Fourth of July Run

This song was on my patriotic son’s iPod.  I want to honor all those in Iraq and around the world in our military on this fourth of July.  Thank you.

Today, I ran the school tour.  In which I run by all my old schools here in Woodland Hills…5 miles in 56 minutes.  Something like that.

K-2 Pinecrest, 3-6 Collins Street.  Then, of course thank GOD for the Mother Ship Starbucks.  I heard the other day they were closing 600 stores.  I wonder if it’s because runner’s like me use the facilities, but don’t get a coffee.  My Mom made a KILLER pork chop-mashed potato-corn on the cob dinner last night, of which I indulged…so, I needed to stop.

I got asked out.  By an 80 year old.  I was running by him as he was trying to blow up his 4th of July dog. (don’t ask).  He says, “When are you going to come and play tennis?”  First time I’ve been asked out.  In a long time.  Heh.

Hughes Jr. High, where parts of the Karate Kid was filmed.  ECR, home of the National Academic Decathalon champions, and obviously they did that 5 times, but after I was in High School.  Natch, I ran by the old *smoker’s section*, where kids could stand outside and have a ciggie.  Things have changed sinced the 70s!  I remember smoking in the teacher’s lounge the first year I taught! 

There were lots of Runners, but LA, your sidewalks are slanted.  I walked for a while.  Then a guy starts running by me, and I reckoned he was mighty slow.  When I started again, I thought I’d overtake him.  I never did pass him.

A few days ago, I borrowed my youngest son’s iPod (the catcher on the right).  Today, I used my oldest son’s.  While the younger gymnotes boy is a rocker, this iPod was full of Christian and Patriotic music. 

 The first three today:  

 Shout to the Lord,

George Strait, Tell me what he said that always made you stay,

Live Like You were Dying, by Tim McGraw

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

Words as weapons sharper than knives…

“Old friend
It might be easy for another man to see
But I think you still look a lot like me”…Lyle Lovett

For the umpteenth time, this class, like any of the other 20 or so classes I’ve had discussed bullying.  Why it happens.  Has it happened to you.  Or someone in your family. 

I got the same tired responses that I get every year.  Yeah, it’s wrong.  Yeah it’s bad, and I hate it.  Except this from a student:  “Today, a boy was sitting by himself in lunch, and I really just wanted to tell him to sit with me and my friend but I didn’t want him to get more embarrassed or think I was trying to play a practicle [sic] joke with him, so I did nothing, and I regret this.”

Here’s the problem:  We all do nothing.  We want our kids to be happy, to have friends, to do well in school.  If our kid is happy, we’re happy…but what about the kid who has no one?  What about the kid that is sitting over there by himself?  I’m making it a point to talk to a new student every day.  Yeah, I only have 5 more days, but what will I do with them?

 Ms. V: “You can throw a rock in a pond, and you cannot control where the ripples go.  What will you do in the next 24 hours that will change someone’s life?”  We’ve been working on variations of this theme for the last 12 days or so.  We talk about it non-stop. 

Will it have any impact at all?  It’s only Summer School, after all.  (intended sarcasm)

*Post title from Devil Inside, by INXS*

If I knew the tunes I might join in…

AA meeting:  I go to my usual Monday night meeting.  The guy behind me is drunk.  Very drunk.  Or on pills.  After the meeting, he is sitting in his car, his head on the steering wheel.  A few of us go to see if he’s okay.  He says, “I’m fine, just ashamed.”  He lived a mile or so away, but I really felt in my gut that he needed some assistance.  We didn’t call the police to get him help.  He drove across the median.  No one was hurt.  This time.  Thoughts?

Summer School:  Warning, long run-on sentence ahead:  How do students get to be Juniors and Seniors in California without knowing about abolitionists, women voting and John F Kennedy… the moon, the cold war, how significant the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team win was in terms of our history with the Russians…?  How is it that we have raised socially absent teens? 

I love YouTube:  Today in class, I was reminding them of MLK Jr.’s speech where he keeps saying, “How long?” and the answer is “Not long”.  I googled into my iPhone, MLK Jr, not long speech, and there it was.  Beautiful, and right at our fingertips.  Too bad YouTube is blocked from most school sites as being “dangerous”.  I’ll tell you what’s dangerous:  ignorance. ignorance. ignorance.

AARP:  HELLO?  I received my AARP card in the mail.  I’m 49. 49 49 49 49 49 49 Do they know who they’re dealing with?  On the other hand, I can’t wait to be 50, so I can compete against 59 year olds in any runs!

Tempo Running:  Today, we did 2.5 miles of tempo, at 9:40 pace.  I’m pretty happy with that.  Our town has repaved the roads, so we are able to run right in the middle, and play Frogger with the cars.  New shoes, the Asics GT2130, PINK!  Oh, and these people  were questioning my need for new shoes, with only 197 miles on them.  At the running store, I’m told that *BIGGER GIRLS ARE HARDER ON THEIR SHOES*.  Uh, thanks for that.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch:  Great afternoon snack.

 

First Three Songs on the Run: 

Free Falling, Tom Petty

If you want to be happy, by Jimmy Soul

Flavor of the Week, by American Hi-Fi

(post title from Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Elton John)

California Smoky Sky & Fireworks

We ran 5 today in 55:10, just under 11 minute pace with two hills.  NO, the smoke isn’t as bad as this picture, but today there was just a LITTLE patch of blue way up high.   There was a beautiful sunrise over our first hill, but it saddened me to know that our lungs, our air…it’s just pitiful.  I’m with our Governor…let’s not use any fireworks this year, k?

When Kim came over, my iPod was dead, so I used my 8 year old’s.  Now there’s an experience.  In my quest to commit to the first three songs, I had to laugh!

Will’s First Three

John Cena, The Time is Now (He’s a singer?)

Meet in the Meadow, by Paul Westerberg, from the Movie Open Season

First Time, by Finger Eleven (which is now going on my running list)…GREAT song

He also had a Christian song, called Indescribable, which I listened to when the sun rose.  Here it is, and it’s fabulously uplifting.

Pottery Barn gift card, NEW SHOES!  (Mine have 197 miles and they are killing me, so I think I may not have the best shoe….) 

The Off Day

My actual first THREE today:

You Sexy Thing, by Hot Chocolate

Lemon Tree (again with the lemon tree)

Crazy, Gnarls Barlkey

I was just doing arms and the elliptical on my off day.  Then this old Johnny Cash song comes on, and it always makes me smile.  Here it is for you pleasure, but I think it’s Joaquin singing.

What exactly is a tempo?

Date:	6/27/2008 5:30 AM
Type:	Tempo
Course:	2nd-gym
Distance:	3.12 miles
Duration:	34:24
Pace:	11:02 / mile
Shoe:	Unknown Unknown
Weight:	174 lb
Weather:	65° F, Partly Cloudy
Notes:	smoky air…
Statistics:	Calories: 411 VO2 Max: 26.3

Today’s California air:  SMOKY SMOKY SMOKY

The Red Cross called me last night, and I may be going to the midwest, the east or Butte County.  They are in desperate need of supervisors, and I’ve been trained as such.  The air is killing us here, not blue sky anywhere…just brown haze, and I could feel it on my run today.

Tempo:  I tried to figure out my half mile easy today, but I’m sure it was wrong.  I may have to invest in one of those fancy *cough Garmin cough* watches to keep track of my mileage.  We stopped at the gym to get water.  And then we were done.  Happy Friday.

Today’s First 3 Songs:

Hollaback Girl, Gwen Stefani

Lemon Tree, Trini Lopez (Great pacer)

Start me up, Rolling Stones

PS-My boy’s 8 year olds were crowned #1 in the city last night!!!  Yay!

Fresno State!

Here is my offering from Take It and Run Thursday, over at Runner’s Lounge:

You are a runner when you stop dieting, and plan your clean food around your next run.  This is key for me.  I love to eat, but have suffered terribly if I eat crap the night before a run.  So, I’m eating what I want.  On the days I run.  The night before I run…no ice cream, no salt, try to finish by 7pm (I run at 5am)  I have been on a million diets…but the best one for me is the one that makes me feel the best….not just to lose weight, but to have a clean, light stomach.  Get it?

I just got back from a 30 minute easy run of 2.93, a 10:30 pace.  It’s beautiful out at 5am, but here in the wilderness (California fire country), it’s very hazy.  Nonetheless, I give you the fabulous Fresno State Bulldogs.  We went from underdogs to wonderdogs…Number 1 in the country, after starting the lowest ever in any NCAA sport.  Today in Fresno…BIG party.  My youngest is in his championship 8 year old league game tonight, so I get to go witness his dreams too!

Baseball.  Gotta love it.

[Crash calls for a curve ball, Ebby shakes off the pitch twice]
Crash Davis: [stands up] Hey! HEY!
[walks to meet Ebby at the mound]
Crash Davis: Why are you shaking me off?
Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: [Gets in Crash's face] I want to give him the heat and announce my presence with authority!
Crash Davis: Announce your presence with authority? This guy is a first ball, fast ball hitter!
Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: Well he hasn’t seen my heat!
Crash Davis: [pauses] Allright meat, show him your heat.
[Walks back towards the box]
Crash Davis: [to the batter] Fast ball.

Go DOGS! (Fresno Dogs, that is…)

Good luck DOGS!!

(PS-I ran 4×800s today…yawn…)  I have a killer calf injury…had to stop after 4 of them. 

 

Ahhhhhhhhh….Fresno State…when it was called Fresno State.  1976-80 for my BA, 1990 for my MS.  Nice memories.  For tonight, the boys take on Georgia.  Fingers crossed for a good game.  Wonder when the last time two DOG teams were in a series? 

13.1~Sunday Confessions 1 & 2

The Half Marathon in Fresno & Clovis is 22 weeks away.  We started training last week with Ryan Hall’s Half Marathon Training Plan.  It’s only a 10 week plan, so we decided to do half of the miles these ten weeks, then the full program the next ten.  Here is my wrap-up for the 2 weeks.  It’s Sunday, so confession time as well.  And, I’m not even Catholic.

• I’ll get this out of the way first:  Last Sunday out in the country, nature called.  It called my name LOUDLY, and I had to go in a farmer’s orchard.  My running partner ran on ahead, and waited at the next stop.  She was the only one who knew.  I told one of my other non-running friends, and she sort of looked at me like I had suddenly grown two heads.  That was the last time I would tell someone who doesn’t run.  I’m gonna have to blog that stuff with you fine people.
• Thought of Razzdoodle today during my first mile, which typically bites (the mile, not thinking of Razzdoodle).  It’s when I try to understand why I’m running, why I’m not in bed at 5:30 am on a Sunday. 
• We are doing the Short program of Ryan Hall’s training.  Which actually feels like a LOT of running, and not short at all.
• I have no idea what TEMPO or SPEED runs mean.  I’ll admit that.  I’m winging it.
• When it says *4 miles* PLUS a warmup and cooldown mile, I’m like, wait, I’m supposed to run differently?
• I need less salt at night.
• ….and no ice cream at night.
• ….or anything after 7pm if I’m running the next day (see bullet 1)

I leave you with a picture of my backyard, which is where I spend my cooldown, swimming a few laps, sitting in my spa with coffee, cranberry juice and a Luna bar.  It’s my own slice of heaven, and the morning glories in my toolbar are in my yard.  I took the dogs for a long walk after my run today, and my lab Chet fetched the ball and swam all morning with me.  Life is good.  Gotta be better than yesterday.

HAPPY SUNDAY!!!

…on why I run…

Date:	6/21/2008 5:45 AM
Type:	Hill
Course:	2nd Overpass-Milgeo-Catwalk
Distance:	3.8 miles
Duration:	44:19
Pace:	11:40 / mile
Shoe:	Asics
Weight:	oinker
Weather:	75° F, Overcast
Statistics:	Calories: 517 VO2 Max: 24.5

I know I’ve blogged about this movie and song before today.  It’s an old one, one I remember seeing at my church many years ago.  I never really understood the premise of Chariots of Fire, but it’s a movie about two devout men, one a Jew and one a Christian in the 1924 Paris Olympics.  I never *got* running, like I do today.  In any event, I will tell you about my morning.

I met Kim, my running partner at 5:30am.  I knew that I was not going to run.  Was not.  When I woke up, I was like 4 pounds heavier, after eating a wonderful, yet salty meal last night at Tresetti’s.  We went to see Young At Heart, the movie about the senior choir members in their 70s & 80s.  It was wonderful, but I was reminded of how short life is, etc.  At some point I looked at the screen and thought, “We’re all gonna die.”  Lovely thought.  Nice way to go to bed.

Fast forward to the 5:30am alarm.  I’m exhausted with trying to figure out my house situation, and trying to close this chapter of my life.  I started talking, doing the first five minute therapy that we do, and started crying.  I just told her to go ahead, that I wasn’t going to run.  I just couldn’t.

I turned the corner, and thought…well, I’ll just run a little bit, and see if I can.  I turned on my iPod, and there was the theme to Chariots of Fire.  I started running over the overpass, and the sun was just breaking.  I looked down as I crossed the freeway, and there was Kim.  I met her on the other side, and said…”Let’s head on out to the country.”  We ended up doing 3.8 miles.  Not a great time, but I didn’t care.  I’m grateful that I ran…and by the time Yes We Can, Obama’s song came on, I was really grateful.  It’s my current favorite running song.

Grateful for:

• getting a job
• 2 healthy boys
• my health (scary mammogram last week)
• wonderful friends
• my home, even if it’s temporary.
• my dogs
• my pool in 105 degree heat
• that I have both a Bachelor & Master degree, and even though the teaching profession is going through major upheaval, I can find a way to figure out my situation.

Yeah, this is why I run.  What looked like a bleak, depressing morning, turned into joy.

Of course, my day was hard.  My replacement iPhone wouldn’t let me get voicemail, my home phone is out, my car cost more than it did to repair, my dog Princess was in doggie jail again…but I never lost the hit I got from the run this morning.

Here’s a great youtube from Young At Heart.  This guy sings Fix You by Coldplay, and it’s enough to make you weep.  Have a great Saturday.