Phoenix, Arizona

I am stuck at Phoenix airport waiting out long flight delays--as usual. I am not the luckiest of souls when it comes to on-time flights. I spent the weekend in Phoenix and surprised that the heat didn't bother me. I actually kind of liked it. I did spend 8 miles on a treadmill, trying to run inside rather than out. But my foot is not healed and spent the better part of Sunday night putting ice on it and stretching it. I hope to run again soon, actually really soon--I have a long race out of town this weekend.

I did get to see my dad for Father's Day, had my hair dyed even darker brown (although I miss being blonde) and am back in Invisalign. Those were all the major happenings of my time in the Valley of the Sun.

Memories of Childhood

I grew up in this small town (kind of small) called Puyallup in Washington state, a suburb of Seattle. When I go out running in California I bring back memories of my childhood. I smell bark, freshly cut grass and now in March, spring flowers. I even saw daffodils--my favorite flower. The town of Puyallup has a big daffodil festival, complete with a daffodil parade and every high school in the area selects a daffodil princess who competes for daffodil queen. Daffodils are so beautiful. They are like little sunshines on a stick. Much prettier than sunflowers (not to dog sunflowers; all flowers are beautiful, even dandelions, which I call flowers though they are technically weeds). But today out running I saw snails...snails! I haven't seen snails in years and the sidewalks were littered with them. Then as the sun rose their trails of slime started glistening. Most people would call it gross, but I loved it. Now I just need to see a slug and my California/Washington experience will be complete. Isn't running awesome? Even though I have been super slow at it these past couple of months, I still love it. Just want to get faster!! My finish times are embarrassing.

First Race Report of 2011

I finished my first race of the year and it went...well, not so much fun. It was my first full trail running race. I've done some trail triathlons, but not a full running race. It GPS'd at 12.6 miles and took me longer than it takes me to run 16.6. It was 6 miles of climbing up a trail over rocks and boulders. I couldn't even run a good portion of it. Plus, not many aid stations existed because it was out in the middle of nowhere Arizona. It took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to drive to the start line, literally out into the mountains of nowhere. If you looked for this place on a map, I don't think it would be there.

Well, not only was it hard, but I fell. I fell and sprained my wrist, twisted my ankle, bruised my hand until it turned blue, skinned my knee and elbow to the point it burned, and ended up with about two pounds of cactus needles in me, which I spent the race of the race pulling out as I plugged along. It can only go uphill from here right? I managed to finish covered in blood and cried my way to the aid station. I was crying like a baby to the man trying to clean up my dirt and blood-soaked body. Poor man.

New Year's Resolutions

I set the following new year's resolutions for 2010. How did I do?

1. Run three marathons--I ran 3 full and 8 halfs
2. At least two of them have to be international ones--three were international races
3. Better my biking time by .5 mph in a triathlon--bettered time by .5 in a May triathlon
4. Write the draft of my book--92,000 words done!
5. Go out for New Year's Eve--going out with three friends

Highlights of 2010:
1. Accomplishing my goal of running a marathon on every continent
2. Getting a lot of press for it. I am even on the cover of a magazine.
3. Going brunette--I do miss being blonde though...
4. Running in China, Peru, South Africa
5. Running my new favorite half marathon in Santa Barbara, CA.

Goals for 2011:
1. Doing an ultra marathon
2. Bettering my bike time by another .5 mph in one triathlon
3. Completing my book--almost done :)
4. GANJ (This is cryptic for personal reasons)
5. Letting go of something personal that needs to be let go

12Ks of Christmas

Just as in the 12 Days of Christmas, I did a race of the 12Ks of Christmas. It started at the "North Pole" aka Gilbert, Arizona. We were all given Santa hats to wear along with special Christmas socks. Most everyone dressed up. I found a red technical t-shirt to get into the spirit of the race. Dogs were colorful with wreaths around their necks and red and green leg warmers on their four little legs. One man was a human wreath; one girl dressed up as the Grinch and dyed her hair green; some just colored themselves all red and green. One guy dressed up as Scrooge and wore a top hat and a full suit. Along the route were choral groups including a children's bell group and a choir dressed to the nines in Victorian fashions. I loved it. Santa was there with his reindeer (dogs with antlers). However, there was a police officer who stopped all the runners to allow traffic to cross. I was stopped for 2 minutes by a cop who held out his hand and let cars go by...say what?? There goes my pace. It was a timed event and the race directors paid money for that road to be stopped. But the police officers decided that cars were more important than runners. I appreciate the volunteers (in this race they were called "Santa's Helpers") and the cops who make races possible, but come on...we were in a timed event and held off running.

So I did something...

Really stupid. I mean really stupid. I signed up for 50 mile, or 80 kilometer, race. Not sure if I will be able to pull that off. I haven't been running well at all. I have gotten some very slow marathon times and my slowest 5K to date just two weeks ago. So it may not happen, but I paid for it, so I want to do it.

I broke my retainer right before I left for South Africa and within 5 days my teeth shifted so much I have been back in braces for 3 weeks and have to go at least another 2 more. Huh? Is this right? I thought I was done with this a long time ago.

Greetings from the bottom of Africa

I am in South Africa at a lovely wharf along the waterfront having a beautiful evening with a beautiful sunset in a lively part of town. I came to Cape Town by way of Dallas, by way of Amsterdam and then flew from there. It took 30.5 hours in transit from my home to the hotel. But I am not exhausted. In fact, I didn't sleep more than 1.5 hours last night. I am waiting for the crash to come.

On my flight to Amsterdam we all got our own TVs (yeah for non-American airlines!) but, only two entertainment systems on the plane didn't work and guess who was one of those people? Me and the girl next to me. Lucky though, after two hours, it was fixed and I was back watching Modern Family and the Office, plus my choice of dozens of movies. I'd start a movie and decide I didn't like it, so move on. I think I only watched one movie all the way through.

Then I got to Amsterdam and the plane went right over one of the lovely Amsterdam canals. I love Amsterdam and I really wanted to just walk outside and be in Europe. The airport tempted me with all the wooden shoes and European chocolates for sale and photos of the canals and tulip fields. Dang it! I've never flown to another continent and it was just a layover to another continent. It was insane.

Then after that 9 hour flight and 2 hour layover (plus the 2.5 hour flight to Dallas, plus its 2 hour layover), I got on a plane to Cape Town. Somewhere over Tel Aviv, I know this because they had monitors all over the plane showing us where we are in the world just to tease us how far we were from South Africa, I got really sick. So the rest of the flight was tough, but I stayed awake the entire time. Since I had already gone through all the movies (I was flying the same carrier), I devoted this time to reading and listening to all the CDs they had in the entertainment library. I have a new love: Susan Boyles. Her CD is actually really good. Then by way of some weird karma, the entertainment system went out for all but 2 rows and guess whose row still had the entertainment system working? Mine. I always tell people life is the great equalizer.

I got into Cape Town and it is actually really hilly. I thought it would be flat, but no. Plus, it's kind of scary the area of town where I am staying. I will not go out at night. Then I got to my room and it is totally ghetto. It is probably the worst room I have stayed in, even worse than my jail cell in Copenhagen. The TV doesn't work, the alarm clock doesn't work, so I asked for a wake up call which never came, and the security deposit box is broken. In addition, there is no heater and it is really cold here. Plus, it turns out that my room overlooks a disco club just 20 feet away, which played music until 3am and I could hear every song as if the radio was being played right in my room. It was good music and really cool American club music, but I was tired and had to listen to that. Four pillows covering my ears didn't do the trick to keeping the noise away.

This morning I went down to the lobby to wait for my tour to pick me up and told the receptionist/concierge/security/not-makes wake-up calls guy (the hotel is ghetto, so one person does everything) that it was so loud last night and why didn't he give me my wake up call? He slept through it. Then he said that it is a national holiday today and so everyone was out late celebrating the long weekend. Everyone has today off.

Oh and get this, my birthday is a national holiday in South Africa! How lovely is that?? Being the vain person that I am, I always thought my birthday should be a national holiday and in South Africa, it is! It is Freedom Day and a national holiday where everyone shuts everything down and celebrates. If I lived here, I would never have to work on my birthday again.

So I went on an African Safari today and saw the big 5. It was magnificent, but cold. It was wonderful. I saw lions and elephants and birds and cheetahs and rhinos and then sat by a pool and relaxed. Some people on the safari knew I was doing a race here so they asked the question, as usual, are you going to win? First of all, there is such a thing as stupid questions. Second of all, I'm in freaking AFRICA! What do you think? This is the land of runners. I'm having really bad problems with my calves. They keep spasming and making it hard to walk. I am very nervous and think it will be a really hard time.

Then I went to the expo which was right on the water and just gorgeous and I met a gorgeous guy named Paul (what is up with cute guys with that name?) who is here from Tampa. (I wished I could have said the same-- cryptic message).

Workouts:

Saturday: 20 mile run
Sunday: 20 mile bike, 4 mile run

Legs cramped in the heat. I am worried for my next race! My dog felt so badly for me coming in from my 20 mile run. She put her paw on me and just rested it there. You have got to love dogs.

So you had a bad day

I spent the Labor Day weekend doing what I usually do during this holiday: not laboring. I visited my favorite place, the bookstore, and discovered a new fav author. Despite the heat advisory and unbelievable temps Phoenix is still having, I managed to run miles everyday and complete a couple long bike rides.

However, Monday morning I was greeted with some deeply disappointing news. I had been very much hoping for something to happen and emailed myself everyday saying that it would happen and saying a prayer each time. I figured if I wrote (typed) my goal, it would have to come true right? Well, it didn't and it was a major (major!!) bummer and gave me a headache in the process. On top of it, I asked my parents if I could move back in with them. I would rent out my house to save money and pay off the car I was forced to buy when Saturn decided that it didn't want to drive anymore.

My parents haven't said yes. I don't expect them to either. But if they do, I will be a 33-year-old, single girl living with my parents. How attractive is that? It wouldn't be for a long time, just to pay off my car and some bills. Plus, I think I would like it. It's lonely living alone in my house. I come home to my DVR and as often as I try to start conversations with my TV, it just doesn't seem to talk back.

Favorite things about my Utah trip:

1. Danced with my cousin's 4-year-old
2. Ate ice cream at 10pm at Iceberg with my cousin, brother and his girlfriend
3. Went to a baby shower and saw loads of cousins and aunts
4. Saw my grandma who is suffering from Alzheimer's and a brain cyst. She remembered me for a small period of time.
5. Got to go running on the Jordan River parkway
6. The weather was heavenly

Arizona is suffering from a heat wave and extreme heat warnings. It was 113 today at 5pm with 50% humidity. Then a storm came and it was 100% humidity, with 108 degrees. Yuck.

I just finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I now must finish the trilogy. I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the movie with Daniel Craig, my celebrity crush.

Saturday fun

I am having a productive Saturday. I woke up at 5am for a 12 mile run. I then ran errands and met tile guys back at my house at 8am. I had my bathroom and laundry area retiled and it looks like a new house. I am so happy about it. While they were retiling, I did yard work and cleaned. What you can do by 9am is wonderful.

Weekend

This weekend was a bit muggy, which is a bit of an understatement. The air was thick and running in it felt like running through water. I tried to put in a good 12 miles on Saturday, but could barely breathe. I had to walk too much, so gave up. I decided Sunday would be better, but after a short time I couldn't take it anymore. So I headed to the nice air-conditioned movie theater and saw Inception. I now have a new celebrity crush named Tom Hardy. He is cute and has a wicked accent, which I always adore. I looked him up on Wikipedia and unfortunately, he is a mere 5'9 (so the other actors in the movie must be extremely short). But he was fun to look at while the movie was a total mind trip. And luckily, my new car has good air-conditioning to get me here and there.

Triathlons in Tempe?

Fall triathlon season is in jeopardy. Tuesday evening a dam broke and all the water from Tempe Town Lake rushed into the Salt River and now the lake is gone, literally gone. Fish were flapping around on dry ground and unfortunately passed away. What was once a lake is now dirt and some deteriorated plant life. The mayor thinks that it will be "likely" fixed by November, but what about the Sept and Oct races?

I am heading up north this weekend for cooler weather. I will at a cabin with my parents and their friends and will totally be the fifth wheel. I am used to it. I tend to stick to myself anyway. But I welcome the chance to be rid of the heat and run in better temperatures than 116.

Car Shopping

I ran 12 miles in over 90 degrees Saturday morning and then the humidity hit. I had to go car shopping, which was brutal in the heat. I told the salesmen to stay inside and I'll come get them if I need them, trying to keep them away from the heat. I think it was 114 yesterday.

I did find a car, a Kia Sportage. It's an SUV and I am now going to spend way more in gas than I ever have...and I feel like a soccer mom driving it. It is so much car for little old me. But I do feel empowered looking down at all the cars on the road. I like to think I am moving up in the world, literally. My poor Saturn went to car heaven and I asked the dealership to take care of it and treat it with love and affection; it was my baby for 7 years. Now I have a car payment for the first time since 2005 and this time around I'm living alone without a roommate, so my expenses have drastically increased. I am trying to think of what I can do to earn extra money...I think I may pawn some of the presents ex's have given me over the years.

Scary

Sometimes I go running near work. It is through a canal in a not so good part of Phoenix. Today this happened. Last night I went with my parents and a friend to the Diamondbacks game. As much as I loved the eye candy of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, the beating of the Yankees and all the home runs were far better.

Tribal Sprint Triathlon

I woke up at 3:30am for an early triathlon which had a start time of 6:15--a 1 hour and 15 minute drive from my house. I'm not even close to being a fast swimmer or biker, but I love to run and I thought my goal for this race is not let anyone pass me on the run. I accomplished the goal. Not a soul passed and yes, there were still people behind me. I'll take the small accomplishments as I can get them. I really love the run course, as it is a lot of trail running, which you don't often find in a triathlon.

Bad Movie Weekend

Friday night I went with a past co-worker to see Hot Tub Time Machine. Yes, I want my money back. Yes, that was two hours of my life I won't ever get back. Yes, I washed my eyes out after it. The actors and directors had to have known that this cannot possibly be anything other than the worst movie ever made. Even the title alone reeks of stupidity. On Saturday night I rented 2012. Apparently, even though the world is ending and the continent is underwater, you can still use your cell phone.

But I did make a delicious discovery: The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. I'm sorry Starbucks, but I have found something better: raspberry scones that taste like Lucky Charms cereal and hot vanilla, which is like melted clouds. Yum!

I ran an 18 miler on Saturday and then biked 18 miles that afternoon in gorgeous weather. I also got a bit bronzed. It's fun looking at the stranger in the mirror. On to a new week of running. Got some marathons coming up!

Olympics

Since it has now been a week that I've felt like I'm on my death bed, I've had some time to watch the Olympics. I love the figure skating. I love the ice. I have such happy memories of the ice rink.

Back in high school I was grossly unpopular with boys. Actually, some things never change. I used to think I would be a late bloomer, but being as that I'm turning 33 in a couple months, I think I am a perpetual bud. But I digress. In high school I never went to prom or homecoming, so the nights of the dances, I would head to the ice rink where you just couldn't be sad. It was my happy place.

I love the smell of the ice. In fact, it is my favorite smell: freshly zambonied ice.

In college I would get up at 5:30am to catch a bus ride for an hour to the ice rink, skate, then take a bus ride for an hour back--all before I even went to class. That's how much I loved the ice.

Watching the Olympics makes me happy to see the skaters and jealous at the same time.


I have developed a bit of a crush on skier Bode Miller. He looks like actor Ed Burns. We would make a good couple because 1. We both have winter sports we enjoy. Clearly he's more talented at his sport though. 2. We both have good balance. I can stay up on two thin blades and he can stay up on two thin sticks. 3. We both are into fitness.

Jennifer and Bode's Fairy Tale:

I would be the ice princess skating all winter and he would be the king of the moguls. Our favorite food would of course be snow cones. Then during the summer we would cross train by running marathons and triathlons in beach towns.

And we would live happily ever after.

Valentine's Day is about love right? So...

I spent Valentine's Day doing what I love: running. I ran my 21st half marathon in Apache Junction and got the same time I usually do. The course felt tougher with more hills, as it had changed this year. No more running through sweet neighborhoods with children handing out oranges to the runners. Rather, we ran a lot on pavement and only a small portion on trails. The neighborhood blocked a lot of the head wind, but with the new course, we ran into the wind which really slowed my pace down.

I then biked 25 miles to assist with recovery. I find that biking after a half marathon sort of spins the lactic acid out.

It was a gorgeous near 80 degree day. I was dog sitting all weekend and watched my favorite sport in the world: figure skating. I love the winter Olympics because of skating.

So Valentine's day had lovely weather, running, biking, figure skating and a dog for my date. I couldn't have asked for a better Valentine's day! Except if Curtis Stone had been around, things would have been brighter, but I take what I can get. This year my date was a dog, which is actually more than I can say for last year.

On Saturday I ran a 5K and placed 4th out of 14 in my age group. Small race and tough hill for first 2K, but didn't feel winded like I usually do at the end of a 5K.

Health Issues

I went out running this weekend and my knee gave out. I've never had that happen before until now. My quads and knee on my right leg hurt so badly I couldn't run and had to walk. Unfortunately, I was still 5 miles from my car and had no choice but to keep going. Very scary and I'm worried for a race I have this weekend. It took me a significantly long time to get done. In fact, I was only at mile 11 where I would usually be at mile 13.

I am also having problems with my heart. I still cannot sleep on the left side of my body.

On a happier note, I am in love with this movie called Dear John. I've seen it twice already and I will see it again, probably on Valentine's day. I will pretend Channing Tatum is my Valentine. I will also be doing a race on Valentine's Day and I can't think of a better way to spend this Hallmark holiday (which I loathe) than running and watching Channing Tatum in a military uniform.