60,000 Runners, Oh My!

Brian and I just got back from visiting Dave and Joice in Georgia. While there, we toured Savannah, Hilton Head South Carolina, and the Atlanta area. We also completed the Peachtree Road Race. This race is a 10k ran on the fourth of July. This was the 42nd running of the race. It was a lottery entrance this year, and they capped participation to 60,000 runners.


With that many runners all trying to run on one road, they stagger everyone's start times. I got into corral D (they place you according to your finish time in other races that you've completed). I was pretty lucky, because the later your corral letter, the later you start. The temps start out okay, but the humidity is always high. So the last corrals (they went up to "X") started at 9:30, whereas I started at 7:45 and was done less than an hour later. So the temps were only in the high 70s when I ran.

Brian was placed in the "sub-seed" corral. This means that you're fast, but you're not professional ("seeded"). This race was the US National Cross Country Championship race, and it has a sizable purse, so there were lots of very fast runners there. A familiar name that was there was Ryan Hall. He didn't finish so well - comparatively. The winner (from Kenya), won the race in 28:05.

Brian did pretty well - he finished #397 (remember, out of 60,000) in 39:35. He won a coffee mug for being in the top 1000 finishers.

We milled around after the race, finding all the free stuff (Dave was with us). We then walked quite a way to get onto a bus that would take us to the train back to our car. When we were on the bus, we passed the race course, and could see an entirely full road still packed with people (mostly walking, but a few were jogging). It was a crazy experience.

Attic Insulation

Since we moved into the new house, Brian has been obsessing about the little to no insulation in the attic. Apparently, a lot of remodeling has meant that parts had been taken out or trampled down quite a bit.
So this weekend we rented AttiCat! (That's the machine that Brian is standing next to.) This machine takes those packs of pink insulation and fluffs them to 16 times their size in the package. The "fluff", to use the technical term, shoots out the hose that Brian is displaying.
The whole thing took about 3 hours, including talking to the neighbor about it :)
I was person #1; the person to cut and break the bags in half and shove them into the side of the machine. Brian was person #2; he had a remote on the end of the hose and would turn it on and off as he crawled around in the attic.
Very fun Sunday!

Dijon-Roasted Cauliflower

I'm in love with this recipe lately. We've had it on top of soup, on its own and on top of pasta. It's really fabulous every way. And this comes from someone that just 'learned' to eat cauliflower in the last year.

3 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp evoo
1 garlic clove, minced (of course we always do 3 or 4)
salt & freshly ground pepper
one 2-pound head of cauliflower, cut into 1-inch florets

Preheat the oven to 400F. In a bowl, whisk the mustard, oil and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Toss in the cauliflower; spread on a baking sheet. (It gets a little sticky and browned, so a foil-lined sheet saves a lot of time in cleanup.) Roast for 30 minutes. Serve.

Tucson Marathon 2010

It's been so long since I've posted, I've almost forgotten how.

By popular demand (Barb), I've decided to start blogging again starting with a review of my 2nd running of the Tucson Marathon.

I decided to run this one again because I thought the downhill would help me achieve my goal. The goal the first time (2008) was to finish. The goal this time: 4 hours, 30 minutes. It was an ambitious goal, I'll admit it. My fastest marathon time before was 4 hours, 44 minutes. So taking off almost 15 minutes over 26 miles was going to be tough.

So, you're asking... how did it go?

I failed. And by that I mean I really failed. I didn't make my goal. In fact, I didn't set a new personal record. I was really sad at the finish line. Scratch that, I was sad and frustrated at about mile 17 when I realized I wasn't going to make it. The finish line brought no surprises.

My training was rock solid. 4:30 breaks down to 10:17 minute miles. The plan was to run 10:00 the first half, and that gave me wiggle room to slow down to a 10:30 pace the second half. I had done plenty of long runs between 10:00 and 10:30 pace. As far as cardio goes, I felt like I was on a leisurely stroll. However, the downhill took a toll on my legs again, and the quads and hips started tightening up around mile 17 and just got worse from there.

Lesson #1: I don't think a big downhill is really the wisest race to run for me. I'm still too heavy for all that eccentric contraction on my quads.

Lesson #2: There is a silver lining in everything. After about a week of feeling like the biggest loser for having failed at my goal, I woke up one morning to remember why I started running to begin with. It was because it was hard. It takes work. Even the most natural runner (Brian) has to work hard to get better and improve their own times.

And I am getting better. This was my second fastest marathon. That combined with the 80 degree temps that day is pretty darn impressive. Even a year ago, I don't think I could have finished in the heat.

I still had fun and am glad I did the race. I'm already thinking about the next one where I'll try again. (That's funny, because during the last 6 miles of this race, I was thinking that I was done with full marathons forever.)

The best part of this race was having several friends out there taking part. Chrissy, Carolyn and Justin from work were running on a relay team. So I got to ride the bus to the start line with Chrissy. She's so darn cheerful all the time, that was really fun. She's the one that took the pics of Brian and I in this post. Carolyn, Soraya and Ari all made a sign to hold up for me at the end. It really brightened my spirits, and for that last 100 yards, I didn't feel any of the pain.

I also had a friend that ran her first marathon. She had been curious and was already running quite a bit of miles back in October. So I gave her a little push and some training advice. She showed up, so nervous at the beginning I thought she was going to be sick. I wished her good luck at the beginning and didn't see her again until the finish line. She finished in 3:35. Boston-qualifying in her first race. That's inspiring.

Of course, I owe a ton of gratitude to Brian again. He probably ran at least a half marathon, with all the leap-frogging me with the car and running back to meet me. I think he saw somewhere around mile 15 that things weren't going to plan. He was all pep-talk, and all support. I thank him for his endless energy and inspiration.

Halloween 2009

Sadie just loves Halloween. I think you can tell that in this picture.
Happy Halloween!

Vegan Rant

Let's get it out in the open, shall we? I'm vegan.

The amazing thing about that statement is the uneasiness that it produces in the people around me. This is simply amazing to me. I'm pretty sure that I could say "I'm a serial killer" and produce much less shock to those around me. I don't get it.

For years, 90% of my caloric intake was from soda pop and white rice. Now, when I choose to eat an entirely plant-based diet, you people think I'm weird? Now? You think you need to fix me now?

I really don't care to hear one more uneducated opinion on how much protein I need to eat in order to stay healthy. Do you people know anything about the food that you eat? (per calorie, cooked spinach has more than twice as much protein as a cheeseburger) Are you pretty sure that Shape magazine knows how much protein you need to be healthy?

Let's stop and think about what we say to each other, especially regarding things we know little to nothing about. The deal is this: I won't try to fix you when I see you eating what I believe to be unhealthy things, be it cow's milk or candy bars. In return, you keep quiet about what you think of me when I choose not to eat things made from animals. Deal?

Path Making

3/4 ton of rip-rap (the large rock at the edges), 3/4 ton clay-gravel, 3 Saturdays shoveling and cutting out dead prickly pear and the path is complete. Cheapest home-improvement project yet. ~$50 for all the rock.

Vermillion Cliffs

That's Sadie and I posing (oh so gracefully) in front of the Vermillion Cliffs in Northern Arizona. It's spectacular scenery, but also 105 degrees by 11am. We're standing on a very old bridge that crosses the Colorado River just a few miles down-river from Lee's Ferry. The Colorado here is pretty and lazy looking. It runs through a canyon that is impressively narrow and deep. That is, you would be impressed if you hadn't just come from seeing it meander through the Grand Canyon, which is unbelievable.

I think I have been to the Grand Canyon about 5 times in my life (although always from the much less dramatic south rim). It wasn't until this time that I really absorbed the immensity and isolation of it. It was truly awesome. I think that this is a trip that we'll repeat in a few years.

Holbrook, Arizona

Dinosaurs are big in Holbrook. Every shop there has dinosaur in the name, and potentially some very large dinosaur models standing guard out front. Like these two in the middle of the desert. Yep, that lump of aqua-colored concrete that someone so artistically tagged, is a dinosaur. Sadie didn't really get the idea of playing dead, but you get the idea.

Holbrook is actually a nice little town. There's not much there, but it seems like a decent little community with a large share of manicured yards in front of well-kept homes. Our only intent was to stay in the concrete wigwams. You know them, they're shown in all the route 66 nostalgic images. Anyway, the wigwams were very plain but comfortable, and that's probably what you can say about Holbrook too.

Birthday Cupcakes

For my niece's first birthday party, Brian and I made vanilla cupcakes with pink buttercream frosting and marzipan daisies. Except for the buttercream getting a little too warm (soupy buttercream results), the cupcakes were super cute I thought.

Dog Tired

In the summer time, Brian and I face a huge problem. Sadie is still wildly excited in the morning to go running with Brian (and I mean OUT OF CONTROL excited). However, as it gets warmer each day, Sadie gets hotter and more tired earlier in the run.

The main problem, of course is that she doesn't listen when I tell her to slow down because of the heat (go figure). But the other problem is the difference between humans and all other mammals in our cooling systems. Hers just doesn't work as well as ours. Since it doesn't feel like mine is handling this heat so well, I can really feel for how overheated she must get as she runs at a constant speed of 'as fast as she can'.

I think we may have to resort to trying to sneak out in the morning so she doesn't know what's happening. Since she recognizes Brian's running shoes and shorts, he's maybe going to have to stash his running clothes in the wash and only changing into them when he gets down there.

Pat's Run 2009

Back in April, my mom and I participated in the Tempe Pat's Run. This 4.2 mile run/walk is done in honor of Pat Tillman, who was killed while serving in Afghanistan.

A cool thing this year was the timing chip for ALL participants, including walkers. I think it's a neat thing to be able to look yourself up online amidst all the other participants.

This is my second year of doing the event, and my mom's first. After the event, my mom and I rode the Phoenix light rail system for the first time and then enjoyed a Greek lunch at Phoenicia. This is the same restaurant that we ate at after the Phoenix Rock N Roll marathon, so it was fun to repeat after this bout of running.

Atlantis and Hubble

I can't get enough of this.

This is a picture from Flickr that some guy made of the Atlantis shuttle and Hubble telescope passing in front of the sun. They passed in front in 0.8 seconds! Unbelievable photography.

Does anyone else feel so very small when looking at this picture?

Picture credits http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/3531350583/in/set-72157617823159021/

Ooh, pretty.

My new bathroom chandelier is extravagently lovely.

...until you look up close and see how cheap it is.

The best part was the sticker that says "For recreational vehicles only". I'm still working on the relationship between chandeliers and RV products. But hey, it was made in China, so they probably think that the sticker said something about the 25-watt bulb maximum.

Sweet Pea Sadie

Sweet peas smell especially delicious after an afternoon rain.

Vegan Nachos

I've been curious about making vegan nachos for a while now, but any kind of nachos doesn't really seem like a nutritious meal, right? So, when the Wildcats were playing in the NCAA tournament two Fridays ago, I had my excuse. To watch a basketball game entitles most of the world to eat horrendously unhealthy things, so we might as well participate too.

We based our nachos on Losbetos "super nachos". So, we had to come up with substitutes for the carne asada and the cheese. The pico de gallo, beans, guacamole and chips are already vegan-friendly. We used the "cheezy sauce" recipe from Veganomicon for the cheese substitute. This is made of nutritional yeast and some other things that made us think that eating these were going to be pure torture. Our carne seca was textured vegetable protein cooked in chorizo seasoning. Again, we were thinking that after the game was over, we would have to have backup dinner plans because that just didn't sound good.

We were wrong. Really wrong. These were fantastic! I'm not kidding. I think they were much better than super nachos. (That's not hard to do, as Losbetos really isn't gourmet, is it?) I got a little carried away on my lemon juice in the guacamole and then a little carried away with my dark-red chipotle salsa, so the picture doesn't nearly convey how absolutely yummy these were. And, after reviewing the ingredients, these aren't actually that bad for you. Now, if only the game was as good as the food.

Picacho Peak Hike

After driving past it pretty regularly for the past 16 years, I finally managed to hike Picacho Peak on Friday.

Brian had hiked it several times before, as it was often his boredom-reliever when he was commuting between Tucson and Phoenix every week. He assured me that although it was difficult, I could do it. What he didn't remember is that they advise gloves for the steel cables. Gloves would have been a VERY good idea.

There are two trails to get to the peak: the 2-mile Hunter trail and the 3-mile Sunset trail. Both the trails meet up about 1/2 mile below the peak for most of the steel cable climbing. We took the Sunset trail because it was a mile longer to make the ascent more gradual.

It was a beautiful 2 mile hike before it started to ascend up the side of Picacho Peak. At one point, I really didn't think I could make it; the footing had become very loose and I couldn't even stand up anymore, I was more climbing on all fours. But as soon as we realized we weren't on a human trail anymore and corrected our wrong turn, things became much more manageable. On the way back down, we saw our mistake - the sign telling us to make a turn had been broken and was lying on the ground. We propped it up and laughed at the animal trail that we had followed.

About a mile down, we ran into Kathy from Casa Grande. Kathy was a bit panicked because she was pretty sure she was lost. We asked her some questions and it became pretty clear that she was supposed to be on the Hunter trail. That meant she either had to climb a fairly steep 1/2 mile back up the mountain, or we offered that she come with us and we would drive her around to her car (and family) waiting at the bottom of the Hunter trail. We were very glad she accepted to walk with us, as she was completely out of water and not really doing that well. We shared the last of our water and started walking. I think that Kathy was suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration, but we really didn't have that far to go. Brian and I probably had just enough water if we were able to walk our normal pace back to the car. We definitely didn't have enough water or sunscreen to walk Kathy's pace. We were both parched and sunburnt by the time we got back to the car. The funny part is all three of us are Arizona natives; we're not really the people that are supposed to make silly mistakes like that. But it all ended well and when I drove her back to her car, her family looked relieved to see her.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies In The World

And I'm not exaggerating.

Of course, I can't take all the credit. I am using a recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Vegan with a Vengeance.

I L-O-V-E a good chocolate chip cookie. I L-O-V-E good chocolate chip cookie dough too. It's almost a toss-up. Which is probably why when I make cookies, I never get the same amount of cookies that the recipe calls for. I end up chomping my way through quite a bit of the dough. The fact that these cookies are vegan and that there is absolutely no way to contract salmonella by eating the dough raw is just a huge bonus.

Excuse me while I go eat another one before they cool.

Running to work

For Christmas, my dad gave me a Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS watch. The corresponding software keeps track of these runs, lets you compare runs, and can even export to kml format for displaying your route in Google Earth. The above is the map and data from my run into work.
This has become one of my favorite runs. Mostly because it feels like I'm cheating to run into work - so like a child running to school in the morning. But also, as you can see by the elevation profile (green line), it's a really nice gradual descent so it makes for a rather easy run.

Lost Dutchman Marathon 2009

Actually, just a half marathon this time. And my first official. Beautiful weather for running (although a little cold for the spectators), beautiful scenery and a really fun course made this a very enjoyable race.

I wasn't feeling 100% going into this one, so I didn't have a time in mind. I was just going to run however fast I felt like at the moment. That may be a good method, because I ran a very respectable 2:08:33. I did have the goal to run the whole thing, no walk breaks at all. I almost did that, except for one very large hill. (Do I admit here that walking up that hill made me breathe harder than when I was running?)

Brian couldn't make it this year which was kind of sad. I thought about him when the lead halfers had doubled back and were passing me. It was fun to think of where Brian would have been. This year was pretty fast for this race, he would have had some serious competition.

Denise and her friend Annie did the 10k. Try as I might, I wasn't going to be able to get back in time to watch them come in. My family tells me that they did awesome and looked like they enjoyed it.

The rest of the family, including little Ryder, did the 2-mile walk. Such troopers to show up in the dark when it was freeeeezzzzzing.

A picnic afterwards with birthday cupcakes for dad finished the day nicely. I even had a seat to myself on the shuttle back to Tucson. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday.