered at the dancing people, and I gave up that idea. I need to "preview" that like 50 times because I am no good at dance aerobics and they move fast!

C tried to hop in the shower, only to discover that we have no hot water! That sort of nixed things like washing dishes, showering well, etc. I took a shower anyway but literally yelped when I ducked into the full blast of the shower. C called our landlord and they were not nearly as concerned as we are. We might get someone out here on Tuesday. Seriously?? Argh.

After our totally unsuccessful midday, C suggested we hit the theater at matinee time, so we hopped in the car and headed to the movies only to encounter the world's worst traffic while trying to park. Seriously, like 20 minutes to go up one floor in the parking structure.

So after all that frustration, we got creative. We abandoned the movies and headed north, without a particular destination. Once across the Golden Gate we drove west around the Marin Headlands and stopped at various gun batteries and missile silos to look at the interpretive signage (M--I know you need to know--it wasn't very good) and climb around imagining the massive guns that sat guarding the Golden Gate from WWI until they were declared obsolete during WWII.

We stopped and bought some maps at the visitor's center because we had very little idea where we were, and then decided to drive up Highway 1 to Point Reyes Station and buy cheese at the Cowgirl Creamery. We did, and then munched on apples (that we brought), cheese, and chocolate on the way back to 101. By then it was raining pretty hard, so we didn't want to take Highway 1 all the way back.

As we were approaching the bridge again, C made the astute observation that we would not be able to clean up after cooking since we have no hot water. So we stopped on Chestnut and wandered (with the umbrella I keep in my trunk--yay!) until we found an Italian place that smelled delicious. I had lobster ravioli (yum!) and C had lasagna bolognese (even Yum-er!). On our way back to the car we happened upon a candy store called The Sweet Dish, and they were having a party! A friend of the owner sells vintage jewelry and there was a crazy bustle at the back of the store where she was hosting a trunk show. There was champagne and free samples and all the things you want in a candy shop.

Now I'm finishing up some laundry, posting, and about to do some old-school Tae Bo so I can say I did my cross-training for the Higdon plan. (Yes, I still do Tae Bo. It's the only video workout I've really ever liked, try as I might to expand my horizons.)

In short, it's been a fantabulous day, even though it was nothing like what we had planned! Nighty night!

Toasty!

I am having the most wonderful Sunday. I woke up late and lazed around for a while, kicked my hubby out of bed and then headed out to get cold and wet. Well, that wasn't the purpose, but it was the end result. Still, it was fun. First brunch, then a long (but dry) walk up to the Ferry Building, where we poked around Recchiutti chocolates, the Cowgirl Creamery, Acme Bread Co., Scharffen Berger, Joseph Schmidt chocolates, and Golden Gate Meat Co. We picked up cheese for lunch and burgers for dinner, and I met Joseph Schmidt, who kissed my hand and signed the box of truffles I bought for my mom. I made C (the hubby) try the Mexican truffle and the sea salt caramel, which he suprisingly loved even though he generally wrinkles his nose at dark chocolate.

That's when things got wet. I really wanted to buy chocolate for stocking stuffers from Fog City News, which is several blocks up Market. By then it was full-on raining, but we had a big umbrella so we soldiered on in search of organic chocolate goodness. Sadly, I had neglected to check the hours, and Fog City is closed on Sundays! It was a long, wet walk back to the car, but we made it.

Now I'm sitting in front of a roaring fire on the hearth, my belly full of double cream cheese and crackers, watching the Food Network and bragging. We wrapped the presents we bought, and I'm thinking once the fire dies down I'll hit the mall to look for more stocking stuffers. Hopefully by then it will be less crowded and rainy.