The "Bucket List"

I feel like I'm failing at so much right now.  All I can think of is my surgery and what's going to happen after it.  I'm not reading and posting comments on blogs, my laundry is piling up, my sleep is suffering, I'm not attending classes at the gym, I'm not riding my bike.  I'm having trouble concentrating.  I have a constant headache and kink in my neck. 

Gah! 

I feel like all I want to do is run or walk when I have any free time at all.  Of course running and walking isn't bad for me but it's consuming my time.  I'm probably using it as an escape. 

I have a "bucket list" of sorts - a list of things I want to do in September, prior to my surgery date of October first. 

One of the things on this list was to run on Angel Island.  I did a 50k run there in June of last year, right before I was diagnosed with arthritis in my knee and told I'd never run again.  Fooey on that, by the way!!  So, last Thursday I convinced Theresa to take the day off and join me on my little Angel Island adventure.  She and I did the 50k together last year so how perfect we should go out there together again. 

We both took BART from our hometown and met in San Francisco.  We walked a short way to the Ferry Building, bought a yummy treat and took the ferry to Angel Island.

It was a perfect day to be there.  Well, it was HOT - 83 degrees to be exact.  That's hot for San Francisco.  What I mean by perfect is there was nobody out there because it was Thursday.  I've only been there for an organized race on a weekend and it's packed with tourists.  We had the trails all to ourselves.

We stayed off the perimeter loop of the island because it is all paved.  We stuck to the inside trails which were beautiful single track, and we still had marvelous views.

Look closely, you can see the paved perimeter loop

The dirt trail we came up

At the summit!

After completing 10.25 miles, we had lunch and caught the 2:00 ferry back to San Francisco.  It was a GREAT DAY!

At 7:30 this morning I participated in the lululemon Vasona Lake 5-Mile Run put on by Coastal Trail Runs.

The lululemon van

Yes, totally not something I would *usually* sign up for but I was reeled in by the fact we were getting a lululemon tech shirt.  I'm a sucker for things like that.  I mentioned this race to Theresa a week ago and was shocked when she actually signed up.  She ran a 50k yesterday!!!  She was already signed up for that but said she would treat the run today like a "recovery run".  Yeah, right!  That didn't happen. 

Before the start

I was very happy to finish the run pain free this morning.  No knee pain, no bunion or foot pain.  I looked at this run as "just a run" so I didn't bother wearing my Garmin.  I knew there was an aid station with water at mile 2.5 so I didn't carry water.  I also ran without my camera.  I will admit, running without all that crap is a bit easier.  And I finished in a pretty good time of 50:33.  Theresa and I ran together for the first 2.5 miles.  This was the turn-around point.  She said she was going to hang around the aid station for a while.  I was feeling really good so I went ahead and took off running.  When I finished, I was very happy to see her come in 1:20 after me.  I was still trying to catch my breath and find a cup of water and here she came up the hill to the finish line. 

We gathered up our shirts and came back up to Fremont for breakfast.  After breakfast I took Boomer for a two mile walk and sorted some laundry.  By the time I sat down and decided to upload photos, it was only 11:45.  You can sure get a lot done when you start your day off early.  ;)

What else is on the bucket list?  I'm not asking for any days off from work because I am taking two weeks off after my surgery and I really don't want to inconvenience them any more than I already am.  So, getting some of the things done will depend on if I work or not.

*September 19 - Mt. Diablo 1/2 marathon
*September 25 - HERS Breast Cancer 5k with Sara
*Any time - Lake Chabot 8.5 mile loop
*Any time - Palomares/Foothill 40-mile loop on the bike
*Any time - Run in the redwoods in the Oakland hills
*September 21-22 - Disneyland with Sara (already booked)

I think there's more but I just can't remember right this moment.  Like I said, I'm having a little trouble concentrating these days.

"MED2010" Accountability:
09/02 - 10.25 mile trail run, 1.5 mile walk
09/03 - 3.25 mile walk
09/04 - 2.5 mile run
09/05 - 1.65 mile walk
09/06 - 5 mile run, 2 mile walk, 1.5 mile walk


Until later.............