21st Century Mom

Monday I went out late (how often have we heard that story) so I decided to do 3 fast miles and thus it came to pass that I ran 3 miles in 30 minutes - booyah!

Today I went out late but told myself, "tough luck. You are running 6 reasonable, unremarkable miles". And so it came to pass that I ran 6 miles in 62 minutes. And it seemed really unremarkable the whole way through - just right foot, left foot, right foot... and so on. And yet, that was my best time yet for a 6 mile run.

The really remarkable thing about it is that it seemed so unremarkable. Good times.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Okay so I'm a little shorter but other than that we are undeniably cut from the same cloth. She not only didn't mind that my house is riddled with half completed projects, she didn't even notice! She may even think that's the way to go. I'm not sure but by the third time I had pointed one of them out and she responded with , "Huh? what are you talking about?" I decided to drop the subject.

Our visit got off to a bit of slow start due the exigencies of my maternal life which dictated that we sit around tapping our toes while I waited for my son to call for a ride. We had tea and chit chated and I got caught up on her visit to San Francsico and her family history in general.

Finally the kid called and we got to go to the lovely downtown area of my bucolic hamlet. It didn't take long to establish that we could be in East Stump Hole Indiana and the place would look pretty much the same - Banana Republic, Anne Taylor, Eveyln and Crabtree - you know the drill. We were starving but had no time for a real dinner (due to son's transportation requirements) so we went to the California Pizza kitchen and had foccacia bread with melted cheese and artichoke dip with chips. We ate the bread and butter that showed up, too. Ummmm.... fat and carbs, fat and carbs. But hey - we had a run to gear up for.

The kid called, we delivered him and then ... then... then what? We weren't starving anymore so no dinner. Instead I took her on a ride in the car to show her where I like to ride my bike. I'm telling you - I really know how to entertain guests! I was gratified at how impressed she was with the hills I tackle so it all worked out for me.

At that point it was time for some delicious California wine or at least that's what I figured and since I was heading up this West Coast Livin' Large extravaganza we headed back to my house. For all I know Jeanne was still starving but she didn't say anything and neither did I. I popped the cork, poured the wine and we decided to watch 'Walk the Line' which had arrived that very day from Netflix. I drank a whole glass of wine but Jeanne only managed a few sips. Party animals - Toga! Toga! Toga!

Exhausted from the wild bacchanal we headed for bed. The plan was to get up at 7 and go to the trail to start our run. We did manage to get up but that heading out the door thing took a while. We each had a piece of healthful, whole wheat cinnamon raisin toast, filled our water bottles, stuffed a packet of Gu in our pockets and were off - at about 8:00.

We ran to and fro:

I ran with Jeanne to the 3.5 mile mark and then sent her back to get my car and head to my house. I continued to run to what was supposed to be the 5.5 mile mark but I really needed a potty and I knew one was just up ahead so I sort of overshot the mark by about a mile before I turned around and ran home covering a total of 13.5 miles. I felt good, too. Jeanne felt good. We are GOOD! We did it.(ps- the butt shots are Jeanne's idea. The one teeny difference between us is that I don't really get it but I'm going along with the program because I'm a team player).

After showers and the downing of electrolytes we decided to go in to Berkeley. We poked around in fun little shops and looked at shoes some more as well as going on an extensive tour of athletic clothing. Hungry again I decided she needed to try the world's very tastiest pizza and it was back to fat and carbs. Yum! Note, we did not have hot fudge Sundaes.

Next on the agenda was a trip in to San Francisco - until I discovered that the inside edge of my front tire now exposed because I hadn't bothered straightening the wheel after parallel parking, was beyond bald. It was down to cloth. Yikes! So I had to treat my out of town guest to a trip to the tire store (Big O because a Big O is always a great thing, right?) instead. I just hoped that we didn't have a blowout on the freeway on the way home because as dull an entertainer as I am I wasn't interested in putting my guest into the middle of a scene from an action movie .

With new tires on the car we finally headed in to the Big city only the traffic was horrendous so we got to spend lots more quality time gabbing while we inched our way across the bridge. When we finally got to Pier 39, the biggest tourist trap available, we finally connected with Jeanne's NOD who was, coincidentally enough, also in California visiting her boyfriend. After meeting up with them Jeanne got a "fruit smoothie" (which looked suspiciously like a chocolate milk shake), I scored a graduation present for my little Pookie (which was why I chose Pier 39 where the jewelry store that had the goods was located) and we all perused the tourist shops.

Sadly enough it was soon time for Jeanne to head back to the airport so I took her to BART (getting her there a little bit late for comfort) and came back home. It was a great visit while it lasted, if not a little understated in terms of the activities. The part that counted was the getting to know each other and that part was unequivocally great.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks to everyone for the nutrition and hydration suggestions.

And speaking of good times - Jeanne is coming! We are going to have a PJ party complete with tasty California wine, hot fudge sundaes,pillow fights and a nice run. I'm so excited! It now appears that 7 miles is the magic number for that run. I just hope Jeanne doesn't notice when I turn the Forerunner off for a while - shhhhhhhhhh don't tell her!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Things started out a little shaky. I didn't want to go at all but I thought maybe that would make it a great run - you know how that goes. Less than a mile from home my iPod ran out of battery. I started to wind up the headphones and put it in my pocket but it came unraveled immediately and I decided to run home with it, instead.

When I got home my kidlet came out to take it from me and looked at her longingly and said
"I really don't feel like going for this run"

She looked at me and in a disapproving tone of voice said, "Mama"

I was sure she was going to say, "You need to listen to your body" and let me off the hook. But no - she's a rebel and she said

"Mama - you have to do this for the team"

Crap.

So off I went to run another 10 miles.

The running wasn't so, so bad. I had already covered the dreaded first 2 miles and I was in a rhythm and trying to keep my pace down below 10:00. After about another 2 miles my feet started to hurt. I also made the mistake of deciding that it would be okay not to take any nutrition with me other than the diluted Gatorade I had in my bottle. I got to the drinking fountain at 5 miles and diluted it some more and kept going. I was so done already but forced myself to run to the 6 mile mark (on my Garmin) so that I would get in a full 12 miles.

Heading back I stopped at the fountain again and diluted the Gatorade some more and drank some water. On and on I went but it was really hard and I had to give myself a constant pep talk.

"Keep it up - you feel fine! You can do it! Keep going! Do not stop at a friend's house and call Pookie to come get you - don't do it! You can do this!" ad nauseum.

My feet were killing me. My thighs felt sluggish and done. I looked at the Garmin and my pace was down to 12:20 - ugh. I sped up. I kept going.

Finally, at 11 miles I gave it up. I was at the bottom of a hill and I just threw in the towel. When I got to the top I ran the rest of the way home.

When I got home I really wanted to hurl. This used to happen to me when I trained with Team in Training and took Cytomax on my runs. After every single long run I would be totally nauseated and all I could do was drink water and sleep. Horrible.

So I learned a few lessons:
1). No more long runs without taking Gu. I asked the people at the running store how often they take a Gu and they both said every 45 minutes. Got that?

2). No more Gatorade while running. I'm going to pick up some electrolyte tablets. The drinks just don't work for me.

3). It's all about pace. I need to remember that if I run the marathon at a 10:30 pace that means I need to train at something slower than that. The whole thing about a race is that you get totally spent doing it. I have to stop depleting myself so much when I train.

So what do you all do for nutrition and hydration? How about recovery - is there something in particular that works for you?

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 08:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

The reason I even considered this race is because my Women of Iron biker friends* are considering doing the AquaBike race on that day. This is just the swim and bike portion of the Half IronMan. When I looked at the registration price I almost choked - it is $160. For that same amount of money you can toss in a run, too so I was looking at the volume discount! Hey that makes sense, doesn't it?

The other reason I wanted to do it is because it doesn't involve a wetsuit. I have this weird wetsuit phobia going on that is a real impediment to trying to find triathlons in this area. Most of the water around here is snow melt or freezing cold Pacific Ocean water (it ain't all the tropics, my friends). There is a series of Tri for Fun sprint distance triathlons and I may just stick with those for the foreseeable future.

The reason I'm not going to do it is that I'm not that strong and I am not really putting in enough training to pull it off. Part of the reason I'm not putting in the training is because I have been on the verge of an overuse injury for 2 months and I have to be careful. As a couple of people pointed out, if I didn't get injured in the training I would likely suffer an injury from the event and that's just no good at all.

For now I'm going to focus on my marathon and remember that I am going for a PR here and that I will probably be sore for several days and then recovering for a couple of weeks.

Thanks again for your votes of confidence and your informed opinions and your support in general.

*not Iron as in IronMan, just Iron as in Fe as in one of these women is a scientist.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I am currently swimming and biking as cross training and I could up the bike riding by a bunch now that my muscles have caught up with my desires. I'm not having those pre-over use injury pains any more.

Please weigh in. If you are a triathlete or know of one who might be willing to proffer an opinion please send her or him my way.

Thanks!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

Ego: The hills are coming up - you should run around Sunset Loop and then up the big one on that other street.

Id: Oh I don't know about that. Hills are hard.

Ego: Yes they are - and there are quite a few notable ones on your marathon. You need to run some hills

Id: But hills are hard. I'm not sure today is a good day for hills

Ego: Really? And what would be a good day for hills?

Id: Oh you know - marathon day

Ego: - Right, so you can get up the first big hill, get a giant pain in your ass and have a miserable time of it for the next 20 miles?

Id: But, but hills are hard and I'm not sure I'm ready and what if I twist my ankle or what if there's a big dog that comes out to chase me and I can't get away from it because I'm running up hill and I can't go fast enough and what if it eats my face off and that will just RUIN MY LIFE!?

Ego: Oh look - we're at Sunset Loop

Id: Okay so how about we go up and then 1/2 way down and then run up the other big hill starting part way up.

Ego: I don't think so. It's time to train on some hills. Really - it's time.

Id: Okay fine but if this kills me I'll be dead but you'll be sorry!

And then I did it - and I did it just fine.

Here is how it looked on MotionBased (did a screen capture in stead of the viewport but viewport is cool) .

See where those words are 1/2 way along the right side of the loop? That would have been a great short cut but I didn't take it. I did both hills, all the way. Yeah for me. ps- see that first big, sharp drop? I run up that almost every time I go out so that's what I mean about every run being a hill run. It's unavoidable.

So 2 hills down and a whole bunch more to go!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 04:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Humbly Anne sent me a package that arrived on Friday with instructions to open it 'pre-coffee' on 5/14. I wasn't sure I would be able to muddle through that process under those circumstances but I managed. First I opened the card. The back story to this card is that last October I got more than moderately loaded at my niece's wedding and danced like a mad woman. It was big time fun. Here is the front of my card:

(it says "There is a perfect amount of wine that let's you say, "Damn, I'm a great dancer"!)

On the inside it said "It's your birthday mother's day.
Please dance responsibly.

There was a nice personal message and then it said, "p.s. there's a picture of you on the back of this card"

I almost fell over laughing when I turned it over and saw this:

Oh Humbly Ann, you know me too well. The card came with some great Taylor and Ng mugs of bears doing naughty things with each other and some exotic chocolate bars.

Little Pookie gave me some running socks, as requested, and she gave me this fabulous shirt made of high tech fabrics from Sugoi:

I love, love, love it.

Small Son and his lovely girlfriend came over to the house (a rare event on a Sunday) and brought me a Polar F4 heart rate monitor which will work in the pool - yeah! I have been wanting one forever.

Pookie and I are eating pizza for dinner.

Tomorrow I swim with the new HR Monitor and Tuesday I run in my new shirt. Every day is coffee day so the mugs will be well utilized. The chocolate will be gone very, very soon.

And that makes me 3 for 3 on the day and a very Happy Mom. I hope the other Moms out there had equally great days and that the would be Moms have their dreams come true and that the people who are hurting for their Moms find some peace.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 06:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The book is called This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M Homes

"There are 2 kinds of politicians. The kind that have sex and the kind that have wars. Which kind do you prefer?"

The run was okay. Avg pace 10:34. I guess that is getting to be for real for me and that's a good thing. This run was a reminder that it is important to get enough to eat the night before (don't go to a fundraiser where you sample foods from various restaurants, never getting much to eat at all) and be well hydrated (skip the wine) and take something with you like Gu. Other than having to stop at Safeway at mile 8 to get a SuperFood I did fine.

Next long run will be longer and I'll be better prepared.
--

Addendum: Motion Based says my pace was 10:18. I love MotionBased now owned by Garmin.

Total  Time (h:m:s)  2:01:13 11:47 pace 

Moving Time (h:m:s)  1:46:24 10:18 pace 

Distance (mi ) 10.33 

Moving Speed (mph) 5.8 avg. 26.7 max. 

Elevation Gain (ft) +1,790 / -1,818 

I stopped once to use the bathroom and once to get some nutrition. Our Lady of Garmin knows all.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Hit that link and watch the film - I'm sure you'll agree. In fact I recommend you watch all of the movies and don't leave out the music video.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Wandering the Farmer's Market on a sunny Sunday morning
Running 8 miles in the wine country and loving it
Riding my bike 38 miles through the vineyards

The notion to make a list like that is not mine. It comes from Sei Shonigan's 1000 year old diary, The Pillow Book. I was reminded of the Pillow Book by the novel I am listening to when I run - My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki. It's a great book but that's all I have to say about it for now. I'll expand on the items in the list, instead.

This weekend was the Wine Country Century ride that started in Santa Rosa, CA and wound through the wine country. I chose to take the 35 mile route because I wanted to go on a long run first. Due to various impending, darkly lurking injuries I decided to cut that down to 8 miles and Friday night I wasn't sure even that would work.

As it turned out I had a fabulous run - the kind that reaffirms my faith that I really am a runner and I really can do it. After my crappy run Thursday night I was feeling more like a slug than a runner but the Saturday run was some kind of wonderful. I started out on a left leg that was still stiff and sore but I figured I might as well just hit the road and see what happened. I put in the iPod earbuds, fired up the book and took off after waving good-bye to the other Women of Iron (my biking friends).

The run started in a area of wide roads, strip malls and houses but after about 2 miles, just when the whiner within started to pipe down, I found myself in the country with vineyards on my left and green hills and livestock on my right. Heaven. About another 1/2 mile down the road I became aware of the sound of birds chirping through the narrative of my book so I shut off the iPod, pulled the earbuds out and kept running with just the sound of the wind, my breathing, my footfalls and the birds. I just don't get peace and solitude like that anywhere near home.

Knowing that my leg had been bothering me and that I still needed to ride my bike 35 miles I decided to turn around at the 4 mile mark. I stopped, reconfigured my clothing, inspected a grape vine with tender, light green growth and started back. I could hear a tractor firing up in the distance but other than that there wasn't a sign of humanity anywhere near me. No cars, no people, just peace and serenity and me - pant, pant, huff, huff.... Oh, and a rather large snake lying by the side of the road for some early morning sun. I almost stepped on it but managed to jag sideways just in the knick of time (after letting out a little shriek). It looked like this one.

When civilization reared its ugly head I put the iPod back on and listened to the book some more but I just kept running - right up to the truck when I got back. I felt fantastic and didn't even want to stop and switch sports but it was that time of the morning.

I managed to transition from runner to cyclist and took off. I have to give the ride mixed reviews which is pretty much how I feel about all bike rides. The scenery for the ride was even more spectacular if that is possible. Just miles and miles and miles of grapevines and farms and sometimes stuff like this (click to enlarge - it's worth it)

I was very happy for the first half of the ride but then I started to get very hungry. At long last, after climbing a hill for a while I got to the rest stop and fueled up. Then I started off again, thinking I would be filled with new vitality. No such luck.

Things that aggravate
People who honk their horns
Empty boxes left in the pantry and refrigerator
Climbing hills on my bike

I'm not a good climber and I don't like climbing. It seems endless and painful and slow and it doesn't help that my bike weighs about 35 pounds. But climb we did for a long, long time. At one point I felt like I just couldn't figure out the right gear or the right cadence and when I woman passed me I said, "Are we going up hill?" and she said, "yes - it isn't you!" But it was me. It was me whining and grinding my way through it. My legs were shot.

Things that make me feel like an idiot
Forgetting to put the pot under the coffee
Forgetting to pay my property taxes
Going the wrong way on a long bike ride

Finally when I was getting really close to the end I got to an intersection where I thought I was supposed to hang a left and who should be coming the other way but my friends. "Hey! It's Pamela!!! (note - I just outed myself here). Friend B yelled, "Pamela!!?? What the??!!" and I just yelled back, "I have a different route" and kept going. I was now on Chalk Hill Rd. Get it? HILL! I rode up that hill for about a mile and a half because I just don't stop on hills. I'm too afraid that if I stop I will never get started again. My rationale was that if I was going the wrong way it was downhill to get back so what the heck? Finally, when I got to the top of the hill I pulled out the route map and realized the folly of my ways. See that little extra piece sticking out of the top of the route on my Google Earth image? Extra Credit!

Down the hill I went and back to the start where I rejoined my friends, had lunch and bade the wine country a fond fairwell.

Things that surprise and delight
An impromptu invitation to dinner
Coming home and finding the house cleaned up
Realizing that I am much stronger and more resilient than I think I am.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 09:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

We've had Cadet P0rn and we've had runner p0rn so today I bring you skater p0rn

Enjoy!

Kudos to Mark for letting it all ... well... not really... but... you know..... for putting on that pinky pink outfit and running around for all the world to see. And double kudos for getting so many people to be givers. What an RBF coup!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Donovan fans among us (the RBF, NOT the RFB as I previously referred to you) and others will recognize those lyrics. The beginning of the song goes like this:

The lock upon my garden gate's a snail, that's what it is.
The lock upon my garden gate's a snail, that's what it is.
First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.
First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.
The caterpillar sheds his skin to find a butterfly within.
Caterpillar sheds his skin to find a butterfly within.
First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.
First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain.

The mountain is me, as are the butterfly and the snail. On a good day I can overcome the mountain, shed my skin and fly. This week I have had to push myself out the door because I felt more like the lock on the gate - a snail. I've failed to even show up on swim days and was only marginally successful on Tuesday, a run day. Today was better but I pretty much had to toss myself out the front door as though I were a cat who had just peed on the bath mat.

I was successful, though, heading out the door at about 5 PM with the intention of running 8 miles. I looked at my Garmin early in the run hoping I hadn't hit 2 miles yet because I felt really whiney and I just wanted to go home but I know that I usually get over that by about 2 miles. And so I did. I was running hard and I was proud of myself and I felt strong. Inhale step, step, exhale, step, step, inhale, step, step. My cadence was good and I was cooking - no more mountain. I got to a water fountain at about 2.5 miles, stopped for a drink and realized I was breathing hard and my heart rate was up. OKAY NOW! GO! But the voice within thought "uh oh - you should probably cool it".

On I went pumping and huffing and pushing it.

On the way home my hammies started to tighten up and I was tired. So tired. There was the mountain and I was a snail again. Damnit! At about 6.2 miles I started walking. I turned off the Garmin and thought, "screw this - I'm walking home". And then no - I couldn't do that. So I lurched home, sometimes running sometimes walking and finally gave up running all together at 7.5 miles. And that was okay, close enough.

So there was a mountain and then there wasn't and then there was. The lesson I learned - AGAIN is that going out too fast just doesn't pay off on a long run or even a longish run. My over all pace was 10:30 but had I gone out at that pace it could have been my pace for every mile and I wouldn't have had to walk. As it was my first miles were 10:03 and then 9:43 and that's all it took to put the mountain right back in my way.

Saturday I am going to try to be a runner who runs at a 10:30 or 10:45 pace and who does that mile after mile for 8 miles. Then I'll ride my bike 35 miles and then Sunday I will be a slug who sleeps in, drinks coffee and reads the paper.

The whole story:

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Yesterday I missed my swim. I just didn't get up and go. I just didn't. Ugh. Are we seeing a pattern here? This is bad. I feel myself slipping into old bad habits that led me to be undertrained for my marathon which resulted in a bad time and a terribly painful run. Must.fight.back!

Today is nice and cool. I missed going out in the morning but I will go out and run 8 miles and I will try not to worry about the pace. Tomorrow I will swim. Saturday I am doing a sort of roll your own duathlon where I'm running 10 miles and then doing a planned, supported 35 miles bike ride. Hopefully I will get back on track. A little verbal abuse encouragement from the RBF might also help.

ps - I'm relieved that the RFB is not populated by cat nuts. NTTAWT - cat nuts are nice people. I'm just not one of them and apparently neither are most of you.

pps- it's not that I think I'm a slacker or anything. I'm doing a lot of training it's just that when I don't get up and get going I worry about myself. I really don't want to show up for my marthon with too few miles in my log book. That way lies madness not to mention pain.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I notice we are having some issues lately and I'd like to address them before I have any more thoughts about permanently locking you out of the house. This is happening with alarming frequency so I think we need to comes to terms.

1). You know that thing you do where you monopolize my lap the second I sit down and then you purr as a stroke your head and then all of a sudden and without warning you turn viscously and bite my hand? I hate that. I really do. I'm sorry about forcibly tossing you to the floor but it hurts. Cut it out or you may soon find yourself taking flying lessons.

2). Yes, you are cute. When you find a sunny spot and stretch out and go to sleep with your teeny little pink tongue between your teeth - adorable. It does not, however give you free rein to bite me - ever. Note open warning about flying lessons.

3). You are fat. I will not feed you any sooner or any more just because you are yowling incessantly. This goes triple for 6 AM Sunday morning. Not.gonna.happen.

4). The litter box. I got a nice big one for you to make things easy so when you poop could you please finish in the box? I know you are a little skitterish but this is a very safe house so there's really no need to jump out prematurely and leave a little present on the bathroom floor. You can do the whole thing in the litter box and really, I wish you would. Every time.

5). The bath mat. I know it is greenish and soft but it isn't meant for you to pee on. Would you like to know how much I dislike stepping on a wet spot on the bath mat and realizing that it isn't water? Never mind - I'm thinking about flying lessons again. In any case, please refer to point #4. It's all about the litter box.

6). Your dirty butt. You are a cat - you are supposed to be clean. If you have a messy time of it in the litter box you are supposed to clean yourself up. Trust me when I tell you this would be far more efficient than you leaving skid marks on my bedspread and then licking them. That doesn't even work and I'm spending too much time doing laundry. Just lick your butt - it's what cats do.

So next time you feel like peeing on the bath mat, pooping on the bathroom floor, biting me or yowling for food just stop. How about you just go spoon with the dog, instead?

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)