"Show and Go" was a "No Show"

I have done the majority of my bike rides by myself. It's not a HUGE deal, but it's kind of nice to have a buddy to talk to while riding. And when you fall, it's very nice to have someone there to help you up! I was going to say "IF" you fall, but...

I have known about a local cycling group, Fremont Freewheelers for a while. I have read up on them and even talked with a few people that are members. Introducing myself, BY myself, to an established group of cyclists was not something I was dying to do. But, I prepared myself to do just that, this morning. The Tuesday morning group ride meets at 9:00 a.m., less than a mile from my house. I checked the schedule last night to make sure the ride was still on their schedule, and it was. There is nothing saying "rain or threat of rain cancels" for this particular ride. Some say this and some rides say "rain or shine". We had rain here during the night but when I woke up at 7:30, the sky was clear and it was no longer raining.

So, I get ready and ride over to the parking lot, arriving at 8:52. This is what I see:

No cars. No people. Just the smell of KFC cooking across the street. I'm early though, so I do a couple of circles and then pick a curb to stop against. I coast on over to the curb and FORGET I'M CLIPPED IN TO MY PEDALS!! You guessed it - down I went! Tip over #2 for me. F&#*! Right down onto the wet pavement. Alright, it's at this particular moment, I am absolutely thrilled there were no cars and no people. GAH! I waited until 9:08 before heading out by myself. After a couple of miles, I turned around and went back to the parking lot, just to see if maybe they were very late. Nope. Still nobody there.

That's okay. I hit the road for a 25 mile ride, solo. When I got home I sent an email to the president of the cycling group to find out what happened. By the way, it's still not raining as I type this,


Yesterday was a much happier day. When I woke up, I knew I wanted to go for a run. I gathered up my ever so faithful running companion, Boomer and headed to the Alameda Creek Trail for a 60 minute run. I wanted to park at the beginning of the trail this time, just for a change of scenery. As I was driving up Mission I thought, wonder how Garin is today? Even though I had my road running shoes on, I figured what the heck! I kept driving up Mission to the Garin parking lot. Oh, I was so happy to be running there. THIS is "how Garin was" yesterday.

I stayed on a main road that was mostly gravel and turned around when it got too muddy for the road shoes to handle. I got three miles in instead of the 5.5 I was originally thinking. Just being able to run there, with the hills so green, the air so cool and the creek flowing by. It did so much for my soul. I couldn't stop smiling and feeling so grateful for this gem of a park so close to my house.

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

Complain no more

I know I complain a lot about how I hate to run on flat surfaces but I sure have been doing it a TON of it these past couple of months. With all the rain we've been getting in the Bay Area, the trails are just too muddy to get a good run on. So, the Alameda Creek Trail and I have become reacquainted recently. And seriously, is this worth complaining about? It's not paved, there's no traffic, sidewalks or traffic lights. It could be a lot worse. This I know.


Yesterday I had a movie date planned with my daughter so I was hoping (praying) that the rain would stay away long enough in the morning for me to get a nice little run in. Why? Oh, because I LOVE Dots and movie popcorn, that's why. So, I took Boomer to this trail and ran four fast miles. My pace on flat surfaces has improved, which I guess is a positive. Yesterday, my overall pace was 10:08/mile. In November, I was averaging 10:45/mile. As long as I wear my brace, I'm also able to run without pain. Sara and I watched Dear John and shared a bag of popcorn and a box of Dots for lunch (along with a bunch of tissues). I have no idea why we do this to ourselves but we insist on going to every Nicholas Sparks movie as soon as it comes out. I was wiped out for the remainder of the day.





This morning, Boomer and I picked up Bella and met my new friend Kristi (Random Thoughts) for a hike at Sunol Regional Wilderness Park. In Fremont, it was 51 degrees and sunny. In Sunol, not so much! Thank God I brought a little jacket with me, I ended up wearing it the entire hike. The creek is getting just a little more active.

All three dogs had a blast chasing the cows whenever they could. This cow though, did not want to be bothered. Kristi and I though he was so cute with his new horns pointing downward, in front of his ears. At first we thought he had really fluffy ears, then realized they were horns.

We went down to the Alameda Creek (yes, the same creek I run next to in Fremont) and met up with a couple other dogs that were so excited about being in the water. A major dog fest here!

(left to right) unknown, unknown, Bambi, Bella, Boomer

We hiked for almost two hours, a total of about four miles. I'm enjoying getting to know Kristi a little bit more. All the dogs were pretty worn out when we got back to the car. Bambi and Bella were laying down in the back of my car before we even got completely out of the park. Boomer did fall asleep once we got home and I will say, he's still lounging around. A tired dog is a happy dog, right!? Weather permitting, Kristi and I are going to do a bike ride together Wednesday. ;)

MED2010 Accountability:

02/04 - "24SET" class at the gym

02/05 - "24SET" class at the gym, two mile walk

02/06 - four mile run, two mile walk

02/07 - four mile hike

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

Hiking, biking, running, etc.

I received a comment on my last post from a new girl named Kristi. So, I went over to her blog to thank her (and check her out) and started reading back over her previous posts. A few things popped out that made me think she MUST live somewhere near me so I asked her about it. Not only does she live somewhere near me, it turns out she lives quite close. After corresponding back and forth, I found out she hikes at Garin with her dog quite a bit. We made arrangements to meet yesterday morning at Garin, with the doggies, for a hike. As soon as I pulled up and saw Kristi and Bambi there, I realized I'VE SEEN THEM HERE BEFORE! It was like seeing an old friend. We hiked my favorite three mile loop, which was incredibly muddy (but after Saturday, really, what's a little mud, eh?) Kristi did two Ironman distance triathlons last year (Vineman & Kona) and is going to do some sprint and Olympic distance triathlons this year. It's very exciting to me to have a new friend that likes to run, ride, swim, AND hike. If the weather permits, we have a hike planned for Sunday and I may accompany her on a bike ride Wednesday. Gotta love the internet!

After our hike, I took Ellen out for a great 18.5 mile ride with plenty of hills. Climbing hills, clipped in though, is SCARY sometimes. As I'm going up and I start feeling fatigued, I feel a little panic coming over me because I couldn't even twist my foot fast enough to get it unclipped if I wanted to without falling over. So, I have no choice but to keep pedaling, which I guess is a positive. Less than 30 minutes after my ride, the rain came.


When I woke up this morning the rain was gone so Boomer and I went over to the Alameda Creek Trail for a five mile run. Okay, who's happy now?

Hills of Garin in the background, over Quarry Lakes.

My favorite tree (when it's in bloom) at Shinn Pond.

Shinn Pond

No, it's not *always* about Boomer, but I do like how he enjoys laying down in the back of my car while I stretch after a run.

MED2010 Accountability:

02/01 - 3.5 mile walk

02/02 - 3 mile hike, 18.5 mile bike ride, "24SET" class at the gym

02/03 - 5 mile run, "Camp24" class at the gym

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

I "Moved Every Day" in January!!

First, I will account for the last five days of January:

01/27 - SKI for six hours! The snow was phenomenal, just perfect. AND, there was a ton of it. We had a great day skiing with a big group of Fremont REI peeps.

01/28 - walk 3.5 miles, "24SET" class at the gym

01/29 - "24SET" class at the gym

01/30 - run 6.32 miles, walk 2 miles

01/31 - bike 23 miles

So, January has come and gone and I was ONE BUSY LITTLE GIRL!!

Ellen (my bike) & I rode 55 miles together

Running: 40 miles

Walking: 31.5 miles

10 classes at the gym

Hiking: 7.5 miles

Skiing: 3 days

I am shocked at how much exercise I did in 31 days. Just from making it a point to Move Every Day in 2010!

Throughout the month, people have commented they were going to try to do this too. I'm curious now, as the first month of the year is over - did any of you Move Every Day?

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

Brazen Racing - Bear Creek 10k Trail Run

These are my shoes at the end of the run today. Poor things, they were put through a lot.



Let's back up a little, shall we?



Aron, aka runner's rambles, signed up to do Bear Creek Trail Half Marathon/10K/5K Winter Edition a couple of weeks ago and asked me if I'd like to sign up too. She was going to do the half marathon but I only wanted to do the 10K. I met Katie in a park-n-ride in Walnut Creek and we waited for Aron to show up. Once she did, we all drove over to Briones Regional Park East Bay Regional Park District in my car.

Aron, Katie, Me

Their race started 20 minutes before mine so I wished them well and off they went!

The race directors sent us several emails over the past week, warning us of the impending mud and course changes that had to be done because of it. It rained here pretty good last night so I guess that was why the mud was a very wet mud. I understand Katie actually got her shoe sucked off by the mud. I know mine almost did, more than once.

I couldn't help but laugh at all the runners as they tried to get up this hill. It was between mile one and two of the 10K course. It was the worst of all hills! I think this mile alone took about 30 minutes to complete. A lot of people had regular road running shoes and I saw several that looked brand new.

Top of the hill, still smiling! Actually, I was laughing. I was having such a blast, even though I was by myself.

The views were incredible. You could see miles in every direction.

The course itself was mostly on open fire roads (not my favorite) but there were some areas that were covered. I imagine in the summer it can get pretty darn hot out here. A couple of my friends ran this same race last summer and it was over 100 degrees. They said it was pretty miserable.

Still smiling!

Even when the road was flat, it was still difficult to run because of the mud. I had to watch every step I placed. I never knew if it was going to sink or be firm. The course was very well marked but it is challenging to have to watch your footing and also look for colored ribbons to follow. I had to call two women back down from a hill because they totally missed a turn through a cattle gate.

After the second aid station, we had about a mile to go. FINALLY, we ran into some single track trails. And boy was it pretty!!

I was doing pretty good through here, it was mostly flat and I was able to run just off the mud part. I was flying by people here. We got to the six mile marker. YES, 2/10 of a mile to go and I HAVEN'T FALLEN yet. With 1/10 of a mile to go, BAM, down I go. Crap! It was on a downhill single track that was super slick. I started sliding, then I did the splits and slammed down on my left side with my hand breaking my fall. I bounced back up and was fine but I couldn't believe I fell that close to the finish.

Then came the reward. Yup, they had donuts at the finish. Yippee! And they had my favorite kind - white frosting with sprinkles. How lucky am I?!

Before the race started I was thinking I would probably finish in 1:30 because I usually average 15 min/mile on trails. I knew after the second mile that wasn't going to happen. I could only hope to be finished in under two hours. My finish time was 1:50. I'll take that!

I changed into some dry pants and shoes and waited for Aron and Katie to finish the half marathon. I was thrilled to see them come around the corner with HUGE smiles on their faces.

Fun day was had by all.

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

Moving along.....

Just my luck. Last week I had four days off and it rained every single day. I did squeeze in that run on Friday, which was awesome. I worked the last three days, all day, and it hardly rained at all. Go figure. I was off today and when I woke up, IT WAS RAINING! Ugh. I actually went back to sleep and didn't wake up again until 10:30. I saw a break in the rain this afternoon and took off with Boomer for a run. We were able to get four miles in without getting too wet. I was very grateful for the four miles.

Tonight Keith and I went to a class at the gym. Yup, he's still going with me. This is week #3. And, get this - he went to a class on Sunday ALL BY HIMSELF because I had to work. Impressive, right?! Tonight I was able to do 44 push-ups without stopping. The instructor said we were going to do them for 60 seconds (as we always do) but I think I started before she started counting. It doesn't matter though, I still did 44 push-ups! Yes, I do them on my knees but I make sure to go all the way down, I don't cheat.

Tomorrow we are going to Tahoe to ski for the day. Another free ski day for REI employees. We have a good size group going from our store. Should be a lot of fun! There's a TON of new snow up there.

MED2010 Accountability:

01/23 - 2 mile walk

01/24 - 3 mile walk

01/25 - 1.5 mile walk

01/26 - 4 mile run, "24SET" class at the gym

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

Good stuff!

The boy and I got out for a 5.5 mile run today! Yeehaw!! We both needed that SO bad. He was sprinting from here to there and back again, the entire run. The ground was wet enough, just the way he likes it. I was so happy to be out having a good time and not being rained on. I parked in Niles and ran along the Alameda Creek Trail. Unfortunately, this is the closest I got to any single track trail, a tire track:

On our return trip, a cyclist came by and said, "we're going to get wet." I turned around and saw this:

Considering we received this warning a couple days ago, I kept Boomer moving along from that point forward:

I was running in shorts, a long sleeved tech top and a vest. At one point I was sorry I had the vest on, I was so warm. I was very surprised after having lunch, it started hailing! For Boomer's sake, I'm happy we were home when THIS happened:

Other good stuff:

I have gone to five classes at the gym in the past two weeks. My husband has accompanied me. Yes, this is AWESOME! The classes are a combination of cardio and strength training. The first class Keith attended, he had to leave after about 40 minutes. This week, he was able to complete the entire class. They do a test for push-ups, sit-ups, and squats at the beginning of the class. I am very happy to say I was able to do 32 push-ups in one minute this week. And I made my barbell heavier for the strength training portions of the class. It's very nice to have my husband's company in these classes and see him making the effort to improve his health.

More good stuff:

As I was running today, I could not, for the life of me, remember which ankle it was that I had sprained so bad last July. I had to look back in my blog archive to see which one it was. Isn't that strange? I guess my ankles are in pretty good shape right now.

MED2010 Accountability:

01/21 - "24SET" class at the gym

01/22 - 5.5 mile run

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