Puff Daddy's Worst Nightmare

We ran 10 miles this last Saturday! To the beach no less! It was a fun and exhausting experience, following a not-so-to-scale map and markings along the trail. But there is a trail "From the Mountains to the Sea!" I would say, in total we actually ran a little more than 8 of those miles. Bathroom stops, goo replenishes, and my need to walk kept us from running the full 10, but we did finish 10! The end of the run was so beautiful, it ends in Newport's Back Bay....which was flat! I was worried, being somewhat familiar with the area, that the end of our run would be climbing a steep hill. But the trail along Back Bay is level, down the cliff from the hills and houses. Excellent! I'm not sure I'd ever do that run again, but I would totally do a bike ride to the beach!

*Side note: When I was in High School, I worked for Villa Park Cable as a camera-man....-woman....-person, and I would often video the city council meetings. Almost as frequently as I worked, a man would come into the meetings, he was a resident of Villa Park, and he would come to complain about the coyotes. You see, his dear kitty cat Puffy had been mauled by a coyote, and he wouldn't stand for their existence in the city any longer. Cause the city council can actually stop coyotes from coming into the city. Silly man. Anyway, he became a joke to us cable employees, we called him Puff Daddy (hence.....). The station manager even came across a picture at a garage sale, paid the $.25, and proudly hung it on the wall of the production room. What was the picture you ask? It was of a coyote standing over the carcass of a bunny. Still makes me laugh just thinking about it.

Anyway......so on my way over to meet Sandra on Sat., as I was rounding a corner, I noticed a woman walking toward me, and behind her a little bit was an animal, I thought her dog. On a second, more concentrated look, I realized, "That's a coyote!!" (Hence......!) It bounded carelessly into the bushes soon after I recognized him, but the lady it was apparently following had also just noticed and was a bit upset at what could have been her doom. Or at least that's what it seemed like. I wanted to go pet the coyote! So cute!! :)

Oh, and I've run 5 miles the last two days, running the whole way! Go me! Wee!! Less than 3 weeks and this is over! YAHOO!

struggle-duggle

My 6mi run this morning was a toughie. At the start when I was getting prepared, I have a pre-run ritual that I could not complete. *ugh.* Then there were a zillion bugs flying into my face. There are never that many in the morning! *ewwww.* Spider-web stringies were making me itchy all over. *sheesh.* My knees started to hurt at various times around mile 3, which forced me to take quite a few, albeit short, walk breaks. *sigh.* Then, just when I thought I wanted to quit this pointless endeavor with only 1.5mi to go, I saw my good friend Becky! *yippee!* That made it all better. :D

She reminded me that we should try running our next 10mi to the beach since the trail boasts "from the mountains to the sea..." We'll see. That'd be pretty neat-o.

Well, now time to get ready for work. The new background looks very pretty, Becky! And I hope your electronic devices get their act together. ;) See you later!

Whispering Trail

We met a few months ago. We've been hanging out sporadically ever since. Sometimes he....or she (does the trail have a gender Sandra?) has been nice to me, other times not so much. I realized today that he/she hates technology. After my run yesterday, the keyboard on my phone stopped working. Today, at the end of my run, my iPod froze, and my phone pretty much just stopped working altogether. I don't know what the iPod's deal is, but I do keep my phone in my bra (no pockets on my workout clothes) and perhaps my sweat fried it? Eww, I don't know, but I am now phoneless, waiting for a "new" one from Verizon. :( Boo. I had some pretty cool pictures on that phone, and now I don't know if I will get them on the new one. Or any of my contacts. That would suck big time!

So, Whispering Trail, though we continue to meet on an almost daily basis, I look forward to our time apart, starting in September. I will enjoy having expensive electronic equipment that work. Until then.....ugh.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Eye of the Tiger

That's the song that's been going through my head the last few hours. And here's why:

On vacation, I ran once. Uno. That's it. I had all the great intentions to run at least twice, if not 3 times. But we were really so busy and moving and travelling that we (my sister-in-law Grace is the second part of the we, she's training for a half in October) never really had the chance. Perhaps we did too much on vacation, hmm? :) So then I had the intention again of running 5 miles yesterday. Yeah, that didn't happen. I had minor surgery (ahem....mole removed) in the morning, and then made excuses regarding that for the rest of the day.

But tonight, Sandra and I did our scheduled run: 10 miles! Wow! We didn't run the whole way, but we did run a great deal of it. Before the run started I was thinking about how we have 4 WEEKS till the race and I really need to get my butt into serious gear!! (On a side note, I have been able to get it into smaller jeans! :) I was thinking how I could change my running schedule, add a day, run longer each day, really get serious about my training. So as I was giving myself a pep talk, "Eye of the Tiger" popped into my head! Fun times!

So here we go, 4 weeks left.....and then I'm done! Amazing Sandra will keep going, and good for her! She's awesome like that! And I will be the most encouraging friend that I can be. Until then, I'll run beside her and keep her company. I think that's pretty good encouragement, wouldn't you? :)

super-sweaty

I accomplished my goal this week - to run the entire 9 miles today (my pace was 12:29.) I also ran the entire 5 miles on Thursday morning, which was a bonus. yippee! I can't believe that I started out hardly able to run 2 minutes straight and now I can run for almost 2 hours! It's an amazing feeling (past the achy knees and feet that were begging me to stop - too bad. You're going to keep moving and eventually learn to like it...)

Randy is trying to convince me that I'll not be able to stop after a full marathon. I just don't know at this point. I mean, I thought I would only do one marathon, but I found a really challenging one on Catalina Island (the Eco-marathon) in November that I desperately want to do, but next year. So I plan on doing a flat, "normal" marathon sometime between Jan-June 2010. So that's 2 marathons already in my near future!

Anyhoo, back to super-sweaty. I admit that I pretty much sweat like a dude. blech. Disgusting, I know.On top of that, it's in really embarrassing patterns, so I believe I need to invest in better running attire - the kind that wicks away the moisture to keep you cool and comfortable. I can do that now, because I'm a "runner!"

I love greeting other people on the trail. It sort of gives me a boost of energy each time they smile, nod, wave, or say "hi." It's kinda like a video game - I get an extra health boost or 1up (hearing the Super Mario Bro.s sound effects in my head) and I run a little faster or "skippier." (no, not like at the 5K. I'm more self-conscious now ;) I wonder if these people are as nice drivers as they are runners/dog-walkers/stroller-pushers/etc.

There is a group of 2-4 ladies who I see every morning I run. They run together. They chat. They wave and smile and say "good morning." They're ultra-fit, but in an awesome, healthy, lady-like way (ie. not scary, anorexic, Madonna way.) I don't know how far they run, but they really motivate me. I look forward to that 2 seconds that I get to see them. I wonder if I'll get to that point someday...