Monday, December 28, 2009

What I look forward to in 2010

It's that time of year where we reflect back on the past year and look forward to the new year (and a new decade). I am very fortunate to have a wonderful family, a great job, fabulous friends, & the means and ability to be able to do many things and while I may not always seems appreciative or grateful I truly am.

This is what I would like to give, to and of myself, and to my family & my friends during the coming year:

· Read a minimum of one book per month; preferably two
· Run an ultra marathon
· Be more accepting and understanding
· Qualify for the Boston Marathon, 2011
· Do strength training two times per week
· Be a good friend
· Swim at least once per week
· Be more organized at home
· Log 1,500 miles (this is an average of 29 miles per week)
· Be more fiscally responsible
· Run a 1:55 half marathon
· Expand my culinary horizons by preparing more new meals for my family
· Be less wasteful
· Communicate more and better with my husband
· Stay positive
· Complete the 100 push-up challenge
· Walk the dogs more often
· Complete the 200 sit-up challenge
· Enjoy life
· See two movies per month; at least one at the Theater
· Try meditation
· Do 2 pull-ups
· Be a good human

Saturday, December 26, 2009

I love Saturdays

I don't know what is better about Saturday mornings; the run or the coffee with good friends post-run. It is a beautiful morning in Portland; cold and crystal clear. It is a bit windy and I think with the wind chill it feels in the mid-twenties; this is cold for us.

I got out for a 7.8 mile run this morning and it felt AWESOME; our pace was just under 9:00's. I am thrilled, especially since I've had nearly three weeks off.

Santa brought me a new hat & gloves which served me really well this morning; the gloves are the warmest I've had yet.

I'm going to go hit the push-ups and sit-ups now; I decided to just start over at week 1 for both. I will prevail, nothing will stop me this time.

Have an awesome weekend.

P.S. I'm just wondering how everyone fits in writing blog posts, commenting on all the wonderful blogs, working, having a family, etc.? I need a few more hours in the day :-)

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Has political correctness gone too far?

I just received this from a co-worker; it made me both smile and think. I do appreciate the effort as I am no way near clever enough to craft something like this. For another holiday chuckle, go check this out from Cranky Fitness:

http://www.crankyfitness.com/2009/12/holiday-party-survival-guide-grinch.html



Please accept without obligation, express or implied, these best wishes for an environmentally safe, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, and gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday as practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice (but with respect for the religious or secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or for their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all) and further for a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated onset of the generally accepted calendar year (including, but not limited to, the Christian calendar, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures). The preceding wishes are extended without regard to the race, creed, age, physical ability, religious faith or lack thereof, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee(s).


THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS:




Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter "the House") a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.




A variety of foot apparel, e.g., stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick a/k/a/ St. Nicholas a/k/a/ Santa Claus (hereinafter "Claus") would arrive at sometime thereafter. The minor residents, i.e. the children, of the aforementioned House were located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations, i.e. dreams, wherein vision of confectionery treats, including, but not limited to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in said dreams.




Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as ("I"), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with the party of the second part (hereinafter "Mamma"), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained period of sleep. At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of headgear, e.g., kerchief and cap.




Suddenly, and without prior notice or warning, there did occur upon the unimproved real property adjacent and appurtenant to said House, i.e., the lawn, a certain disruption of unknown nature, cause and/or circumstance. The party of the first part did immediately rush to a window in the House to investigate the cause of such disturbance.




At that time, the party of the first part did observe, with some degree of wonder and/or disbelief, a miniature sleigh (hereinafter "the Vehicle") being pulled and/or drawn very rapidly through the air by approximately eight (8) reindeer. The driver of the Vehicle appeared to be and in fact was, the previously referenced Claus.




Said Claus was providing specific direction, instruction and guidance to the approximately eight (8) reindeer and specifically identified the animal co-conspirators by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen (hereinafter "the Deer"). (Upon information and belief, it is further asserted that an additional co- conspirator named "Rudolph" may have been involved.)




The party of the first part witnessed Claus, the Vehicle and the Deer intentionally and willfully trespass upon the roofs of several residences located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House, and noted that the Vehicle was heavily laden with packages, toys and other items of unknown origin or nature. Suddenly, without prior invitation or permission, either express or implied, the Vehicle arrived at the House, and Claus entered said House via the chimney.




Said Claus was clad in a red fur suit, which was partially covered with residue from the chimney, and he carried a large sack containing a portion of the aforementioned packages, toys, and other unknown items.




He was smoking what appeared to be tobacco in a small pipe in blatant violation of local ordinances and health regulations.




Claus did not speak, but immediately began to fill the stocking of the minor children, which hung adjacent to the chimney, with toys and other small gifts. (Said items did not, however, constitute "gifts" to said minor pursuant to the applicable provisions of the U.S. Tax Code.)




Upon completion of such task, Claus touched the side of his nose and flew, rose and/or ascended up the chimney of the House to the roof where the Vehicle and Deer waited and/or served as "lookouts." Claus immediately departed for an unknown destination.




However, prior to the departure of the Vehicle, Deer and Claus from said House, the party of the first part did hear Claus state and/or exclaim: "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Or words to that effect.

Thought for the Day

Courtesy of Runners World:

We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.

Jesse Owens

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

New ground in blog land

It is cold and foggy in Oregon and I am warm & cozy at home; I am still fighting some sort of cold bug so I decided to rest this evening.

Have you checked out Shut Up and Run; if not, I know you will enjoy Beth's blog. She's having a giveaway, click here for details:

http://twentysixpointtwoormore.blogspot.com/2009/12/running-is-meaning-of-life-and-giveaway.html

Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas, Merry Festivus, or whatever you celebrate.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Back at it

For a variety of reasons, none of them terribly good - I HAVEN'T RUN SINCE LAS VEGAS; for those of you keeping score that is 2 weeks + one day. That is until today, I got out with a friend for 4 nice & easy miles - it felt wonderful! To make matters worse, I haven't done any exercise since the marathon :-(

Push-ups and sit-ups will start again tomorrow (Tuesday); no excuses I will make it through the 6 weeks!

I am thinking about goals for 2010 and there are many; I'm not going to post them yet as I want to make sure they are reasonable and accomplishable.

I did however tally up my 2009 mileage and I have 1018 miles year to date; wow, I am stoked. There are probably 15-20 miles that were run "watchless" during the year. Who would have thought?

Talk about coincidence, I got my gift from the blogger gift exchange today; wonderful socks & fuel goodies, EXACTLY what I sent - what are the odds?

Have a great evening.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Post marathon let down?

I haven't run since the marathon..........I intentionally took a week off post marathon to rest and recover (and to earn back some domestic points), but now I am having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. I have a run scheduled for Saturday morning and that might be all I get in over a two week period; yikes. I feel so much better when I exercise, I'm just amazed at how quickly I got out of the workout routine. I know the holidays are partially responsible; we have activities almost daily and the weather has been TERRIBLE either bitterly cold or massive rain fall.

One thing for sure, I need a goal - a scheduled race. The only things on the 2010 calendar at this time are a half marathon at the end of January and a half marathon Mother's Day weekend (May). I need to pick a spring marathon; any suggestions? I really, really, really want to qualify for Boston and run it in 2011; I will turn 50 in 2011 and I think it would be a great way to celebrate my birthday.

I have also fallen off the 100 push-up and 200-sit-up wagon; I made it to Week 3 Day 2 and then came my marathon and trip & NOTHING since then. I intend to start back up Saturday but I need to figure out where I should pick up the schedule; probably back to Week 2 Day 1.

Have an awesome day.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Las Vegas Marathon = PR


Marathon #16 is complete; 4:08 which is a 3 minute PR, I'm very pleased. I ran 4 marathons over the past year and 3 were PR's!
The first PR came at California International Marathon December 7th, 2008 - 4:13, shattering my longstanding PR of 4:22 from the Portland Marathon in October 2003.
June, 2009 brought the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon; not a PR but a great time on a tough course; 4:22.
October 4, 2009 (Portland Marathon) presented me with a 4:11 finishing time; a 2 minute PR.
I liked the Vegas course a lot; the last 6 miles were essentially downhill and it was awesome. I thought the expo was terrible and the crowd support on parts of the course wasn't very good; but there were tons of aid stations and the race was well organized. The start was cold; about 34 degrees and it really didn't warm-up too terribly much.
The only bummer of the trip was the rain that fell on Monday; I get enough rain at home :-(
It was great to be with Vicki and Brittney as Brittney completed her first marathon in a very respectable 4:38 :-)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

The craziness begins........

The whirlwind of December madness starts tomorrow with "The Civil War"; the annual football match-up between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. The stakes are high this year as the winner of the game will head to the Rose Bowl. We are University of Oregon season ticket holders and will be at the game; the hype is unreal. My son is a senior at Oregon and my step-daughter is a junior a OSU; so we already have our own, built-in Civil War! Football is very important at my house and quite honestly I'm very ready for football season to be over; I can't help but think that if we took all of the energy and money being focused on this particular football game we could solve alot of issues within our communities. I think I'm pretty much on my own for this one though; this comment made me pretty unpopular at home last night :-)

Saturday morning I hop on a plane for Vegas; the marathon starts at 6:15 a.m. Sunday, I AM READY! This is a girls trip and I am so looking forward to it; we'll be home on Tuesday afternoon.

We're having our hardwood floors refinished so we are living in chaos and will be displaced early next week for 3-4 nights. I can't wait for this project to be done, it has been a long time coming.

The flurry of events for the next 3 weeks include:

Hubby's Office party
Duck tailgating crew holiday party
Exchange program potluck (which we are hosting)
Greg Mortenson, Stones for Schools book event
Book club
Bunco
Christmas Ship outing
Fab 5 holiday happy hour
Good friend's birthday dinner

Still need to find time for:

Hanukkah dinner
Zoo Lights
Christmas shopping

I'm exhausted already...........

Happy Hump Day