There are new races in San Diego--and it's a good thing too because the classics just fill up toooooo fast anymore. The running bug caught and stuck around longer than I thought. Years apparently. Oh well.
I put a few of the newcomers below: If you're doing one, let me know-- and if you did it last year, let me know that, too (and if you liked it or not).
March 11: San Diego Half Marathon (Inaugural Year... I'm not doing this one-- but if you're doing it I want to know about it!)
March 25: The San Diego Hot Chocolate Run 15K/5K
May 6: San Diego Zoo: Wild Animal Park 1/2 Marathon
Viewing Blog: What is this?, Most Recent at Top
Results 1 - 25 of 158
I have two short stories on this site which I entered in a Short Story Competition this year: The genres and subject were chosen for me. The first one: "Terror in the Trenches" was Horror/Metal Detector. The second story, "The Cocktail" was a Sci-Fi/Neighbors. It was a fun experience...I'll let you know how I did on April 7th. Other musings on this site... just pieces of my life I like to vent about.Statistics for What is this?
Number of Readers that added this blog to their MyJacketFlap: 1
Blog: What is this? (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Running, Teaching, The Classroom, Lake Murray, Add a tag
I had a good run today at Lake Murray-- the first 5+ miler I've done in a few weeks. It felt really good to let the week go (and it's only Tuesday!). So, you might remember that earlier this year a student broke into my classroom and peed on my desk. If not, here's the link to that happy tale. The kid was never caught, but I thought that was the end of gross things being done to my classroom this year. Not so.
For the past few weeks someone has been spitting on my classroom door. The first time I noticed it, was on a Monday after a long weekend and a big storm, so I didn't really think much about it. But then I began to notice that every couple days there was more of this gross, spit-looking substance accumulating on the door. Yesterday the kid finally went for the big guns (just in case I wasn't getting the message I suppose) and spit partially-masticated food all over the door. Not. Cool.
So, a custodian had to clean it up (which I feel really bad about because the kid isn't trying to punish her) and I hung a sign on the door that reads, "Just be cool, man." Today the spit appeared again on the door while I had my 4th period class down at the library...so I think I've narrowed down the perp's time frame AND that it is most likely not one of my current students. I'm working on a theory that it's one of last year's disgruntled 9th graders. There were some seriously evil children in that class. I don't say that lightly... I've had some squirrely classes in the past (this year's class included) but none that were just outright evil and malicious like last year.
I'm trying not to get in my head about the whole thing. If there's one thing I've learned over the years as a high school teacher, it's that you can not try to rationalize teenage behavior-- they don't even know why they do the things they do. Plus half the time their own actions have to be explained to them because somehow they forget that they just stabbed Johnny in the leg with a mechanical pencil or tried to give Carlos a papercut on his ear... "What did I do?!" as if they're so surprised by their own actions.
I had a realization while I was running today: this was my first school-related, NEEDED-run of the year... and by year I mean 2012. Hey, not so bad. I almost made it a month.
So in conclusion. To wrap it up. My point, ladies and gentleman is. Sigh.
If you're out there making someone's life hell with snide remarks, or backhanded compliments, or small devious annoyances (like my spitter), whether you think it's justified or not I have only one thing to say to you...
Just be cool, man.
Just be cool.
I found out recently that the mechanic I've been going to for the last 10 years, Fred Muranyi, used to run with the San Diego Track Club (or something like that...) back in the 70's. He's since stopped running long distance, but gave me some good advice while we chatted about the philosophies of ChiRunning and other techniques.
His run club used to tell them to, "Run as if someone is pushing you in the small of your back." So I tried that today, and it really works. It's kinda creepy! I imagined someone gently pushing me along and everything else relaxed and my form became more fluid and comfortable. And, it even made me go a little faster.
So thanks Fred!
And by the way: if you're looking for a good mechanic, Muranyi Automotive is the best. Honesty is so important--and Fred is as good as they come!
Over the summer I had the opportunity to work with the incredibly talented visionary, Jesse Rosten, and his incredibly talented crew, up in Redding, California. I became a boxer for the day-- it actually screwed up my shoulders...boxing gloves are heavy! So, I'm sticking with running, but it was so worth the soreness for the funniness that came out of it. I hope you follow the link below, enjoy what you see, and then share it around.
Click Here:Fotoshop (fake) Commercial by Jesse Rosten
Over a million hits!! Whoohoo!
The title of this post is a quote said by Ralph in Lord of the Flies. He says this after he and some of his classmates end up plane-wrecked on an island that, after a few days, starts to become "uncivilized."
Every year I have my students write a paper about the improvisation of every day life: we never know what the next day will bring, and yet, how is it that time passes without us even realizing it sometimes? Most of the time we go through the actions of our life with few surprises. Things may happen to us in a given year or month that shake us and turn us upside down, but rarely do we step outside our comfortable routines and make a memorable change on purpose. Rarely do we try to reinvent ourselves: "tweaking" is the safe version of change we use. This is the only possible explanation for why entire months--and even years--of my life are blurred or simply missing from my memory. I mean, there are thousands of days and hundreds of weeks that I know I lived but clearly was not present because I can find nothing of them.
The last 18 weeks of my life will be difficult to forget--in a really good way. I decided my daily improvisations, be them in front of a class of teenagers or taking a new dance class or running a new race somewhere, were still just copies of former improvisations. Allow me to use this metaphor to explain what I mean by copies of improvisations: As a teacher I have handouts that I use every year but can no longer find the original master copies...and I do not have them typed out on the computer. So, when I want to use one, I have to take one of the copies I made from the previous year and make duplicates of that duplicate. You know how when you make a copy of a copy it's never as good? And if you make a copy of that copy, it's even worse? Well, if you keep making copies of those copies you will eventually end up with a paper containing shadows and half-words that don't do anything but make the paper look dirty. That is how life can be sometimes. Copies of copies of things we've been doing for years. (I'm getting deep today, yes I am).
I won't go into detail about all the (aforementioned) things I attempted to "copy" this year from a younger me, but my attempt to create a master copy in my life recently involved learning improv at National Comedy Theater. It was something entirely new and at times f&*$ing scary. And now that the classes are over, and I've had time to think back on the last 18 weeks, I'm sad I won't see my funny friends each week and sad that I won't have something to be nervous about every Saturday afternoon. But I'm also glad that I have something in my memory that will set the year 2011 apart from previous years.
I will probably do the class again, even though it might seem, or might feel, like a "copy." However, the great thing about performance improv is that there is no such thing as a copy. There is no way to anticipate the scene you're about to walk into... one just has to follow one's own feet. I think we runners get that concept more easily than some... we've all had that long run or that race where it came down to simply trusting that your feet know what to do. Like Ralph who "found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one's waking life was spent watching one's feet."
Thanks to all the wonderful, fu
Blog: What is this? (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: King of the Hill Running Series, San Diego Trails, Trails Races, Add a tag
Anyone know anything about the 2012 King of the Hill Trail Running Series? And by "know anything" I mean: What are the "fun" challenges they claim to have along they way? And, what's up with Gut Check Fitness?--are they legit? I don't not know anything...I mean...I know some stuff. This is what I do know about it:
1. Four races up to the top of San Diego's "toughest" peaks
2. Each race gets progressively longer...culminating in a 22 mile race called Rabbit Peak...or maybe it's at Rabbit Peak?
3. They all seem hard
I've been wanting to do more trail running... but is this series over my head for starters if I've only done two trail races in my life?
Anyone done it or know someone who has?
My husband and I did the Father Joe's Turkey Trot in Balboa Park for the first time this year. Typically, I don't like running with my husband, but I figured this was only a 5K and just a fun run, so what could go wrong? In fact, it was fun and nothing (too bad) went wrong. We saw this guy at the start:
What a cute little turkey.
And while all the dogs were cute at the start line, it quickly became annoying once the gun went off. With thousands of people and many of them with dogs, it and was more stressful and chaotic than fun for about the first 10 minutes. There was a weimaraner bark-howling at every other person and trying to break free from it's leash, some kind of little wiry terrier kept jumping on passersby, and then there were multiple owners who let the retractable leash go too far...you can imagine. So, for the first mile my husband and I jogged slow and circumspect while entertaining ourselves by making gobbling sounds and then going "Ppiwww" like a shotgun. The two guys dressed like turkeys did not think it funny when my husband pretended to shoot them...and I was mortified. Which brings me to why I don't like running with him: when he's not actively doing things that he knows will embarrass me (like making farting sounds as he jogs passed someone getting into their car, or walking with their child), he's listening to his headphones shouting observations at me over his music, "DID YOU SEE THAT GUY?!" which is even more embarrassing. So that was the last 2 miles of the race... me being annoyed that he couldn't run a stupid little turkey trot with me without headphones.
I know I shouldn't care. I should let him do whatever makes running easier for him, but it's just not what I imagined when I asked him to run it with me. I always forget that when I ask people to go on runs with me, it's more like asking them to run beside me and ignore me while they listen to music.
Oh well. I'm still thankful for running, and I'm especially thankful for the fact that I can function as a runner without headphones. I know so many runners "incapable" of running without them these days. Running in and of itself is what's enjoyable to me-- not my pace or my finish time or my playlist.
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
Remember to be thankful that we can run whenever we want!
Blog: What is this? (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Races, Santa Barbara Marathon, Add a tag
Santa Barbara is a beautiful city which made for an enjoyable, memorable race on Saturday. Also memorable for another reason seen here:
yep. I ate $h!t during the first mile. My first race fall. I did fall once before on a trail, but it's a little bit more acceptable in that setting. So here's the story: I was in the third wave and about two minutes into the race I saw a woman eat it on the sidewalk. Just before I went down I was thinking, "That would seriously suck...I wonder how I would recover mentally from a fall early in a race..." and then I thought about the movie "Run, Fat Boy, Run," when he falls at the beginning of a marathon and hurts his knee... and then I fell. Fortunately, I'm volleyball-roll trained, so I was back on my feet before the first person could ask if I was OK. I decided to ignore the pain in my hands (they both hurt) by pulling my sleeves down over them for the next mile...but when it was time to ditch my sweatshirt, I finally looked and found my left hand was nasty bloody. I stopped at the mile 5 medic station, dug out a couple pieces of gravel, wiped it dry, took a picture of it, and put on a band-aid (that fell of before mile 6) and sort of got over it. But, it hurts even now--two days later. It was a deep gouge and it's probably infected a little....I don't know... should I dump some frozen peas on it like that British-chick did in Bridesmaids?
So, back to the race: I was surprised by the size of the mountains around Santa Barbara, by the number of oil rigs just off shore (did you know they drilled there?), and that it didn't rain on us during the race--it poured the entire night before, and about an hour after the race it started to rain again.
I hope to do this race again next year AND the Silverstrand.... my goal is to be in such good running shape next year, that I can do two halfers back-to-back. I guess we'll see...
The bike path around miles 4-7
The final mile
View above the finish line at SB City College
I hope the Silverstrand Half Marathon goes well for you all this Sunday-- I love (all but 3 miles of) that race. I'll be up in Santa Barbara tomorrow doing their half marathon for the first time. I'll come back with a full race report.
It looks like all of us will be getting soaked no matter which race we're in. I suggest running over to Sport Chalet and picking up a cheap rain poncho just in case it's raining while you're waiting at the start. You can get them for .99 cents and then not feel guilty if you decide to ditch it at some point.
Good luck fellow Halfers!
I had a really good Friday night, last night, with my friend, Angie. We're both teachers. Both runners. So, we have an innate understanding with one another that when Friday comes what we both need is food and drink that will not only help us deal with the week we just had, but will also properly nourish our bodies for the long run we inevitably face on Saturday. This, of course, means loads of Mexican food.
I'm beginning to think that I run better a little hung over. My new theory is that if you feel bad going into the run, you'll feel better at the end of the run. Whereas, if you start a run feeling good, you have nowhere to go but down. So the fish tacos, chips and salsa, margarita, beer and tequila shot at Baja Betty's last night, not only made it so I had to leave my car in Hillcrest, but also gave me the proper fuel I needed to then run and get my car today. It's sort of like the reverse of having someone drop you off in the middle of nowhere and then having to run your way home. I'm just dropping my car off instead...the night before...
On a sort of unrelated topic, but not entirely...I created a (kind of good) recovery drink today after my run. If you're into macrobiotics (I think that's what it's called)-- AKA: getting your vitamins from fresh plants and whatnot, then you may be interested in this smoothie. It's very pretty before blending...but gets a little brown once it's all mixed together.
Ingredients:
1 frozen banana
1 T chocolate hemp protein mix (Trader Joe's)
1C almond milk (unsweetened vanilla)
1 handful frozen kale
1 handful frozen spinach
1 T chia seeds
1T maca powder
1/2 C blueberries (mine are pre-blended in the pic- leftover from a previous meal...)
Blog: What is this? (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: The Classroom, Running, Add a tag
...I've been out of the blogosphere for way too long this time. The last time I wrote a post it was hot and still light outside at 9pm. Now it's getting dark around 7. I smell chimney smoke during my evening runs. It's almost Halloween for crying out loud. I've let a whole season of running posts slip by. Ah well. I'm still here. Sort of. Kind of in a fog this semester: I'm teaching high school part-time so that I can teach a college writing course. And, therefore, not running as much as I should considering........
On Monday when I walked into my high school classroom, the sheriff was there. Someone had broke into my classroom--sort of--over the weekend. It wasn't technically "breaking in" because no breaking was needed. My classroom door was not shut properly after the janitorial staff left on Friday afternoon, so while the classroom door was locked, it was not shut all the way. Therefore, it opened easily when tugged on by some punk-ass teenager at approximately 6pm Friday evening.
He (and I know if was a he from the grainy security cam video) did not destroy my classroom, as you may be expecting me to say. No. He tipped over a few desks. Put one of them on top of another. No big deal there since could have destroyed my posters, computer, CD player, and all the anthologies... But he didn't. Nope. He just urinated all over my desk. And my desk chair.
I don't really know what to say about the situation. There's just so much that can be said. And at the same time, nothing to say.
And so I run. I run. I run. I run.
Blog: What is this? (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Races, America's Finest City Half Marathon, Add a tag
This hasn't been my best running summer ever. In fact, I got hooked on P90X from June-July and unintentionally stopped running for a while. I did a few 3-4 milers here and there, but no long runs which are the staple of a marathoner's diet. Then August rolled around and I made my annual hajj up to Northern California to stay with my family for a couple weeks, to welcome my first niece into the world, and running turned into jogging 2 miles on the treadmill...with a few lunges thrown in about every 1/4 mile. Arduous I tell you.
I drove all day Saturday, got back to San Diego on the 20th at 9pm, went to bed, woke up the Sunday at 4am and was in line to catch the charter bus in Balboa Park by 5:30am. Even as I drove to the busses I debated with myself about turning around and going home or at best parking, taking a sleep in my car until 6:30, and then jogging over to The Hall of Champions for the 5K race instead. But something forced me to walk to the lines at the busses. Maybe the force of habit I don't know. Either way, a ride at the top of the only double decker bus (awesome!) and an hour later, I found myself stretching at the Cabrillo National Monument listening to the cracks and creaks coming from my stiff body that had just spent at total of 13 hours in the car over the last 2 days. My neck wouldn't exactly hold my head straight and my butt still felt like it was asleep. Even when the gun went off and I crossed the start line I was in denial... the race would take me within a mile of my house in the first 4 miles of the run, so if anything I could just ditch out and go back to bed.
I didn't ditch out. I did finish... about 20 minutes slower than my time last year and about 10 minutes slower than my usual "didn't train enough" pace. And despite my snailishness, I paid dearly for the next day and a half: a mostly crippled creature limping and groaning from the couch to the kitchen, couch to the kitchen...
I'm ready now for my first little recovery jog. It's a perfect day for it: cloudy, as it was on the day of the AFC (perfect PR weather, it was). I hope to come back to this post every once in a while as reminder of the importance of not being an idiot.
(On pace at the 10K split... thinking I'll be OK, smiling even.)
(But by mile 10, not feelin' it...or more accurately, feelin' it) bad.
I was re-inspired today by a running buddy I only know through the blogosphere: Paula (AKA Struggling to be Speedy). And she suggested that I, in order to get out of my running funk, go back to the basics with a little naked running*.
*Naked Running: To perform the action of running with only the necessary gear; to run without electronics.
Today I was reminded of a few reasons why running has stuck with me all these years-- and it's not because I can forget that I'm doing it through a song on my ipod. Let me take you through my run pre and post Pandora Station music:
Pre: Golden Hill to Balboa Park (1 mile)
1. Adele, First Love... Boring... slow. (Change station)
2. Arcada Fire, Sprawl I (Flatland)... Slow song again...eh I'll listen to it...uhk, no it's depressing. (Change Station)
3. Black Eyed Peas, Just Can't Get Enough... I hate Black Eyed Peas, but this is a really good song...Boy I think about it every night and day...I'm addicted and I just can't get enough
4. Jay Sean, Down...Good beat...Dang it's getting hot...Baby are you down, down, down, down, down...
5. Timbaland, Carryout... This is a new one...wow...autotuned like crazy... (Change Station)
6. Pandora won't reload at this point... cuss cuss.
Post Pandora Meltdown: Balboa Park to Point Loma (7 miles)
1. Hear a scream behind me and turn just in time to see a kid fall in the Balboa Park water fountain. Funny.
2. Lady to the right trips off a curb due to texting. Funny cuz she wasn't hurt.
3. Stop at a water fountain and hear a "Caw, Caw" like a crow: See a large man in blue jeans, no t-shirt, standing on the grass cawing at a flock of crows. He then dropped and started doing push ups. Weird. Eventually made me laugh--after I vacated the immediate area.
4. Waiting at the stoplight on Harbor and Laurel: See a man across the street also in blue jeans & no t-shirt, only he's small and bald and doing the grapevine along the running path. What the what?
Had I been listening to my music, I most likely would have missed these observations that got me through the second part of my run and ultimately made me feel better about myself.... It makes me wonder what I missed during the first part of the run.
So I don't usually go for this type of thing, but a friend of mine found this Ukrainian woman named Zuzana on youTube who does short killer workouts. From youTube my friend then discovered the Body Rocks website. So here's the deal: Zuzana (who is apparently a former porn star...I wouldn't know, but I do know that she is very, very toned) posts daily workouts on her website and they kickASS. And the beautiful thing about them is that they are comprised of only 4 moves that take about 12-15 minutes total to complete.
I've only done one of the workouts, and I was sore for 3 days afterward. They are not a joke, and they will rock your body. I sound like an infomercial right now, so I apologize for that, but I love that I was introduced to these workouts because it's a really quick thing to do after a maintenance run or just to build some lean muscle.
Every day she posts new workouts with a short demonstration video (shot by her husband who, as you will see, really likes focusing on her "upper" half, if you catch my drift) and then a workout breakdown with rep information. The one thing you'll want to get is an interval timer: it makes the workouts a lot easier not having to set and reset a stopwatch...and it keeps you more honest during rest times. This is what they look like--I'm sure you can find a cheapy at Sport Chalet or some other such sporty store, or you can click HERE and order one.
So that's all; I just wanted to share it with the three or four of you who read this blog. Use the site or don't.
Here's the Body Rocks website: enjoy being tortured!
Blog: What is this? (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: America's Finest City Half Marathon, I'm 30, Hills, For the Love, Add a tag
Well...it's been a long time since my last post. School got the best of me there at the end of the year, but now I am free free freeeeeeeee for the summer. This was my first official week of summer vaycay and I am doing it right. After assessing the serious flub happening from my ass down, I've decided that my workout routine needs a bit more than mileage to get things sorted (though I'm upping mileage too). About a year ago my husband bought the P90X program off eBay for $40. If you don't know anything about the program and are interested in learning about it, click here, cuz I'm just going to talk like you know what it is.
So in addition to my runs happening about every other day (which is a whole lot more than what was happening from April till now) my husband and I are doing the P90X program according to the "Classic Schedule." It's brutal. I'm sore in places I didn't know existed. But it's a really good sore. My new song/mantra is Kanye's "that-that-that-that don' kill me/ Can only make me stronger... do it faster/ makes us stronger." I can't stand Kanye as a person, but as a mantra provider, he's legit. It suits the program and the way it makes us feel every day because I do wonder sometimes if it will in fact kill me.
(*Insert appropriate transition here*)
I vaguely remember making a goal for myself: 30 hills in 30 days. Well... I technically started my "30 days" on May 23rd, which means today is my last day. I didn't really think it through enough, so I slacked and didn't hit 30 hills, but here's what I did. I found some really good hills and revisited some of the classics. If you're in need for some hill repeats or just a long slow hill, here are the bitches I conquered in the last 30 days. (Pics not provided for all hills discussed. Whaaat sometimes I don't run with my camera.)
1. Lake Murray Drive: A long, steady hill totaling .6 mile. Start at the corner of Lake Murray and Wisconsin Ave and head north up Lake Murray Drive to Kiowa Drive. Turn left on Kiowa and take a lap around the lake (6-7 miles). Once at the lake, about 1/2 a mile from the access gate is another paved hill on your right: small, steep as hell and perfect for sprint repeats. (Hill count 2)
2. Hill Street: Long long long. Steep, levels out a bit, then steep again. But the view is totally worth it. A good hill for full or partial repeats because you can pick and choose what grade you prefer. A brutal 1/2 mile. (Hill count 1)
3. Young Hall Hill on PLNU's campus: Now I remember why I used to wait for the shuttle or hitch a ride with someone up this hill. It's steep. It's long, but not as long as Hill St. You can access this hill from the dirt trail at the end of Corning near Sunset Cliffs. (Hill count 1)
Blog: What is this? (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: America's Finest City Half Marathon, Races, Add a tag
"I'm trying to reclaim my pre-Boston fitness, but my legs feel like pantyhose stuffed with sand."--Kristen Armstrong
Hahahahahahahahah!
My legs feel and look this way right now, but it's definitely NOT because I just ran Boston. If anything I'm getting further and further away from my goal to one day qualify for Boston.
I figure it's time to look to the next race for motivation. So, I signed up for American's Finest City (AFC) Half Marathon this week. If you're looking for a kickass 1/2er to do this August (the 21st actually), then this is a great option. It's $95 from now till it sells out, and it always sells out quick--so jump on it, jump on it. Not kidding. If you're even slightly considering it, sign up today, right now. Here's the link: CLICK ON THIS.
Quick Overview of the Race if you've never done it and are considering.
The Start: Is up at Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma-- you'll take a bus from Balboa Park (zoo area) up to the monument.
Miles 1-4: Contain a lot of downhill stuff--and it's pretty steep. If you struggle with shinsplints or knee issues you may not want to do this one.
Miles 5-10: Mellow, flat along the Harbor by the San Diego airport, to the Embarcadero, and then through part of downtown.
Miles 11-12.5: Slight up hill. The worst of it starts at Mile 11.5 up 6th Avenue to the Laurel Street bridge. Be sure to prepare yourself for the uphillyness or you'll be PISSED. However, this is my favorite race in San Diego--despite the last two miles. Seriously--it's a good run and easy to PR if you can run downhill fast without injury.
Do it.
Well, it was a good run while it lasted, but my stint as a columnist for San Diego News Room's Endurance section has succumbed to budget cuts and I won't be contributing anymore (at least that's the reason they gave me...but maybe they just didn't like my articles). So, I'm moving on. To what and where? Who knows. But, I'd like to keep writing about running and being an healthy-- so luckily my blog can't fire me.
My most current project--30 Hills in 30 Days--is still in the works. I'm collecting hills still. Here's my current list but I need more suggestions. Lots more.
1. Laurel Street
2. Lake Murray Blvd
3. Hill Street
4. Xenophon
5. Torrey Pines Reserve (thanks ang)
6. 6th Avenue (thanks again ang)
7. 56 Bike Path (east)-- (thanks Run DMZ)
Sigh...see what I mean? I need some more suggestions. I'll probably use a bunch of other small hills around here just for convenience sake...like:
8. Browning
9. Point Loma Nazarene's Young Hall-Hendrix hill
10. Canon
11. Talbot
Anyway... not much is going on in my running world right now, unfortunately. Well, except for the back part of Lake Murray's bike path that finally opened up, so we can once again get a 6 mile run out of the place. That's some big news (for me at least). It's time to start keeping a look out for rattlers at the Gorge and on those trails in North County. A running friend of mine just saw a big fat one while rock climbing...or maybe he was hiking....
I wish all you crazies running La Jolla this weekend good luck-- especially going up that reserve and I especially hope it's cool weather for you.
Keep on truckin'
I turned 30 recently. I also wrote this article about hills recently. And then I had this crazy idea that I want to run 30 different hills in 30 days. I need to plan them out first so that I can get them into my schedule. So... I'd like your suggestions for good San Diego hills. There are all sort of hills that I can do around Point Loma and Ocean Beach and I'll do those throughout the week. But, I'd like to try some new places in North County or East County...so please share your favorite hills here. And, in case you need a reason to have that beer tonight-- drink to me being 30!
I really appreciate the way John Stewart talks about teachers, so I'm attaching a link below to an entire episode of The Daily Show on hulu (hopefully it works--if not, I included the episode info so you can google it or search in hulu for it). I'd really appreciate it if you took 20 minutes of your time to watch what he has to say. His guest is author of The Life and Death of the Great American School System, Diane Ravitch, who discusses the education system in America and other countries.
This episode in particular gives me hope that there are people in this country still willing to fight for true education. That there are people who see beyond the superficial statistics and get at the real root of the problem. I don't hear many people right now with good things to say about teachers-- I find myself wondering nearly every day When did we become the bad guys?. I've been feeling frustrated, broken hearted and just generally low because of the way I hear the public and public officials talk about teachers. It's hard enough to stay positive when things are going well with teaching, but when it feels like everyone thinks you're evil or that you're greedy or that what you do can be easily replaced -- it makes me want to crawl into a hole and never come out. Actually it makes me want to move to FInland (you'll see why on the episode).
I haven't been running much lately, which is probably why my resistance to it all is down a bit...and when my skin is thinner like now, it's hard to get out on the road which makes the skin even thinner...vicious cycle, but it's people like Stewart and Ravitch who renew my hope that one day teaching will be a respected profession once again. Please watch:
The Daily Show with John Stewart, Thursday March 3, Season 16, Episode 32
Blog: What is this? (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: San Diego Trails, Dirt Devil Race Series, Add a tag
I'm sort of in a funk right now with running: unmotivated, tired, lackluster. I'm currently doing the bare minimum to stay in 1/2 marathon condition for the races I've been doing about once a month right now. But, maybe if I sign up for the upcoming Dirt Devil trail race series, it will give my running the reviving shock it needs.
For 3 years now, The San Diego Running Institute has sponsored the Dirt Devil Racing Series: a series of small races (limited to about 250 participants per race) all held on local San Diego County trails. I did a 10K last year and looooooooved it. People were cooking food on little camp stoves at the start line, Starbucks reps handed out free coffee and Jamba Juice provided bagels and bananas. It was mellow and peaceful from start to finish and now that I think about it I don't know why I neglected to run more of them last year.
Well, that's why I'm doing it this year. Here are the Dirt Devil dates and locations:
April 17th, 2011, Painted Rocks Half Marathon, Lake Hodges
June 12th, 2011, Coyote 5K, Tecolote Canyon
July 10th, 2011 , Sidewinder 10K, Marian Bear Park
August 14th, 2011, Stairway to Heaven 15K, Mission Trails Regional Park
October 9th, 2011, Raptor Ridge Half Marathon, Lake Hodges
I'm a little concerned that trail races are going to become as popular as road races-- it's getting harder and harder to register for San Diego marathons unless you stalk when registration starts and do it right away. All these people being healthy is really annoying isn't it?
For more info on these races or to register go to http://www.dirtdevilracing.com/
OR
Contact: Emily Beck
San Diego Running Institute
(619) 265-7374
[email protected]
Blog: What is this? (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Teacher Blog Scandal, Add a tag
...sit around and talk about how wonderful our students (and their parents) are all the time? If the majority of our students were like the 1% we see acting like decent human beings then maybe we would, but when we have 35-40 crazy, hormonal teenagers crammed in a classroom how else are we supposed to stay sane if we can't vent about it? Munroe says it like it is and gets suspended... I run so that I don't write about it all here... but if more teachers told the world what it's really like, then maybe parents would start doing their jobs again by supporting education at home (i.e. turning off the video games)--and then AND THEN the education system would improve.
If you don't like what she says, then you don't like 99.9% of the teachers who are out there because we all feel this way. She just writes about it instead of yelling about it to her husband before running 10 miles.
Don't know what I'm talking about?
Read about MY HERO here.
Blog: What is this? (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Races, San Dieguito Half Marathon, Add a tag
Looks like I'll only be posting when I run a race...soooo that's shaping up to be about once a month. With Carlsbad last month and San Dieguito last Sunday, that leaves Washington DC's National Marathon & Half next month (I'm doing the 1/2 for my 30th birthday), then La Jolla in April, and possibly the OC Marathon and/or a couple trail races in May... Yikes.
Yikes-- especially since Sunday's San Dieguito halfer was one of the hardest races I've done in a while. First, the sun was shiny and bright which does me in even if the air is still cool (which it was for a while) and second because of the hills. The person who told me this race has "rolling hills" is now number one on my "Do Not Consult" list. There were plenty of rolls going UP but not so many going down.
The Hash House Harriers and volunteers did their best to make it fun, i.e. Sangria at mile 4 and beer at mile 12,
the Queen of England,
...this guy...
and good scenery (gorgeous, multi-million dollar homes, loads of trees and ponds and horses). But, for all its good looks and the fun it tried to be, I don't see myself doing it again unless I fall in love with hills (which won't happen) or the Hashers start serving Bloody Marys at the start line.
Without realizing I was doing it, I've sent my life in a new, chaotic direction. The ball is rolling, now I have to keep up with it. Actually, that's a little dramatic for what I've been up to, but in case you haven't noticed, I've been an unfaithful blogger the last few weeks. My excuse is that I'm having a busy year and honestly forget sometimes that I have one of these crazy fun bloggy things.
View Next 25 Posts
Could you put up a new sign on the door that says, "Smile, you're on camera!" or "Big Brother Is Watching You." I mean, who doesn't think they are under surveillence these days, right?
sounds like you might want to run a few more miles these days...good way to burn off stress!