Musings of Abbie

Introducing...

2009-10-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

www.MilesOfAbbie.com! I've been working over the past few days to get it ready, and here it is! I'll be changing the name of this blog it will mainly be my random thoughts (unless I decide to be done with my blogspot days). My new blog is more professional and much fancier! Check it out, put it in your reader feed, and let me know what you think!

I also need ideas for a new title for this blog, so leave some suggestions!

sunrise from an airplane

Photo Credit - Abbie Mood

Exciting Changes!

2009-10-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

I am sooo excited to pre-announce that I'm launching my new blog on Monday! It's pretty much done, just some minor tweaking and then posting the launch post. I decided to go with godaddy.com to host my new WordPress blog, and I couldn't be happier! The tough part was working through the code stuff, but I've already transferred my blogspot stuff over, so it's thisclose to going live :) I'm going to rename this blogspot blog and keep it as a personal blog for my random thoughts, and the new blog will be for my more "professional" writing... travel, volunteer, community, recaps (race, rock climbing, traveling, etc).

Apparently I'm Kreativ!

2009-10-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

Not only have I decided to own the title of "freelance writer" but within weeks, I have had the Kreativ Blogger Award bestowed upon me by nancy.the.gnomette, one of my new MatadorU buds. Thank you so much Nancy! Turns out not only is Nancy *not* a gnomette, but she is pretty much the opposite at 5'11". (Don't feel bad Nancy, I'm 5'10" :) ) Definitely check out her blog - it's quickly become a fave of mine!

7 Random Facts about me:

1. I hail from the tiny town of Smyrna, Delaware.
2. I still remember the name of the kid who knocked over my block castle in preschool (I won't put him on blast here, but let's just say his initials are A.K.)
3. In college, I considered changing my major from education to architecture. ha!
4. My stance on alcohol is that if you are going to consume all of those calories, you might as well get wasted.
5. My boyfriend & I adopted our dog Daisy from a rescue in Texas, and she came to us on her first and only plane ride.
6. I have completed 3 marathons, 3 half marathons, and 3 sprint triathlons.
7. After assessing just how much purple stuff I have, I realized the other day that my favorite color is, in fact, purple.

Now I get to pass the award to 3 other amazing bloggers:

1. miss.adventure - My new writing buddy and another Matador U friend, Carina recently launched this site to blog about her travel adventures!

2. SoCal Runner girl turned Portland runner girl - Jessica used to live in sunny OC and has since moved to rainy Portland, but still blogs about her running successes and those times that aren't so successful! Hopefully she'll be back to Southern California soon, we miss her!

3. Dirtbag Writer - Amiee has been blogging about her switch from a "normal" job to a freelance writer, and everything that goes along with it - an interesting one to follow for budding freelance writers such as myself :)

Just another day... a MatadorU assignment

2009-10-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

This is posted for MatadorU, a travel writing program that I am taking part of. The assigment was to write a brief story that mixes the current day, written in present tense, and a day or event that happened in your life.

6 a.m. already? As if the alarm wasn’t enough, Daisy made sure that I knew it was time to wake up with her perfectly timed tongue assaults. Every time I would start to nod off again, she’d be there to lick my face, reminding me to get up. Mumbling to myself about how much I hate getting up in the dark, I stumble into the kitchen only to be blinded by the fluorescent lights. Two bowls of cereal later, I’m putting on my makeup, getting dressed, and getting out the door.

I have quite a bit of time to think during my 30 minute drive to work, usually zoning out and then all of a sudden, I’m turning left and into my elementary school parking lot. I teach preschool Special Ed., so my day wouldn’t be complete without something totally random happening. Today Robert threw up and when we called his mom she asked if she needed to come pick him up. Your son is puking all over the nurse’s office, so yes, Robert’s mom, you do need to come pick him up. Thank you.

After school, I went next door to talk to Alexa, another preschool teacher, and found out that not only is she moving and having a yard sale, but has a brand new Belgian waffle maker and a very nice strainer that are looking for a new home. Coincidentally, Eric and I could really use a nice strainer, and who can say no to a Belgian waffle maker? This conversation occurred just days after I bought pumpkin pancake and waffle mix from Trader Joe’s. It was obviously meant to be.

Since money is tight this month, the dogs are only going to be able to go to doggie day care once a week, which means I’m going to have to step up my dog owner responsibilities and take them for more walks, starting today! The dogs are psyched to be going for a walk, so we got out the door in record time.

We take the usual route down Broadway and stop at the first intersection. The dogs sit and I have them wait. On command, we jog across the road and when I go to switch their black leashes into my other hand, I accidentally drop Sadie’s leash. She turns her jog into a sprint and takes off down the sidewalk. I start chasing her while screaming her name and that’s when the flashback happens. Four years ago we moved to California with a dog named Chilli. We were at the beach, she was off leash playing with our friends’ dog, got scared, and took off. I chased her down the sidewalk, and she just kept running and running. Chilli ran into an intersection and got hit by a car. She didn’t make it, despite getting her to an emergency vet within 10 minutes. I was devastated to say the least, and it was potentially about to happen again.

Every part of me wanted to keep chasing Sadie until I caught her, but my mind told me to do what I have read in every dog training book ever – stop chasing her. So I stopped and squatted down. The second I stopped, she stopped and turned around to look at me. I called her name and after a slight pause Sadie came trotting back to me. I shakily told her “good girl” and from that moment on held both leashes with a white knuckle grip. After I regained my composure, I called Eric. “We need to get Sadie a different colored leash”.

1 in 1,000

2009-10-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

I heard about JACK fm's Fourth Show on the radio a couple weeks ago, and thought it sounded awesome - Foreigner, Joan Jett, the B-52s, George Clinton, Eddie Money, Ratt, and Missing Persons. Unfortunately, concert tickets are not currently in "the budget", so it was a no go. Then I heard about them giving away tickets every hour on the radio, and the number was 1-800-931-JACK, but my phone doesn't have the telephone keypad, it has the QWERTY keypad, so I didn't know what numbers JACK was. Then I heard on the radio that they were giving away tickets to the first 1,000 cars to drive through the Honda Center on Oct. 4 (today) at noon . Lucky for me, the Honda Center is a 5 minute drive, so I went over around 10:15 a.m. and by 11 a.m. I had my tickets in hand! Thanks JACK :)

I'm a freelance writer!

2009-10-03T15:03:00.001-07:00

That's right folks, it's official. I published my first post with Planet Eye Traveler this afternoon and I'm psyched to be their local expert for Orange County! You can read the post here, and find other city guides as well.

I was also featured in a Matador Network article today by Julie Schwietert Collazo for being one of a few Matador U students who have landed a writing gig. You can read that one here.

Things with my writing are just happening and it's an amazing. I rewrote my goals about a month ago, and my 5 year goal was to get a part-time writing job for an online magazine, which I obviously got, so now I need to rewrite those goals. Just goes to show you should always shoot a little higher than you think you can go!

The Today is Your Quit Day! project

2009-09-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

Both of my grandparents, who meant the world to me, passed away from smoking-related diseases. They started this addiction at a time when people really didn’t know or understand just how bad smoking was for you. Now we have that knowledge and there is no reason for people or their families to go through the same things that my family and I went through as my grandparents’ health deteriorated.

And so this project was born in July 2009. The goal of the Today is Your Quit Day project is to inspire and support smokers to quit smoking. For good. I want to make an impact on the world around me. I’m committed to a smoke-free world for children who don’t have a choice when their parents smoke, and for adults who do have a choice but don’t know how to act on it.

We are currently working with yoga studios to create events in which people can come toss their cigarettes and try a yoga class for free. Yoga is one of the best destressors that I have found, and this is a great way to share that with others.

For more info., check out the website, www.yourquitday.com, (which could really use some fixing up if anyone is good with website development), follow us on twitter @yourquitday, or look us up on Facebook!

The Evil Side of Travel - Vaccinations!

2009-09-27T11:12:00.001-07:00

I am laying on the couch, not feeling like moving at all. My body aches and I can barely lift my arms to grab the remote. The flu? Not quite. VACCINATIONS! Two in each arm, actually.

When I signed up to go volunteer in Cambodia, the last thing on my mind was vaccinations, so heed my warning – they can be expensive and they can put you down and out!

Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating (but just a little). Either way, vaccinations are a necessity for anyone traveling to another country, especially one that may have diseases that aren’t usually found in your home country, such as typhoid or yellow fever.

The first thing you need to do is go to the Center for Disease Control website. Here you will be able to find information about recent outbreaks of diseases in different countries, as well as specific vaccination information for the country/countries you may be visiting.

After that, I would suggest finding a travel clinic 4-6 weeks before you leave. Getting vaccinated at a clinic is much cheaper than going to your regular doctor. In most cases, health insurance doesn’t cover travel vaccinations, so if it’s going to be out of pocket, most people want to minimize the expense. Between the cost of the nurse consultation, and then the cost of each shot, the total can add up very quickly! Be sure to take your travel itinerary and immunization record with you to avoid getting a vaccination you may already have.

Even with the recommended vaccinations, take the basic safety precautions – wear bug spray to keep the disease-carrying mosquitoes at bay, make sure everything is cooked or washed thoroughly, and drink bottled water or boil your water before drinking. If only tap water is available, water that is uncomfortably hot to touch is probably okay, just let it cool off before you drink it! You can also buy a water purifier in the camping section of a sporting goods store, or use a 2% tincture of iodine solution (5 drops per quart or liter for clear water, 10 drops per quart or liter for cloudy water). These tips are also important to keep in mind considering that vaccinations aren’t available for some diseases, such as dengue fever or malaria. With malaria, it is suggested to take anti-malaria medication before your trip. There are different kinds of anti-malaria medication for different areas of the world, so be sure to check the CDC website or talk to your doctor to find out which type you need.

Even the most spontaneous of travelers or the biggest needle-phobe should make time to get vaccinations. You can’t get out and experience much from a hospital bed!

How to Avoid Being Hassled by Vendors, Taxis, and Street Children

2009-09-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

1. Tuk-tuks/taxis

- Tell them you’re almost there (doesn’t matter where “there” is)

- If they offer to take you somewhere, say you’ve already been there, or you’re going there on another day

- Shake your head no and keep walking

- DO NOT wave, contrary to what you might think, they are not just being friendly, they will think you want a ride

2. Bargaining/Shopping

- Say you’re looking for something obscure that you know they don’t have

- Be on a mission (or at least look like it)

- Never stop to look at a map or to look confused

- Be with a tour guide or pretend to be with a tour guide that you need to keep up with

- Don’t linger for too long

- Do your research so you don’t get scammed about what time temples open
Quick story... I heard about the scammers in Thailand who say "there is a special event and the palace is closed until 3 p.m. today, let me take you on a ride around town (aka to shops that give them a cut of the purchases) and I'll bring you back at 3". Knowing this, when a tuk-tuk driver said this to me, I said "No, it's open, I checked online" and kept walking. He didn't say anything back. Successfully avoided being scammed!

3. Kids

- No eye contact (hard to do, but essential)

- No communication except no or no thank you (also hard to do, but also essential)

2 days in Bangkok & Pictures

2009-09-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

July 14 -cont-

On the plane to Bangkok I met a couple from Hawaii who offered to let me ride in their taxi into the city (it was a ½ hour drive from the airport). I was talking to the woman about my volunteering and everything and it turns out that she was an orphan as well. They insisted upon paying for the taxi ride and made sure that I got to my hotel safely. I wish I would’ve gotten their email addresses or something. I hope they know how thankful I was!

Best hostel in Bangkok, quite possibly in the world - Lub*D!

I walked what I thought was a short distance to Lumphini Park to see the Asian aerobic class. It was pretty much worth the 20 minute walk.

On the way back I was starving, so I scarfed down some Pad Thai for just $2!!!

July 15

I went to the palace today via the water ferry. It was interesting to see a palace in the middle of a city that reminded me of New York. It seemed out of place. As I was walking around I saw an interesting vendor – he was selling ice cream sandwiches. Literally, scoops of ice cream on a roll and sprinkled with nuts.

It was an internal battle for me as to whether or not to go to Starbucks. On the one hand, why would I go there? I can go anytime in the States. On the other hand, how cool is it to go to Starbucks in another country? I went in and it turned out to be a good move because I found a grande plastic reusable cup that I was not able to find in the U.S.

Curry tip – do not assume that the waitress will know that you are a sissy American when saying that a curry “isn’t that spicy”. It will indeed be spicy and it will burn your mouth.

Yoga tip – do not go to yoga immediately after consuming said curry. Luckily I had an hour in between which turned out to be a long enough break, but it could have turned out very badly. You can read more about the yoga experience here.

July 16

Time to go home.

I didn’t fully understand it then, but I’m realizing more and more every day that I experienced things and went on an adventure that will always have an impact on my life. It’s been 2 months since my trip and I still think about when I can go again...

The rest of the pictures are here -

Cambodia - http://picasaweb.google.com/abbiemichelle/Cambodia#

Thailand - http://picasaweb.google.com/abbiemichelle/Bangkok#

Cambodia Part 4

2009-09-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

July 12

$2.50 breakfast at the Temple Club. Amazing. A picture is better than a description...

We went to the Bodia Spa and got a 1 hour massage, body exfoliation, and 1 hour facial, AND a pedicure. Amazing.

July 13

We dug at ditch at Khmer Chewy Khmer today and saw a crab. It looked just like a crab from the east coast, but it was in the dirt in Cambodia. It was strange.

We went back that night and taught for a bit. Everyone knew that it was my last night there, so Phaly’s wife made us a delicious meal and we had a dinner party! We had eggplant, rice, and homemade French fries. I can’t even describe in words how amazing Phaly is for what he does for those children and the people of Cambodia. The teachers there are volunteers that often drive hours to teach for hours after working all day. He inspires everyone he meets and has such a passion for making his country a better place. There aren’t many people in this world like him, and he is a person that I will never forget.not the best picture of me & phaly, but the only one I have

July 14

Last day in Cambodia. We had breakfast, then everyone left for Khmer Chewy Khmer. I rode a bike into town and putzed around for a bit, then went back and got one last tuk-tuk ride to the airport. I was really sad to leave.

Off to Bangkok!!!

Cambodia Part 3

2009-09-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

July 9

This time we weren’t supposed to go to the school because the king was coming, and of course, Phaly wanted us to see the king. The staff at the Shining Angkor didn’t know anything about it, so Kristen and I went on another adventure into town. We looked around and went to the Lucky Mall, a big flashy mall that has no place in Siem Reap. It was nothing special that’s for sure – we got some gelato, but decided to stick to the markets for our other shopping needs. We walked back to the hotel, which wasn’t too bad, but was still a bit farther than I expected.

We went to the school tonight and a teacher didn’t show up, so I was the teacher. We talked about same vs. different, conversational skills, and fill in the blank. Even though I’m a teacher in the States, it was a little difficult to jump into teaching there.

July 10

The Khmer Rouge is still on everyone’s mind in Cambodia. At some point during the day, every day, someone brought it up. Today we found out that Phaly’s father was killed by the Khmer Rouge in 1977. I can’t even begin to imagine the devastation and destruction that caused a country to still be recovering from something that happened 30+ years ago.

We were really tired from our work at the school this morning so Kristen and I went to the Blue Pumpkin for some ice cream and to lounge in the “aircon” (it’s Australian) on daybeds, which are like futons. It was amazing.

on the daybeds - ahhhhh

That night we took a couple books, some coloring books and crayons to the kids at the orphanage. Their eyes were huge when they saw the gallon bag of crayons I had brought with me. At the end of the night, the kids tried to give the stuff back, which made me and Kristen really sad (of course we let them keep everything).

coloring with the kids

July 11

It’s Saturday! Time to visit the infamous temples! A very exciting part of the day was when we got to ride on an elephant. It took a minute to get used to the rocking as he walked, so just a tip - if you have motion sickness, you should not ride on an elephant. on the elephant! and yes, they are treated very well, i checked

It got very hot. I was very dehydrated and very gross. I took my first midday shower of the trip, and couldn’t have appreciated it more.

We went to a monk chat at the Singing Tree and learned about Buddhism from a real monk. The best quote of the night, “Destiny is like your shadow”.

Got back to the guesthouse in time to see the Angels beat the Yankees 10-6!

Cambodia Part 2

2009-09-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

July 7

Phaly told us not to come to the school this morning because there was a huge parade celebrating Angkor’s Wat’s 1 year anniversary for being recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He was so proud of his country and the history and he thought it was more important for us to see that then help him at the school. We ate breakfast and wandered over to where the parade was supposed to be. Sure enough, there were TONS of people lined up. We decided to try to find the front of the parade to take a picture, but the parade started moving. 6 km later we were at Angkor Wat! Meng (the other country coordinator besides Sam) later told us that he was very concerned about us because apparently we were supposed to be stopped at some checkpoint, but no one stopped us so we kept on going and ended up all the way at the temple! We walked with locals, school children, and monks.

part of the parade

After the tuk-tuk ride back, Kristen and I rented bikes and rode over to the Artisans d’Angkor, which is a craftsman shop that supports local Cambodians and teaches them painting, stone carving, and wood carving. This is the same day that Kristen and went for a bike ride in search of Wat Damnak and Wat Bo, which we eventually found. Yes, we got lost, but we did get used to riding around the crazy streets of Siem Reap, which is an achievement in its own right, trust me.

That night we had dinner at our favorite place, Cambodian Soup, and the drinking game was invented. Turns out that men tend to travel in pairs (or threes or fours) in Cambodia, therefore, one was required to drink whenever we saw 2 or more guys together. We could have drank a lot, but I’m pretty sure we kept it down to like 3 drinks, plus a coconut. Did you know that coconuts are pH balanced like our bodies, making them the ultimate electrolyte replacement drink?

July 8

My butt hurts. I blame the maladjusted bike that I ventured out on yesterday with Kristen.

all smiles the day before!

Today was the day the hard labor began. We were moving dirt to fill in a hole to level out the ground for a new classroom at Khmer Chewy Khmer. It was very hot and very humid. Phaly gave us a break and we walked over to his mother’s house, the over to his cousin’s house. He was so proud to tell us about his land, his country, and his people. When we got back, we moved some cement from a pile near the walkway to a pile behind a classroom. He was concerned that the children might hurt themselves on it. As we were moving the cement, we disturbed a scorpion family that was living under it which Phaly scooped up and tossed into the rice field.

That night we went to the orphanage. The orphanage itself has two bedrooms (one for boys, one for girls), a kitchen, and living area, plus some play space outside. When it came time to leave, there were no adults around and we weren't sure what to do. It was then that I learned you cannot trust the cell network in Cambodia. I finally got in touch with Sam who told me that we could leave, that the older kids would take care of the younger ones. It was another lesson in how different this country was than the United States.

Cambodia Part 1

2009-09-15T20:39:00.001-07:00

I scrunched my nose and closed my eyes.

“And that’s your first experience with burning trash,” Sam said as we were riding back to the hotel. Sam, the United Planet country coordinator, had just met me at the airport and we were in the tuk-tuk on our way back to the hotel. For the millionth time over the past several hours I asked myself, what am I doing here?

I had been anticipating my trip to Cambodia for months. I was going to be doing some volunteer work, organized by the non-profit United Planet. I thought that I was just going to be volunteering at an orphanage and teaching at an English school, but I was in for so much more!!!

I should start by saying that it takes a really long time to get to Asia. It turns out that the Pacific Ocean is really big. The biggest consolation is that no matter how far you are going, you get fed on international flights. Even during a 45 minute quick flight, you get a sandwich! And the food is good. I have found that if you get a vegetarian meal (or another special meal, such as low calorie) you get your food first. My only complaint is that when you get the vegetarian meal they assume that you are super healthy and you get extra fruit instead of a cookie or piece of cake for dessert.

Back to the tuk-tuk ride. It took about 20 minutes to get to the guesthouse that I would call home for the next 10 days. It was beautiful and the staff was so friendly! I did notice that there was no air conditioning in the lobby, but the rooms had it, so I was very thankful for that. After my orientation, I tried to take a quick nap, but overslept and almost missed meeting Erin (another volunteer) and Sam for dinner that night! We had dinner at a restaurant on Pub Street in town, which would turn out to be our favorite restaurant in Siem Reap. I was amazed that I was full off of curry and rice for just $3!

our group - Meng, me, Erin, Kristen, and Merrill

July 6

Everyone is here (Erin, Kristen, and Merrill) and we met for breakfast at the guesthouse. Today we were going to visit the two volunteer locations and get adjusted to our new surroundings. First, though, we went to a monk blessing at a nearby pagoda. The temple was so beautiful – the inside was painted in amazing, bright colors describing the story of Buddha. We presented the monks with baskets and received our blessings.

We visited the Imagine Angkor Foundation and met the children at the orphanage. There are 13 children there, and they share 2 rooms filled with bunk beds. They were so happy to see and play with us! We stayed for a bit and then we were off to Khmer Teaching Khmer English School. We met the Director, Phaly (Pauli), who is the most selfless man I have ever met. He has turned his home into a free school for children to learn English. Private English classes/school cost $5-8/month, which most families cannot afford. The teachers are past students who have volunteered to teach there, and some have moved away from their families, or travel a long way each day to meet that commitment. Many of the students are interested in practicing their conversational skills, and hearing native pronunciation of English words. Their goal is to learn English to be able to work in one of the hotels in Siem Reap or become a temple guide.

That day we also did a little bargaining at the Old Market and felt a little guilty going back to our air conditioned rooms.

our guesthouse, Shining Angkor

Reusable Bag Tip

2009-09-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

I went on a bike ride today and decided to stop by the grocery store on the way back. I figured I'd just get a bag and hang it from my handlebars. Well it didn't work as easily as I had hoped and kept banging into my wheel. SO I discovered that the reusable bag can double as a backpack (as long as it's not too full. I wouldn't recommend it for a long ride home, but for a short ride it worked fine!

It's a blog revival!

2009-09-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'm back! The best way to practice writing is to write, and the easiest way to write is on the computer - it doesn't hurt my hand!

Long overdue is the introduction of Sadie, the new pup!

Dirty dog
Eric getting artsy

They were trying to wake me up

And yes, Daisy loves her new sister!

The also long overdue Cambodia recap is coming soon!

Sadie is in the cutest dog contest!

2009-08-10T21:07:00.001-07:00

More about who Sadie is later, but Sadie is our new puppy, and she's doing great in the cutest dog contest - you can vote until Friday!

Final Update on Cambodia

2009-05-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

I am leaving for my long-awaited trip in just under 2 months (1 month and 2 weeks to be exact)! I bought my plane tickets, so I'm definitely on my way. I decided to stop in Bangkok on the way home, and I'm really excited about that as well.
I received my tentative itinerary and I'm going to be teaching in the Khmer Help Khmer school in the mornings and in the Pagota school with young monks in the afternoons. It's going to be an amazing experience, for sure!
Thank you to everyone who has donated - I'm almost at $900! If you have been meaning to donate, I'm trying to get it all together by the first week of June, and if you know of anyone who might be interested in helping me out, please forward this to them, too :) www.firstgiving.com/abbiemood

THANK YOU ALL!!!

Groundhogs!

2009-03-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

Daisy and I were walked at Peter's Canyon on Monday and she was very distracted and kept turning around. One of the times we stopped I turned around and looked with her, didn't see anything, so started to walk again. Then my eagle eyes spied a little animal by the side of the trail. Daisy is a little less observant and didn't have a clue, but I thought it was a bird. Upon further inspection I realized that it was a groundhog poking it's head out of it's hole! So I took a step closer and he hid back down and we walked on. I turned back to look after we had passed and he popped his head back up and was watching us. I have never actually seen a groundhog peeking out of his hole before, so I thought that was cool enough. But then I saw ANOTHER one a few feet later! No wonder Daisy was paranoid, the groundhogs were watching...

I didn't get a picture, but this person did...
www.flickr.com/photos/9511470@N06/2488019875

My Yoga Practice

2009-03-15T13:24:00.001-07:00

I was at yoga today and as we started, I began to feel like my body was telling me to go a different way then the instructor was leading it. It then struck me (and occupied me for the rest of the time) that I am ready to develop my own home practice. Then I thought about how I don't know nearly enough about yoga poses and all that, so I need to go to classes to learn more. THEN I thought about teacher training and how teacher training would help me do both - learn and deepen my own practice. Maybe I am finally ready to start a yoga teacher training program!!!! Now I just have to find/choose one...

I'm back!

2009-03-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

So I took a sort of hiatus from lots of things in my life since the beginning of the new year, just one of many of these things is blogging. Now that I'm an official lululemon "blog artist" with the new company blog that will be live in mid-April, I figure that I should keep up with my personal blog as well. My blog assignment is travel, so I'm super excited to write about my marathon in Greece, my upcoming Cambodia trip, and all my mini adventures to San Fran, Colorado, the east coast, etc. etc. etc.! Eric and I were talking about traveling the other night and I realized just how passionate I am about travel. Nobody can take away what you see and what you experience, and every experience means something different to each person.

Otherwise...I'm training for another triathlon - the Irongirl Lake Las Vegas on May 9th. I'm doing an olympic distance this time - 1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run. I feel pretty confident about the run, a little nervous about the bike, and really nervous about the swim, so I joined a training group with Michelle, a fellow lulu. We're training with Martha, who is an amazing coach! We don't have an official team name yet, but it's in the works ;)

Cruising in to the transition area
photo by Jeff Sillcox at the June Lake Tri

Moving on to a big picture update... there is a HUGE problem with the California education budget. Education is very obviously NOT a priority to the California government. Our state is ranked 50 out of the 50 states and lots of teachers are getting laid off. Cutting programs and losing teachers doesn't change the number of children in schools, which means they have to be spread out among other classes, making it very difficult for the teachers that are left. Basically it's just not a good situation.

And I'm out, but I'll be back again, and this time not 3 months from now :)

YogaJournal Conference in San Fran

2008-12-23T16:30:00.000-08:00

Back in September I went to Colorado for the YogaJournal's annual Colorado conference and it was awesome. Eric and Wes came and they went climbing while I went to one day of yoga and then I went climbing with them on Sunday and Monday. Now San Francisco's annual conference is coming up in January, so I applied for the Work Exchange program. If you get chosen for the work exchange program, you are required to volunteer 16 hours over the course of 5 days, and you monitor 4 or more class doors. After the class starts, you can join the class, and when you are not volunteering you can join classes that aren't full, which is awesome. You have to pay $300, $200 of which you get back after you're done and you do your job, so you really pay $100 for the whole conference! In case you haven't been able to tell yet, I got chosen for the Work Exchange Program for the SF conference in January :)
Eric bought me a plane ticket for Christmas to get to SF and I'm staying at the Grant Hotel, which is where Jess and I stayed when we went there for the Nike Women's 1/2 marathon, and also next door to a lululemon :) I'm soo excited and can't wait to go!

http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:PBKNrMrY22ahAM:http://www.yoga-nrg.com/yoga%2520kid%2520tree%2520pose%2520sillouette.JPG

Yoga with Steve Ross

2008-12-19T10:08:00.000-08:00

Monika and I traveled to Brentwood yesterday for some yoga with well-known yogi, Steve Ross (he is/was on the Inhale on the oxygen network, and apparently celebrities go to his classes). Monika had been there before and loved it, so I figured I'd give it a go. Even though I checked out the studio's website, I still didn't quite know what to expect. We got there with plenty of time to spare, so we walked around the shopping center a little and then heard a scary rumor that Steve wasn't going to be there! We tried really hard not to get bummed out even though we'd traveled 45 minutes to take this class. So we waited...and waited...the room really started to fill up (with no recognizable celebrities) and then Monika says, "he's here!" and I look and sure enough, there's the Happy Yogi himself, all smiley and, well, happy. He walks in and says hi to people as he goes and connects his ipod. Then Chris Brown or 50 cent or somebody starts playing on the speakers and Steve starts the class, shouting commands over the music. And such was the entire class. It was definitely fun, but definitely not the type of yoga that I could do all the time. Sometimes I like to be able to think about the postures and things that I'm doing while I'm practicing yoga. I will say the hour and a half flew by! Before I knew it we were in floor postures and finally savasana. It was one of my best savasanas ever. I almost opened my eyes one time to see if anyone lese was still in the room. It was amazing. I'm definitely going to go back for another one of his classes sometime soon! Oh and the level 2/3 was perfect for me - it was more intermediate, less advanced than I expected, so besides already being a little sore from yoga with Paul the day before, it was just right. Now I have to try for day 3 in a row of yoga being all sore followed by a weekend of climbing...I'm hoping it will just work itself out :)

Gettin' the lead out...

2008-12-17T15:05:00.001-08:00

I came to realize today that the "gettin' the lead out" doesn't just apply to running. You know how sometimes you go out for that run, maybe after resting a couple days from a previous hard run, or even if you just haven't ran for awhile, and the run just sucks? Well I've come to the conclusion that it applies to yoga as well. I have been off and on with my yoga practice lately and today I decided to start back full force. I went to a lunchtime flow with Paul DeSilva at YogaWorks and he was awesome. I, on the other hand, was dizzy and couldn't get my balance. Part of it could be due to the fact that I let myself get distracted by this lady next to me who was making a lot of noise with her movements, among other things. So much for the nonreactive, nonjudgmental thing I've been trying lately. So the class was a tough one. But regardless, I survived, I got all the negative crap out of my body that I have been carrying around for a couple weeks, so I expect my next class to be amazing :) The next class being a level 2/3 class in LA with Monika... do one thing every day that scares you, right???

Races in 2009?

2008-12-14T19:26:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to decide what race(s) I might do in 2009, and have come up with a list of several potential 50Ks, and a couple possible 1/2 marathons. I'm thinking of doing a 50K instead of a marathon this year, but I'm not sure yet. I know I'd like to run the Twin Peaks 50K in 2010, and I'm not sure if I want that to be my first one or not. I'd also like to do a couple 1/2 marathons, but again, I don't know which ones. Here's the list I've come up with so far -

4/26/09 - La Jolla 1/2 in La Jolla
5/2/09 - Wild, Wild, West 50K in Lone Pine
5/9/09 - Santa Barbara Wine Country 1/2 in Santa Ynez
5/9/09 - Xterra Malibu 1/2 in Malibu
5/16/09 - Bishop High Sierra 50K in Bishop
5/30/09 - Shadow of the Giants 50K in Yosemite
6/14/09 - Holcomb Valley 50K in Big Bear Lake
8/8/09 - Mt. Disappointment 50K in Sierra Madre

Don't miss my previous post about my upcoming volunteer work in Cambodia!

Volunteering in Cambodia

2008-12-12T17:15:00.000-08:00

I blogged about going to Cambodia with United Planet probably 6 months ago and never really mentioned it again, but I decided today that it's time to really get serious and think about this trip. I already pushed it back to July because I doubted that I would be able to get the funds together for this trip, but after a particularly inspiring goal setting clinic at the lululemon in Santa Monica last night, I realized that this is something that I am passionate about, and I put my intentions out there, it will happen. So I'm putting my intentions out there and by June 1, 2009 I am raising $3000.
Why volunteer? Why Cambodia? One of my passions in life is teaching & constantly learning, and another passion is helping those less fortunate than I. I chose to volunteer in Cambodia because 1. the mission of this particular country with the volunteer organization is to work in a community center and teach English and other skills, and 2. Cambodia will be a country that is nothing like I have ever seen or experienced. I will learn so much about the culture and lifestyle that I expect to learn much more from them than they will learn from me.
I have set up a fundraising website to make it easy for anyone to donate. I will reach my goal when 600 people donate just $5. That's just sacrificing one trip to Starbucks! So please, even if you can't donate, forward this to someone who might be able to. With this trip I'm "being the change" I want to see in the world, and I would love your support!

http://www.firstgiving.com/abbiemood

Life Lessons from the past week

2008-12-04T18:17:00.000-08:00

My grandmother passed away earlier this week and so I've had a lot of time to think. Usually when someone passes away, the people affected decide that they need to start living in the moment and take advantage of their life, which can so easily slip away. I, on the otherhand, have never really been one to go all contemplative after something like this. I'm usually just really sad. But this time has been different.
On a conference call for lululemon Tuesday, Chip (the founder of lululemon) told us that the one thing he took from the workshop that we were discussing was to live in the moment - don't wait until a doctor tells you that you have 6 months to live. I thought it was quite a coincidence to hear that right after my grandmother had heard the same news, but only made it a few weeks. I realized that it's not soo important to worry about when I will get married, when I will get a house, when the bills will be finally paid off... It's important to be present and live in the moment now, taking care of things as they come. I'm not saying don't think about and plan for the future, but the future can't rule your life, and neither can the past. You can do things today to help tomorrow, but ultimately you have to worry about how you feel and what's happening right now.
Which leads to my next thought, which is that everyone does the best they can at that moment. I've been telling myself this everytime I start to get frustrated about something or frustrated with someone - they're just doing the best they can, and it's wrong of me to expect anything more.
So there's my one thoughtful post in all the time I've had this blog... don't get used to it, it shouldn't happen too often!

Year in Review

2008-11-29T11:02:00.001-08:00

Even though it just (not quite barely) December, I don't have anything else planned this year (besides being the Asst. RD for the Twin Peaks Ultra race) so I figured it would be a good time for a year in review...

My totals this year include -
3 sprint triathlons - newport, june lake, santa barbara
1 1/2 marathon - oc
2 marathons - la, greece
1 5k - e-racing the blues in delaware
1 10k - e-racing the blues in delaware
climbing - handful of v4's

Besides the sports side of my life, I started working at lululemon athletica in the Irvine Spectrum and have met some amazing people. I absolutely love working there - it's just the atmosphere that an urban hippie such as myself thrives in :) And yes, I'm still teaching. lulu is my 2nd job, but somedays it keeps me sane!

Over the next couple weeks I will be making my final edits and printing my thesis on the fancy paper. That means I only have to pay a bunch of money to the bookstore and then I will have my Master's degree in Special Education! yay!

Overall, not too shabby if I do say so myself :)

p.s. i'm looking for races for '09... suggestions are welcome.

Athens Marathon Race Re-cap

2008-11-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

In spirit of my first run since the marathon (not the originally planned 10K Turkey Trot but a very easy 3 miler later in the day), I figured I'd post a little re-cap about my race...

First of all, we went to Greece with Apostolos Greek Tours and I have to say Paul Samaras is the nicest man ever and you can tell he really wants you to have an amazing experience in Greece. We had a pasta dinner the night before, and had the hotel set up the breakfast early that morning so we could get something to eat before we left. The race didn't start until 9 am so I didn't have to get up at the butt crack of dawn like usual. We slept until about 6 and then got breakfast and I got on the bus to head towards Marathon at 7. Eric didn't have to leave until 7:30 since the 10K started near the stadium, which was my finishing point.
We drove through the Greece countryside and arrived in Marathonas at around 8:15. It was cold and a little windy, but the wind would be at our backs once the race started, so I tried to keep that in mind. Jeff Galloway, the run/walk master, was with the tour and was leading a 1 min. run/1 min. walk group with a goal of 5 hours. The night before he told us that the course was difficult and we should expect to run 20 minutes slower than usual, but my secret goal was to set a pr (break 5:30).
After listening to some Madonna, and then taking an oath about having fun and enjoying the race, and it was on! Jeff wanted to start after everyone else had gone, and for the first time I started dead last. There were only a few thousand people there, so we were actually only about 5 minutes behind clock time. The temp. at race start was 61 degrees with the wind at our back and lots of cloud coverage, which is practically perfect marathon weather, and while the wind eventually died down, the clouds and cool temps stayed with us.
After the first couple miles, we started the loop around the tomb of the Athenian soldiers who fell during the war between the Persians and the Athenians. The 1/1 run/walk method was awesome and the race was flying by. Jeff and his wife, Barbara, are so positive and fun to run with. Eric and I had looked at the course map beforehand and didn't expect much of the hills that we saw. They were mostly long and gradual, but a couple were a bit steep. The hills did start to take a toll on my knees, though. Besides being hilly, the road is slanted which any runner knows can create imbalance issues. By mile 7 my knees started bothering me, but I tried to ignore them. They continued to bother me, and ended up hurting 3 weeks after the race, but I think my positive attitude (and the cream/spray I kept getting on them) really helped me through.
We continued through the countryside, with cheers of Bravo and Calimera (good morning) coming from people who had come outside to cheer us on. Around mile 16 we started to get into the suburbs of Athens and see more buildings. This was also about the time that I started to lose the group. I had to stop to get some cream for my knees and slow my pace down a bit and they pulled away. I kept them in my sights for the next 3ish miles and then they were gone. But I was looking forward to seeing Eric at mile 24. And I made a friend who was part of TNT who was there running as well.
My hamstring started to cramp off and on around mile 20, but I would push through the running minute to get to the walking minute and then it would go away for a couple minutes. One thing that helped me get through was something that another member of our group said which was, "I can do anything for a minute". I remembered this when I started to feel tired and when I started to cramp.
It came to about 23.75 and there was Eric. I had almost made it! I wasn't crashing, either, it was awesome. My crash during this race was in the middle, around 12-15. Eric was surprised to find me in a good mood, and I was kind of surprised to be in a good mood. Maybe it was the spirit of Phidippides and the olive branches in my visor. A little after mile 25, both my hamstrings started to cramp and my quads. I have never cramped in my legs before, so it was a little bothersome. It would come and go, and it pretty much went away in a few minutes. Right after mile 26 Eric had to leave me because he couldn't run into the stadium with me, so he had to haul it through the National Gardens to see me finish. As I was "sprinting" to the finish, EVERYTHING cramped. My left big toe was cramping like whoa, which has only happened with tight climbing shoes. As I was running in I turned to my right and saw a stray dog jogging in a few feet behind me, which kind of made me laugh and I forgot about my cramps for a second.
And then I was done. It was amazing. Here I was in the Olympic Stadium with the olympic rings above the stands (which we hiked up to right after the marathon), with the acropolis and the Parthenon in the distance, and it was amazing. My final time was 5:14, a PR by approx. 15 minutes. :)

***Edit - this whole time I thought my previous PR was 5:30, but it was really 5:20. Still happy because I still ran a PR by running 5:14, just not by 15 minutes :)***

The pictures are in reverse order, so scroll down and back up...

in the stands with the Acropolis in the distance

my medal :)

first sit down after the marathon

finishing in my pink shirt, cramping and all!

he looks really fast

a little after eric met me, smiling for the first time ever after running 25 miles

statue of Phidippides

Hella Sod in the Athens countryside

the tomb with the mountains in the background

Jeff and Barbara Galloway

the blue line is the marathon course from the 2004 olympics. we followed the exact course.

the start!

freezing with Jeff Galloway before the race.

GREECE! (and a little Madrid thrown in there too)

2008-11-20T14:16:00.000-08:00

Eric and I went to the other side of the pond and ended up in Greece (after JFK sucked and we almost missed our flight to Madrid and lost our luggage) earlier this month. It was awesome. There was a deli 50 yds from our hotel that was super cheap (a loaf of artisan bread and a wedge of gouda was less than 3 euro), our hotel in Athens was super cheap (and had a view of the Acropolis), and I got a scarf that was super cheap (it was 5 euro). The primary purpose of our trip was to run a marathon... the f-ing original marathon that ended in the modern marble olympic stadium! The marathon went pretty well...I'll do a separate race report on that. Eric did the 10K and hauled it for an awesome time, too. After the marathon and all that we did some more sightseeing and then we were on our own for a couple days (we went with Apostolos Greek Tours for the first 6 days)... the first of our on our own days we went to Philopappos Hill to look for some alleged bouldering. We hiked all over this hill and were about to go back when Eric wanted to go just a little further. We went a little further and I saw a bolt. Followed by some more bolts, and then we saw spray painted numbers and decided we had found something. There was a pad stashed, but there were a couple other climbers there so we didn't borrow it, instead bouldering with Eric's jacket under our butts. Needless to say, nothing hard was attempted, but it was still cool climbing anyway.
After Athens we went to Madrid, which was more expensive but just as awesome. We hiked around all day and got comfortable with the metro system (which would totally be my preferred mode of transportation if we had one in Orange County). We got some sweet paella for dinner at our hotel of all places, after looking for a hole in the wall restaurant for 2 hours and not being able to find one.
Finally it was time to go home :( I had a lot of fun in Europe, and wish we could've stayed longer in Madrid, even though it was cold.
Short recap, but in conclusion I love international flights because they serve you actual meals.
I'll post some of the pictures later/tomorrow/this weekend (I have a thesis to turn in!), they'll do a better job showing our trip than I can explain in words!

Tattoo virgin no more!

2008-10-31T11:56:00.000-07:00

While I was on the east coast, Farrow and I visited Amanda V. and got inked! I LOVE my tattoo, but let me tell you it hurt like a mo-fo. It mostly hurt on my shin, near my ankle bone, and back by my achilles. So if anyone tells you it's "not that bad", they're either a masochist or are lying. I guess the ankle is kind of a tender spot to get a tattoo, but whatev.

It's on the inside of my right ankle/calf and it's freakin' awesome. I chose the inside of my leg for a couple reasons. The first is that it is less conspicuous than the outside of my leg. The second is that by putting the tattoo on the inside of my leg, I can see it all the time and remember why I got it. The tattoo is for me, not for everyone else :)

El Moro Madness

2008-10-19T18:45:00.001-07:00

I planned on running El Moro and practicing my photo skills since that's almost all I'll be doing, and talking about how much I like El Moro even though it kicks my butt again and again. So I started my run and took a couple pictures so everyone can see the beauty of the place :)

view of the ocean from the top of the first hill. the sun was too bright :(

after the first hill, they continued. for 3 miles. the steeper ones followed the ones above.
the dry view from the ranger station end of the park

mini cactus field
the prettier view from the other end of the park... hard to believe the ocean is only 4 miles away

almost done!

One of the best things about el moro is that it's across the street from the beach, so you can get an ice bath after a hard run :)

After a few minutes in the ocean I walked down the street to where my car was parked and started up the PCH on my way home. Then I saw the car pictured below...
1. It's a Bentley, which isn't that out of the ordinary in Newport Beach. 2. A gray haired guy with his hair perfectly styled despite the convertible top? Again, not that special. The kicker? 3. He was BLARING "You Shook Me All Night Long". Maybe I shouldn't have been that surprised, but hello, mid-life crisis much??

Then later I saw another Bentley, which surprised me because I haven't seen two in one day before. This one looked more like a Chrysler 500 and was not a convertible.

Then near Fashion Island I was stopped at a light and I saw a person a couple cars up toss a cigarette butt out of her SUV window. Before I could even finish a thought about how I feel about that, a hand pops out the window with ANOTHER cigarette in her hand. Like she literally must have lit the new cigarette with the old one. Can't get the cancer in you much faster than that!

Catch-up!

2008-10-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

So I had been avoiding looking at my blog because I knew it had been soo long since I've posted. And not that I have hundreds of blog viewers, but I still need to get it on it. For myself. And indeed it had been soo long since I've posted. July 30th in fact. Since then I've done another triathlon (Santa Barbara Triathlon), went to Colorado for climbing/yoga and had a close encounter with an elk,
and we moved into a house.

Still up - trip back to DE, marathon in Greece, and potential 10K in Death Valley. I'm heading back to the east coast this month because tickets were around $250 now, and double that for Christmas, but I have big plans for the trip - running a 5K/10K on the same day, yoga and dinner with Amy, a trip to the Gunks, and a tattoo!

Part of the reason I was "inspired" to write this blog is because recently I've been reading lots of other people's blogs that I find interesting, so I figured if I ever want someone to read my blog and think that it's interesting, I should probably post something on it.

So instead of posting a long blog that's really about nothing, I'll just end with a short list of things I've been recently excited about:

obama
greece and madrid
running
climbing in bishop (it's coming!!!)
sharing peter's canyon with daisy
finishing my thesis draft
going offtrack
corepower yoga

My First Earthquake

2008-07-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

It's official. As of 11:42 a.m. on Tuesday, July 29th, I am no longer an earthquake virgin. I was standing around in my classroom when I heard the rumbling. I thought it was just some kids running around upstairs until it got more rumbly and the ground started shaking too. Here is the play-by-play -

Me (thinking to myself as I look up at the ceiling): Man those kids are loud...
My instructional aide: "It's an earthquake."
Me: "Really?"
Instructional aide: "Uh, yeah."
--Now the rumbling and the rolling has stopped--
Instructional aide (sounding a little panicky): "What should we do now??"
Me: "Go under the tables!"
At this point I basically dive under the table as I tell the kids to get down, too. I realize there are like 3 kids looking under the table at me like I'm crazy while my instructional aides are trying to get the rest of my preschoolers under another table. The announcement came over that we were all clear and the day went on as planned.
Basically my kids didn't even notice that anything had happened and they thought their new teacher was just a crazy person diving under the table. Apparently news of the earthquake blew up on the east coast and that's when the texts ensued. But as Lindsay so eloquently put it, punk ass earthquake ain't got nothin on this neezy.

June Lake Tri Recap

2008-07-22T16:30:00.001-07:00

We went up to Mammoth Lakes July 12-13 for the June Lake Triathlon and then some climbing. We got into Mammoth around 10:30 on Friday night, and got up bright and early Saturday morning to leave for June Lake by 6 a.m. Eric and I had registered for the sprint distance race, which was a 400m lake swim, 8 mile bike, and a supposed 1.5 mile run that on race day we found out was actually 2.25 miles. Eh, no worries... or so we thought!
We got to June Lake just after 6, so we had plenty of time to pump up our bike tires, get our race packets (including our Patagonia race t-shirts!) and get our transition area ready by our 8:30 a.m. start. We watched the Olympic distance swim start at 8 a.m. while getting adjusted to the water ourselves. At 69 degrees, the water wasn't too cold, but I still decided to wear a wet suit. After watching the Olympic distance swimmers go way farther out than we were going to swim, I was glad that I was just doing the sprint and had to tread my way through 400 m instead of 1500!
Our race started just on time at 8:30 a.m. and I survived the swim in 13:24. That's all I'm going to say about that. The bike was next. Luckily, Eric and I had gone to Mammoth Lakes the weekend before, mostly for climbing, but also to test out the bike course. The first part was a little uphill to get to the downhill into June Lake Village. After a couple miles of downhill, it was through June Lake Village, and then around to North Shore. This is where it was good that we had been there the weekend before. 3.5 miles of uphill. And it was hard! I don't think the altitude bothered me too much, I kind of suck at steep hills whether it's biking or running anyway. I did pass a girl who was walking her bike, so I tried to encourage her before I blew her wheels off... riiight. Finally I got through the hills and cruised downhill around and into the transition area. I wished I had've gone a little faster with the bike (35:20), but I figured I'd make up time on the run. I'm a runner, after all...
The run started in this sand. And then it continued in the sand. And then they added a hill. And then I walked. Ran some, and walked some more. I decided I do not like running in sand. Granted I haven't really done hill work in awhile, or ran much at all, but seriously, 24 minutes and 30 seconds to run 2.25 miles? With the second part all downhill? I was actually thankful to get to a slow steady uphill climb on the road. I think it was a hard course. And considering that I ranked just above the middle of the group for the run, other people thought so too. But I finished it, and the tri in 63rd place with a time of 1:17:56 (take that 1:18!). Eric kicked ass in 19th place with 1:04:55.
Basically I should probably train a little harder for our next triathlon, the Santa Barbara tri in August. June Lake tri was really challenging, but really fun, too. I would definitely recommend it!

Here are some of the pictures that our personal photog for the morning (Jeff) took... he definitely gets props for getting up early and coming out to support us :)

pre-race

Eric taking off on his bike for a 23:26 ride.

Coming in after my loooooong 400m swim

Almost ready for the bike!

Cruising in at the end of my bike ride.

Eric finishing... making it look so easy!

Me finishing, asking Jeff where Eric is since Eric competed with a potentially partially collapsed lung, and I didn't see him anywhere.

DP Dough

2008-06-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

Now I'm even more excited to go to my yoga conference in September. Not only am I going to have a hippiefest weekend, AND go climbing, but now I get to have DP DOUGH too! I just found out there's one in Boulder (the more I learn about Boulder, the more I see no reason to not move there). If you've never had DP Dough, I highly recommend it. It's pretty much a staple at UD. And with such low start up costs, I think we (we being me and anyone else interested) should open one at CSUF. Or UCI.

Holiday in Cambodia

2008-06-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

Next March, I'm going to go to Cambodia for 10 days! Why? (one might ask) I'm going with United Planet, an international volunteer group. I'm going to be teaching in the community and hanging out with kids. I'm super-psyched - too bad it's 9 months away! I guess that gives me plenty of time to brush up on my Khmer (the primary language there). Yeah...right...

I DID 3 PULL-UPS!

2008-06-09T21:23:00.001-07:00

*** news flash ***

At the gym tonight I did 3 full pull-ups. That's a record. For me.

*** that is all ***

430 miles on 8.5 gallons of gas???

2008-06-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, that's an average of 50.5 miles per gallon. There's even a picture of the proof. And that was how we ended our weekend in Tahoe. I would like to thank Jeff for pulsing and gliding his way through the mountains and Eric for taking up the slack and finishing the trip (I had the middle shift). Take that oil companies!

The rest of the weekend was just as sweet. Eric and I left for Lake Tahoe Friday afternoon, picking up Jeff in Mammoth Lakes. We continued on to the Best Tahoe West Inn, which was okay. But I can't complain, it was free :)

Saturday (ERIC'S BIRTHDAY)...After a pit stop to skip some rocks and take some special "geology" pictures,

we went up to Donner Summit and Eric did his first boulder problem in 2 months...
And holy crap I climbed some slab - must've been the Team Green influence.

photo by Eric

Sunday... could only climb until 1, and it got f-ing hot.

Jeff on Asteroid until he decided he couldn't climb on the face of the sun anymore.

In conclusion, it was a good weekend.

Happy Birthday Daisy!

2008-06-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

Today Daisy turns 3! The first couple pictures are from when she was a couple months old, and the last three are more recent...

It's been a long time...

2008-05-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

Since I posted. Wow. Let's review what's happened since APRIL 1st!

Running
Well I'm not doing much of that... I'm officially back in PT for my knee. I feel good about it this time, the therapist I'm working with found that I have super tight hip flexors (no big surprise) and a "loosey goosey" pelvis. So we're going to stretch and build up muscles and stuff. It better happen fast, I have to start training for my marathon in Greece in the beginning of November!

Climbing
Eric is still not climbing because of his finger injury, but we've still been going up to the Tram a lot. I sent my project from last Tram season, Aquaman. I also sent some other cool stuff (both hard for me and scary for me), so I'm psyched to hit up Tram this summer.

Spirit of the Forest, V4
photo by Jeff

Unnamed, V2
photo by Eric

AND I got a sweet new crashpad from Organic!

Triathlon
Eric and I completed the Kring & Chung Newport Beach Triathlon in April. It was fun and we've been bitten by the tri bug. My goal was to finish in under 2 hours for my first one, and I succeeded, so I'm totally ready for more. It is also important to note that we did this triathlon after wine tasting the day before and driving home from Solvang at midnight the night before (the picture to the right is at Sunstone Winery). I've started working with Mike Collins, who is a USAT Certified Triathlon Coach, and he has already helped my swimming, which is my biggest weakness. We've registered for the June Lake Tri in July up near Mammoth Lakes, so that will be exciting. Good thing the run is only 1.5 miles, since I haven't run much of anything lately

After the triathlon, I was looking for triathlon resources and found the Triathlon LAB. It's an awesome tri store in Redondo Beach. Long story short, Lloyd and Tere have signed me on as one of their models! I've done a test shoot, and they're going to schedule a real photo shoot soon. I'll definitely post about that once it happens! :)

The big 2-5!
On May 18th, I turned 25! I am consoled by the fact that when Kendra and I went to Las Vegas in April, the bouncer at ghostbar almost didn't let me in because he thought I had a fake ID.
Eric and I went on a cruise to Ensenada for my bday. It was good times. See the pictures...

Little Corona, Big Corona, Mexico style
The napkin ears were not my idea... they were from the waitress, but at this point I really didn't care either way.

La Pharmacia - need Viagra? Penicillin? How about some painkillers?

"Fun day at sea"

Today
I have really been needing to get into the climbing gym and work on my endurance and open hang strength, so today I did just that. Yeah I missed out on a day of outside climbing to go to the gym (boo) but I got some good work in, and I'm ready to send some stuff I've been working on within the next couple weeks! Eric and I are going to Tahoe next weekend for his bday (Jeff might come along, too), so we're hoping to check out some of the climbing up there :)

Final Thought

NKOTB IS BACK! For those of you who were not obsessed with this 90's boy band, New Kids on the Block is back. They are going to be in LA in October, and since the closest I came to a concert in the 90s was a VHS recording... who wants to go with me????

ROCK CLIMBING

2008-04-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

My knee has been bothering me so I'm taking a 2-3 week hiatus from running. Kind of sucks. I've been biking a bit, but mostly just being worthless.

EXCEPT for rock climbing :) We went to Tram a couple weeks ago and it was all snowed in. You can see my and Eric's adventures at Eric & Jeff's blog - East Side Bouldering. There is some pad sledding videos and some actual bouldering. And no, I'm not touching the snow.
Besides that, we've been hittin' up Bishop... more specifically the Buttermilks. I for one LOVE the Buttermilks. This is an area known for powerful problems, and since I lack power one might find this ironic. However, I really like it there, and have been sending some cool stuff. My project is the Fly Boy Arete, which I can almost do in two parts (there is one move I can't do that would link the two)... hopefully I can send before the season ends in Bishop!!!

My Project - Fly Boy Arete - v5 - Buttermilks

The Road to El Faro

2008-03-15T18:24:00.001-07:00

Today I got up at 5:30 a.m. to get on a bus to Mexico! I was going to the El Faro Orphanage in Baja Mexico, just outside Tijuana, with Corazon de Vida. After we left Irvine, we had to pick up some folks in San Diego, coincidentally right by the bay. I shuddered as I had flashbacks of the 2006 San Diego Rock N Roll marathon. After that, we were off to Mexico. As soon as we crossed the border I could tell we were in another country. (Unlike Canada, which looks exactly like the U.S.) 20 minutes later, we stop by a soccer field and are told we are going through a hole in the fence, walking down a hill, then up a hill, and then we'd be at El Faro (the hill was a landfill and tires pilled up on which the orphanage was built). So through the hole, down a hill, and up a hill we go. When we arrived at El Faro carrying the supplies we had brought, a couple boys came running out to take it from us and carry it inside. Then the whole morning I got to play with the children and practice my Spanish. We had lunch and hung out a little more before we had to go. I can't even explain what it's like to be there - it was an amazing experience. These children are so happy and carefree, despite the fact that they don't have parents, their parents can't afford to take care of them, or their parents have ditched them there en route to the U.S. There are 4-5 "mothers" at the orphanage for 45 kids, so they don't get a lot of attention. Finally it was time to go and we said our reluctant goodbyes. This post is no where near as long as it could be, but I think the pictures will do a better job describing everything than I can...

the view from El Faro

me & one of the little babies

Dailan

me & another little one

the kids goofing off for the camera

Diego kept stealing my shades

the walk back to the bus

El Faro is the blue building

The hole in the fence

LA MARATHON

2008-03-07T20:17:00.001-08:00

I did it :) My final stats - 5:20:32, which was good for 7676th place out of 17308 overall. I will start by saying I am incredibly happy with this, considering my longest run pre-marathon was 13 miles. And I didn't get tired until about mile 21, and I didn't want to quit until mile 23. I'm not quite sure why I can run a sub 2 hour 1/2, but the full marathon drags me down! Ok, full recap...
it all started with the alarm at 4:40 a.m. We had to check in with TNT at 5, so Allison and I got up at 4:40 and quickly got downstairs. I had my bagel and juice and then we waited. When we were ready to get on the bus at 6 a.m., I was ready to go. Then a looong bus ride (some of the back roads were closed so we ended up going back and forth on the freeway a couple times) made me kind of sleepy. Finally we made it and got dropped off. We got in the port-o-potty line which was the slowest ever and then got to the start line a few minutes before the race started. Didn't really matter because I couldn't hear the starting gun anyway. We stretched out and then people started cheering so we figured the race had started. I was planning on starting off really slowly and picking it up after the halfway mark if I felt good. So I started off slow, and had to hold myself back a lot. We ran past the Vivid building (I'm sure some of you know what Vivid is) and a little through town. The best part of the race is running through the different communities. Everyone came out to cheer on the runners, offering candy, bread, pretzels, anything they had. It was amazing. I don't remember much else about the race, except a few things my TNT coach Melissa pointed out (which is usually the case during my races). I know it started to get really hot, probably because the race started at 8:20 a.m. so they turned on hoses and tried to keep us cool. Melissa stayed with me until Mile 21, and right after I started to get really tired. Then I got to mile 23, which was some long bridge, and I really wanted to be done. But seriously how can you quit after 23 miles? And (surprisingly) I wasn't injured, just really tired, and my left leg was cramping a bit. I made it over that damn bridge and then it was a couple more miles in LA to the finish. The 26 mile marker was right in front of the hotel, but I kept going to finish the last .2 :) I almost cried when I saw the finish line I was so happy. I really wish this had've been my first marathon experience because my first one sucked. This race was fun. I never thought I'd say a marathon was fun, but it was until about mile 20. Part of that was that I was lucky enough to have my TNT coach run much of the race with me to keep my mind off the race. I don't think I could ever thank her enough!
After the race I had to walk through the chute and everything, I couldn't just walk back the easy .2 mile to the hotel. I ended up walking far. Like several blocks, including down 4 sets of stairs and through the library. I had to stop and sit down 3 times because I just couldn't go any farther! Luckily I saw another TNT member and followed them to the hotel. I finally got to the hotel and started to feel nauseous so I had to sit down again. I got upstairs and just laid on the bed and was in heaven.
I would absolutely recommend this marathon to everyone. It was an amazing experience. Part of the experience was doing it with TNT, knowing that I was there for something so much bigger than me. The dinner the night before reminded me of the reason I was there and that I had raised $2000 by myself towards the cause!!!!! http://www.teamintraining.org
I was even more surprised when I could walk the next day! The outside of my left knee was sore and the middle of my right knee. Tuesday my quads were soooo sore! Eric and I went for a bike ride to work it out a little and that helped. Wednesday they were still sore, but we went for an easy 3 miler, which also helped because by Thursday, I felt fine, which is an incredible concept to me considering how my first marathon went.
I ordered the memory stick with all my pictures on it, so when that comes in a couple weeks, I will definitely post some pictures!

Super Saturday!

2008-02-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I ran 6 miles in the morning with my team, and then we had a send-off meeting since my marathon is next Sunday. This time next Sunday I will have finished my 2nd marathon! Yay :) After some miscellaneous errands and a nap, it was time to get ready to go to MusInk, a music/tattoo festival hosted by Kat Von D in Costa Mesa. Kendra and I went to Wasu Sushi first, which is one of my faves, and then we headed off and started the adventure to find the entrance to the OC fairgrounds. The main entrance was closed, and the other entrances weren't very clearly marked but we finally found it. Then we started the mile long hike to the entrance. We eventually got in... to stand in the beer line for another 10 minutes. I went to the water booth and got a water and drank half of it before we even got to up to the booth to get beer for Kendra. We walked around and checked out some tattoo booths and stuff before deciding to get pierced. I got my nose and Kendra got her belly button redone. We had to wait a bit before the piercer was ready, so we got in line to get our picture taken with Kat Von D. We got in a few people before they closed off the gate, so that was lucky! I talked to Kim for a minute (Kim from LA Ink) and got a pic with her before getting to Kat Von D.

Not only did we get our picture with her, she called me and Kendra "sexy grapes". We didn't realize that we were both wearing purple shirts until Kat so kindly complimented us ;) After that, we went back and got pierced... of course the anticipation is always worse than the actual piercing so it wasn't even that bad. We watched Tiger Army perform for a minute and then hiked back to the car.
Kendra wanted to go out so we drove down to Cassidy's in Newport Beach. We'd been sitting there for a few minutes when 3 guys bought us a drink, and then a bottle of Dom Perginon. Turns out one of them was a retired pro hockey player (his brother still plays for the Ducks). We hung out and talked to them for awhile, and then we left.
It ended up being a pretty late night, but lucky for me I had nothing to do on Sunday. AND it's stopped raining so I can go for a run or a bike ride!
Too bad tomorrow is Monday...

<-- My newly pierced nose (it's hard to see, I know)

New Bike!

2008-02-11T15:45:00.000-08:00

Last week Eric finally broke down and got a bike. I decided that since I was putting more money into my Wal-mart bike than it was worth, I should just break down and get a decent (but cheap) bike myself. I ended up with a 2007 Specialized Hardrock XC. I'm going to put hybrid tires on it for the triathlon and training, and then use the mountain bike tires in the even that we go ride at Peter's or somewhere sometime. I have officially ridden this bike as many times in a week as I rode my other bike in several months. The only problem is that hurts. My butt. So I got some bike shorts, and haven't had a chance to try them out. I ran this morning and hopefully I'll get to put in some bike time if Eric gets home from work soon... Now I need to get some time in the pool!

Yoga, Pinkberry, and Sweet Lady Jane Bakery!!!

2008-02-10T19:37:00.001-08:00

Ok from now on, I will not slack with my posting, I will not slack with my posting...

Today I went to a yoga tune-up workshop with Jill Miller at the Center for Yoga in LA. The Center is on Larchmont Blvd., which is just like Santa Monica Blvd. or Venice Blvd. meaning there is people everywhere and not so much parking. After going up and down the street once, I got lucky and found a spot right around the corner :) The workshop focused on hips, which is a weak point for me considering my running is/has been suffering due to my hip inflexibility. Jill is a great instructor, and I hope to go to another one of her workshops soon! The Center happened to be right next door to the infamous Pinkberry, which for those of you who don't know, is a frozen yogurt store (literally yogurt, not ice cream tasting yogurt like Golden Spoon) with 3 flavors - vanilla, green tea, and coffee. I got the green tea and I have to say I was quite disappointed. It tasted tangy like yogurt and barely like green tea. I'll stick to my green tea smoothies from Jamba Juice and my frozen yogurt from Golden Spoon. Before going, I had looked up Sweet Lady Jane Bakery on the internet and planned on going to taste some of the cake. I had seen the cake on the Dr. Phil show, but I haven't been in LA since I saw it to be able to try it out. OMG I should have gone sooner!!!! I don't like cake really (except ice cream cake) or icing, but I am in love with Sweet Lady Jane bakery. I got a piece of the Almond Roca and the Triple Berry Shortcake. I decided that when I get married I am going to have BOTH ice cream cake and the Triple Berry Shortcake. I am half tempted to get somebody a cake for their birthday or something just so I can go cake tasting and taste them all :)

Such a slacker... kind of.

2008-01-31T18:35:00.000-08:00

So I've been slacking in my blog writing, but with good reason, and now I have to play quick and random catch-up.

I haven't been allowed to run so I've been feeling pretty worthless. I went back to Dr. Bakman and got the okay to run, so now I can at least post about that. I have NO idea how I'm going be ready for the LA marathon, but I'm going to try. Hopefully my knee problem is "cured", but we'll see :)

In other news, I have actually been super busy. I'm taking 3 classes this semester towards my Master's degree in Special Ed. while finishing my research and beginning to write my thesis. I registered to begin my Master's degree in Administration in March.

I'm excited about going on a day trip to Mexico in March with Corazon de Vida.
It's an organization that helps orphaned children in Mexico, and part of that includes day trips every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. I'm going down there to visit the El Faro orphanage, and I can't wait! I think it's going to be a very rewarding experience :)

My 1st triathlon is in April, and I just got new tires for my el cheapo bike. I went on a bike ride and then tried to run a little, but my legs felt like jell-o, so I think I'm going to have to work on the bike-run brick.

I'm pretty much signed up for the Shadow of the Giants 50K in May, which would be my 1st ultra. Hopefully I'll be both "cured" and "in shape" for it because I'd really like to do well.

I'm psyched about Greece in November. We've picked dates, now we have to buy plane tickets and get some plans together with a marathon travel company. I can't even explain how excited I am!!!!!

BUT right now I'm sick. I feel like crap. I took a 1/2 day on Tuesday and came home and slept. Even if I was allowed to run, I haven't really done anything all week. I'm pretty sure I'm going to run on Saturday or Sunday (if the weather doesn't totally suck again) and I'm a little nervous, but we'll see.

Why I am involved with Team in Training

2008-01-18T20:17:00.000-08:00

I had my fundraiser at Rubio's last night and it went well. I raised about $50, which isn't a large amount, but it's 50 more dollars than I had before!
Anyway, Eric and I went down there and had dinner right before the fundraiser ended at 8. I was getting ready to take the tip jar when a woman and her daughter came in to participate in the fundraiser and buy dinner. We got to talking about why I was involved with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Team in Training and she asked me if I had any family members or anyone affected by Leukemia. I told her that luckily, no. She went on to tell me that her daughter was a survivor and thanked me. We wrapped up the convo and I was a little choked up as I walked out... it's the same as when I ran the San Diego Rock N Roll marathon and people held up signs saying "Thank you TNT", "I'm a survivor", and "You saved my life". It's amazing to see the money that I raise really does help people.

NO running for 2 WEEKS!

2008-01-16T14:34:00.000-08:00

Went to Dr. Bakman yesterday. He poked around my knee a little and decided that it is still irritated underneath the kneecap and I need to let it heal. So I'm not allowed to run for 2 weeks. I'm allowed to ellipticalize and bike to my heart's content, but that's a problem considering we're still in the "new years resolution" time frame at the gym and my bike has a flat tire. I'm kind of bummed, but I think I'll just work really hard on stretching and strengthening my hip so that my knee is good to go on marathon day. Dr. Bakman said that it is better to have healthy tissue and less conditioning than more conditioning but damaged tissue. I guess he's right. At least I'm still allowed to run LA, and it's not totally hopeless!

In other news, Eric and I signed up for the Newport Beach triathlon in April. I'm superpsyched for my first tri... I just need to do a little research because I have no idea how they work except you swim some, bike some, and run some!

Random fist pound with a stranger

2008-01-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

I'll get to the title in a minute, first it's important to note the condition of my knee. And by condition I mean sucking. The sucking of my knee. I did 6 miles today (I was supposed to do 15, then 8, then downgraded to a super easy 6). I probably could've done the 8, but I felt a twang or two so I decided to take it easy. I'm pretty bummed that I apparently really irritated it at the 1/2 last weekend, but I'm hoping if I take it kind of easy for now I'll still be okay.
After running, I had to take a CPR class. Fun. Then I went to Snail's Pace to pick up some new sneakers, so that was kind of exciting. I figured I should get a new pair before I start putting in some really long runs on my old shoes.
I decided that I have been missing the yoga in my life so I went down to Costa Mesa for some yoga. In the parking lot, I'm waiting to turn left and this guy turns and stops next to me. He asks me if I take yoga and if I like it because he's had ADD for 6 years and he wants something to calm him down. Now granted it's not THAT strange since I was in the parking lot in front of the yoga studio, BUT the parking lot is a huge shopping center and the yoga studio is above a bank that I could've been going to, and I certainly don't have my yoga mat sticking out the window. Anyway... I explained that I do really like yoga, but I get bored sometimes and it took me awhile to be able to calm my mind down to do it for an hour and a half. Then I told him that I'm a runner so yoga is good for stretching. His reply? "You're much more hardcore than I am" and stuck his fist out the window. I returned the pound and strange fist pound guy and his dog drove off. It was a little weird. I was slightly concerned that he might show up in my yoga class, but I figured he wouldn't since his dog was in the car. Maybe he just spotted me as a "metro" hippie and assumed I practiced yoga... Maybe I just give off the "vibe"...

And the verdict is...

2008-01-09T21:51:00.001-08:00

...Runner's Knee! It was totally expected, so it wasn't a shocker. Dr. Bakman confirmed that my hips are tight (the main reason for my beginning yoga practice) and decided that my really tight right hip is most likely the reason behind my knee issues. He almost made me cry by jabbing my hip, but it was partially tears of joy because I am getting closer to solving this long-lasting knee problem!!! I'm taped up with the kinesiotaping method, some style from Japan, and I'm going to go for a run tomorrow to see how it feels. Then I go back to Dr. Bakman on Friday to be sure that it's my hip and figure out where to go from here. I just want to be able to run fast and far. I finally figured out my shoulder issue, and I'm good to go for climbing, so running is next! Hopefully I'll be pain free VERY soon :)

Goin' to the doctor

2008-01-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

I decided to go visit Dr. Bakman in HB about my knees. They are feeling better today, almost painless, but there is still some pain that shouldn't be there. And when I try and stretch in certain ways, I get a pain twang. So I've heard great things about Dr. Bakman, and he gives a free sports evaluation to Team in Training athletes, so I'm going tomorrow afternoon. The only unfortunate part is that I recently switched from a POS to a HMO (since I didn't use the PPO part) so if I want/need to go back to Dr. Bakman, I might have to pay an arm and a leg. If he's as good as I hear he is, it might be worth it! I'm almost 100% sure that I'm experiencing the infamous "Runner's Knee" but so far no one else has been able to rehab it... my guess is that it's mainly from tight hip flexors, especially considering that's pretty much the only area on me that has been sore from the 1/2...
Cross your fingers for me!

Quickest Race Recap Ever

2008-01-06T11:34:00.001-08:00

So I finished the OC 1/2 marathon about 2 hours ago, and yes I'm blogging about it. Eric is in the shower and I'm waiting to go eat something so I figured why not. LUCKILY there was NO rain! Yay for that 20%. It rained for like 15 minutes and then sprinkled some on the shuttle ride back which made me very glad I was not running the full marathon today. The race started off as all races do - very anti-climactic - as we walked to the start and then had to zig zag through the thousands of people to settle on our pace. As a result, we ended up running almost an extra 1/2 mile. Boo. The first few miles were uneventful and went by pretty quickly. At 7 miles we were just a little over an hour, so I figured we would be on our way to breaking 2 hours for Eric's first 1/2. I knew that I was going to hit a wall around mile 10 (of course I was with that attitude I guess!) so I tried to make up for the inevitable sucking by flying down the hills and trying to stay consistent uphills. Eric stayed pretty strong throughout the whole race, trying to go a little faster than he should have in the beginning, so I had to rein him in a couple times. Overall, he did great and I'm so proud of him :) The only low point of the race was during mile 12. We stopped for our walk break and I seriously thought I was going to throw up. Not like that fast 5K knot in your stomach kind of feeling, like I really thought my pre-race oatmeal was coming up. But it didn't, and we pushed on. Finally we reached the 13 mile marker and could see the finish line. I picked it up the best I could and then Eric took off chasing down some kids since I was "no competition" in the sprint contest.
Official time - 1:57:23 (for 13.58 miles, meaning if we hadn't have zig zagged and been crazy people, we probably would've finished closer to 1:52, since our average pace was 8:39, including a 1 minute walk break after each 9 minutes of walking.) This is 1 minute slower than my PR, but my PR is 1:56:25, and a 8:44 pace. So technically I broke my PR today, but not "officially". :( At least Eric set a PR and his first 1/2 was under 2 hours :)

Wicked - GO SEE IT (and potential 1/2 marathon weather update)

2008-01-05T14:29:00.000-08:00

Eric and I went last night to the Pantages Theater last night to see Wicked and it was amazing!!! It is on Hollywood Blvd., so Eric got to see the stars for the first time ever...covered in a river of water because of the deluge coming out of the sky. I won't ruin anything, I'll just say the play is much more optimistic than the book, and some things are a little different. All in all, it was pretty awesome. This was my first official musical (I saw CATS off Broadway when I was a kid so that doesn't really count because I don't even really remember it) and Eric thinks it is up there with Les Mis (his favorite musical), so it was pretty good. The only drama was when this guy was taking pictures and the usher told him to check it downstairs and he refused and was being a real douche about it. Then the 2nd Act started and he gave up the camera. I hope they deleted all the pictures on it... not just the theater ones either!
And we lost Eric's wallet after he paid the parking lot attendant. After a search of the car when we were halfway home, we decided to turn around check the parking lot. Luckily, it was still sitting in the parking lot, waterlogged. So our night was not ruined after all!!!

***************************************************************************************
1/2 Marathon Weather Update -
was 60% chance of rain, now 80% chance :( But it hasn't rained yet today so maybe it will rain late tomorrow, too. Go 20%!!!!!!!!

etsy.com and potential 1/2 marathon weather

2008-01-02T13:45:00.000-08:00

I rarely watch the Rachel Ray show in the morning, but one morning a couple weeks ago I flipped it on and there was a small part of the show in which she talked about this website, etsy.com. Turns out, it's pretty cool. It's a marketplace for handmade items. I found loloandlily's shop, and asked the owner, Karen, if she would be able to make me a purplish scarflette (not to wear in Anaheim, mind you, but when we go climbing). She came up with this, which is totally awesome and I'm so happy with it -

***********************************************************************************
Sadly, there will be no outdoor climbing this weekend because it's supposed to rain everywhere, and we can't go up to Bishop because Sunday is the 1/2 marathon. Rain everywhere this weekend + 1/2 marathon on Sunday = the suck. I should consider myself lucky that there is *only* a 60% chance of rain that day, and that I haven't had to run in ran in any other race in my life (except maybe a couple in high school). Eric and I are going to hit up Goodwill for some pre-race rain gear that we can shed once the race starts. At least now we kind of have an excuse if we don't break 2 hours ;)

ahh my back!

2008-01-01T15:53:00.000-08:00

So I slipped on the kitty litter gravel at the Buttermilks on Sunday and landed squarely on my butt and my wrists. Luckily, didn't hurt my wrists or my shoulders, and I continued on to send a project, but a couple hours later my lower back started to get sore. It continued to get worse and still hurt when I woke up Monday morning. I realized it was not from my climbing, but from my fall (duh) which is okay, because I probably just jammed my back a little, but it sucks because I have the OC 1/2 marathon on Sunday. Granted this is a taper week, but technically I'm using the 1/2 as a training run towards the LA Marathon, so I shouldn't really be tapering anyway. I decided to take today off (except for a quick shopping stint) from physical activity to rest my back. I'm hoping it feels better tomorrow so I can do a couple short runs before the race...

What a week!

2007-12-31T21:36:00.000-08:00

The day after my crappy 11 mile run last Saturday I got on a plane and flew to the east coast for Christmas. Monday morning I ran 3 brisk miles around town, nothing too exciting. Christmas came, I got a new digital camera :), some money and stuff. Eric got me a bracelet and tickets to see Wicked this Friday so I'm excited about that! Wednesday, Thursday, blah blah blah, Waffle House with some friends from high school, etc. I flew home on Friday, which was not too fun because the flight was postponed due to the plane coming from snowy Chicago. FINALLY I get home and get to sleep in my own bed for one night. On Saturday Eric and I ran 6 miles, since we're tapering for the OC 1/2 marathon next weekend, which went okay. We're going to try to put in some speedwork this week in preparation for that. Later Saturday we drove up to Bishop and got a good night's sleep before climbing Sunday and Monday. I impressed myself by climbing pretty well and even sending one of my projects :) Probably due to New Years Eve, there was little traffic on 395 and the 15 on the way home, and we are finally home to stay!!!!

Climbing on Monday at the Pollen Grains -

Crappy 11 Miles

2007-12-22T20:22:00.000-08:00

I should've known that my run today was destined for failure based on my Friday. I wanted to run on Thursday, but I ended up taking the day off from everything, which was actually really hard for me. I could've ran anytime on Friday, but I waited until late Friday afternoon to run, mistake #1. Mistake #2 - trying a new yoga, Vinyasa yoga, that was really quite hard, so I was pretty worn out today from that. So I shouldn't have been surprised when I went to run my 11 miles today and I felt bad from the start. I decided to go out to Chino Hills and run some easy miles. I headed out and decided to only run 8 miles on trails in case it started to get dark. I didn't want to go out by myself, but I didn't really have a choice, so the whole time I'm paranoid about mountain lions or crazy people. Then my legs feel like lead. Then I run out to the park at Brea and I full on trip and fall on some root, scraping up my knees and feeling like a dumbass. I'm getting a little frustrated at this point so I head back and then someone stops to ask me for directions, which was fine, except I had just watched a Law and Order: SVU marathon so all kinds of thoughts were running through my head. I start running again and feel pretty good until I realized I didn't turn my watch back on (I had stopped it when I stopped to talk). At this point I knew it was mind over matter so I tried really hard to change my thinking, but I couldn't. Finally, I was almost done. I went to step over a stream and my foot slipped and went into mud, which coated half of my foot. I had to laugh at this point and just be glad I didn't slip and fall down again. And my sock didn't get wet, which was amazing to me. I went up the last hill and past the car because I decided to run 3 more miles to get my full 11 in all at once. I ran on the dirt horse path next to the road, and my knees were kind of sore, but I decided that it was from the scrapes and swelling, not my runner's knee issues. Eventually I finished and haven't really stopped going since (not that I had a break before that taking Daisy to camp and then getting shoes). I had to go around putting up posters for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's information meetings in January, then I got Jamba Juice, came home and ate, now I have to pack and get ready for my flight tomorrow to the east coast for Christmas. I love my family, but going back for Christmas is so stressful!!!!! Ok, enough complaining... I need to go pack!

i heart yoga

2007-12-20T09:22:00.001-08:00

i've been going to yoga a lot lately since i'm off from school/work. it's one of those things that i have always wanted to do while i was offtrack, but haven't actually done it. at yogaworks, they have a new student special - 2 weeks for $30, which is really a great deal! so far, i've tried anusara (which had been pretty challenging), yogaworks, yoga bliss, and power yoga. i'm not sure if it's a coincidence, but i really think it has helped my running. i started yoga last week, before my pain free 9 mile run, and i think all the stretching and "hip opening" has helped, so that's exciting too :) too bad this spring is going to be crazy while i'm working - 3 classes (mon, tues, online), training for the marathon, climbing... i'm going to try to get to yoga at least once a week, maybe twice on weekends when i stay home and don't go to bishop!

9 miles and some rock climbing in Bishop = Great weekend

2007-12-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

This weekend we were in Bishop for rock climbing (more about that below), and I needed to run 9 miles. I decided to get up Sunday morning and run before we went out climbing for the day. It was cold. Like sub-40s cold. I put on my headband, my gloves, my many layers of clothing, and headed out the door. The first mile was through the town of Bishop, mostly on the sidewalk. It was very brisk, but I warmed up quickly. I headed out of town towards the Buttermilks (some of you may know Buttermilk Rd. from the Bishop Ultras) and found a dirt path next to the road to run on, which made me super happy :) I kept checking my Garmin, finding that I was running a little slow for me, but at first I figured it was because of the cold. As I continued, I realized that I should not have been running that slowly. I turned around and realized that I was running a gradual uphill the whole time. And I continued on the gradual uphill the whole first half of my run. I wasn't too concerned, I figured that I would make it up on the way back, and I did, so that was good. I was impressed with myself for running pretty well in the cold weather, considering I'm very adjusted to the mild temps in SoCal :) I'm also very happy because my knees felt good (a little tired, but good). My right knee is a little sore today, but besides that, this is the best 9 mile run I have ever done!

I had a great weekend climbing wise, too. On Saturday, Eric and Jeff were warming up on the Sunshine Boulder, which is 20 feet tall, and they tried to convince me to climb it, too. I finally gave in, but chickened out on a move about halfway up and climbed back down. *For those of you not familiar with rock climbing, when I go out to climb, I boulder, which is not using ropes, and putting pads down on the ground in case you fall.* After coming down, I sat around for a minute, and then when they started to pack up, I decided I needed to sack up and climb the problem. I went up, and got to the same place that I chickened out before, but cruised past it before I could get scared again. I did another problem that was my arch rival last time I was in Bishop, and impressed Eric by flashing (completing a problem on your first try) a problem that was also kind of high, and kind of technical. I didn't really do anything else, but I did pretty well on a couple hard problems, so that was cool. On Sunday, I did a couple problems, and I also did a very easy problem, that was higher than the Sunshine Boulder, called China Doll. I was psyched that I did two highballs within two days!

Gettin' ready for the Sunshine Boulder

Halfway up!

Just a little more...

Some mountains ... the dirt next to the road is where I ran :)

What a nightmare!

2007-12-13T11:03:00.001-08:00

It all started yesterday when I got back from my run. I looked in the kitchen and there was a couple big puddles of water. So I try to sop it up with paper towels, but it wasn't working so I was a little irritated that I was going to have to go out and buy a mop. Little did I know, it was the beginning of a HUGE mess. I went in the bathroom and the floor was covered in water. Maintenance was all, oh it's just a leak a couple townhouses down, no problem. Ha. Fast forward a couple hours and their jackhammering away in my neighbors house. Daisy is going nuts, but I had just finished yoga so I was luckily in a calmer state of mind. Then they come knocking on my door. They think the leak is under our apt. We now have 3 huge holes in our kitchen floor, mud everywhere, and cement dust on everything. Lovely. And we got to stay cooped up in the bedroom most of the day into the night. Fast forward again to this morning when I go downstairs. I step on the carpet and an inch of water squishes up. So now I'm waiting for someone to call me (with the sound of more jackhammering a couple houses down) to discuss what we're going to do because we're not staying here. Daisy is spending the night at doggie day care thankfully, but oh yeah Eric's parents are going to be here in about an hour. Great timing. The only good thing I can say is that (so far) nothing has been ruined besides the carpet they're replacing (knock on wood).
I don't think you can quite get how trashed our apartment is without pictures, so here are some that we took, just in case we ever need them...

The water this morning

The holes filled with water in our kitchen

First trail run in FOREVER

2007-12-12T12:29:00.001-08:00

This morning I met up with Wendy, Skip, and E-rod for my first trail run since my surgery. I was sooo excited to 1. run with the Northern OC contigency again, and 2. run trails again. I was not, however, excited about how cold it was. Low 40s! I know, I know, it could've been way colder. And this is prepping me for my 9 mile run in Bishop this weekend. And I did get to test out my new gloves. They work just fine, so that was good.
Anyway, we started at Cedar Grove park and continued to the east ridge in Peter's Canyon. I have been lacking in the hill work department, and this run threw me right in! It was a little sad how much hill strength I had lost since my surgery :( BUT after a few weeks of hills I'm sure I'll be fine. So the run was challenging, but it was fun and I'm glad to be back with OCTR and the trails :)

Best song to run to is...

2007-12-11T16:17:00.000-08:00

...No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age. I swear this song is the exact number of beats per minute to get you in a good rhythm. I had always liked running to this song, but the other day Eric commented about it, and we run at different paces, so try it out :)

What's worse - wind or rain???

2007-12-10T14:03:00.001-08:00

Friday night Eric and I went to his work's Christmas party, so I was super tired Saturday morning. I went to turn in my paperwork for Team in Training (now I'm officially registered for the LA Marathon), but I didn't have time to run my 7 miles because I had the Big Brother Big Sister Holiday Party on Saturday morning as well. After all that excitement I was really tired and decided to take a nap before running. I woke up and it was raining. Yes raining in Southern California! It wasn't supposed to rain on Sunday, so I figured I'd try my luck the next day. Around 3:30 on Sunday I headed out for my 7 mile run. I think that wind is worse than rain. I was running on the Santa Ana River Trail and had to cut out to the road because the wind was so bad! I felt like I was running a 9-9:30 pace, but when I looked at my Garmin I was running an 11:30! It was like running in slow motion and it sucked. So I ended up running around on the road and then finishing with a couple miles on the trail before heading home. Overall, I felt good. My legs and knees started to get tired, but no pain.
This morning I tried Anusara yoga and I think I'm hooked :)

Potential Races

2007-12-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

So after looking through Runner's World and TrailRunner, I've come up with some potential races for 2008 -

*Nature's Path Whidbey Island Marathon & 1/2 in WA - April OR
San Juan Trail 50K in the OC - April (depends on how the LA marathon goes :))
*Triple Crown Trail Races (if I'm in DE for my break) - Delaware - April
*Wild West Marathon and 50K - Lone Pine, CA - May
*PCTR Santa Monica Mountains Trail Run - Los Angeles - May
*Xterra Malibu Creek Challenge - Los Angeles - May
*Xterra Vail Lakes Trail Run - Temecula - May
*Shadow of the Giants 50K - CA - May
*Peters Canyon Summer Trail Series - Orange, CA - summer
*Tahoe Rim Endurance Runs - Lake Tahoe, NV - July
*Bulldog 25K & 50K - Calabasas, CA - August
*Pike's Peak (if we're in CO for climbing) - CO - August
*5 Peaks Trail Run (if we're in Canada for climbing) - Vancouver, BC - August
*Xterra Point Mugu Trail Run - Los Angeles - September
*Xterra Crystal Cove State Park Trail Run - Laguna Beach, CA - December

Not quite sure how to proceed

2007-12-06T22:41:00.000-08:00

So last night we ran 2 miles. I'm not quite sure what to do during my weekly runs. I'm already increasing my weekend long runs by 2 miles per week to try and "catch up" and be ready for LA in March. But I can't keep running 2 and 3 miles during the week and then a long run. I'm not sure how to build up my mileage safely. I was thinking of doing higher mileage on the elliptical, since that could be counted as "running". At least after this marathon I'll be free to run however whenever I want! Apparently Lake Hodges is canceled, which is what I planning on running, so I need a new idea for that too. Maybe something in the early summer... I'll have to double check the TrailRunner race calendar. Ideas?

It's getting better better better BETTER! (said to the tune of hey, jude)

2007-12-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

3 miles today! Saturday's 5 felt better than the previous 2 and 3, and today's 3 felt the best so far. It helps that the weather is cooperating, I love SoCal :)
I think I'm going to stick to the 8/2 run/walk for at least awhile, maybe 9/1 for the 1/2 marathon in January.
I looked at the new TrailRunner and have a few races that I'd like to do next year... I'll post when I decide for sure :) Some of them are also based on what part of the country/Canada I'm in at certain points of the year. There's actually a trail run in Northern DE, where I ran XC in college, in April when I'm off of school. Maybe I'll show up for the Triple Crown event there(1/2, 10K, 5K right after another).

All kinds of running!

2007-12-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

So I ran my 2 miles on Wednesday, then we did 3 miles on Thursday, which was a little faster. I did 2 miles on the elliptical machine at the gym, and was a little tender and swollen around the incision site. I was actually kind of nervous for my 5 mile run this morning. I got to meat my "Team" in Training, and my coach, Melissa. It was good to finally get out and meet everyone :) We had a nutrition clinic presented by Melissa, and Marsha talked about adding trace minerals and electrolytes to water. I might try it, but I'm not sure if they would really make a difference. Then for the run. I decided to run/walk 8 min/2 min, mostly to take it easy on my knees. I'm pretty much sold on the run/walk idea anyway, I think it really saves your muscles and allows to run faster :) I started off about 1 1/2 minutes slower than my usual pace, but figured it was okay to start like that. At the turn around, I wanted to pick up the pace a little, and averaged about 30 seconds slower than my normal pace. Overall, I felt good, and my groin was a little tight, but that's to be expected. I tried out IB cream on my right knee to try and prevent any problem that might spring up, so we'll see how that goes!

My 2 mile run

2007-11-29T15:01:00.000-08:00

Yes, a whopping 2 miles. Eric ran with me in the dark as night. It was a slow 2 miles, but I'm back! With putting in more miles, I need to learn to learn how to put more into my blogs.
In other news, I'm done with the semester! I turned in my last assignment today and I'm done until January :)

UTAH

2007-11-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

Our trip to Utah was fun. It was COLD (high 30s - low 40s) which is something I'm certainly not used to since I've lived in SoCal for the past couple years. We bundled up with our thermals and it wasn't tooo bad. I got to do some climbing, and today I'm going for my first run in almost 5 weeks! I think it's only gonna be a couple miles, but yay anyway :) I'm hoping to be ready for LA, but I'm not so sure... I turn in my paperwork to officially commit with TNT in a couple weeks, and I'm nervous! My longest run before the marathon might be just 17 miles...

Here are some pictures from the trip... nothing too exciting - it's Utah, remember??

This is the only article of clothing that we have for Daisy, and believe me, she needed it!

I'm free!!!

2007-11-23T10:07:00.001-08:00

It's officially been 4 weeks since my surgery! Technically I'm unrestricted, but I'm still gonna take it easy. As easy I can considering I'm in Utah on a rock climbing trip... I took a walk this morning with Daisy in the 30 degree weather (slightly colder than I'm used to in SoCal) and I've been hiking and I feel good, so I'm optimistic :) I'll post pics from Utah when we get back next week!