| Ruminations, thoughts, triumphs

Monday Monday – of Elevation Charts and Accomplishments

Posted on October 27, 2008 by 21cm

For someone who raced her last race of the year last weekend I worked awfully hard this weekend.

Saturday’s Ride:

It wasn’t quite as hairy as that elevation chart makes it look but it was hard enough. I kept up with the group until we got to that little pointy thing right before the big climb. Then I just fell back and could not keep up. Toward the top a guy was nice enough to come back down to get me and let me suck off his back wheel until we caught up with my guardian angels Dana and Maggs. By then I was shot because although I had a bottle of Infinit on me it only had 300 calories in it and I was too busy keeping up to drink very often so by the time we got to the top of the climb, 35 miles into the ride I’d consumed a whopping 100 calories (on top of a bowl of oatmeal before I left the house). Not good. I was D.O.N.E after that ride. Shot.

Too bad I had already decided to run 18 miles on Sunday and committed to meeting Dana to do it. There was no turning back so we met at 8:00 and off we went. Just to show you how deceptive elevation charts are over distance this is what it looked like:

That run is fundamentally flat. You know you are going slightly down on the way out and slightly up on the way back but it’s really flat. We were doing great for the first 15 or 16 miles, constantly calling out 9:15! time to slow down as we checked our pace but by mile 16 I was done. I had to stop repeatedly and catch my breath but I refused to walk very much. Just can’t handle it. Running time was 3:09 for a 10:28 pace but reality was 3:35 for an almost 12 minute pace. That included stopping at Whole Foods to use the bathroom and stopping several times to fill water bottles.

But none of that is the interesting part of the story. The interesting part pertains to my performance at the Nike Women’s Half last weekend. As you may recall, I ran that race in 2:10:41 which is a very reasonable pace, particularly considering that the course looks like this:

Elevation Nike Women's 1/2

That elevation map counts – that’s a tough run.

Anyhow…. Wednesday night we had a board meeting for my race club and when I got there someone congratulated me on the race and said, “You’re a real runner now”. I fairly glowed with pride. Then on Sunday I went to a party of people from my race club and another guy, a man quite famous for busting ’em off on everybody remarked, “You’re not slow any more”. Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man. That was so nice to hear.

And on the wings of my newly bloated ego I will keep training – for nothing. Because I can and because it works. I really does.

Posted in community, Cycling, It's All About Me, Monday Monday, Running, training | 4 Comments

The Best Laid Plans

Posted on October 25, 2008 by 21cm

A friend invited me out for coffee today so I said “sure!” and thought about how I needed to go to Target to get some fluorescent bulbs for the garage and how I needed to go to the grocery store to get a few things and how convenient it would be to do that after coffee.

The coffee date was great as all coffee dates are. It was warm and sunny today and we sat outside chatting and catching up.

I got to Target and on the way to the household stuff I had to pass the sports clothes. Lo and behold – they had the kind of Drymax sports bra I like. Shablam! I picked up 2. Then I started looking for shorts because mine are all kind of ginormous (except for the pink ones). I was relieved to see they had none due to the rapidly dropping temperaure and since I have no money to spend on running shorts I decided I was satisfied with the bras and moved along.

I got to the lighting section and they had no 48″ flourescent bulbs. Bummer. Satisfied that I could just go to Ace Hardware and get some I moved along, making my way toward the cash registers.

But wait! What should I pass by but the Halloween candy! My brain perked right up and thought “HEY! I wonder if they have any of those Pumpkin Spice Kisses Misty is always raving about”. And of course – they did. So I picked up a bag. Then I figured I might as well get some candy for the kids. This was a dangerous mission because I ran the risk of buying mini-Snickers or mini-Reeses and Uh Oh! We know what would happen then*. So I didn’t do that. I scrutinized the candy and passed on anything that rips the teeth right out of your mouth (Laughy Taffy, Starburst, etc.), and settled on Swedish Fish and Sour Patch kids in mini packs. I only like the Swedish Fish so I was 50% safe (and I’ve only eaten 3 packs so far!).

Finally satisfied that I had what I needed I once again attempted to make my way to the cash registers but wait! I need some blush – oh yes…yes I do. So I had to shop around the make-up aisle and find something that was just right. 20 minutes later I start to back away from the makeup but not before picking up some makeup sponges because, come on – they’re less than 2 bucks!

And by then I’d had it with myself so I proceeded straight to the cash register ignoring the siren song of the office supplies and greeting cards. $70 lighter and fortified with quite a bit of candy I headed to my car where I just HAD to sample the Pumpkin Spice Kisses IMMEDIATELY! Hmmm… that first one was okay but I needed another one to tell if I really liked them. The second one tasted even better but I really needed a third, just to be sure. The fourth one was just for good measure. Meanwhile, I forgot all about the groceries and the bulbs and soon found myself back at my house.

And thus I am reminded of the famous Robert Burns quote “The best-laid plans of mice and men/often go awry,” It also reminds me that when it comes to going to Target I’m kind of a sucker. sigh…..

*the candy goes straight in the freezer and is consumed, several bars a day, never making it until Halloween. But you knew that, right?

Posted in say what? | 8 Comments

When Your Friend is in a Video

Posted on October 23, 2008 by 21cm

I’m posting this because the last woman shown in this video is my birthday sistah! We’re a couple years apart (she is Humbly Anne’s best friend from high school) but not that far apart in many other ways. I’m posting the video in her honor and because I think it makes a very important point.

Posted in Feminism, Politics | 1 Comment

Hump Day Miscellany – 7 Random Things

Posted on October 22, 2008 by 21cm

1). The coaches video taped us at Masters yesterday. The video is great – there is nothing better to help you fix up your stroke. On the other hand – I have a lot of problems with my elbows dropping and then not bending in the proper way. My coach gave me a really good drill to do to fix it and if I can do it I will develop a much more powerful stroke but it’s kind of discouraging to realize that the picture I have of myself swimming in no way matches the picture the video camera took. Lots of work to do there and if I do it, lots of improvement to be made so I’ll just have to focus on that. I feel really lucky to be on a masters team that does video taping in the winter.

2). There is a local concert put on by Peggy and Neil Young called the Bridge School Benefit (it benefits the Bridge School for the profoundly communication impaired). All artists have to play acoustic and they get people like Metallica (Tammy I hope you are reading this!) and Pearl Jam so it’s very unique. It is a fund raiser and so popular that the actual seats in this place (outdoor stadium with seats and lawn) are usually gone before anyone can bring up a browser. But this year OMG – the tickets are so costly that you can still get seats (as opposed to spending $35 to sit with the crowds up on the lawn). How expensive? Well – the good seats are $146 each (plus Ticket Bastard charges of $12 each) and the okay seats are $71 each. I don’t do the lawn any more and there’s no way I’m forking out $158 for the concert. Great cause but no can do.

3). We have a great transit system here called BART. BART has rules like no bikes during commute hours (I know – idiotic but the cars can’t hold them) and no eating or drinking in the stations or on the train. It stays pretty clean as a result. I was on BART the other day when an older man in one of those orange reflective vests (perhaps a BART employee??) told a kid with a bike to get off the train. The kid responded, “why – there’s room” and there was. The old man just got cranky and said, “that ain’t the point. Can’t you read?” and he got up and basically forced the kid off the train. The kid was nice enough not to get in a fight. No sooner had the train doors closed than the old man sat down, pulled a bottle of juice out of a bag and started to unscrew it. Before I knew what had hit me my mouth opened and in a large but cheerful voice I said “No eating or drinking on BART!” the old man shook his head and muttered but he put the juice away. Several people glanced up at me with a wry smile.

4).

No Caption Needed

5). I wore my iPod for the entire 13.1 miles of the Nike and never turned it on once. I was either talking to Maggs or there was music on the course or I was just enjoying the ambient sounds of hundreds of feet hitting the pavement over and over while onlookers cheered.

6). Priceline tried to screw me and I won. They set me up in the most revolting hotel for Folsom International and no amount of reasoning with them could get them to let me change my reservation or give me a refund. This place was a hell hole and I took pictures. I told Priceline 3 times that I would open a dispute with VISA and they just shined me on. I stayed at a perfectly nice Red Robin and then opened a dispute with VISA who was appalled at the way Priceline treated me. I was given a full refund. Not only did I win that one but I lost a ton of love for Priceline and will not likely use them in the future unless really pressed. Hello HotWire! (who did refund my money when I booked a hotel in Windsor Ontario Canada instead of Windsor California). (thank you don geek for the correction) Priceline can just bite me.

7). Typing has become a precarious thing. I mean to type “become” and I type “because”. I mean to type “own” and I type “now”. It happens many times a day and it isn’t something a spell checker can catch. It’s some sort of 21st Century affliction that allows my hands to just take off, paying no attention to my brain. Anyone else have this issue?

One more thing – If you haven’t seen it yet please check out the Carnival of Running over at www.runningisfunny.com. He needs content all the time and he does a great job putting it together. oops – that is 8 things and that wraps up another edition of Hump Day Miscellany.

Posted in Hump Day | Tagged Bridge School | 4 Comments

Monday Monday – NWM Race Report – PR

Posted on October 21, 2008 by 21cm

This will be a race report mostly in pictures because we all know about the ratio of value between pictures and words.

The plan was for 2 of my friends from Forward Motion to arrive at Chez Moi at 4:30 so that we could head into the city and park out near the finish and take a bus to the start. That went off without a hitch and when we got to Union Square we connected with our other friend from the Ladies Night Extravaganza

Fomo Foxes prepare to toe the line

Margaret and I stuck together and tried to find the 4:00 hour pace leader but the crowd was thick by then and we could not so we took off together running. Maggs is a master at weaving through the crowd so I just followed her lead as we did what we could to find some open road. I had my phone in the hip pocket of my running skirt (for the first time) and the weight of it started pulling my skirt down so that I soon found myself perilously close to violating this rule:

Thou Shalt Not Show Crack!

Thereby bringing new meaning to the term ‘crack berry’.

I ended up putting the phone in my bra until it got too wet in there and then I took it out and carried it. The mic didn’t work when I got done but it’s okay now. I lost Maggs somewhere along Fisherman’s Wharf so this race became mostly a solo effort which was fine. That 7:42 pace she had settled on was just a wee fast for me.

Then the hills – the hills that just go on and on and on. My goal was to keep running and not give up and walk and I did.

I ran/jogged at all times even though it looked like this:

Finally the run down to the Great Highway – yay! And then back UP into the park – boo.

But then I found her – my friend Laughing Star who came out to cheer for me – yay!

By then I had only about 4 miles to go which was good because my knees hurt. I had already had a pain in my left shoulder and a stitch in my side that I just ran though and that went away. Then the knees. Then, with only 3 miles to go I got a very odd pain on the bottom of my foot that I can’t describe very well but I suppose if you stepped on a rock barefoot, just at the bottom of your 2 last toes on your right foot, really hard, it might feel like that. Damnit! I just kept running/limping, rolling my foot. I stopped for a second to see if my socks had bunched up but they hadn’t so I just ran.

And then I finished and I got one of these:

Nike Women's Marathon Finisher's Necklace

Here are the final numbers:

Final - out of 10,939 women over all; 851 in my AG

NWM 10K Splits and Positions

I’m happy with that. It is a 19 minute PR from last year and a half marathon run at just (and I mean just) under a 10 minute mile – what’s not to love about that?

Thanks to Bio Freeze, Ibuprofen and sleep my knee is much better today. Speaking of thanks I’d like to offer a few shout outs to people who made this race special

1). Dana, Maggs, Sue and Julia. Dana wasn’t there but we ran quite a few training miles together (with Maggs) so thanks to all of you for companionship and fun.

2). Laughing Star for being there. I was late to get her an email about our plans and yet – there she was! And what a welcomed sight she was. She ran with me for a bit and then sent me off to finish strong. (I think it was an order and I took it very seriously).

3). The SF Cheer Squad who always show up on the corner near the Marina Safeway – you guys rock!

4). The lady in the hat that looked like a flying pig with wings that flapped when you tugged on the chin strap – loved it!

5). The high school cheer leading squad in the park who chanted “Go Go Runners” over and over and over again while waving their pom poms – excellent.

6). All of the volunteers – there were thousands.

7). Nike and Tiffany and those fabulous massage students at the expo (especially Eddie) and all the sponsors. You all make the Nike Women’s Marathon one of the most fun races in the country.

Posted in community, Events, Monday Monday, PR!, Racing | Tagged Nike Women's Marathon | 15 Comments

Pathetic vs. Eloquent

Posted on October 20, 2008 by 21cm

I am going to write a normal, Monday Monday – Race Report in a bit but first I just have to air a grievance.

The robo-call smear campaign that is coming out of the McCain camp is the most shameful political trick since Bush robo-called against McCain in 2000 saying he’d had a black child in an illicit affair (truth – he adopted a kid from Bangladesh). The McCain smears are lies of the same order. The country is in crises and this and an SNL appearance by Palin is the best the party can do? Not only is it morally bankrupt, it is pathetic and desperate.

Colin Powell has said it much better than I ever could. It takes about 7 minutes to listen to what he has to say. And please don’t belittle the man by saying he is supporting Obama because they are both black. How insulting. Powell has clearly thought this through and if you think he’s just supporting a brother you are absolutely obligated to listen to what he has to say.

Colin Powell on our presidential candidates

Posted in Hell Yes! | Tagged Focus, please! And be truthful | 2 Comments

Nike swag

Posted on October 19, 2008 by 21cm

Tomorrow is race day and I’m ready although I’m really tired.

I wanted to share with you what I got at the Expo. I had to go twice to do this. I got the stuff in the first picture on Thursday night when they had “Ladies Night” complete with wine and crackers and cheese. I thought it was crowded then but that was nothing compared to today when I returned to get my iPod engraved. The lines were very, very long and the swag was pretty much gone. Glad we went Thursday!

Nike Swag

I got a Bare Naked bag, 3x Bare Naked Granola, a fabulous bright orange towel which will be very handy at a tri (easier to find your spot), Luna Moons, 20% off Cole Hahn card (very handy when you are seriously in need of $300 flats), a mirror, Dove ‘poo and cream rinse and a card for a free Jamba Juice in San Francisco, sunscreen and chapstick. Not bad! I also got a chair massage by the smokin’ hot Eddie who did a really great job, a foot massage, a horrible manicure (but she was really cute and she’s only interested in hair, not nails) and of course, a glass of wine and some food. I also had a great time with my friends from FoMo.

Today I went back to get my iPod engraved and it has come my attention that a certain someone has a little too much influence on my thinking right now. You know who you are, Dana!

Engraved back of iPod

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Posted in community, Events, Fun in a tub, Racing, Running | 6 Comments

Friday Guest Blogger – Denise writes about Joggling

Posted on October 17, 2008 by 21cm

I got an email in my regular email inbox a couple of weeks ago from Denise from LA who wanted to know if she could be a guest blogger on this blog. I was taken by surprise because my regular email is in no way associated with my blog and yet… she found it. Weird. I decided she was okay, though and I’m giving her this spot because this post is about the little known sport of Joggling – that would be juggling while you jog. Who knew? You can read more about Denise at the end of the post.

If you would like to be a guest blogger on my blog please send me an email at 21stcenturymom at the mail service hosted by google (stretched out and disguised to prevent spam attacks).
———————– Begin Guest Blog Post ———————————-

Can you Joggle?

Whenever you think some thing has been completely investigated from every possible direction, and nothing else could possibly be added, someone, somewhere will prove you wrong.

Running – you can run long distance, short distance, mix it with biking and swiming and get triathlons, do marathons or ultramarathons…. dashes and sprints, relays and so on. What could possibly be added to all that?

Well, turns out that if you add juggling to jogging, you get Joggling – and there you have it – a completely new take on running.

Its not that joggling is very new, its been around since somewhere in the 1970’s. The fist championship took place in 1980 and since then jogglers have run everything from track to marathons and ultra marathons.

The juggling is usually, though not always done in a three ball cascade pattern which is efficient and uses the least energy, plus, the arm motions of 3 ball juggling fall in well with the natural rhythm of jogging.

So how do you do it – actually run and juggle at the same time? Well, you’ve got to be able to juggle a 3 ball cascade perfectly. Once you’ve got that down, you should go for a run and notice the natural movement of your arms while running and visualize yourself juggling at the same time. When you add the balls to all of this, you will be joggling. Jogglers say that this is really only using all four limbs in their natural capacity, doing what they would have been doing in any case.

For more information on getting started you can check out more interesting sites on the subject .

Michal Kapral’s Blog – the current world record holder for the joggling marathon, with a time of 2:50:12, set at the 2007 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon using Sport Juggling Co. beanbags. That is only on of the records he currently holds.
Perry Romanowski’s blog has a really cool video page, and the whole thing seems a lot less insane once you watch it in action.

——————– End Guest Blog Post ————————-

So – if you are bored with vanilla running try juggling it up a little (yuk,yuk…. I’ll be here all week!) Note that some guy managed to joggle a sub 3 hour marathon so I guess the challenge is to go faster while keeping all those balls in the air.

About the author:

Denise writes the blog The Running people.com which is a group blog. If you would like to contribute to her blog please go visit and join!

Posted in Guest Blogger | Tagged Michal Kapral, Perry Romanowski, Sport Juggling Co. | 3 Comments

Hockey Mom

Posted on October 14, 2008 by 21cm

Hockey Mom!

My brother in law made this pumpkin with a friend of his. He makes a pumpkin with a hocky puck every year but this year was special – so very special. His favorite part is that when you open the top and look in there’s nothing there!

(Okay you conservatives – GET A SENSE OF HUMOR! )

If you want to share this pumpkin please just post or email a link instead of downloading the picture and making up a story about it. This is 21st Century Brother In Law’s work and I want him to retain full attribution! Thank you. You can also use the little icons below to share.

If you need help with your sense of humor regarding the Hockey Mom’s intellect please read on…..

You have to admit she isn’t the brightest bulb in the pack, right?)

Here read a transcript of what comes out of her mouth when she is speaking extemporaneously (with a crib sheet) It is a little confounding. Really – check this one out if you don’t believe me

excerpt:

PALIN: Darn right it was the predator lenders, who tried to talk Americans into thinking that it was smart to buy a $300,000 house if we could only afford a $100,000 house. There was deception there, and there was greed and there is corruption on Wall Street. And we need to stop that.

Again, John McCain and I, that commitment that we have made, and we’re going to follow through on that, getting rid of that corruption.

PALIN: One thing that Americans do at this time, also, though, is let’s commit ourselves just every day American people, Joe Six Pack, hockey moms across the nation, I think we need to band together and say never again. Never will we be exploited and taken advantage of again by those who are managing our money and loaning us these dollars. We need to make sure that we demand from the federal government strict oversight of those entities in charge of our investments and our savings and we need also to not get ourselves in debt. Let’s do what our parents told us before we probably even got that first credit card. Don’t live outside of our means. We need to make sure that as individuals we’re taking personal responsibility through all of this. It’s not the American peoples fault that the economy is hurting like it is, but we have an opportunity to learn a heck of a lot of good lessons through this and say never again will we be taken advantage of.

——

Well- that was comprehensive, wasn’t it?

Posted in Family, Fun in a tub, Politics | Tagged Hockey Mom, Joe Six Pack | 2 Comments

Monday Monday – Perseverance Furthers

Posted on October 14, 2008 by 21cm

I’ve been running quite a bit lately because I have this little race coming up next weekend (the Nike Half Marathon). I increased my running volume quite dramatically. Check it out – this is my weekly milage starting 10 weeks ago and rounded up to the nearest mile:

10, 5, 14, 4, 2, 16, 5, 7, 28, 22

Notice a slight jump, there? Oh my aching glutes – they were killing me. I think it was the right thing to do, though because this is the most I’ve ever trained for a half so it should be good. It also was the result of running with other people and holding their (faster than mine) pace AND talking. That’s a new one. The camaraderie, the discovery of my ability to keep up, and being sociable have been great.

I was going to go for a group trail run on Sunday but the email about where to meet up never made it to the prospective participants (which is really too bad because this run involved going out to breakfast afterward) so I went riding instead. I was so happy. I love those Sunday rides – they are just the best. The wind was horrendous but the day was clear and bright and the company was great and I had what felt like one of the best rides of my life. It was the fastest for those conditions, anyhow, and that made me happy.

In fact, these days my bike always makes me happy and that creates a sort of meta-emotional positive feedback loop of happiness because I used to fear my bike and I used to hate riding in the wind and the hills and although I claim no love of the wind I do love conquering the wind. I love the way I feel after a hard ride. I love seeing so much fantastic scenery in the course of a workout although admittedly I spent quite a bit of time focused on the wheel of the person in front of me which explains the speed. I kept up… I tried.. I worked hard… I was not a total pain in the ass whiner who kept everyone back – I was a cyclist and I had a great time.

I think that will be my story of this training season when the end of December comes and I, like everyone else, feels compelled to summarize. Training more and training harder rule. Perseverance furthers.

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Posted in community, Cycling, Monday Monday, Running, training | Tagged Cycling | 3 Comments