The Relay Recap

Hold on to your hats kids... it's a long one :D I thought I'd break it into a timeline so I could remember everything:

SATURDAY:

4:15am Wake up :(

4:50am Lael and I pick up Lindsay and head out to Oakland to meet up with Leslie, Allan and Allen.

6:00am Finally loaded up and on the road to Calistoga to meet up with Van #1

7:00am Arrive in Calistoga, get everyone settled in their vans, do a little van decorating, take some pics

Some people got very clever with their van names :D

Me, Lael and Linds

Phil and his Go Girl drink

The Fat Kids!!

7:30am Send off Kat, Fat Kid #1! Woo hoo, the race is on!!

Kat at the start line

7:30am-noon While Van #1 is out there doing the first two legs, us Fatties in Van #2 have a few hours to kill :D We stop for breakfast in St. Helena at Gillwoods (which I was just at two weeks ago with Amy). After breakfast we headed to the first Van Exchange at a church in Napa to hang out and rest up. It was starting to warm up and a few of us managed to get in a little nap out in the warm sun.

Lael trying to nap in the van

Noon: We heard from Van #1 that their last runner was on their way so Rudy, Fat Kid #7, got ready and we all headed over to wait at the exchange point. We had a few minutes to chat with the Van #1 peeps once they showed up. I wish we had more time to hang out with them but once Sean came in and Rudy headed out, we had to get in the van and get out there to support our runner!

Phil, Linds and Kat from Van #1

Van #2 Fat Kids: Me, Lael, Leslie, Rudy, Allan, Allen and Fat Kid Volunteer Matt

Ultra-Marathon Man Dean Karnazes

12:15pm Rudy is off and Van #2 is on for the next 6 legs while Van #1 gets some lunch and much deserved rest :D

Sean (on the right) sending Rudy off!

12:30pm This is when it almost all ended badly... As the "active" van, our job is to support our runner while they're out on the course. There are no aid stations or water stop, or cheering crowds for that matter, and the van is there to provide all of that :D While Rudy was out running, we were leap frogging with him... we'd drive by him, honk and wave, and then pull over about a mile down the road to wait for him. After cheering him on, we'd do the same thing all over again. The problem is that on these little two lane roads, there aren't too many places to easily pull over, especially with other Relay vans vying for a spot on the road too. Let's just say this led to a Hollywood style, almost accident :( No one was hurt, neither were the vehicles, but I think we all got a BIG surge of adrenaline!

12:30-2:00pm Rudy finished his leg and Allan rocks his (despite getting lost in a vineyard). During Allan's leg I start getting ready for my turn... eating a little, hydrating, getting all my gear ready.

Allan running through the vineyard

Leslie and Rudy

2:00pm Now it's my turn... we pull into the exchange point in Sonoma. My stomach is in knots so I make a quick potty stop (of course there's a line!) and then rush over to the exchange area to wait for Allan. Here he comes and I'm off!! I had a pretty strong head wind for almost the whole run, which made it feel like I was running uphill the whole time. I got passed a bunch, but managed to pass up one lady by sprinting at the end :D My Garmin kept losing the signal so it was hard to keep track of how far I'd actually gone, and what my pace was. I felt like I was running slowly, but I didn't really know!

My turn!

These yellow Relay signs pointed out any turns we had to take

Me coming in, and Lael in perfect Relay form :D

3:00-6:00pm Lael, Leslie and Allen all complete their legs... and they looked fantastic doing it! We had some really strong runners in our van and they all just rocked their legs! We all took turns driving the van or co piloting (except for Allan-- we were encouraged by some of last year's group NOT to let him drive :D) and supporting eachother along each leg. It definitely made the time pass quickly and it was fun seeing a part of the bay area that I had never really been to before! (Oh, and Lael said I had to mention that he actually passed up Dean Karnazes on his leg :D)

Lael trying to protect himself from the wind

This is how windy it was out there

Lael finishing, and Leslie heading out

Leslie's done and now it's Allen's turn!

6:00pm We pull into the next van exchange point at the Marin French Cheese Company in Petaluma. There were TONS of vans there, including our van #1 who had been hanging out there in the wind all afternoon. Once Allen came in, Kat from Van #1 took off and we had a few hours to eat and hang out.


6:00-midnight We decided to head over to Novato where there would probably be a few places to eat. We found a Chevy's, which seemed to be the best option, so we pulled in there for a bite to eat. My stomach was not feeling to hot so I tried to order something kind of bland. Once the food came though, I took one look and knew that I wasn't going to be able to eat much. I think I had a couple bites of rice, 2 bites of my chicken taco and that corn tomalito stuff. I was just too nauseous to get much of it down though :(. After a stop at Target so I could get some Pepto, we drove to the next Van Exchange on the SF side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Once we pulled into the parking lot, we all tried to get a little shut eye, which is kind of hard with 6 people in a van, even a pretty roomy van like ours! I know Allan slept pretty well (I heard a lot of snoring coming from his area) but I think the rest of us only managed a quick nap. At 12:00 Brian showed up (he was running one of our legs since it went right through his neighborhood) and hung out with us in our stinky van :D

Midnight Van #1 showed up, Sean came in from his run across the Golden Gate bridge with a full moon, Brian headed out and Van #2 was off again!

Brian and Lindsay

SUNDAY:

12:30-2:30am Brian and Rudy both did their legs in the dark, with a few sprinkles. At least the wind had pretty much disappeared! It was really weird to be driving around the city in the middle of the night, and it wasn't because I went out in the city!

2:30am Now it's my turn again. :( I'm tired, my tummy hurts and I have to run in the dark by myself :( My leg started in Milbrae at some shopping center. Rudy came in, and I took off into the dark. It really wasn't THAT bad... I had a headlight, there was a full moon and street lights, and every once in awhile I'd be passed by another runner, or my van. I had beautiful views of the hills to my right, and down to the Bay on my left. During one stretch with no traffic, they drove behind me so I could see a little better with their headlights. A portion of my leg was on a bike trail, and since I couldn't be trailed by my van, and there were no streetlights to help us see better, they let the runners do that portion with an "escort", another runner from their team. Once I got to the bike path, Rudy was there waiting for me and he ran that portion with me! THANK YOU! I definitely would have gotten creeped out on my own! Again, my Garmin kept losing the satellite signal so I had to guess how far I'd gone by what I thought my pace was. It was kind of annoying :( I finished that leg actually feeling pretty good... although I hadn't gotten much sleep, I felt wide awake...

3:30-6:30am .... that is until I got back into the van. I layed my head down and pretty much slept off and on during Lael and Leslie's legs. Since Brian had taken one of our legs, Allan and Allen decided to run the last leg together to the next Van Exchange in Redwood City.

6:30-10:00am After the Van #1 took back over, we headed up to Canada College where there were showers and a gym to sleep in. It felt SO nice to finally take a shower and put on clean clothes! While Lael and Rudy slept in the van, Allan, Allen, Leslie and I laid out our sleeping bags on some mats on the gym floor and tried to sleep for a couple of hours. At 9:00 we had to get up, get everything back in the van and head off to the next Van Exchange in Saratoga.

10:00am We arrive at the Van Exchange and meet up with Van #1 who is waiting for Sean to come in. My stomach feels a little better and I'm starving so I wolf down a couple of bars of something. Felt good going down, not so hot afterwards :( Thankfully I still had plenty of Pepto!

Lael, Leslie, Allan and Allen waiting at the last Van Exchange

Me and Linds, tired and looking it :D

10:30am-12:30pm Rudy and Allan get a couple of nice downhill legs which I'm sure felt nice after the harder legs they had the day before!

12:30pm WOO HOO... my last leg! I was so tired at this point... 6.3 miles sounded like SUCH a long way to go! I was looked forward to having some downhills, but unfortunately for every little downhill, I also had a little uphill. Nothing very hard, just tiring, and I'm a big wimp with hills! There were a couple of times when I knew my van had passed me already, and I was in the hot sun, that I walked for a couple minutes up one of the inclines :D This time my Garmin never found the signal at all, so again, I had no idea when I was running how far I'd gone or how fast I was going. :( At the exchange area I smelled some serious BBQ and I was starved! I had a hot dog, and Rudy and Allan also had something... A hot dog had never tasted so good!!

Off I go on my last leg!

1:30-3:30pm Lael and Leslie had two really tough legs with some BIG climbs but they totally kicked butt! Allen got the last leg through Santa Cruz and after we saw him off, we went straight to the Boardwalk to find the rest of our team. We found them hanging around the finish line drinking beers!

4:00pm Here comes Allen towards the finish line on the beach... about 100 yards out we jump in with him to sprint across the finish line in the sand! WOO HOO... We're DONE!!! We hung around the finish area for just a bit but I think we were all anxious to get home, take a shower, eat some real food and get some sleep! I finally got home around 6:30 and promptly did just that!

The Fat Kids finished!!!

The Relay was one of the hardest things I've done... not necessarily because of the miles I ran, which really wasn't bad, but because of the mental challenges. It was really hard to run with no sleep... at dinner on Saturday night it dawned on me that we were only 1/3 of the way done :( Already I was tired and not feeling that great and I had the rest of the night, and next day to go until it was all over. Right now I don't know if I'd do it again... I had such a blast and am SO glad I did it, but it might be one of those things you cross off your list and then don't have to do again!! Well see... after all, that's how I felt after marathon #2!

Update is in progress...

I'm still writing out my Relay update... it's going to be a long one! Here's a couple of photos to tide you over...

The Fat Kids... L-R: Phil, Rudy, Lael, Kristi, Lindsay, Me, Sean, Tina, Leslie, Kat, Allen (Allan is taking the picture)

Van #1

The Fat Kids ROCKED the Relay!!

WOO HOO!! We did it! According to the unofficial results Fat Kids finished in 32:39:08, placing 178 out of 202 finishing teams... MUCH better than last year's 2nd to last place finish :D I had a great time, I'm exhausted and sore as hell but happy that I did it! I'll update more later with pictures!

T minus 17 hours to Fat Kid lift off!!

IT'S TIME! The Relay is almost here!! I am mostly packed, and mostly prepared :D Due to some last minute drop outs :( we had to do a little re-organizing of the schedule to compensate (Tina called it the Fat Kid Shuffle) :) Instead of being Fat Kid (runner) #1 in Van 1, I am now Fat Kid (runner) #9 in Van 2. It doesn't make too much difference to me... although now it means that I will have to run in the middle of the night. I am running leg #9 in beautiful Sonoma which, according to Tina's awesome spreadsheet, should be starting at 3:13pm Saturday. My next leg, #21, through the Peninsula, will be 12 hours later (probably none of which will be spent sleeping) at around 3:29am Sunday. My final leg, #33, through the mountains of Santa Cruz, should happen around 1:36pm on Sun. Wish me luck!! I'll blog all about it next week!

A reason to celebrate

With all the crappy stuff that's been happening lately to many of our friends, it was nice to have something to celebrate last evening... Amy's birthday!! Our usual Stitch N'Bitch get together coincided nicely with Amy's birthday so of course we had to make this a special Stitch N'Bitch night :D There was a nice crowd of ladies that showed up (the promise of cake and champagne was a big draw :D) and it was really nice to catch up with everyone! Of course, not a lot of "stitching" was done... instead we did more eating, drinking and chatting!

Nervous

The Relay is coming up in a few short days and I'm starting to get nervous! I was talking to Lindsay last night, and she's super nervous about the running. Surprisingly, I'm not too nervous about that (okay, maybe a little)-- I know that no matter what, I can get it done. It might not be fast, it might not be pretty and I might not be happy but I know that barring a fall into a ditch, I can finish my three legs. No, what I'm nervous about has nothing to do with running...

I'm worried about having to get up at 3:30am on Saturday morning; I'm worried about being the one person who packs too much crap; I'm worried about how cranky I'll be with no sleep; I'm worried about not bringing the right clothes and being too cold or too hot; I'm worried about being sweaty and icky for pretty much 36 hours straight; I'm worried about pulling my weight and my van mates liking me; I'm worried that I'll fall asleep with my contacts in, them hardening and suctioning to my eyeballs and then being forced to run "blind"; I'm worried about vomiting from motion sickness in the back seat of a van driving on Highway 17 (then my van mates would REALLY not like me!). In short, I'm worried about the fact that I have no idea what to expect, and can only plan ahead so much. All my obsessive planning tendencies are at complete odds with the unpredictability of this race! AHHH!!! But as much as half of my brain is worried and nervous and anxious and wants to curl into a ball and cry at the thought of doing this, the other half of my brain (I think the one that got me into this) know that it's going to be one of the best experiences of my life!

After three days straight of running (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) I decided to skip the Buddy Run last night (again) and take the evening off. I wanted to give my legs a little time to rest before putting them through the wringer this weekend. I have a sports massage scheduled for tomorrow, and then one last short run and I'll be set for this weekend! I hope.

Before I go, SHOUT OUT to my latest fundraising supporter John Nichols, my godfather and a longtime family friend!! THANK YOU for your donation!!

Brenda Donato Rainbow 5K Fun Run Pics

Here are some pictures from the race on Sunday...

The ones responsible for it all: Leslie, Brian and Lindsay... good job guys!!!

Claudia and I

Carol, Lindsay, Jeanette and Claudia... all ready for volunteer duty!

Brenda's boys



Matt and I on our way out... it's not too hot yet

The winner of the race (not just his division, the entire race!!)-- 12 year old speedy demon who ran a hair over a 6 minute mile pace (he even beat Coach!)

Coming into the finish line...

... okay, I'm HOT now!!

Coach with some of my Because We Can Spring Season teammates!

One Year

It was one year ago today that team honoree, and friend, Brenda passed away :( This weekend was full of memories of her. Saturday the team was out in San Leandro, which is exactly where we had been a year ago on the day that she passed away. Last year on this day it was cold, ugly and rainy. The team was out at the marina huddled up together under the trees trying to stay out of the rain as one of our mentors and her family cooked us a wonderful warm breakfast. Later that day we found out Brenda had finally given up her fight :( This weekend the weather couldn't have been more different-- in San Leandro it was sunny, warm and not a cloud in the sky! Even though the weather was completely different, it was really wierd being out there again on the same weekend-- I couldn't help but think about that day last year and how Brenda would have just loved being out there with us on Saturday!!

Saturday after the run I went into the city with Claudia and Rocky. We had lunch at the Ferry Building and it was warm enough to sit outside in the shade. The weather was so perfect and it seemed like everyone and their mother was outside enjoying it! At least the weather was perfect until we decided to walk out along the Embarcadero-- once we got out there in the sun we were roasting!! We walked along for awhile, stopped at Pier 23 for a potty stop and drink break, and then walked back to the car. Rocky had to go pick up some music gear for the next day so he dropped Claudia and I off in Union Square. We went in some of the shi shi expensive shops and laughed at all the stupid things that people spend a load of money on. I swear, I saw some of the ugliest clothes in the Chanel store... and don't get me started on the crazy stuff in Betsy Johnson! I think that even if I had a ton of money, I wouldn't shop at those fancy places!

Sunday morning was Brenda's Rainbow 5k Fun Run and Walk that our friend Brian put on (with lots help from Lindsay and fellow LLS staff member Leslie) to raise money for LLS-- it was a HUGE hit!! A bunch of us got there at the butt crack of dawn to help get everything set up. By 7:30 people started showing up to register and just hang out before the race started. In a way it was like a giant TNT reunion! I saw a bunch of TNTers from past season as well as Brenda's hubby and two boys! The race (and entire event) went off without a hitch and I think that everyone had a really good time! The weather was gorgeous again (although a little too hot for running) and after the race everyone hung out visiting and listening to the MotherHumbuckers :D It was the perfect way to help celebrate Brenda and remember how much she enjoyed life! I was so pooped afterwards that I went home, did some quick vacuuming, took a nap and was a lazy bum for the rest of the evening!

There are a ton of pictures from the race yesterday... I'll post some soon!

A week too late

I'm excited that the weather is warming up... but why couldn't this have happened LAST week! How nice would it have been to have some warmer weather while we were up in Napa! Oh well... I'm not really complaining (too much) because at least we'll be able to enjoy the nice weather this weekend. And a busy weekend it's going to be! Tomorrow we have a Coached Run in San Leandro and then Claudia and I are going into the city to just hang out. Sunday is Brenda's Rainbow run that Brian and Lindsay have been working their fannies off for! It should be an amazing day... all our TNT friends, great music, gorgeous weather and of course Brenda's spirit floating around us all!

Last night I met up with Pam for our run. I was supposed to have a massage through my chiropractors office but the guy was sick :( Instead I went over to Noah's to pick up two giant bags of bagels for the run on Sunday. Right now my car is infused with the smell of onion bagels! Our run went well although I felt kind of sluggish when we first started. Maybe that was because right before I left the house I had a blueberry bagel from the bagel stash in my car (Shhh, don't tell!). That's what I get for stealing a donated bagel!! Right after the run I went over to Lindsay's place to help her and another friend stuff all the goodie bags for the race. The goodie bags actually have some really good stuff in them and between the three of us we were able to throw them together in just an hour and a half!

Napa Gala Weekend

Since I have not running update (whoops, fell asleep and missed the Buddy Run last night :() I'll update about the weekend's festivities...

On Friday Amy and I took off from work a little early so we could get a start on the drive before traffic got bad. We made pretty good time up to Yountville, checked into the hotel, took some pictures of our room (don't ask me why!) and decided to head off to Chandon for some champagne tasting! Yumm, me likey Champagne! We enjoyed the beautiful, if slightly cool, weather while sipping on some champagne. We didn't make it anywhere else because 1) most places were closed at that time, and 2) it was getting close to dinner time!

We headed back to the hotel where we enjoyed some wine tasting and hors d' oeuvres laid out in the hotel lobby. I met some of Amy's coworkers, we socialized for awhile and then Amy and I, Jeanette and Michael and one of their coworkers and his wife went for dinner at Go Fish in St. Helena. Once we got there we had to wait about a half hour or so for our table. I think they felt bad for us because they brought us all a glass of champagne while we waited, and then brought us out two free starters once we got seated!! I was feeling very brave (maybe all the champagne helped) and actually ordered sushi for dinner! If you know me, you know HOW unheard of that is! The food was very yummy and we had a good time chatting with eachother!

Saturday morning Amy had to get up earlyish to go to a meeting and I got to sleep in :D After I finally got up and got ready, I headed down to the lobby for their full service complimentary breakfast. They had EVERYTHING... fruit, pastries, eggs, potatoes, an omelet station, a waffle station and even champagne! Even though it was a little chilly outside, I sat out there next to the heat lamps and enjoyed my waffle with strawberries :D

Once Amy's meeting was over with, we headed down to the V Marketplace to look around at the shops. We had some time to kill before we needed to be at Hurley's for a lunch her boss was hosting for a few people. Lunch was REALLY good... it was three courses (a starter, entree and dessert) with, of course, plenty of wine. After the three hour lunch Amy and I were pooped and decided to skip out on the wine tasting we had planned to do. She tried to nap and I read outside on our balcony!

At 5:00 it was time to start getting ready. We got all prettied up and headed over the the Barrel Room at the V Marketplace for Cocktail Hour at 6:00. Everything was decorated so nicely-- they had a full bar and waiters walking around will little appetizers and in the background were the sounds of a jazz trio.

At 7:00 it was dinner time so we all walked over to the dinner tent. Everything inside was decorated in chocolate brown, gold and deep red... it looked gorgeous! The only problem was that the side of the tent were mesh, so it was SUPER chilly :( Dinner was yummy and there was a lot of food. Of course a lot of wine too (although they were filling up our water glasses more than our wine glasses... maybe they wanted to keep up from getting too drunk!!)

After the leisurely dinner, we all headed back over to the Barrel Room for the Dancing portion of the evening! I was so excited because the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's was that evening entertainment! I have no idea how to dance to swing, but I do love their music so I knew it would be fun. We all got out there a danced... even Ms. Amy shook her tail feather!! After the party was over we ended up hanging out with some of the part goers across the street at Bouchon, a restaurant owned by famed French Laundry and Per Se chef Thomas Keller. Umm, I'm not in college anymore... why do I think I can handle these late nights?!

Since we poured ourselves into bed pretty late the night before, we slept in on Sunday, missing the free breakfast at the hotel. Instead we drove into St. Helena for some greasy food-- just what the doctor ordered. :D After a quick side trip to V. Sattui to pick up some wine and a stop along the way to the Jelly Belly Factory (we needed a sugar fix to keep ourselves awake on the ride home!) we were finally home! It was a really fun weekend-- we ate, we drank, we partied, we (mostly I) met tons of new people and other than being a little chilly, the weather was perfect! Now I just need to recover from the weekend :D

A new cause

Over the past 5 years, I've raised some money (a few thousand bucks) for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. When I first started Team In Training, I didn't have a connection to the cause, but during my first season one of my college roommates was diagnosed with Lymphoma. She became my first connection to the cause, and over the following years I became friends with more and more people who were battling cancer-- they became my connections as well.

Now, through my involvement with The Relay, I have the opportunity to raise a little money for another good cause, Organs 'R' Us, which I also have a connection to. When I moved to Walnut Creek the first roommate that I had was dealing with kidney failure and went through numerous dialysis treatments at home every day. He had gone through a kidney transplant a few years prior to me meeting him with a kidney donated from his sister, but that transplant was unsuccessful. Not too long ago, he underwent another kidney transplant with a kidney taken from a young girl. Today he is healthy and doing well! Without receiving this kidney, he wouldn't be enjoying the quality of life he has now.

If you're interested in donating to Organs 'R' Us and supporting this cause, Click Here for my fundraising page.

Last night I went for a run with Pam. All the rich food and wine I consumed over the weekend did NOT help me out any. When we first started running I felt sluggish and slow. After we'd gone about 2 miles I looked at my watch and saw that we were doing *gasp* sub 10 minute miles! Uggg, too fast, can't breath, might keel over.

I've uploaded some of the pics from Napa... I'll write all about the weekend soon. Here's a taste of some of the craziness that was the Napa Gala Weekend...

Fun times in Napa

There was so much going on over the weekend, and I didn't have time to take the pictures off my camera so the full Napa Gala Weekend post will have to wait. In a nutshell, we had a wonderful time... the hotel was gorgeous, the food was all yummy (and there was A LOT of it), the wine was tasty, the people were all really nice, the Gala was beautiful and fun, the band was awesome and a good time was had by all! Thanks Amy for taking me as your "date"!!

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

So I think this is what has been bothering me: Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome. I went to the chiropractor after work yesterday for my first treatment. While he was hooking up these weird electrode looking things to my knee and quad, he told me what he thought the problem was. I was so focused on the scary electrode thingies that I didn't really process what he said and I don't think I remember correctly what it was. I tried looking it up online and what I found was information about Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome and that seems to match we he said was going on.


Diagnosis: Dr. Morganstein said that there might be some instability in my foot that causes it to roll inwards, pulling part of my knee in one direction. On the other hand, the outside of my quads are very tight while the inside is very weak, so that creates an imbalance and pulls another part of my knee in the opposite direction. Result: Friction. Sometimes this problem is called Runner's Knee, but luckily it isn't causing me any pain WHILE I run, although it probably adds to the friction. From what I read on the website "Once the syndrome has developed, even prolonged sitting can be painful ("movie-goer's sign") because of the extra pressure between the patella and the femur during knee flexion." Bingo, that's exactly what the problem for me has been!!



So after some stimulation to my quads from the electrode things, Dr. Morganstein did a little deep tissue work on the outside of my quad. OUCH! Things must have been super tight in there because that little "massage" really hurt. He gave me a little break at one point and then started in again before wrapping up the session with a few adjustments. Ahhh, that part I loved! He also showed me some ways to stretch out my glutes, quads, and especially outer quads on the foam roller and then some strength building exercises for my inner quads. His suggestion is that I alternate between chiropractic treatments and deep tissue massage (oh goodie) until my race, or until things start feeling better. Doing that, along with stretches and strengthening at home, should hopefully remedy situation.


I was feeling a little silly for going in to see him in the first place since I didn't really have a serious problem or major pain. But putting a name to it, and knowing there is a reason it's been bugging me, makes me feel better about going to someone who can help me "fix" this. Now I hope that it actually DOES help!!

After the appointment I met up with Pam for our run. I brought Lindsay with me since she's getting back into training and we wanted to catch up after her trip to Europe. Since we had gotten together last minute on Wednesday night for dinner and drinks at Maria Maria, we didn't have any more catching up to do but the three of us had fun chatting as we ran. We picked up the pace again last night... by the end of our run our average pace was 10:34! Wow! Monday night I could feel how much we were pushing the pace, but last night it seemed very comfortable and I was surprised to see how fast our pace was. I won't be doing any running this weekend since I'll be in Napa with Amy but I'll be back on track next week!

I had a dream...

... about the Relay. I'm the queen of weird dreams... I don't know what it is but I have the most jacked up, odd dreams. In my Relay dream last night it was the first day of the event. I woke up very late at night in our van, which was driving around while the other half of the team did their legs. When I woke up I knew exactly where I was, and why I was there, but I had no recollection of how the day had passed. I told my teammates that the last thing I remembered was being at the start, but I couldn't remember how my legs went, or what happened the rest of the day. I was not worried for the reason you might think-- that something must be awfully wrong with me to have forgotten a whole day-- but because if I couldn't remember what happened, how on earth was I going to blog about it! Seriously, that's what I dreamt. Weird huh?

Last night I met up with the girls for a pedi/mani/wax. We're going to a Gala this weekend in Napa that Amy and Jeanette's company is putting on (I'm Amy's date :D) so we had to get all prettied up beforehand :D And of course we can't get together without eating so afterwards we went for dinner at House of Sake. Yumm!

Woo hoo!!!

I got an email today letting me know that I have been accepted to the Nike Women's Half Marathon! This year they did things a little differently... because there have been so many people interested in running the race that the race tends to sell out very early, this year they decided to do a lottery. If you've registered for all 4 of the previous year's races, you are a "legacy" and automatically get in. Unfortunately, although I've RUN all 4 years, I didn't register under my own name all 4 years (shhh, don't tell on me!) and didn't qualify as a legacy. Poop. That meant that I had to enter the lottery and take my chances. I actually found out that I was accepted last week when I saw that my debit card was charged the $90 registration fee, but the emails weren't sent out until today. With my recent luck in lotteries (New York Marathon and Nike) I think I need to enter the real lottery! Maybe I can win some money to go along with my medals!

Last night's run with Pam went very well. I was actually a few minutes late because I was on the phone with a friend who was just diagnosed with cancer and who is about to start chemo tomorrow :( When Pam and I were heading off, I asked her if we could do the slightly longer route instead of our usual "short" one. It was just one of those days when I wanted to push myself a little more. And push ourselves we did. I think my Garmin was somehow not tracking our pace correctly because running up the long hill that's part of the longer route it said we were doing a sub 11:00 minute mile... but then going downhill along Sycamore Valley Road, it said we were doing a 12 plus minute mile. Hmmm, doesn't make sense. At the end of the run though we had done about 4.2 miles and our avg. pace was much faster than it usually is! I was out of breathe, but it felt really good.

Bring back the pretty weather!

Someone is teasing us... last weekend the weather was so beautiful but lately it's been downright chilly! I don't like it :(

Friday was spent in the usual pre-long run way-- picking up supplies, printing out water stop directions and then plopping on the couch for an evening of tv. Over Easter my mom had lent me Miss Potter, a movie starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor about the life of Beatrix Potter, author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit and other children's books. It was a very sweet movie, although with a very SAD part in the middle that I hadn't expected. :(

Saturday the team ran in Alameda at the Ferry Terminal. I didn't really know how far I was going to run until I started running with Sue, a participant that I knew from a previous season. She was only doing 8 miles and that sounded good to me. Training for a half marathon that is 2 full months away is a little weird... the climb into the higher mileages is a very slow one. I think the people training for the RNR Half were only supposed to do about 4-6 but with the Relay 3 weeks away, I figured I should do a little more. 8 turned out to be perfect... we slowed down the last couple of miles but I still felt very good at the end. Good but freezing... it was super windy out there!

Me, Co-Cappy Jeanette and Mentor Teri after the run

Saturday evening, after a nice shower and nap, I went to dinner and a movie with my friend Lael. We saw 21, which I was a little iffy about but which turned out to be very interesting. I noticed that when we were walking through Walnut Creek back to the car, the bars/clubs seemed to be super crowded with young folks... oh yeah, Spring Break is here! I'm glad we decided to be boring and just go to a movie... I don't think I could have hung with those young kids!

On Sunday it was nice to sleep in and take it easy... I hung out with Claudia and Rocky in the city. We we walked around, we ate, we drank, and even saw a Flamenco show at the Thirsty Bear! Other than the wind, it was a gorgeous day to be out and about!

Pictures from Emerald Nuts... I swear I'm actually running, even though it looks like I'm walking :(

A trip to the chiropractor

For the past couple of weeks or so I've been having an "issue" with my knee. Anyone who runs is used to putting up with certain aches and pains... most of us know the difference between an ache that feels "wrong" and an ache that is "normal". At first this pain under my kneecap didn't bother me too much... I figured it was something that would go away soon and since it didn't bother me while I was running I wasn't worried. But now 2 weeks later, that "ache" is more of a pain. I'm still okay while running but anytime my knee is bent for any amount of time, and then straightened, it hurts-- sitting at work, sitting on the potty, sitting in the car, sitting in the couch and even sleeping. Time to see the doctor-- I don't mess around with my sleep!

I made an appointment to see Dr. Morganstein, who was at Marathon University at the beginning of the season. I had heard wonderful things about him and he seems to really be in tune to what runners put their bodies through (plus, he gives a discount to TNT people :D). I went in to see him yesterday after work and of course it was one of those times when my knee wasn't really bothering me too much :( I told him what the problem was, he asked me some questions and then had me walk back and forth to check out my gait. Unlike what I've heard from other people Dr. Morganstein says that I supinate (which means my arch is rigid and my feet roll out when I walk). Hmmm, I always though I over-pronated. He says this is why I've never really needed to get special inserts and after thinking about it, I'm thinking that's probably why I can wear flip flops so much without being bothered by the lack of arch support. The problem is that not very many people supinate, so it's not something he's used to dealing with.

He also manipulated my knee and leg a little bit to see if there were any areas of tenderness. My knee was fine since the pain is more UNDER my kneecap, not around it, but I did have tenderness along the outside of my quads where my IT band is. He also discovered that one of my legs is shorter-- not like the bone is shorter, but some muscle higher up in the glute area is tight, pulling my left leg up and making it a little shorter than the right. Dr. Morganstein says that while my knee seems to be fine, there is probably a problem somewhere else that's just showing up in my knee. I'm happy about that I guess... I don't have to stop running, and it seems my knee is not deteriorating in some way, but this also makes it harder to figure out HOW to make the pain go away :( Next week, after Dr. Morganstein does a little research, I should be able to start some treatments so we can deal with whatever is going on. I'll probably end up needing to improve my stretching and strengthen my legs up a little. He says that while I've been really lucky so far not having any problems but that all this running may just be catching up with me. I hate getting older :(

Easter pics

Here are some pictures from the weekend that I uploaded off my camera...

These are from Saturday evening:

My classy brother :D

Max waiting for us to drop something he could eat. This dog refuses to look at me when I'm trying to take his picture... stinker!

And from our Sunday BBQ:

Yummy lunch...

... and yummy dessert!

And this is a picture from last night... I met up with my coworker Ann and a few other girls for dinner. We had initially planned on drinks at Tiki Tom's but since Ann had her son Sean with her we opted for a more kid friendly location, Skipolini's!

Ann and Sean doing the alphabet... how cute is he!

Rites of passage

Last night I joined some fellow TNTers and attended a memorial service for Sarah's dad, who passed away last week. Sarah's dad was born on Feb. 29, so this year instead of celebrating his 72nd birthday like everyone else born the same year he was, he celebrated his 18th birthday-- typically a year when we celebrate the rite of passage into adulthood. During the memorial service, the minister who gave the eulogy said that what we were celebrating last night was a different rite of passage that we all go through. (She said it a little more eloquently than that but you get the point :D) I never thought of it that way, but it really makes sense, and makes it seem less sad somehow. Celebrating this "rite of passage" seemed to be the theme for the weekend...

Friday night I spent the evening with my friends Bryan and Jen who had just put their sweet dog Callie down. She was old, and not doing well, but it was still very hard for them both to do. To help take their mind off their empty house, they threw a little memorial Margarita party! There were tears, laughter and of course some shots of tequila in Callie's memory!

Callie, Bryan and Jen's Great Dane

Saturday I made the drive home to Yuba City to spend Easter (another celebration of this rite of passage) with my parents, and brother who was down from Portland for a few days. We spent Saturday enjoying the beautiful, sunny weather (I spent a little TOO much time enjoying it and ended up with my first sunburn of the year :() and getting some food ready for the next day. Sunday we all went to church together and then enjoyed a yummy BBQ with my great aunt at our house. I came back to Walnut Creek with clean laundry, leftover potato salad, deviled eggs (my favorite!!) and BBQ'd chicken, and a bag full of easter candy from my basket-- YES, my brother and I still get Easter baskets :D

(Stay tuned for pictures... I'll post some once I get them off my camera :D)

Screw cancer

Yesterday I got an email from Sarah, one of our Spring mentors, with some sad news. Her dad, also her personal honoree, passed away Wednesday morning :( He battled lymphoma over 13 years ago and after all that time, the cancer recently came back. Cancer sucks. Big time. This just reminds me why I come back season after season to Team In Training. Yes I love the people, and the feeling of crossing that finish line after months of training, but really, it's all about raising money so we can help those smart doctors kick cancer's ass.

This also happened to be the week that Team In Training put on the Cause for Celebration. All the different East Bay teams got together to celebrate what TNT does to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They talked about where the money that we raise goes, how it's used and also about how important it is to sign up for the National Marrow Donor Program. All it takes is a quick swab of your cheek (when I did it you had to give blood :() and some paperwork and you're all set. If you have a chance to sign up, do it... you may have a chance to save someone's life!

Fellow teammates at Cause for Celebration (Wingate is excited that they actually had wine there!)

On a running note, things have been going well. I ran with Pam Monday night and last night-- Monday we were a little on the speedy side (even though I told her I would probably have to take it slow after Sunday's race-- that didn't happen!) but last night I felt super sluggish. I was also STARVING the whole time we were running... maybe that's why I felt a little dead. :( I missed the Buddy Run on Tuesday because I was stuck late at work. By the time I got home, I was pooped and glad in a way that I had a free night and could just veg on the couch all evening and catch up on some tv. Even though I wasn't running on Wed. I knew that I would probably get home pretty late from Cause for Celebration.

Tonight I'm going to my friends Bryan and Jen's house. They had to put their sweet doggie down today and wanted to have a little memorial celebration to keep their mind off the empty house. :( Tomorrow AM I'm off to Yuba City to celebrate Easter with my folks and brother!

Big SHOUT OUT to TNT alum Petra Johnson for her donation... THANK YOU!!