Running Socks

These are a pair of running socks that dad got me for Christmas this year. They are probably a $50 pair of socks but they are really awesome.
Somehow, they get what feels like an inch of cushion under your feet without changing the fit of your shoe. All the cushion is under your feet and the thickness of the sock gets thinner on top -- without any seams.
And what are the cool little tabs on the back? I thought they were for cushioning your heel against the shoes lip but I think that Brian came up with a better idea: they keep your sock from slipping down your heel.
These are great socks and I recommend that everyone get a pair no matter how much they cost!

9.75 Miles

Phew.
I thought I was stuck at eight miles.
I only have six weeks until I am attempting a half marathon at the Lost Dutchman (13.1 miles) and I was getting seriously worried that I was stuck at eight miles.
I'm pretty tired but thanks to my friend Lorien and her information about glucose absorption rates, I'm doing great. Maybe I'll make it after all...

Life imitating art (or Steve having a bit of fun)

Holiday Brunch

The morning after the company party, we drove up to Phoenix to have the annual Zacher holiday brunch at Gainey Ranch. Lots of really good food like always. The highlight this year for Brian was their chicken waldorf salad and for me it was the mint chocolate cookies. What a great time.

Holiday Party

Our company party was last Saturday night. I would post a picture of Brian and I but most of you already got a picture of us that night (it was our christmas card picture). So instead, I'll give you a picture of Carolyn taking a picture of me. It was a fun night with lots of good food, conversation and dancing. It's kind of nice to see your coworkers all dressed up and acting (almost) like adults.

Tucson Marathon Relay 2006

Year three of team Relative Insanity.
This year the team is only 50% relative but we had stellar substitutes to help us get through the day.
Everyone did fantastic and it was such a great day.
What a blast!

A Real Family Portrait

This is as close to a "family portrait" as this family gets. We're just not the Olan Mills kind of people.

Consider this your picture holiday card.

Turkey Trot 2006

This is me waiting for the start of the 2006 Mesa Turkey Trot. This one was a little sad because Brian couldn't run with me this year. But he did get to stand around in the cold and take pictures of me standing there like a dork. Yay!

The whole thing came out okay. I still died at mile 4 but this time I had a good reason: When I started, I saw a lady that I ran behind at the Lost Dutchman 10k last Feb. I can't believe I recognized her but she has a very distinctive run so I was positive it was her. Anyway, I asked her if she ran the Lost Dutchman and she did so I said that I was going to try to be hanging right behind her. And I did. For 3 miles. And then I couldn't. MAN, had she gotten faster or what? I guess someone did a little better training than I did this summer :)

So I did quite a bit better than last year but only in an irresponsible way. I have known for a while now that I could go a lot faster if I walk/run but I'm doing this for fitness and keeping a moderately high heart rate for a longer period of time is much harder, so it's got to be better for you, right?

Facial Recognition

Over at myheritage.com, you can upload a picture of yourself and it matches you with celebrities that look like you. I'm not sure about this, as I don't think that I resemble any of these people. Brian thinks that the Sally Field photo is 'almost eerie' in its likeness.



Just for completeness, I tried to match Sadie's face. No luck. I thought maybe Lassie would be in their celebrity database...

Eight Miles!

In three days, I have made a miraculous recovery from my head cold. So miraculous that I thought that I would try to do some running again today.

Wowee! I ran eight miles! (I keep spelling it out because it seems so much more significant that way than just typing the measly one-character 8.)

I have to say that eight miles is about twice as hard as 7.3 (my previous longest distance). I feel pretty good though. And I have a really neat fine grit of salt all over my face that I keep trying to lick off.

Now I have a step-back week (where I decrease the number of miles I run so that my body can recover) and then start stepping up again to a maximum of 10 miles! I can't believe how far I have come in the last two years. And to top it off, I am injury free so far.

The tortuga conquers!

Sick

Boy am I clever. When I posted "Jet Lag", I didn't even realize that I was using the literary technique of foreshadowing. I am so clever that I missed it until now.

Friday I flew back from Germany, in a race with the cold developing in my head. I woke up Friday and thought that my throat felt a little funny. I thought maybe it was the overload on cigarette smoke that always gets my sinuses in an uproar whenever I am in Europe. By the time I was flying over Nova Scotia, I realized that I was developing a full-fledged head cold.

Landing at the Dallas-FortWorth airport was the second most painful thing I have experienced. Second only because I had to take off again about an hour later. I kept checking to see if blood was pouring out of my ears yet but I made it home with eardrums intact.

Being sick is pretty awful. The only good thing is that I don't feel as guilty when I sleep for 12 hours, wake up just in time to go to Taco Bell and finish eating just in time to go to bed again.

Jet Lag

I got back from a one week trip to Japan last Wednesday.
I am beat.
I don't know why I do just fine heading out to any place on Earth and then die when I get back.
I mean, I spent 26 hours traveling to Misawa, Japan and I woke up the next morning feeling fine. I spent the next week going to bed at normal times and waking up at normal times. Everything was great.
Then I came home.

For some reason, now I can't fall asleep at night and can't stay awake during the day. I'm taking melatonin at night so that I can sleep but after 10 hours of enforced sleep, I wake up feeling like I need to sleep for another 10 hours.
I shouldn't be complaining, I could be sick on top of jet lag. Then I would know that I am definitely not superhero quality.

Flagstaff

This is Brian (or at least his feet) after he ran a super fast half marathon at 7000' elevation. I ran the 5k and couldn't imagine running another step. They sure don't have a surplus of oxygen up there. My lungs felt almost bruised after this one.

Optimism

When I started out on my jog this morning, it was 75.1 degrees F and 61% humidity. Hardly conditions to be ecstatic about. But this is almost 10% lower humidity and 5 degrees cooler than it has been in weeks past. Combine that with the fact that there was pretty good cloud cover and a slight cool breeze, and I was grinning.

This summer, I'm supposed to be running six miles on my long runs (Sundays). As Brian points out, I completely made up that rule. I'm not denying that. Most days for the past two months I've been lucky to eke out three miles. Today I was finally able to do 5 miles. I am ecstatic!

After two months of just not feeling so great after running, I had again started wondering about the hidden heart defects that I had that were making this so dang difficult. I was sure that the next day I went out I was going to keel over dead because there must be something wrong with me; this... shouldn't... be... so... HARD!

Today at the 4 mile mark, the sun came out, I turned so the wind was at my back (and I couldn't feel it) and I started to get hot. Really hot. My heart rate started to climb. I decided that I would not run the full six miles. But I was still smiling. Because now I remember that it does get better. I can do this. I will do this.

My, Are Those Cello Eyes?

Surprisingly, I am not the instant world-wide cello playing sensation that some would have expected of me.

When I first started playing, 20 minutes daily seemed sometimes like a very long time. I would swear that the next time I looked down, there would be blood pouring from my left fingertips and my right shoulder would be entirely detached from my body. Lately it seems that 20 minutes goes by in a blur. Often, my first notice of the clock during my practice sessions reveals that 40 minutes have already passed.

Now if I could only figure out how to keep my rosin covered fingers out of my eyes, I could continue to read music for longer than 40 minutes.

CELLO!

This is me playing the cello (or pretending to because Brian wanted me to look at the camera). I have wanted to learn to play the cello for a long time and finally this past week I went and rented one.
I love this age of technology... My music stand is there to my right (the bed) and behind me is my laptop with ITunes which is playing accompaniment to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. The only other thing needed is my cup of Propel and I'm off and running, or cello-ing that is.
So far I can play: Jingle Bells, Old Macdonald Had A Farm, Twinkle, Matthew's March, Christopher's Tune, Hot Cross Buns and Au Claire De La Lune. Of course, all these songs have their squeaks and moans but I'm definitely making progress.

Brian's Studying Chair

Brian got a new chair to study in. Now I get my chair back so that I don't have to sit on the exercise ball! 

SINKS

Even rarer than DINKS lately, this couple has become SINKS.
Brian started summer school at Pima to do some review for his big return to UofA. This time he'll be enrolling as a chemistry major. I wish him luck and admirer his energy.
As for me, I'll hope for some homework-less weekends this summer and fall so that we can still do some fun stuff.
I'll probably be reading a serious amount soon so welcome all book recommendations (except mysteries that is :)

(First) New Furniture!

Isn't it awesome? The above includes our Todd Oldham vinyl couch as well as Sadie's new pink shag bed (so she wouldn't be jealous).
The below is our new recliner that is really cool except for the head grease pad which I had to put on to make Brian mad.

Bird Nest

That's adorable, right? A dove nest on our neighbor's back porch.
Wrong, it's funny. Those clear plastic things are bird spikes, they're supposed to gouge the birds in case they try something like this.