My Date With David

Just me, or is the only thing going on up here lately spam.  Spaaaaammmm!  Khhhhhaaannn!

This is running blogging gone haywire.  Get ready. Here's whats going to happen: I'm going to talk very briefly about running, and then very long-windedly about my personal silly non-running life. 

Recap of last week in running: I felt pretty sick, not many runs went well, but I had fun running while stalking "for sale"/"open home" signs in Oakland/Berkeley.  The not so fun part was reading the listing prices on the brochures.  A 2 bed/1 bath at 1200 sq feet in desirable Oakland neighborhoods sells for the price of two Texas mansions.  Good thing law school made me extremely rich.  Sarcastic? yes.  We'll be rich when we are retiring, just in time for me to start dying.  Maybe I need to pull a Gatsby and start selling moonshine...is that still a hot market?

(See how I just name dropped two cool movies? That's Star Trek up there and the Great Gatsby.  I smell another movie review post in the future....)

Recap of this week in running: Decent lactate threshold tempo "wave" run on the treadmill, six miles alternating between half mile at 9.1 mph (6:35) and 9.8 mph (6:07).  Decent aerobic tempo wave run on the treadmill, one hour alternating full miles at 8.8 mph (6:48) and 9.5 mph (6:18).  (These workouts explained in this post.)  Again, not sure if I'm getting faster at running...but I've gotten faster at treadmills.  I still get the ole leg-lock when I do these treadmill runs.  It's very calf-knee focused.  For reasons related to not being able to take time off work (saving up for honeymoon time-off, and have had to miss work for stupid things like meeting caterers), I have not been able to meet with any docs lately.  Yup, still me, the idiot running through pain.  If "leg-lock" can be called pain.

I've mentioned before that we are house-hunting, wedding planning, and honeymoon planning, but what I probably didn't mention is that this means this year of the snake, 2013, will be one where I continue to fizzle out on my blog participation (I'm glad you didn't notice).  Running/blogging are two things I do in my spare time, and right now most of that precious spare time has been directed towards getting our shit together for our various grand events and adventures.  Not sure why it didn't occur to me that it would be very difficult and urgent to try to plan a wedding in less than four months when we finally chose a date a few weeks ago...

My thought process, I imagine, was that our wedding would be so casual and simple that it would not require any planning.  But then, one search for invites led to another search for wedding sashes led to a pinterest labyrinth of death, and I just got sucked into the damn thing.  Still will be the simplest wedding most of our guests have ever been to, but it turns out I WILL be wearing a white (ivory) dress.  Other traditional wedding elements have slowly been dripping into the planned day.

It turns out that no matter how hard I TRY NOT TO BE, I'm still just like every other girl.

For now, I'm going to invite you all into this sloppily planned journey to the wedding date/ house hunting/ vacation planning. If it turns out this is painfully boring to read, I will slip back to slapping up treadmill stats.  That's interesting stuff.  

Here, lets start with the thing that ruined me.

One text, from my mom: "appt next Saturday at 3:00 at David's Bridal."

Me: "ok. not buying anything though."

I was thinking: I know what I want.  I want a NON-WHITE dress.  Ideally, a soft sage color, maybe a pale lilac.  Something ethereal, light, easy to wear, $500 or less.  David's Bridal sounds trashy.  I'm so above DB.  But I'll go as a starting point to learn what kind of dress styles I like, to appease my mom, and to have fun.

Halfway through the appointment, I was still thinking white wedding dresses are sappy and that David was not going to be the man to dress me.

By the end of the appointment, I still did not purchase anything....but I think ultimately my dress will be from DB.  I tried on some beautiful dresses!  All the ones I liked were under $600.  That's freakin rad! After browsing the earth (i.e. scouring the internet at all available moments the week post-DB for other dresses since I was warned I needed to order a dress RIGHT NOW to have it tailored in time for the wedding), I really don't think I can find a comparable new dress in the $300-$600 price range.  Which I have arbitrarily decided is my price range.  I mean, it's cliche but true: you wear the thing ONCE.  Hard to justify a 1x wear at the $1000++ price range.

So in order of least favorite to favorite, here were my choices.  You can probably judge my feeling toward the dresses from my facial expression, which whoops, I did not know I was making at the time.  I only recall focusing on trying to teach my poor mom how to take a photo from my iphone.  (yup, just me and my mom.  I trust her opinion more than anyone else, even though she is a liar liar pants on fire who pretty much likes any clothes I put on.)

Number 10.

Two way tie between the losing dresses.

I felt like a child playing dress-up in the princess ball gown on the left.  It got seven "nos" and then one more "no".

The one on the right was on super sale so I gave it a quick go, but it felt like it was for a 15 year old.  I think that just means it reminded me of 1999.  It got six "I'll give you two dolla for this" and three "can I borrow your math homework, Chelsea?"

Number 9.

Ruching (what word am I looking for?) in the front is my least favorite look.  Lot's of purposeful unflattering wrinkles.  Ruching, and in kind, this dress, is not for me.  Although the back was pretty rad, now that I'm looking back at the photos.

I gave it five "no, I don't want no ruching" and one "heyyy, girl."






























Number 8.

Another beautiful back, another ruching front.  Too bad I can't just walk backwards the whole day and greet people with a beautiful dress back-line.

Have you noticed that wedding dresses are ALL about the back? I guess its a good day to recognize the beauty of the rear view of a woman.  "Good sir, I present to you in the flesh for your infinite sexy time pleasure, this beautifully embellished backside.  You may now marry this backside."

This one got four "no-no-nos" and one "damn angel princess back, you fine!"

And may I mention, trying on dresses that are not the right size and then pretending they look good by "clipping" them, doesn't trick anybody.  It's no wonder my top two dresses were ones I was able to try on in close to my actual size.

Number 7.

Falling into the pattern of party in the back, boring as a blog post about protein powder on the front.  This one got three "pursed lips, closed eyes, nooo child" and three "this would be gorg if the back didn't remind me of clipping a family sized bag of Doritos chips."

Number 6.

My opinion on illusion necklines is...lose the illusion.  Real skin is so much prettier! And less like an ice-skater's uniform! Nevertheless, a beautiful dress. As you can see from my hand in the pictures I was playing with different sashes for it.  I felt it needed some pop.  Am I starting to sound like a D-list version of Tim Gunn? I'm not 100% for lace, but I like the look more than some other fabrics.  Like potato sack fabric, aluminum, shag rug.   

Five "this illusion isn't fooling anyone" and three "come this way to the gov'ners ball ma'am for some sweet tea."

Number 5. 

I did not appreciate the little sunflower embroidery that you can see if you look closely on the upper half of dress number five, but I like the shape.  I call it the "1940's bathing suit shape, with a flowy skirt coming out of it."

Two "finally something fits" and 81 "no sunflowers on my wedding dress plz."

 

Number 4.  

This one I picked out on my own to try on from the DB catalog in store.  I had initially been leaning towards a slinky, silky look.  I was surprised to find that it actually felt very heavy, not slinky and sexy, and made me feel twenty years older than I am.  Not the feel I was going for.  But I liked the general shape a lot.  Britney Spears taught me a lot in my fashion-development years about a low-waist line, and I still like that low-slung look.  A small smile starting to crack...?

Number 3.5

I ran out of numbers.  

Soft and pretty! The sash did not come with the dress.  Just a simple nice shape that I could totally deal with and have a happy time wearing.  But in the end, there were no sparks.  We were just meant to be platonic friends.  It's not you, it's me.

sixteen "I wanted it to be you so bad, but I just didn't feel that connection.  I'm so sorry."--every bachelor ever.

Number 3.

A dress I actually like.  The only problem is, it was so heavy.  I WILL be the bride who falls in the aisle in something like this.  And dancing is like, 73% of weddings, so I've got to consider the dance-ability factor.  

This one gets one "shame, shame, can't dance in this" and one "shazaam, I will untie all those naughty little bows."

I think this one was also over $1000.  At least it looks like it rightly should be. 

Number 2.

People always say things like, "the pictures don't do it justice."  Well, I don't want a dress that is beautiful in person, but looks boring or plain or ugly in pictures.  It's got to look good in pictures! That's all the proof you have that your dress is pretty at the end of the day.

Well....the pictures don't do this dress justice.  It was flattering, I loved the fit and feel.  But the detail that I loved was the light, ethereal fabric that had dotting throughout.  A very easy dress to wear. Unfortunately, you can't see this pretty detail unless you enter my aura zone. Nevertheless, this one is still in the running.  It was one of the least pricey of all!

If you haven't noticed yet -- I have sport bra chafe marks on my chest in most of these pictures.  Lately Sports Glide hasn't been making the cut for any runs that are fast, or that are over 13 miles.  The marks fade by the end of the day, but it isn't pretty for those first few hours. I guess this means no running the morning of my wedding...or buying better sport bras?

Number 1. 

Number one! Number one!  As is obvious from this whole countdown thing I put you through... 

It's more delicate and feminine than I think is suitable for me...but it was light, comfortable, flattering, and I'm a fan of all the shapes.  The shoulder line, the sweetheart line, the back keyhole cute, the simple straight draping.  There were also many various sash options to be played with.  The sash on the left photo comes with the dress; the one on the right would be an extra purchase.

My only wish is that I could get this dress in a slightly off-color.  More of a champagne, or blush, or pastel of any sort. 

Sooooo, now I've surely set myself squarely up for someone to tell me this was the most self-absorbed, annoying post they've ever read.  I basically just put on a modeling show for you, instead of crying about tornadoes and machetes.  To that I say FUCK.  Listen, this week and next week my life is getting this event pinned down.  It's consuming about 40% of my brainspace right now, which is way too much.  I know you've all gone through this process, or likely will in the future, and if you are in the latter category, now you know that David's Bridal is a totally acceptable place to start and end your wedding attire hunt. I feel bad that I started off thinking it was "trashy." More like genius, convenient, thank you for existing.  Additionally, now, you can give me your advice.  I'd love to hear your dress recommendation! Did I rule out a stunner? Alternate dress website/ physical store recommendations?  I do still have a few lustings for expensive dresses at BHLDN.com that I am trying to banish.  Also open to advice for a photographer.  A hair/makeup person.  A tailor.  A ring. with wood in it.  Shoes.  Sexy sexy underthings.  This is a good place to stop.

Dead Giveaway

The most important thing about mother's day is that I tell the internet how LUCKY I AM, and hopefully the word gets back to my mom that I was writing about that to people she doesn't know on the internet.   AND here's a picture of me when I was realllllly cute at 3 years old, with my MOM.

Aw just kiddin.  This is me and my niece. 

(I adore and would do anything for my mom.  Except birth her a grandbaby. Maybe someday I'll figure out how to write her the blog post she deserves, because she is UNLIKE anyone you have ever met.  The good and the very good.  She is one fantastic spastic one of a kind.)

I taught my niece how to take a selfie.  We took a lot together.  I'll do anything to keep her attention, but she won't be a very good blogger because she got bored with selfies pretty quickly.

My mother's day weekend was a combination of terrible (my 1+ year health streak of not getting sick was tarnished by a miserable sore throat that turned into losing my voice, sleepless nights, coughing fits) and wonderful (BottleRock festival in Napa meant the vibe of my hometown was bubbling with excitement, and my sisters were all in town for the mothers day weekend.)

It got me all pumped for Outside Lands Festival.  Yeasayer!? Paul McCartney!? The lineup is impossible to turn down.

I got in my Gemma time over the weekend, and now so shall you.

Selfie # 2

Here's why its okay to allow children to eat cake.  Because she ate two spoon-licks of cake and was done.  I don't think she noticed any difference between this and her normal green beans.  I totally get it! I love my greens AND I love my cake! I am not satisfied with two bites though.

This is our family tradition, rum cake, from Napa's buttercream bakery, and it just kills me.  I love this stuff.  You would probably be appalled to know that I eat around the "cake" part.  I just eating the frosting, whipped cream, and rum filling.  It is a rare cake that will get me to eat the "cake" part.  Frosting all day everyday.

We also ate the best tacos.   Everyone knows moms love tacos.  It's not a stereotype if it's TRUE.  

Credit to Chef Manny!  I love when my sister and her boyfriend come up to visit from San Diego because it means we will be eating very well.  

She's always too spastic to get more than a blur.

She put this hat on, I'm pretty sure because she knows it made her cute. 

enough, enough of that!  No more taking credit for the cuteness of other human beings!  It's kind of rubbing off on me though, right? I'm cuter by association?

I have been feeling good enough to run (and feeling good while running) this past week despite this sore throat business, until this morning.  I wanted to revisit the 10x800m repeats on the treadmill (first try, I did 10 at a 2:59 split, with some longer breaks in between; second try, I did 10 at 2:58 pace with 0.25 mile break in between; this time I wanted 10 at 2:57 pace with 0.25 mile break in between.)

I made it to number 7; then needed some serious breaks in between.  I could tell it was because I was sick, not because the running was too fast.  I felt so HOT I just needed some freaking fresh air.

But I finished it up, 10 repeats at 2:57 pace, with long (4:00 min at least) jogging/walking breaks in between the last three.   (I estimated a 2:57 pace by running 10.2 mph mixed with 10.1 mph for each repeat.)

As an FYI, lately I've only been posting about the treadmill runs because those are the hard ones, and the noteworthy ones.  I've been running about 2x per week on the treadmill, and 3-4 times outside.  It's all about the outside of course, still.  I just run hellza slow and easy out there.

I finally got back to the See Jane Run giveaway post, sorry for the delay....

The winners ARE:

JILL, for her impeccable presentation and her remarkable talent in husbandry skills.

(comment: "I would love to win an entry to a SJR race. I'd probably go to Boise or Wichita.")

KATE, for her display of beauty and strength in the swimsuit portion.

(comment: "I set my half PR on this course last year after getting a free entry - hoping lightening strikes twice!")

RUNBIRDIERUN, for doing the best reenactment of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

Truthfully, I made the Gentleman pick 10 numbers between 1 and 79, and then picked the first three of those numbers that actually landed on someone who was entering the giveaway.  Email me at roserunnerblog@gmail.com so we can get you race-registered!

Twitter Epiphanies, Treadmill PR, and A Wondrous Giveaway Of Something You Actually Want

One week check-in after using Twitter.

So far I 76% hate it.  It is a massive time waster and feels much more commercial and urgent than Facebook.  I'm on team Facebook.  Nevertheless, Twitter has made me realize the following things:

• I am the kind of person who thinks I have a good sense of humor because I laugh at funny things, but it turns out, I am not witty in 140 characters or less.  In other words, I am good at reading tweets.  I am not good at writing them.
• Hashtags, as I always suspected, are nothings.  They are nothings! They are just back-end titles for a sentence.  
• Nobody works? I know Facebook already taught me this lesson.  But I cannot wrap my mind around HOW people are able to document their random thoughts throughout the day.  A day documenting my "random thoughts" would look like this:
• 10:18 a.m.: shit, I really gotta finish this motion draft by 1:00.
• 12:30 p.m.: ugh.  A nastygram from opposing counsel.  Must resist urge to write irrational bitchy response. 
• 2:30 p.m.: Sweet release, check the internet while I pee.
• 4:00 p.m.: fuuuuuck, it's already four!?  
• 4:45 p.m.: If I were to write something funny on twitter right now, maybe I would say--oh hi, yes, let's talk about that opposition brief.
• 6:30 p.m.: I'm hungry.  My work now has diminishing returns.
• 7:30 p.m.: somehow this popcorn is making me hungrier?  I have to go.  I swear I'll come in early tomorrow to finish this up.
• Next morning: running is way better than getting to work early.  run run run run run. 
• So I've clearly got to work on being more interesting during the day.  Insert some observational humor about how big a MORON that Starbucks barrista was for writing my name on the cup as Katelyn instead of Caitlin.  what an idiot, amiright? 
• Why are Instagram posts on Twitter? Why are twitter posts on Facebook? Why so much overlap? Do you see the duplication here folks? In the world where I am in charge, it would only be blogs. More than 140 characters is nice.  We can get to know each other this way.
• Taylor Swift loses her virginity on video like, twice a day.  #twitterspam. 

Running

I GOT A TREADMILL PR Y'ALL!!!

This was exciting for me! I've been rocking my 9.39 miles in one hour "record" since Feb 2012, and honestly that sounded insanely fast and I didn't think I would ever beat it.

This beautiful morn, I ran 9.50 perfect little miles on the treadmill in one hour.  1.0 incline of courrrrse. Average 6:18 pace?

The huge caveat, of course, is that I cannot run on a treadmill for an hour without stopping to mop up my sweaty face and chug some water, but I can still measure my progress against my old "record" because I also had to step off the belt for a few seconds for my old "record".  

I would guesstimate that I stepped off the belt for 10-20 seconds four times?  So we can consider this 4 tempo repeats with a 15 second recovery. 

The run was a reverse progression run--I started at 9.8 mph (6:07 pace) and worked down 0.1 mph every 10-ish minutes, finishing at 9.2 mph.  It was hard, but manageable.  I could feel one of my hamstrings getting tired near the end, but that's my only bad memory from the run. 

(I honestly don't know how anyone could run for one hour on a treadmill without stopping.  Even if I'm running slow on a treadmill I have to step off for a few seconds after 30-40 minutes due to thirst.  I guess I could buy a sip-top water bottle...)

hahahahahahahahaha to infinity.....

I took this photo because I wanted to talk about my new shoes and bright pink shorts.  I will do that in a later post.  As for now, I just have to point out that this makes my legs look about 3000% longer and leaner than they actually are.  And in turn, I have just discovered why so many internet nerds post these disgusting pictures of their legs taken from this vantage point.  Seriously, these pics gross me out.  This picture of MY legs grosses me out.  Especially because it is a massive misrepresentation.  My legs do NOT look like this.

Anyway. Me and the treadmill have buddied up for a few other tough runs.

We also met last Saturday morning.  I would never choose to run on the TM on a Saturday.  Saturdays are my "run long and forever up and over the hills and wherever I want to explore" day.

Last Saturday, I needed to work, and I needed to get to work early-ish, and I NEED to catch up on sleep on weekends.  I also didn't want to give up my Saturday long run.  So I had to figure out a way to get in my desired long run, while waking up at 7:00.

Solution: treadmilllll.  20 miles in the open wild takes me 3 hours, not including time chilling at the water fountain chewing on whatever sugar I brought with me.  20 miles on the treadmill takes me less than 2.5 hours.

So 20 miles in 2:23 it was, bouncing around between 8.0 and 8.8 paces, plenty of drink breaks, so we can call it 19.7 miles.

As for the other details of my running routine....I haven't gone for a swim in at least two weeks.  As soon as it got really hot out, I FEARED THE PEOPLE that would start to emerge at the gym pool to get their tan on.  So I've been avoiding it....which is weird...since I always hated swimming in the 30 degree air.  But I simply haven't wanted to swim.

I have been rolling my butt on a tennis ball, still need to order a medicine ball since the tennis ball has some give (thanks for the tips) but I do think it's helping my leg lock a little! I mean CUMMON.  There's no fucking way I could run 9.5 miles in one hour on a treadmill with a serious injury.  I seem to be doing okay? Can never tell if I'm feeling whole or just getting better at managing pain....

And in blog moderating stuff, I just want to say sorry that I haven't replied to any comments in a while. I never intend to do that, but sometimes 3 days goes by and I just don't make it up in here, and then it seems too late.  If I've ever accidentally skipped a question or solid advice, please repeat it and I will try to give it the time it deserves.

GIVEAWAY

Shit just got real for you!

I'm so excited to tell you.  That you're gonna get some PRO-COMPRESSION! ####what!?

No you're not.  You're getting....

CLICK PROTEIN DUST AND A CLICK PLASTIC CUP!!!!  ####nothanksss

nah.  You're getting THE CHANCE TO WIN A BOOK SIGNED BY ME!! I didn't write the book though.  Just signed it.

Signed by this cool slurpee friend

Okay really, this silly lead up is to remind you that many giveaways belong hidden in a mud hut, but this is the best kind, the kind I want, the kind I want to GIVE you, cause it's FREE RACE REGISTRATION BITCHES!

THREE. OPPORTUNITIES.  TO WIN RACE. REGISTRATIONS.

to ANY SEE JANE RUN RACE.

Here's the schedule of races that you can choose from if you win:

Each race offers a half marathon and a 5k.  See here for more info about the race and the goodies that come with it.

**See Jane Run races are "women's" races, but men can sign up and run, and can win this giveaway.  Both years I've run the half, I've seen a male racer up near the front with me.  Your time will be counted but the finisher prizes are for women only.**

The half registration is $85, so be a stud and win! And then run the half!

If you want to enter, mention SJR in the comments; if you aren't interested, comment and DON'T mention SJR obvi, stupid.

Would love to see some of you in Alameda in June!  Since the races are approaching soon, I will try to shut this giveaway down and announce the 3 winners next Monday evening/Tuesday morn.  Good luck!

#Hashtag #Helpme @RoseRunnerBlog

Running!

Has been nice.

Still trying to work on the leg-lock, including sitting on a tennis ball (no baseballs in this house) with my ankle over my knee, total torture.  I have no idea what I'm doing, which is probably dangerous.  But several wise runners have given me that advice, so I am sitting on that ball.  I have also been thinking really hard about doing lots of squats and lunges every day.  Thinking about it is half the battle...right?

Two more treadmill speed sessions since we last met.  Who knows if it will translate to running faster outside, but so far it has translated to running faster on the treadmill!

1) 10x800m repeats at 2:58 (10.1 mph/ 5:56 pace) with quarter mile recovery
--Compared to a couple weeks ago, where I needed longer recoveries towards the end, and was doing 2:59's (big difference, I know not really)

2) 4x2 mile repeats at 6:18 (9.5 mph) with quarter mile recovery
--Compared to a couple weeks ago, where I ran 5x1 mile at 6:18, and needed longer recoveries towards the end.

I tried to squeeze another treadmill speed workout in this morning (tuesday) but it wasn't happening.  I immediately felt overworked by the relatively attainable paces, so I called it off, shall try again later in the week.

These attempts at speedwork have some purpose, because a notion of my 2013 running future is beginning to take shape.

The first race on target: the See Jane Run half marathon in Alameda in early June.  Just a little over five weeks away already, whoa!  

I only found out this week that I would get to run it, and I'll be running it for the third year in a row (danger! did not love running Oakland for my third year, boredom possibly to blame).  I had been holding out because of the possibility of a complimentary race entry, and yippee ki-yay, I got a golden ticket!  See Jane Run has generously SuperJaned me (that's official language) which makes this the first time I have said "yes" to a sponsor relationship opportunity.  Even though I don't run for chocolate and champagne (I don't think that's in my SuperJane contract at least), I'm more than happy to throw my SuperJane cape on and link arms with this local running store.  I've been a patron to the bay area See Jane Run stores since I was a teenager, including to buy the cute orange shorts on my tush in the pic below. 

See Jane Run 2012

See Jane Run 2011

After two disappointing race experiences where I ran significantly slower than expected , had some body issues, and generally didn't feel sharp/energetic/fast, (Napa, Oakland) I have a lot of fear going into my next race.  My fear is that now that I know what it's like to expect to run a 1:26 and instead run a 1:31 (or to expect a 3:03 and run a 3:09), that I have no control over my goals.  I would love to aim for a PR for this next See Jane Run half (under 1:26:21), and given I've been working pretty hard on the treadmill for a few weeks now I like to think that would lead to some results.  But I have no idea what to expect now.  I felt stronger than a 3:09 in March when I ran Napa, even with my leg-lock problems.  I feel stronger than a 1:26 some days of the week.  But I haven't felt great on race days on my last two attempts.  That's scary.  I keep imagining myself hitting mile three or four of any future race and falling apart or just stepping aside to quit.  I know it's not actually that big of a deal to have two bad races, and I totally expect and have excitement about the fact that I will get to redeem those races at some point.  But since that redemption is still a question mark in the future, I have this fear that I am perpetually only going to get slower and have more body problems.

Next up is a similar story for the San Francisco half marathon (the second half).  I think it's in June or July, and I am waiting to find out if I can run it "on the house" because I applied for a free entry (sub 1:30 runners get to apply to run for free).

Then I've got the San Jose Rock n' Roll half in the fall, signed up for it a while back because of a good coupon code.

And I'm locked in for CIM already, I signed up extra early for a race for the first time ever thinking it was smart to save money with the early $85 fee, and learned my lesson.  Right after I handed over my credit card I realized I will likely be on my honeymoon next December. Dumb.

SO.  With CIM out of the picture, I'd like to set my sights on some other Fall marathon.

Chicago would have been perfect.  But as with all the big ones, I understand you are too late if you don't sign up in a flurry within the hour that registration opened, and then tweet/facebook/blog about it 300 times.

So a brief search has found: Portland; Long Beach; and Grandma's in Minnesota.  I want the answer to be Long Beach so I can do the least/cheapest traveling.  Anyone feel strongly either way about the Long Beach marathon in October? Thanks.

IN OTHER NEWS

Shit, life is happening this year.

In the past week, we have made headway on our goals to 1) buy a house, 2) have a wedding, and 3) book our honeymoon.

1) buy a house.

We started the ball rolling on getting a home mortgage loan, and went on a city hike popping into open homes to get a feel for what's available at what price listings.  One of the open homes we found ourselves in was a small, bizarre home in Piedmont that was selling for $1.2 million.  Let me repeat: small and bizarre.  That's what $1.2 million gets you in the snobby island carved into Oakland where rich people move so their precious children don't have to associate with non-rich black kids in their precious school district.  (That's my take on Piedmont anyway. Not like I wouldn't snap up one of those beautiful homes if I could!)

2) Wedding.

We booked a date! And a location! August.  Now all I need is to go on the bridal crash diet so I look orange and stupid thin on my wedding day and everyone can fawn over me.

Of course, it will be casual, and I have the right to wear grey or gain extra bride pounds if I feel like it.  But I'm very excited with our decisions so far.  Hopefully family and friends appreciate that this is our celebration, the only celebration, instead of getting hung up on the fact that they weren't there when we signed a piece of paper.

3) Honeymoon.

South America!?!?

We have our eye on Peru and whatever else in South America can be hiked, eaten, explored.  Argentina? Chile? Brazil? Galapagos?  Suggestions welcome.

Bonus round of In Other News:

4) One half of two little runners

An internet blind date success! I've always loved the two little runners because they are both lawyers,  who have gained much strength and speed in a short time, who know and share a lot of running wisdom (strength train those glutes already!).  And they are the authors of one of my favorite race recaps ever, because of how they tag-teamed the recap, because the wind descriptions make me laugh, and because it reminds me to find some humor in the bad races.

I forced Penny to have dinner with me while she was in town for work and tried (maybe unsuccessfully) to prove that Oakland is super cool despite her dodgy hotel.  She's running her FIRST marathon this Sunday with huge ambitions (sub 3:30? no, lower... sub 3:20? no, lower...) so go wish her luck and any first-timer advice.  Kristen (the other half of the two little runners), I'm coming after you next.

Just imagine us three cute lawyers yelling "objection! Tort! Res judicata" while running.

Finally,

5) Twitter.

I'm giving twitter a trial period.

During the scary hours on the Monday of the Boston marathon, it struck me that social media can be useful in urgent times.  You can connect to people you know, or follow news outlets to get instant answers.  I want to taste it and see if I need it or if I can continue to live without.

I would love it if you follow me, perhaps it will prove to be an excellent and easy avenue to connect with internet blog friends.  @RoseRunnerBlog.  @your service.

I guess you can watch me have private conversations with friends, publicly?  Is that what it's for? I desperately need a tutorial, for real, I don't know how to do anything but read my home page.  Anyway, no promises for any sort of consistency.  Posting every day? multiple times a day?! Every hour!!!?? No way am I going to share that much of my life.  Sounds boring for everyone. Strange.

So far my home home page primarily consists of comedians being hilarious (that's who I follow) and oh my god I have never laughed so hard at my iPhone (besides the times I FaceTime my niece and she shows off by jumping on the bed while holding the handrail in this really spastic way.  Then she always hits her head and cries.  It's sad, but mostly funny).  The laughter is primarily thanks to @michaelianblack and @Will_Ferrell, even though I never understand what the hell Will Ferrell is re-tweeting.  Usually it has something to do with Kim Kardashian's butt?  But seriously, Michael Ian Black.  I am saddened to think of all his tweets I have missed out on in the past.

####Tweetles!

Catch Up

A lot of blog-worthy material has fallen between the cracks in the last few weeks, as our attention was focused on Boston, and before that my attention was devoted to reading the many, many contributions to our roast of blog product-placement.  I spent the evening time that I would normally devote to tossing up a blog post to reading and replying to all of your contributions, which in turn made me realize how HARD it must be to blog full time.  Not.

Also, there were many, many words in defense of having a running coach.  It sounds like it is purely a personality thing.  Some personalities love or need that extra push.  For others, the joy of running is lost when you are following orders.

Ever since my dreadful Oakland half marathon performance, I have listened to my coach (me) and got my bad self on the treadmill for various workouts, all of which I really enjoyed, all of which I feel do help me as a runner.

I know there is a lot of debate about the laziness of choosing the treadmill over the open roads.  I would say 24 out of 25 of my runs are normally outside, the remaining one on the treadmill, and usually because of rain or darkness.

However, right now I have been choosing the treadmill once or twice a week, despite the gorgeous California weather, because my coach (...still me) is kind of a pushover, and lets me compromise between my desires to work hard and my desires to "check out" mentally when I am running.  The treadmill lets me work hard and check out.  6:30 pace? Sure, plug that pace it, turn brain off, go.

The famous "is the treadmill easier or harder debate."  Whatever the answer, which for me is often that the treadmill feels harder just because of the freaking hot sweaty smelly factor of the gym (and the headache I get from staring at the news), I always set the treadmill to a 1.0% incline to supposedly level the playing field a little bit.

The following were all done at 1.0% incline, in 60 minutes on the treadmill, in this chronological order, over the last three weeks, all but the last two workouts made up on the fly for the most part.

*(I know I'm about to lose many of you here who do not care about the technicalities of a running workout, or who don't care for treadmills, but many of these would easily translate to the road or track.  Meet you on the other side to those of you who don't care)*

Workout # 1:

PLAN:
Start at 7.0 mph
Bump up 0.1 mph every minute
at 30 minutes (10 mph, or 6:00 minute pace), start bumping down 0.1 mph every minute.

ACTUAL:
This workout did not go as planned.
I got to the 30th minute, ran my 10.0 mph minute, and then had to take a break.  I finished the remaining 30 minutes by hanging around an 8.8-9.0 mph pace.

Workout # 2

PLAN/ACTUAL:
Start at 7.5 mph
Bump up by 0.1 mph every two minutes.
at 40 minutes, (9.5 mph, or 6:18 minute pace), start bumping down by 0.1 every 2-3 minutes.

Workout # 3:

PLAN:
One mile warm up.
6 mile repeats at 9.5 mph (6:18 minute pace) with a quarter mile recovery (7.0 mph) in between each.

ACTUAL:
This worked for the first 3 repeats; then I started taking a half mile recovery in between each.  Like I said, my coach is a pushover.

Workout # 4: 

PLAN:
Ten 800m repeats
quarter mile recovery in between each
at 2:59 each (10.1 mph speed mixed with 10.0 mph speed).

ACTUAL:
This worked out fine (for each repeat I started at 10.1 mph (5:56 pace), then after 2 minutes of grunting I would bump it down to 10.0 mph (6:00 pace) and figured that made for a 2:59 repeat).  After the first 6 or 7 repeats, I started giving myself a longer recovery (0.30-0.40 mile recovery).

Workout # 5:

PLAN:
A lactate threshold wave tempo workout that I learned by following a coach's Facebook tips.

5 mile tempo where each mile is divided in half by 9.1 mph (6:35 pace) for the first half mile, 9.8 mph (6:07 pace) for the second half mile.  I picked these paces based on a 6:20ish "threshold" pace.

ACTUAL:
This went well, except I did have to stretch out my leg-lock issue a couple times, but at least waited until the 6:35 pace portion to do that and tried to keep the stretch to 10 seconds.  Finished the hour at 8.8 to 9.2 mph paces.

Workout # 6

PLAN:
Full hour aerobic wave tempo workout, also found by the Facebook coach.
Hour tempo run alternating one mile at 8.5 mph (7:03 pace) with the next mile at 9.3 mph (6:27 pace).

ACTUAL:
This one also went well, except for some leg-lock stretching.

Leg-lock: I could use your help.

I've often associated this feeling with the buttcrease pain, but lately, I haven't really had buttcrease pain at all.  Just the leg-lock.  While trying to really pay attention to the source of the locking sensation (it is very hard to even recall the pain/sensation when it is not happening, making it hard for physical therapists to help me out), I have noted that it now feels like the locking happens around my knee.  The outer knee, inner knee, upper knee--like the whole thing kind of seizes up, and that sensation sometimes spasms down to my calf, making my calf cramp.

Any similar experiences? Cures? Your advice will be useful in the meantime, before I visit a new PT.  I've been trying to meet her but she is in San Francisco, which basically requires I miss a half-day of work to make an appointment (my office is 45 minutes away).  It's not easy to do that.

**Other Stuff That Happened** 

Oakland Runners for Boston

Thursday evening I ran 3 miles to our local See Jane Run running store with the Gentleman, because that was the headquarters for a 3 mile run in honor of the victims of the Boston bombings and in support of Boston.  The lovely and always amazing Oakland police came out to escort us as we took over College ave, and the long trail of runners (I would guess about 300 runners?) got solid attention which was a nice visual reminder to Oakland residents and to myself that runners are indeed so crazy that running is the least they can do to show their support for people hundreds of miles away.

6.6 miles total with this stud, which is the most I have ever seen him do!

Beth was also there, and we ended with a candlelit moment of silence in Snow Park. It was great to see so many local runners for the impromptu event, and thank you to See Jane Run for organizing!

In other news, Oakland has been both beautiful:

Lake Merritt's Dr. Suess pink cottonball trees

Let's get a closer look

Just napping in the park.  But since it is still Oakland...clutching my iphone while I sleep...

And hipster weird to a ridiculous degree:

Drive-by photo of a literal circus in my neighborhood.  Tightrope walking (rope tied between trees) is a daily staple in my neighborhood.  And now, juggling.  Strange.

I've spent some time with family in Napa, dancing and running as always with lil Gemma.

She takes after me, always topless (ahem, when I was that age)

While digging through one of my old jewelry boxes at my parents' home, we found a pile of fake tattoos.  I was really into the whole fake butterfly tattoo on my midriff with the low-slung jeans look in high school.  We went to town with them (and for some reason, there were many that were not butterfly-esque).

Mine--Justin Timberlake circa 1999, with sparkles

The Gentleman went with a ninja turtle on one arm (flexing, nice touch)

Aaaaannnd...Nelly on the other arm.  Definitely hot in herrr

This past weekend included a hot city hike through Alameda, that unintentionally involved falling for a lot of cold, liquid sugar.  I stopped first for a jamba juice smoothie; then a beer; then a push-pop; then a foster-freeze dipped cone.  A little different than our normal GORP hiking food.

In a desolate docking area for retired navy ships.

At the prettiest little front yard of Alameda.  Yeeeeah, I hiked in a dress.

mid-hike pit-stop

Sufficiently caught up.