Flying Trapeze

Unlike many of my other friends, and myself, Lael usually plans some kind of physical activity for his birthday. For his 30th it was paintballing (no thanks) and this year it was Trapeze. He had gone earlier this month for another birthday and enjoy it so much he decided that's what he wanted to do for his birthday as well. Great :( BUT, since I skipped out on the paintballing, I figured that I'd take part in the trapeze. Mind you, I was terrified about the idea of jumping off a platform 25 feet up and swinging through the air but thought this would be a good challenge for myself. Although I knew I'd probably enjoy myself, and be glad after the fact that I went, I was so nervous all last week :(

Saturday arrived, Claudia came over to get ready at my place after her training, and Lael picked us up about 2:00 to head up to Vallejo, where we were meeting Lael's GF Jen who would be taking us the rest of the way to Sonoma. Once we got into Sonoma, we took this little, windy road up into the hills to SkyFarm Trapeze. Even though I was nervous, I could still appreciate how beautiful it was up there-- the trapeze was outdoors in a grove of oak trees. Once there we were met by some more of Lael's friends and our trapeze instructors for the day: Marek, Hope and Darrel.

The first thing they started out doing was teaching us the "Knee Hang." This is the same thing that we used to do when we were kids on the jungle gym... it's a little harder to do as an adult :D They had a trapeze bar set up closer to the ground and we all practiced grabbing on to the bar, swinging our legs up and onto the bar, and then letting go with our hands and hanging there. This was one of the things I was nervous about doing... I wasn't sure that I could get my not-too-flexible legs up to the bar. It wasn't the prettiest or most graceful thing, but I did it. Lael, Jen and Kelvin, who had all done this before, got to practice a different "trick": The Bird's Nest for the boys, and the Splits for Jen.

After we had all tried the Knee Hang, it was time to get into our harnesses. I had been warned that these things were tight, but I had no idea! He cinched... and cinched... and then cinched it some more until I felt like I couldn't breathe anymore. At that point I think I almost had a panic attack because it was so hard to breathe! Once we were strapped in like sausages, Marek taught us what we were going to be doing once we got up to the platform. Feet at the edge of the platform, grab on to the pole with your left hand to anchor yourself, "pee pee"out (stick your hips forward over the edge), grab the bar with your right hand, then with your left, and then 1, 2, "HEP" and JUMP!!!

We let the experienced three go up first and then after the next two bravest, it was my turn. AHHH!! First we had to climb up this little dinky ladder to the platform 25 feet up. I was already shaking and nervous about falling off before I even got to the platform! Once up there I chalked my hands and Darell clipped me in. I grabbed the pole with my left hand, grabbed the bar with my right but when he told me to let go with my left hand, lean out there and grab the bar with my left hand, all of my survival instincts told me NOOO!!! But I did it and was totally freaked out leaning out over the platform with only Darell's hand through the back of my harness keeping me up there. But then an amazing thing happened... Once they yelled "HEP" and I jumped, all my nervousness disappeared! All you're thinking of is this sensation of flying through the air and concentrating on getting your legs up and then hands off the bar. Even hanging upside down wasn't scary... since you're swinging back and forth, and the net is below you, you can't really see how high up you are. After a couple of swings they told me to put my hands back on the bar and then they talked us through a little flip, and we just dropped down to the net. No biggie! (You can also watch the first video in the post below).

All of us took turn practicing our knee hangs, and then it was time to practice a "Catch" where one of our instructors would be up there swinging upside down on another trapeze bar and he'd try to catch our hands as we were swinging upside down. Unfortunately, by this time I was getting really tired. You use a lot of your core muscles to get your legs up and hooked on the bar, and after a few practice swings, I could tell it was getting harder to get my legs up. After Marek talked us through the catch on the ground, we all got two turns to get it. It didn't get it either time :( On my first try I just couldn't get my legs up... and then the second time I got my legs up, but I wasn't swinging high enough for him to gran my arms-- we only managed to slap hands :) (That's the 2nd video in the post below). Despite not getting a "catch", I still had a fun time and I'm SO glad that I did it. Boy do I have the bruises and sore muscles to show for it though! I have bruises on my feet, shins, and the back of my knees... I've got a mark on my stomach from the harness, and the sorest muscles I've ever had! Today it's 4 days since we went and I'm STILL sore!!

After our Trapeze class we all headed back to the square in Sonoma and had dinner at Mary's Pizza Shack. After that crazy workout, we were all pretty hungry and managed to save some room for ice cream afterwards!

Flying Olivia

Here's what I did this weekend:





I know it's hard to see, but yep, that's me (oooh, that rhymes!!)... and I have the bruises, bumps, calluses and sore muscles to prove it! I'll post the whole story with pictures tomorrow!

Welcome back to the hot weather and smoke... Uggg

Yep, they're both back! After some REALLY cool days, the weather started warming up and with a change in the wind, the smoke made a reappearance as well! Just in time for a nice run on Thursday!

Pam and I met up for our usual Thursday night run. I hated the route we took last week... too hilly and long, so requested that we change things up this week :) Pam thankfully agreed and our new route was much easier and gave us a little change in scenery. When you run the same trail or route over and over again it starts to get boring so it's nice to change it up a little! Again, I forgot my Garmin, so I'm not sure how far we went, or what our pacing was. I felt like we were running a tad faster than usual, but Pam felt like the heat was having more of an effect on us... she was probably right, it was pretty warm out.

I'm sad that our running days together are almost over. :( In just a couple of weeks, Pam will be moving all the way to Washington, DC. I initially met Pam through Amy, when Amy let me crash their twice weekly runs after the New York Marathon. When Amy got injured and had to take a break, Pam and I kept running together and got a chance to get to know eachother better-- she's been a great running partner! I think I've got at least one more run left with her before she leaves and after that I'll have to figure out a new running schedule!

Stitch N' Pitch

Yep it's that time of year again... the annual Stitch N' Pitch Giants game! I think this is the 3rd year that we've gone to this event... the first year we got a cute little tote with a bunch of knitting swag, last year we got another tote with a little less knitting swag and this we got a hat. That's it. A hat. I'm not too excited about that but now I do have a hat to wear on the rare occasion I go to a Giant's game!

There was a pretty big group of us last night and although I hardly watched any of the game (big shock) I did have fun! We chatted, gossiped, snacked and of course didn't do too much knitting! THANKS Amy and Claudia for putting it all together!

Dancing Queen

This weekend was a pretty mellow one. Friday night I met up with my friend Ann and we went to dinner and then to see Mamma Mia! I had never seen the Broadway musical and didn't know what it was all about until I saw the previews for the movie. The theater was PACKED with women and we got stuck sitting in the second row! It didn't take us long to get used to being so close to the screen and we really enjoyed the movie. It's silly, campy and in some parts cheesy but a lot of fun. A few times during some of the song and dance parts, I caught myself looking up at the screen with the dorky smile on my face. Thank god the theater is dark!!

Saturday I spent the day running errands and dealing with a migraine headeache :( Thankfully it came in the morning and I was feeling better by the time I needed to get ready to head to the city for a TNT friend's fundraiser at a club. Phil and I were planning on meeting up at BART and then grabbing dinner in the city before walking over to the Cellar. Unfortunately the migraine came back on the BART ride in. I stopped at Walgreens on the walk to the Daily Grille and bought some migraine medicine but it really didn't get rid of the headache until the middle of dinner, and by that time I had started feeling really nauseous :( Ugg. I was such a bad dinner companion to Phil... I didn't touch any of my pasta, or even drink any of my soda... but I knew that I couldn't just ditch him to go home. After Phil inhaled his food (at least one of us had an appetite!!) we walked over to the Cellar (and dropped my uneaten pasta on a stoop along the way, hoping some homeless person would be able to enjoy it). By the time we got to the Cellar I was feeling much better. Although the night didn't turn into one of our usually debaucherous Cellar evenings, Claudia, Phil and I had fun. By the time Phil and I were headed back to BART, I was RAVENOUS so we stopped for Thai food along the way. I don't think I stopped to breathe one time during the meal... I just inhaled it all!

Sunday I still wasn't feeling 100% so I just spent the day napping and reading. I managed to finish a book that I had just started on Saturday! And BTW, what's with the weather? When did it turn into winter again? I went out on the balcony to read for a little yesterday and almost froze my hiney off... I had to come inside to get a sweatshirt! I know that sometimes weather and barometric changes can trigger migraines so I guess can blame my migraines on that!

O.M.G.!

Last night while I was waiting for So You Think You Can Dance to start at 9:00, I watched the season premiere of Project Runway that my TiVo had taped on Wed. night. I was watching along when all of a sudden a familiar face pops up onscreen. Just like a teenager, the first thing out of my mouth was "O.M.G."! I went to college with one of the designers, Jerry Tam! I instantly recognized him, even though it's been 10 years since I last saw him. We weren't what I would call "friends" in college, but I definitely knew who he was, saw him at parties, and we had a few mutual friends.

Part of the reason I was so blown away (other than the fact that I KNEW someone on TV!!) was because I never would have guessed in college that he would end up designing clothes. Santa Clara University is not an artsy fartsy college, and Jerry was a frat boy -- not that you CAN'T be a frat boy AND designer, it's just that the two don't usually go hand in hand! I read his bio online and it says that after getting his degree he started a software company and then decided he wanted to pursue his creative side and moved to New York where, after attending a couple design schools and working for another designers, he now has his own clothing line called FORM. Who woulda guessed?! Unfortunately, Jerry did not make it far and was the first person to be "Auf'd" :( So sad :(

Last night before the Project Runway excitement I went on a run with Pam. Ugg, I felt just as sluggish as I did on Monday! This time, because of the Farmer's Market in Danville, we met at the Park and Ride off Sycamore Valley. We ran out on the trail, and then through the neighborhoods back to Sycamore Valley. I think part of why I felt so tired was because a lot of the run (except for the last little bit down Sycamore Valley back to the lot) was mostly an incline :( I definitely felt it and by the time we got back to our cars, I was pooped! Again, I didn't have my Garmin on so I don't know how far we went (I know it was further than usual) and what our pace was. It could be that we were running faster than usual, OR that I was just lagging :( Hopefully this Monday's run will go a little better!

Change

Change is in the air. No, not the smoke anymore... CHANGE. So many people I know are moving out of town, out of state, out of the country, ending old jobs, getting new jobs, ending relationships, starting relationships, companies starting new ventures. Change scares me but it can sometimes turn out to be a good thing. I just changed desks as work. Very exciting, I know :) Since moving into our current office building in Nov. 2002, I've been at the same desk. My boss always told me whenever someone left that I could change work areas if I wanted to but I was always happy to stay in my little cubby. Recently a new desk space opened up though and I snagged it. This was a good change :) My new work area is filled with more natural light and it's a little more open. I like it :D There's another change brewing right now... we'll see if that one turns out as well!

So last post I mentioned how I was going for a run on Monday with Pam and Amy and wasn't sure how that was going to go after some time off. Uh yeah, didn't go so well! Amy met us out there, but had decided not to go running with us so it was just Pam and I. Pam just did a half marathon on Sunday so she wanted to take it a little slower... thank god for that because I was struggling! I think it was a combination of the lack of running with all the crap I've been eating and drinking lately. Even though the weather was perfect and there was even a little breeze, I was dragging. It took me over 2 miles to feel like I was warmed up, and the last little stretch went okay. Ugg, we'll see how the run tonight goes too!

Exhausting Weekend

Exhausting, but fun I should have said :D Last week I spend pretty much the whole week recovering from 4th of July and saving my energy for this last weekend :D I managed to fit in one night of exercise so it wasn't a complete wash :) Since the weather last week was so insanely hot, and the air was still icky out, Amy and decided to meet up and walk instead of run. Thank god I grabbed a water bottle with water on the way out of the house because even though we were just strolling along, I needed it! On the way out we were just chatting away and by the time we decided it was time to turn around, we'd gone about 2 miles. So round trip we did about 4 miles, compared to our usual 3.2 miles when we run. Not bad... it felt nice to get out and do some kind of exercise (if you could actually count our strolling pace as being "exercise") :D

This was definitely a Team In Training weekend. On Saturday our friend Brandon was hosting the Diablo Valley Spring team End of the Season Party. He invited a few non-DV team peeps, me included, and since we never turn down a reason to eat and drink, we decided to go. We know a few poeple on that team so we still had a lot of fun-- but boy did I eat too much :( My food baby was about to pop! We got home about 8:30 and then I headed out to Danville to meet up with a friend for drinks.

Sunday morning I got to sleep in a little (I LUV that part about not training... sleeping in :D) and then headed out to Lake Temescal where we were having the Bayside Spring team End of the Season party (which I AM a part of :D) The BBQ wasn't supposed to start until 12:30, but I went out around 10:00 to grab a spot. Thankfully I did go out early because there was only one lonely little picnic table left. Of course there was NO grill so I called Claudia and she came to the rescue :D THANK YOU!! I had never been to Lake Temescal and it's actually a really great spot for picnics/BBQs. It's a little confusing to get to, even though it's tucked right between Highway 24 and 13. As the day went on, the place got PACKED with people out there enjoying the warm weather. We spent the afternoon catching up with teammates, eating MORE food and having a good time. I was so pooped though by the time that I got home, I didn't even unpack the car-- my trunk is jam packed with two coolers, a small BBQ and all sorts of other stuff! I'll get to it later!

Tonight Amy, Pam and I are back to our regularly scheduled run... thankfully it's cooled down a little and the air isn't so crappy. After about two weeks off of running, we'll see how well I do tonight!

A weekend of celebrations!

Woo, that was a fun 3 day weekend! Friday we had a fun 4th of July celebration at the Lafayette Reservoir. I went out there around 9:00 so I could dump some stuff off and save a couple tables. After I went back home, showered and made the sangria I headed back out there to hang out and make sure no one took our spot before our official picnic start time at 1:00. Luckily I have a few friends who are always early :D so I didn't have to hang out by myself for too long! Phil arrived first, then Claudia and Rocky with the dogs and then everyone else started trickling in. We had a perfect picnic spot... 2 tables together in this little wooded picnic area... it totally felt like we were camping :D We had some shade, were close to the kid's play area and had plenty of room to set out chairs and blankets. We had TONS of yummy food and spent the day eating, drinking, chatting and enjoying the beautiful day! Lindsay and I even took a little spin around the reservoir in a paddle boat!

Around 6:30 or so most everyone was headed, or heading, home but a few of us wanted to see the fireworks in San Ramon. Since they didn't start until 9:45 we went over to Lael's house to hang out until it was time to drive down to the Bishop Ranch area. The fireworks weren't as spectacular as I had remembered them from a few years ago, but they were still nice. A lot of them didn't hardly clear the tree line so we didn't get the full effect of them exploding up in the sky. It was a nice end to the day though :D

Saturday was Claudia's birthday... WOO HOO!! I spent the morning just relaxing and then went to get my hair cut at 2:30. I was SO excited about getting it cut... it had literally been MONTHS since I had gone in for a cut! A little before I left for the salon, I get a message from Claudia telling me that in all the party planning and excitement, she had forgotten to get a cake :( Olivia to the rescue! After my haircut I swung by a bakery in Walnut Creek... thankfully they had one last larger cake available!

Claudia had her bday celebration at Artisan in Walnut Creek. It's a cute little wine bar with yummy sangria that I've been to a couple of times before. Our group pretty much took up the entire place and we hung out enjoying some finger food, sangria, wine and then cake. Once everyone started arriving, the warm weather, combined with a little wine, led to a little bit of overheating (and of course sweating). Lovely. It was one of those times when you know it's going to get ugly and will take more than a moment to cool down. Fanning with birthday cards ensued, and then a trip outside with Lindsay where it was actually warmer but at least no one could see me getting "dewier" by the moment :D Finally I cooled down enough to go back inside and I was fine the rest of the evening. Ugg, so gross. I was happy though that I wasn't the only one that happened to, just the first :D

Artisan has a fun little tasting area with this machine that dispenses a taste of various wines. You buy a card worth any amount you want (I did $10), you stick the card in the machine, choose the wine you want, and it dispenses a small amount. It's a nice way to try a number of different wines! After most everyone had left Artisan, the rest of us party people went over to 1515, this new restaurant/bar, for a few drinks. We didn't stay there too long-- just enough time for a couple more drinks and some food. By the time we left, the place was really getting packed and I think we were all tired from the long evening!

Sunday was a relaxing day... I met up with Lindsay and Claudia for brunch in Walnut Creek and then afterwards spent the rest of the day doing some laundry, downloading pictures from the weekend and just hanging out. After a busy Friday and Saturday it was nice to be able to spend the day doing nothing much! I hope everyone else had a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!!

WOO HOO... Three day weekend!

Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone!!!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY Claudia!! I can't wait to celebrate with you on Saturday!!

Nothin' Much Happening

I don't really have much to update about since my last post. The smoke has cleared up and we can finally see the blue sky. :D The fires haven't disappeared though, the wind is just blowing the smoke another direction and I heard it's supposed to change direction again soon. Hopefully it'll stay nice through the holiday weekend!

You can't see it very well but the red arrow is pointing to Walnut Creek.

I didn't do much over the weekend... no training and no activities planned so I just hung out. Friday I hung out with my friend Lael... we had gelato (YUMMM) and rented Fool's Gold (stupid). Saturday I just hung around the house and Sunday I walked around the Lafayette Reservoir, cleaned the house, and THEN hung around some more :D It was a little boring, but also nice since the past few weekends have been packed with stuff to do. It was also a nice break before the 4th of July and birthday festivities this weekend!

Last night I met up with Amy and Pam for our usual Monday night run. Although it had been a little cool in Walnut Creek, it was warmer in Danville. I guess I should have worn running shorts instead of capris! At least we had a break from the icky smoke! This will be one of the last runs with Pam... she recently got word that she had been accepted for a job in Washington, DC :( Hopefully Amy and I will continue to run on Monday nights, but I may have to find a new running buddy for Thursdays :(

When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes... and Throat, and Lungs, and Nose...

A few ago when I went to Lake Tahoe for Father's Day, we noticed how smoky it was up there due to the Humboldt fire burning near Paradise. Since then more fires have started and the smoke is drifting all the way down to the bay area :( The smoke is so bad that it's completely covered up Mt. Diablo, which normally looms over the area. I live just minutes away from the base of the mountain and I can't even see it anymore. In addition to our smoky skies, and the creepy red sun, we're also experiencing some pretty bad air quality. It's not as bad a cities north of us are experiencing, but it's bad enough to be noticeable.

This is the air quality report for Concord. The red color on today's forecast is "Unhealthy (U)" which basically means "Not a good day to go for a run" :D... tomorrow it's downgraded to "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG)"

On Monday I met up with Pam for our usual run. Because of busy schedules, we hadn't run since Monday the 9th, two weeks before. As we were running I noticed that I was doing a bit more huffing and puffing and had this side cramp that wouldn't go away. The problem was either my lack of running in the past two weeks, or the bad air quality. Pam had done some running since the last time we ran together and since she noticed that she was having a harder time too, I'm guessing the labored breathing was mostly due to the cruddy air.

On Tuesday I didn't really feel like going home after work and just lazing around, even though I had some laundry to do. Claudia mentioned that she was going to do a 3 mile walk after work to pass some time before she was meeting Phil and Amy at the pool. I'm such a nice friend I offered to come out and walk with her. :D Funny how during the past training season it felt like such a chore to go out to the Buddy Runs after work on Tuesday's but my first Tuesday after the season's done I don't want to go home and sit around! I met Claudia at her office and we did a semi-leisurely paced 3 mile walk down Camino Tassajara. By the time I got home it was only about 7:00 and I had plenty of time to eat some food and watch some tv.

Last night I twisted Claudia's arm and convinced her that since the air quality was so icky, she should come drink wine with me at the Walnut Creek Wine Walk instead of going to her track workout. I had heard about it a few days ago and thought it would be fun to check it out. Basically you pay $20 for a wine glass, wristband and map, and then from 6-9pm you walk around to various participating downtown businesses who are serving wine, and usually a little food too. I've been to something similar in Danville but it was on a much smaller scale. In Walnut Creek there were 32 businesses participating-- clothing stores, restaurants, a travel agency, a bank (it's probably the only time I'll ever be able to say I drank in the bank!!), a coffee shop, computer store, salons, and even a mattress store. There were TONS of people out there-- they ran out of the special wine glasses so many people just had plastic cups and a few locations even ran out of wine.

Taking out my "wine withdrawal" at the bank :D

I think that Claudia and I both planned on this taking no more than a couple of hours but before we knew it it was already 9:00 and we had hit 23 of the 32 locations. The last place we went to was a Mediterranean food place and we decided while we were there to grab something more substantial than the cheese and crackers we had been nibbling on all evening. Unfortunately they close up at 9:00 so we ended up going to Pyramid instead, where I ate way too much food for that late hour. When I went home my belly was so stuffed with wine, snacks and a chicken sandwich, I thought I was going to burst! We had a good time though and since it seemed to be such a success, I'm sure they'll do it again!

(Not so) Summer in the City

To celebrate the end of the Team In Training Spring Season (which means no more early morning Saturday runs) what did I decide to do? Get up at the butt crack of dawn on Saturday!! Amy and Claudia were doing the Tri 4 Fun in Pleasanton-- it was Amy's first triathlon every, and Claudia's first one in awhile. Jeanette and I carpooled down together to go cheer them on. When we left my house at 6:00am it was already warm :( and the day only got warmer after that. Thankfully the sign that I made for Amy and Claudia also doubled as a shade structure :D

Amy and Claudia did a fantastic job!! I was hot just sitting there and I'm so proud of how well they did swimming, biking and running in that heat! A few of our Spring Season teammates were also there doing the triathlon so we got to cheer for them too!

After the race we decided to go grab breakfast-- the athletes had earned it, Rocky, Jeanette and I were just hungry :D After breakfast I went home and napped for the rest of the afternoon. When it had cooled down a little, I went to Target to pick up a few things-- I needed to get a head set for my cell phone so I don't get in trouble for talking on the phone in the car after July 1st, plus some things for the concert we were going to the next day in Golden Gate Park.

Alice Radio was putting on a free concert called Alice's Summerthing. They had about 5 bands/artists... not any that were super famous but most all of them had at least one or two songs I knew. It was more of an excuse though to enjoy a nice day with friends in the city. Too bad the "nice" day part of it didn't really happen :( When Lael and I left my house at 10:30, I was dressed in shorts and a tank top, anticipating really nice weather in the city. I grabbed a fleece jacket just in case, thinking that I'd probably end up using it as a pillow. Thank god I brought it because it was FREEZING out there!!

As soon as we went through the tunnel I could see the fog in the city, but I hoped it wasn't anywhere near Golden Gate Park. By the time we got to the park though the sun was gone and the temperature had dropped about 15 degrees :( Lael's friend Kelvin and his GF Amie had gotten there before us and had claimed a good spot in the meadow. Thankfully I had brought a large towel and a fleece blanket to sit on-- with the fleece blanket on top of us, it wasn't too bad. The first band started and more of our friends showed up... Phil, Claudia and Rocky all came after their training was over. My friend Katie and her BF also showed up towards the end of the afternoon. The music was good, we were stuffed with food and we had a good time despite the not-so-summery weather!

Running free week

Girls Night Out + Busy at Work = No running for me! Monday it was my fault... I happily ditched the run in favor of Mojitos and Sex and the City with the girls. Thursday it was Pam's fault but I can't say that I was sad that she had too much work to do and couldn't run (Well, I was sad for her, but not for me!!). It was super hot yesterday and I was not excited about the idea of running in the 90+ degree weather! So instead I actually cooked myself a well balanced dinner (:-O) and watched some tv in my nice air conditioned apartment! Ahhh, so nice!

Tonight I'll probably do much of the same since I need to be up at the butt crack of dawn tomorrow to go cheer on Amy and Claudia at the Tri4Fun! It's Amy's First Triathlon Ever and I know she's going to do a great job!

GOOD LUCK AMY AND CLAUDIA!!!

Girls Night Out x2

I "heart" my girlfriends :D No matter what we're doing, we always have fun together! On Monday night Claudia, Lindsay, Jeanette and I got together for a Girls Night Out. We went to Havana's for some yummy food and mojitos, and then we to see the ultimate Girls Night Out movie, Sex and the City! The movie was fun, but a little on the long side :( I guess when you have 4 important, central characters, it takes time to tell each of their stories. The best thing about the movie was how much it showcased the amazing, unique friendships that women can have with each other.




Last night I met up with two other girlfriends, my former coworker Ann and her cousin Maureen. Maureen tells her hubby that we're the coffee klatch girls, and he joked that we're really the Vodka klatch. I think he's a little closer to the truth since our get togethers NEVER include coffee :) We (along with another girl Lara) meet up maybe once a month, or once every couple of months, for drinks and dinner. Last night we met up at Artisan, a cute little wine bar in Walnut Creek. We got there around 5:30 and next thing you know it's after 10:00!! For the most part we were the only ones in there so we could be as loud as we wanted :) The owner who was there gave us some really good suggestions on wine to try and I think we each enjoyed what we had. Since I hadn't been able to be there for the last meet up it was nice to spend some time catching each other up on what's going on in our lives!

A Happy Father's Day Weekend

Even though I just saw my parent's last weekend, I couldn't NOT see my dad for Father's Day so I had originally planned to make a trip to YC for the weekend. When I talked to my mom last week though, she brought up the idea of going to Tahoe for the weekend instead. My parents are in the middle of remodeling our Tahoe condo so they can sell it :( Boo hoo. Since I hadn't been up to Tahoe since last year, and since I might not be able to get up there again before the unit sells, I thought it was a great idea to head to Tahoe for Father's Day weekend!

Since the sun doesn't go down so darn early this time of year, I decided to just drive up to Tahoe on Friday after work. This would give me at least one full day of relaxation! Too bad everyone else decided to head out of town later Friday afternoon too! I was basically stuck in traffic from here to Sacramento. I guess the high gas prices haven't really deterred people from traveling! Once I started climbing into the foothills though the road got much less congested and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way to Incline Village.

Ahhh, I LOVE the lake! I love that first glimpse of it as you come down the hill into King's Beach. It's just so dang purty :D I finally rolled into the condo complex a little before 9:00... a whopping 4.5 hours since I left work :( Once I got there I spent the evening catching up on things with my parents and checking out all the changes in the condo (new wood floors, new carpet, new sofas, even a new fridge!)

The next morning after breakfast we decided to head down to the beach to relax and read. Us Lamons are funny... we're not really bathing suit people and I think we were the only ones laying out on the lounge chairs in our regular clothes :) Oh well, we enjoyed ourselves! We read, ate, applied lots of sunscreen, read some more, and even fell asleep. It was perfect beach weather, even though we all kept moving our chairs back into the shade as the sun rose higher in the sky :) The only thing marring our perfect day was all the smoky haze hanging over the lake. When we first got to the beach you could barely see the mountains on the other side of the lake... just about 15 miles away. As the day went on the sky got hazier and hazier and the mountains completely disappeared :(

Where are the mountains? It almost looks like we were at the ocean!

After our day of lazing on the beach, we went back to the condo, got cleaned up and then went to dinner down at the Hyatt. My parents had gone there just a couple of weeks before and my parents were raving about the steak fillet that my dad had... since it sounded so good, all three of us had the same thing! After our yummy dinner we went back to the condo so my dad could open gifts and we could have our dessert :D

The next morning I packed up, ate breakfast and watched some tv before heading back to Walnut Creek. This time there was much less traffic on the road and I made it home by early afternoon! It was a fun weekend with the family, and I'm glad I got the chance to be up at the lake, even if it's for the last time... wah, wah, wah!! :(

It feels like summer has arrived!

Now that it's hot, I wish it were cool :( I'm just never happy with the weather! Thankfully since my event is over, I don't HAVE to be out there training in the heat! That doesn't mean I WON'T be out there though! I am still planning on doing the Monday/Thursday runs with Pam (joined by Amy on Mondays) although with our busy schedules, it's down to about once a week right now! I'd really like to keep up with at least some running during the summer so that when it's time to train for Nike at the end of the summer, I won't have to start all over again!

Monday night I met with Pam and Amy for our run. It was warm out but not too bad at all. Amy informed us that she would be taking it slow, and that was fine by me! Towards the end Amy took a walk break and Pam and I picked up the speed a little bit. It was nice to get out there and run with the girls... especially Amy, who I hadn't run with in awhile! I'm glad that the weather held out for us too!

The rest of the week has been pretty laid back. Tuesday I went to dinner with Lindsay at Pyramid. The weather was perfect for sitting out on their back patio enjoying some beers. Last night I had Send Off for our Spring season runners who are going to Alaska next week for the Anchorage Marathon. We have just a few runners going so Send Off was nice and small. It gave us more of an opportunity to visit and chat with eachother!

Tonight I'm off to Tahoe for the weekend! I haven't been up I think since last summer and I'm ready to go up and hang out at the lake! Of course I'm going up there when the gas prices have shot through the roof! Last weekend it was a trip to Sac, this weekend Tahoe... what a time for all this driving around!!

Liar, liar :D

A little over a week ago I posted about my mom's 60th birthday... and a couple of weeks before that about my brother's surprise visit for Mother's Day. Since I wasn't going to be around for her 60th bday (it was the same weekend as Rock N'Roll) getting my brother to come down for Mother's Day was also an early birthday present. But a few days before my mom's birthday, her friend Deni called saying that we needed to plan a surprise party for my mom. There's no saying "NO" to Deni so I said "Okay, what do you have in mind?" That's when the plan was hatched :D

Deni's idea was for a 2 part birthday surprise. First she'd get my mom to come to Sacramento for the day and Deni would surprise her with a spa day. After the spa, they'd go to dinner where family and friends would be waiting! Since I was going to be gone for my mom's actual birthday, we decided that we'd have this celebration on the 7th, also hoping that it would throw my mom off the scent! After MANY emails and calls between me, Deni and my dad, the spa and dinner reservations were made, the family/friends were invited to dinner, the decorations were made, the cake was ordered and we were ready!!

Saturday afternoon as my mom was on the way to Roseville to meet Deni, I was also headed to Roseville. We decided it would be a nice surprise to have me meet them down at the spa. We were hoping that she'd think THAT was the big surprise and not guess that anything was coming after. I got to the spa first and filled out my paperwork. The ladies there were VERY nice and had the whole thing planned out. They parked me in the "Relaxation Room" to wait for Deni and my mom to arrive. Once they got there, the ladies took them on a tour of the spa, including the Relaxation Room, where I was waiting! My mom was very surprised to see me, but I didn't get as much of a scream as my brother did :D Since we were there at the end of the day, the ladies closed the doors and basically gave us the run of the place. We busted out some champagne I had brought and had a nice afternoon of relaxation!

All disheveled from their first treatment!

Me enjoying the sauna

During my facial at the end of the afternoon, I started thinking about the next phase of the plan. Deni and I had concocted a story that would let me leave the spa so I could go down to the restaurant and set up some decorations before my mom and Deni arrived. I was a little nervous about us being about to act natural so my mom wouldn't guess that something was up. :D I think we did a pretty good job because my mom didn't guess a thing! I told her that I needed to go pick up Deni's daughter who hadn't been able to make it for the spa, but had come down from the city for dinner. Our story worked and I was able to leave a little early to go meet everyone at Buca di Beppo to set up!

When I got to the restaurant everyone was already there and waiting for the guest of honor. :D We threw up some decorations and about 10 minutes later she showed up! She was very shocked and excited to see all the family and friends who had come to help her celebrate! After a yummy dinner our server brought out a cake my dad had brought from Yuba City and we all sang Happy Birthday! I think that everyone had a good time, and I know my mom was very surprised so I'd say the day was a success!!

I didn't take many pictures but I'll add some when other people send me theirs!

SURPRISE!!!

Hee hee, we got my mom good over the weekend!! Two surprises in one day and she had NO clue!! HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY (again) MOM!!! I'll post an update all about it tomorrow!

San Diego Rock N' Roll Race Report!

The weekend started at the butt crack of dawn on Saturday morning. :( I had to be at SFO at around 7:00 which means I had to get up really early-- boo hoo for me :( Once I got to the airport I was joined by a bunch of other TNTers from around the Bay Area, including some of my Bay Side teammates.

After an uneventful flight, we got to San Diego at about 10:00. A shuttle was waiting for us there to take us to our hotel. The hotel was really nice and BIG (I got lost trying to find the room). The best thing was that even though we were all there well before the check in time, they were able to get us into our rooms. I put my stuff in the room and then headed to the pool to meet up with some other teammates. We spent some time lounging there in the warm sun (that finally decided to come out) before we hopped on the shuttle to head to the Expo.

Me, Ian, Melissa, Deb, Christina and Fran waiting for our shuttle at the SD airport!

The Expo was pretty much like all the other RNR Expos I've been too... which means it was HUGE! I walked around a little bit, and then when Rocky and Claudia got there we all walked around some more. By this time it was around 2:00 and none of us had had any lunch so we walked across the street to this cute restaurant and had some lunch while sitting outside in the sun. The lunch was yummy, but filled me up way to much, especially considering that by the time we were done it was only an hour or so until the pasta party!

Claudia and I at the Expo

The Pasta Party was located just down the street from our hotel so it was a nice short shuttle ride. The food was standard pasta party food, which means not too excited. Good thing I was still full from lunch! I was happy to see though that they had cookies there :D At the Pasta Party we heard from The Penguin-- I've heard him speak a lot before but he still cracks me up! We also heard from some other race people and also an honoree who's also a participant. Everyone's speeches were nice, they just went on WAY too long! I think it was close to 8:30 by the time we finally left! When I got back to my room I spent some time getting all my race stuff ready for the next day. At 10:00 it was lights out!

Team "Because We Can!" on the way to the Pasta Party

Yummm, pasta party food!

Sunday:
I didn't sleep well at all the night before the race :( I actually woke up a few minutes before my alarm was set to go off at 3:30am because I had a dream that I was late for the race! I got up, got ready and then Claudia, Rocky and I headed to the hotel lobby to meet up with everyone. Coach gave us our pep talk, we did our shout outs and then we headed outside to get on the shuttle to the start. Everyone was a little nervous and tired but still excited!

When we got to the start area it was still dark out. We all pottied and then found a spot on the grass to hang out until the start. We pottied some more, checked our bags, and then at 6:15 made our way to our corral. When 6:30 came the race was on! (Which means we just stood there for a few minutes before we started the walk to the start line) :D While we were sitting around before the start the temperature had been a little cool but very comfortable. Great for sitting around, but not cool enough for running. Even though we had the "June Gloom" clouds above us, I started sweating right after we started running. It wasn't really HOT out, but it was a little humid. After just a couple of miles I had sweat pouring off of me... even dripping off my elbows. Sorry, that's kind of gross but I honestly have never sweat more in my life. And when I looked around I could see that everyone else was having the same problem... people's shirts were already drenched and the sun hadn't even come out yet!

The first few miles were pretty nice... we ran down through Balboa Park and then around the downtown area and Gaslamp district. Because I don't know the city well, and there were quite a few turns, I had no idea where I was the first few miles. The only thing I really knew was that at mile 8 I would be one street over from mile 4. This was where we hung out when my brother ran the full marathon, and it's the same place where Claudia and Rocky were going to be. At 4 miles I was feeling really good but had left my teammates behind. I ran past Claudia and Rocky, gave them a quick wave and then kept going.

Between mile 4 and 8 is when I started getting tired. I had started out the race hungry (I either ate too little, too early or both) but after I had a GU around mile 5 I felt better. By mile 8 though I was hungry again :( I also noticed that when I stopped to walk during the water stops my quads were really tight. I was worried that with the humidity and sweating that I'd start to cramp up so I kept drinking more of my gatorade instead of the water at the water stops. I ran into Claudia and Rocky again... I gave them my race belt, got a refill of Gatorade (I had gone through more than half of my bottle), chatted for a minute and then said goodbye. Since they had to get over the the marathon finish line I wasn't going to see them again. :( THANK YOU for being out there and supporting me! Knowing they were going to be there at mile 8 motivated me to keep moving!

After I left them the race route took us onto the freeway. It was very weird running on an empty freeway, and not all the comfortable. The surface isn't smooth and the road is tilted. You don't notice how much when you're driving in a car but running it you do notice. A few people had told me to either run on the very left, or very right side where the road was a little more even so that's what I tried to do. The sucky thing is that in addition to running on this tilted freeway, we were also running up a 2 mile incline :( I knew that for the next 2 miles we'd be running uphill so I just started walking. I knew I couldn't power up this hill and didn't want to tire myself out trying. I noticed at this point that A LOT of people were walking, and A LOT of people were stretching along the side of the road. Not really a good sign so early in the race. I think that the humidity and the course were causing people some difficulty.

While I was on the freeway the sun started to come out. At first I was not happy about that but I was actually more comfortable at that point. I was able to cool down a little when I was walking, and with the sun came a little breeze which helped even more. It also didn't feel quiet as humid which was nice. At mile 10 we got a nice little downhill... a lot of people were still walking so I managed to pass quite a few of them. Then, another little uphill that I walked before we exited off the freeway around mile 11.

These guys cracked me up... I saw them at two spots, once at the top of the big hill cheering "GO GO UP THE HILL!" One guy was REALLY good at the high kicks... kind of scary from a boy in a short skirt!

From mile 11-12.5 I did some running and walking off and on. The bottom of my feet really hurt from the darn freeway and it was just plain hot out there. :( Somehow my Garmin got off course because it was showing .5 miles more than the mile markers. So when I hit 12 miles on my watch, I was only at 11.5. That was really screwing with me because I kept thinking I was almost at each mile marker, but was really a half mile away! When my watch hit 13 miles, I knew I had just .6 left so I started running a little faster. I was on the lookout for a finish chute, or special area for the half marathoners but I didn't see anything. I crossed the mat at 13.1 miles and saw an area off to the right that was the finish area for the half marathoners but was unsure if I should stop running right there, or continue running down the path into the finish area. I kind of did both, so I think that my "finish" photo is of me actually walking. A little anticlimactic and confusing, but oh well, I was just so happy to be done!! They had a special medal for us that looked exactly like the full marathon medals, but with a different color ribbon and a little 1/2 in there :D The finish area was nice too... I saw some of my teammates so we sat in the grass and had some snacks.

Heather and I at the finish area

The plan was that after we finished, we'd be bussed over to the full marathon finish line so that we could get our bags and then get the shuttle back to the hotel. The shuttle took FOREVER, and by the time I got to the finish area Lael, who was running the full marathon, had already finished! I met up with Lael, Claudia and Rocky and then went off to get my bag while they looked for our other friend Bill. The finish line area was so crowded I was starting to get super irritated with people! I was hot, tired and hungry... GET OUT OF MY WAY!!! When I made it back to the family area Bill had showed up and we went to get our free beer-- We sat in the grass, drank our beer and baked for a little bit :D

We decided it was finally time to get going so we made the long trek off to the car, and then drove Bill and Lael back to their car near the start. We couldn't figure out how to get on the darn freeway so we stopped for some lunch at the sandwich place and then made a second attempt, SUCCESS! Back to the hotel we went! I jumped in the shower, laid down for a short rest and then it was time to get ready for the Victory Party!

The Victory Party was at the Convention Center downtown and there were TONS of people there. It was hard to find everyone so I ended up at the table with some of the managers. We ate, drank some beer and then finally found our group on the other side of the room dancing it up! The party was over at 8:00 and most people had already left by then. Claudia and Rocky were having dinner down the street so I went down to meet up with them and then the three of use hooked up with some of the Diablo Valley team who was at a bar down the street. We hit a couple of San Diego's hot spots before finally heading back to our hotel. It had been a LONG day for all of us!

Monday:
The next morning I got to actually lay in bed for awhile. We didn't have to be on the shuttle until about 11:30 so I had time to be a lazy bum :D I was a little sore and achy but wasn't doing the "marathon waddle" like many other people were! I nodded off on the plane, and then finally got to my house at 4:30 :(

All in all it as a good weekend. San Diego is such a fun town and I wish I could have spent more time there having fun, rather than being shuttled all over the place and running the race! I feel pretty good about my time, considering I walked for over 2 miles of it and was sweating like a pig! I don't think I'd ever do the race again though... I've crossed it off my list and that's where it can stay!

THANK YOU to everyone who supported me this season... both financially and emotionally! I couldn't have done it without you all!!!