Turkey Trot

dylan with swag and his medal
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

On Thanksgiving Day, Cameron was 15 weeks and 1 day and I ran the longest distance I've run since her birth. I took about a one year hiatus from running while I was pregnant with her, so I'll have to admit that getting back into running has been tough. I'm older, I guess, and heavier, too!

It was definitely much easier getting back into running after having Dylan (my first run back was when he was about 6 or 7 weeks old, but I was back to running a 9-minute mile after only 3 weeks and already logged a 10-mile run when he was only about 14 weeks old!)

In any event, I did a bit better than I'd expected. My training runs (about 3x a week) have been fairly short, none of them exceeding 4.5 miles, and I've felt like I've been running them pretty slowly.

As a result, I was surprised that I was at a constant 9:42 pace during the turkey trot--that's a little faster than the 10-minute miles I thought I've been running. Of course, the course was pretty flat!

In any case, here are my stats:
Overall: 1747 out of 3237
606 out of 1558 women
74 out of 188 in my age group (F 40-44)
Age/Grade: 52.16%
Chip Time: 1:00:15

I felt great afterwards, so I'm hoping I'll regain some of my lost speed and better endurance soon. I'm still planning on registering for the SC Half early in 2010.

back to the future

Apparently, somebody climbed down a manhole somewhere along Monterey Highway, close to Blossom Hill Road in San Jose and intentionally cut four fiber optic lines, effectively severing internet connections and landline and cell phone lines in parts of Santa Clara County, Monterey and Santa Cruz for the entire day. My company came to a near stand-still -- and I imagine much of the affected areas did as well (we were sent home around 12:30pm or so once we got news that connections wouldn't be up until maybe 6 or 7pm) and I later found out from Heather that she couldn't use the ATM and had to wait outside the bank for a handwritten receipt of her deposit transaction).

There are many things that this event brings to mind: 1) my gawd, we have no backups for these systems??? 2) holy smokes we're incredibly dependent on our communications systems; 3) someone is going to be in big trouble; and 4) how oddly satisfying it is for me to not have internet access for the day.

Today, I was (pleasantly) reminded of what I did in my spare time before I started logging into the internet at every available free moment. Yes, my home was a heck of a lot neater and tidier (today, I did some organizing, some laundry, vacuuming, etc)...I read more fiction (I finished Donna Tartt's _A Secret History_ and started _Life of Pi_), and I listened to a lot more music (tunes have been rolling since I got home from work).

Ok, back then, I didn't have a near 3-year old, I was in grad school, and as a graduate student I had few possessions, but still, I'm amazed at how much I accomplished this afternoon precisely because I haven't had access to the internet. I've always felt like the internet makes me terribly productive, but today I'm reminded of how unproductive it can also be. I hope this personal lesson sticks.

On a broader note, though, I'll reiterate my discomfort with the idea of having no backup systems...and I'll echo some of the sentiments in the news reports that it's good it happened now instead of a more dire state of emergency....Hopefully, now we can be better able to prevent these kinds of things....

still running

happy to see Dylan and Tom at the Jungle Run finish line!
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Last year, I ran my best half marathon ever at the Santa Cruz Half. Several weeks later, I ran one of my worst runs ever (since I started running, that is) at the Jungle Run. This year, I actually improved my Jungle Run finish time by 3 minutes (testament to just how crappy I did last year), but my overall performance/place (442/757) was still pretty pathetic.

Still, since I pretty much squeezed in only 2 weeks of consistent training before the event and the longest distance covered during said "training" was 7.8 miles (completed a week before the event), it was an oddly satisfying run. My training runs felt really, really difficult, so this time around, I had no time goal at all -- just a goal to complete the damn thing. What a difference a lack of self-imposed pressure makes...! And seeing Tom and Dylan at the finish line motivated me to sprint the last 1/4 mile to get back to them sooner...!

What's Wrong with What We Eat

New York Times food critic Mark Bittman, a self-proclaimed omnivore who will probably never stop eating animals, lays it on the line: over-production and over-consumption of meat and junk food must stop. This "odd form of malnutrition", is killing individuals (via "lifestyle diseases" such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers) as well as the planet (via industrialized food production). It's 20 minutes and it's brilliant.

my nephews are awesome

Oh, to be a kid!!

overheard

I overheard a conversation at the train station this morning in which a fella confided in a complete stranger that he just got engaged to a gal who is 12 years older than he is and whom he's been dating for only 6 weeks. He's worried his parents will freak at the news, not because of her age, but because of the duration of their courtship. But, it's not like they've known each other for only 6 weeks; apparently, he lost his virginity to her 9 years ago at a friend's wedding. Also, he doesn't feel like his parents have any room to criticize because they knew each other for only 4.5 months before they got married...his best friend, though (who apparently knocked up the last gal he dated and asked to marry), holds the record: marriage after only 2 months of acquaintance. Very, very brief critique of serial monogamists followed. Well, that was interesting.

all spleen

Top two things on my current "can't stand" list: people who lack integrity and ass-kissers who bad mouth those whose asses they kiss. Sadly, these are not mutually exclusive character traits and, even worst, those possessing both often rise to the top of the ranks in our society. Are we twisted or what? End of rant.