Friday, November 1, 2013

London on Halloween





Spent two days in London and saw all the typical sites: changing of the guard, riding London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, West End...etc. Busy, beautiful city.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Ireland Marathon--Medical Tent, Horrible Time and All-Round Cluster Fudge








I signed up for two marathons less than 6 days apart. You think I'd be smart enough not to do that, yet here we are. 

First up was Ireland. It did not go well. It was actually my worst race ever. I got my worst time and then hyperventilated at the finish, collapsed and passed out. I was rushed into the medical tent via wheelchair and had blood work and all kinds of tests done. They almost had to contact my family in the US.

Then as I was walking back to my hotel I started to pass out again. I was holding onto a lamp post to keep me up when I watched a girl walk into the street in front of oncoming traffic and try to commit suicide--right in front of me! 

I dubbed this race "Murphy's Law Marathon." Here's why: 

At mile 13 I stepped on and killed a gecko. So not only do I feel sick, I feel guilty, too. 

I ran out of nutrition because I didn't expect to be in the race so long.

I lost my lucky sunglasses in the medical tent, which is just as well because apparently they aren't so lucky anymore. 

There was a 100% chance of 40mph winds, which meant there was a 100% chance I'd be miserable. I was. 

I saw a girl try to kill herself, which is kind of ironic because that's what I was telling myself all during the race: I just want to die. Then I watched someone try to die and I realized, no, I really don't want to die. I won't say that again. 

I blacked out. That's never happened. 

My body is rejecting running. It used to feel so good to run. Now my legs always feel like jello and I just can't do it. Even running a 5K feels like work when I used to sprint the whole thing. What happened? I got sick and never recovered. I think in 2014 I may just give up running for a while and come back to it and hopefully start fresh. I've tried fighting it, but my body just can't run right now and I have to accept it. 

Sad face. 

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Number 54 and 55

I finished half marathons 54 and 55 less than 24 hours apart. So hot and so salty. I am in escrow right now for another property and hopefully it'll work out. I think 2014 will be a good year.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Visiting Napa, Missing My Dog


My dog passing away has been utterly sad. I miss her and think about her a lot. I did have a planned trip to Napa Valley, my first time there. Unfortunately, Friday night I ate something bad and ended up with food poisoning for the entire weekend. I found Napa pretty and pretty boring, both at the same time. Full of vineyards (I don't drink), shops (full of stuff I wouldn't buy) and bistros full of delicious food (that I couldn't eat because of the food poisoning), I didn't have the weekend I planned. I got in too late and the only room available was a smoking room and now I have brought home the stench of cigarette smoke all the way from Napa into my bedroom. And I haven't eaten in two days. I feel like aliens invaded my body.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

RIP

Some days she was the only reason I got out of bed. My sweet dog Anna passed away from severe anemia the weekend before last. I did a half marathon in her honor, but it was so hard to run. Too many people out walking their dogs on the course. I finished, but with a horrible time. Anna never asked for anything but love and Ritz crackers. I miss her every day. She was the sweetest, friendliest, most docile dog in the world.

RIP. I am glad all dogs go to heaven. She deserves to be happy and pain free for eternity.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

52nd Half Marathon

I finished my 52nd half marathon this past weekend and ended up placing third for females. I even got a running trophy. Granted it was a small race, but I never get trophies.

I then spent the weekend battling the worst LA traffic I've seen. An old friend was in town and we met in Hollywood.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Surfing


I tried surfing for the first time. People ask if I had trouble staying on the board. I had trouble getting ON the board. This surfboard, aka, a waterproof tetter totter, didn't work well with me or I didn't work well with it. Either way, I sank deep into the ocean, almost was stung by a sting ray, had the board torpedo at my jaw and cause me to bite my tongue, and I flipped over countless times.

Nevertheless, although my body may disagree and the black bruises on my legs look unattractive, I vow to try again.

No, I did not ride any wave that day.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Scenes from Comic-Con


 Cast of Community

On the set of Enders Game--New Harrison Ford movie
James Spader as a hologram. What?

As the greatest people-watching show on earth, I took to the streets of downtown San Diego, aka crazytown. 

Friday, July 19, 2013

Crewing Badwater Ultramarathon



10am and it went up to 122 that day
 With Pam Reed in Death Valley

 Dean Kanazares running
 I'm in there.
 Free swag
 Vegas!




This Badwater Ultramarathon race was the craziest thing I've ever done. And I've done some crazy things. We were supposed to run in 2 mile increments. I did my first .5 miles and said I have to stop. We were supposed to run behind the famous Pam Reed and spray her down. I couldn't even keep up for .5 miles. I then went out on another .5 miles a little while later and threw up. Then I couldn't stop coughing. One girl did three 1-mile legs, threw up, got heat stroke, went to the medical tent for 12 hours and was put in a hotel for 2 days. She was out.

That left 5 of us and I was taken out of the running part. That left 3 people to run, plus a driver. The runners had to switch off every .75 miles. One lady couldn't get her heart to slow down. It was miserable. 122 degrees, 30 mph winds of just heat, plus sand. I had to cover up my face. It looked like Saudi Arabia. Everyone was wearing hats that covered their neck and ears. I was totally not prepared for that. So I put myself in charge of the nutrition. Every mile we got out and prepared her food and then stood at the side of the road to give it to her.

Pam Reed is a really famous runner and has won this thing. She's been on David Letterman, profiled on 60 minutes, wrote a book that I read a few years ago about this race, been on lots of mags. Everywhere we went, people wanted a photo with her. People kept stopping and asking how she's doing. We even had to find out where her competition was. We'd drive around looking for the nearest people and find out their times. That's not my racing experience.

At night, we ended up in the mountains climbing and I was able to join in pacing again. She was going much slower. I then did 3 miles with her at 6am and again at 12pm because her pace was much slower. We stopped every mile for all 135 miles. I got maybe 40 minutes of sleep total. She wanted me to tell her stories while I was pacing her to keep her mind off of the pain, so I told her all my bad dating stories.

The last leg of the race is an 8,500 foot climb of switchbacks up Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. She couldn't go more than 18-20 minute miles. I walked behind her for a mile and sprayed her. The crew didn't want me doing much, but I felt okay and wanted to do more, but they said no. I was kind of upset about that.

You could tell the lady was really in pain. She was just moaning and kept saying "I'm not a runner. I'm not an athlete. I have no feelings." I just kept saying "You're doing great. You're so amazing." That's all you can do. She was totally hitting a wall, but she finished. She was the second female finisher and was really disappointed with coming in second, but she did really well.

She needs a better crew. We just weren't strong enough for her. She needs top athletes who do 100 mile races all the time. She really needs men to pace her. She's so good she beat a lot of top men.

It was really rewarding, but the toughest conditions I've ever run in. I've never even been in conditions like that.




Monday, June 24, 2013

Alaska

I finally made it to Alaska to visit my cousins. My cousin recently deployed to Afghanistan, so he was MIA. But I did get to meet the newest addition to the family. I also made a running trip out of it that you can read here.

I flew in at midnight just before the summer solstice. This is what midnight looks like. It's such a trip to not see darkness.


Everyone eats reindeer. Poor reindeer.
 At a chocolate factory.
 At the zoo with my cousins.
 Sweets!
 50 degrees on the first day of summer. Reminds me of Seattle.
 My cousin's baby, just 5 months old and playing with Seahawks toys. How can you not love that?
 Finishing the race. Really out of shape.
 Just before it started. Feeling good.
 Best running sign of the day.
During the race 

We actually had to hike part of the race and battle thousands of mosquitos. I have bites all over. 
 
At the zoo with my cousin's kid.