Meep!

Nov. 8th, 2010 12:19 pm
threadwalker: (Default)
Is that the light at the end of the tunnel? or the headlamp on the approaching train?

I'm pooped. Barely anytime for me. However, Saturday was a girlie day out with mom and a few BFFs; facials, shoe shopping and lunch. Dang I totally needed it. I'm now the proud owner of deep garnet colored rainboots with 3inch heals... very snazzy. But other than that and Pumpkin-Ade day, I've been sheltering in place and just trying to steer clear of burn-out.

OH - I'm now a Basketball Mom. I think the difference between us and Soccer Moms is we dress down. Cardigan sweaters need not apply. I think the BB games are shorter and they have the bonus of being indoors (no wet kids standing around in grassy field).

Interesting to watch was last week during practice the coaches had our 4th grade boys' team (Super N's team) play against the 2nd-4th grade girl team (Miss E's team). I was cheering them all on and REALLY proud that the girls didn't back down. Also proud that that boys drills are paying off; it means they are listening to the coach.

Miss E had her first game on Sunday and I think she had a blast even though she never handled the ball during the game... she did a good job of guarding her zone and using her body to move the other girls around. (Future Shield Wall?) But you should have seen the other team's 4th grade girls towering over our team mixed of 2nd-4th graders. And they weren't just taller, they looked like they outweighed our our whippy little 4th graders by 30+ lbs. I kept wondering if some of their 4th graders were actually held back a year because they were so big. We lost, but we got 13 points on the board. Go Saints!

The hubby's cast comes off on Thursday. He thinks he's driving to work on Friday. (roll eyes)

I get to re-enter society on Saturday and I'm celebrating by... teaching a class and serving a feast. It's not exactly lounging by a pool with a fruity drink and a good book, but it will be fun and teaching revives my creative self. I'm now rushing to finish my boy clothes. If nothing else, the careful application of safety pins will keep me put togehter. LOL.. no, I'll be stiched in. But I'm now rushing because I'm just too busy looking after Captain Peg Leg. Speaking of which, I have to go make buttons during my lunch break.

Yay Collegium!
threadwalker: (Default)
The "Pumpkin-ade" party was fun. I.E. F still in cast and can't really travel and on the heals of 3+ weeks of isolation, we invited our friends to bring their kids over for a small Halloween celebration on Saturday. Making Pumpkin-ade out of pumpkins.if you can't go to the party, bring some party to your own place )

Oh SH*!T

Nov. 1st, 2010 10:28 am
threadwalker: (Default)
I JUST had an "oh my god! what have I done to myself?" - moment. My heart is STILL racing. It may not slow down all day.

I am signed up for this race:

Alcatraz XXXI Triathlon Escape from the Rock.

I've been wanting to do it for years, got on a wait list, and, "poof" got in for 2011. It conflicts with a family event, but it's been one of those things I've been pining away for since I started doing triathlons, so I'll suck it up and do the race while my family is swimming and sipping mojitos. I need to keep better track of my calendar or I'd have seen the conflict during family reunion planning sessions. You can't have everything and I'll get to do something I've been wanting for years.

Only thing is, just now I discovered I got on the wrong wait list.

!!

I thought I was doing an olympic length tri. I seem to have confused "Escape from Alcatraz" with "Escape from the Rock".

How bad can it be?

I thought I was swimming 1 mile, biking 25 mi and running 6.2 mile starting at Alcatraz.

In this NEW reality, the "will it kill me reality?",

I swim 1.5 miles, run 2.25 miles, bike 12 miles, run 14 miles.

HOLY COW! THIS thing is WAY harder than anything else I've done. The biking isn't the hard part so having a shorter bike doesn't make a difference to me. But the swim? and the 2nd run leg? which goes up over part of Mount Tam!!!!

Still freaking out...planning and processing on hold indefinitely until I calm down. My heart start racing everytime I try to encompass the 14 mile run AFTER a 1.5 mile swim.

And now I have something to take my mind off the drama at work. Yay me, I sure know how to distract myself. (ugh)
threadwalker: (Good Sweat)
It's good. I feel like I have a better understanding of what my body is doing and knowledge is power.

details on progress - cut to protect the uninterested )

HB Miss E

Oct. 10th, 2010 12:09 am
threadwalker: (Default)
Today (Saturday) was Miss E's official B-day. She is officially 7.

Protect me from confident little girls. Today she got dressed in an outfit one of the (stylish) aunts gave her and she looks a lot older. She also carries herself older. Even her whining seems teen-ish to me. sigh. I'm not ready for her to grow up.

wherein I blather about my day because I have all the excitement I can handle right now, but nothing really exciting is going on )

And now... I'm off to the gym. My glutes and quads are in severe pain. Yesterdays "Booty Work out" was extreme. (Below for the curious). I've been achey-breaky all day, so a 30 minute jog to work out the kinks** followed by upper body/arms weights and abs. woot woot. (I had 3 cupcakes; they were small and not much frosting, but still... I need to burn those sugars off)

My Booty Buster Work Out:

I did all of these at my max effort. I even collapsed to one knee at the end of the last set of lunges because I went so deep that I was too fatigued to stand up. That's how I know I wasn't sand-bagging myself. This was about Busting It Out and making gains.

Super Set a) and b).
a)Straight Leg Dead Lifts, 45# bar, 4 sets of 20 reps
b)Hip Thrust with 25# plate, 4 sets of 20 thrusts, on 20th rep do 20 pulses/squeezes while at the top (20+20P)
c)Cable Kick Back, 3 sets: 40#-20 reps; 50#-15 reps; 60#-15 reps
d)45 deg Squat Machine, 2x45#plate, 20 reps; 4X45# plates: 10 reps;4X45# plates: 15 reps
e)2-Step Lunge with 10# dumbell in each hand: Step forward into a lunge twice - 1 time each leg (travelling forward), then step back 2x in lunge to end up in starting position. 3 sets of 10 (2Step-5x3)

** Edit: 30 minute jog didn't help. In fact, jogging was only a little uncomfortable. Walking on the treadmill, however, really really hurt. I am self medicating with a stint in the hot tub, flavored water (<-- a spiritual heal), more stretching and more walking.
threadwalker: (Good Sweat)
I was in Road Runner today and discovered that athletic bras are 20% off to VIP members (sale ends 10/10/10). Since I'm a VIP member and I was going in specifically to shop for ladies athletic apparel, I thought this was fate. A good runners bra will cost in the $50 neighborhood, so a sale is nothing to sneeze at.

IMO, athletic wear is essential for the "robust" sized running gal. Gals like me. Good athletic support prevents jiggle, jouncing and bouncing. There's the concern of comfort, chafing and once those ligaments stretch, they don't unstretch. If I'm not comfortable when I'm running, it's not fun. These are great reasons to be picky and invest wisely. As I was sharing all these great insights with the slightly shocked and overwhelmed young man who was ringing me up, I pointed out that we older gals of robust proportion have our own needs and finding athletic support that meets our needs is priceless.

One DD-cup Shoppers Evaluation of Nike and Moving Comfort:Blunt Bra Babble Behind cut. Cut to protect the squeamish and uninterested. )
threadwalker: (Default)
1. Cal Shakes production of "Much Ado About Nothing" rocked. So does HRJ.

This = recharging sanity and giving me a higher tolerance for insanity.

2. Odessy of the Mind, e.g. OM, (the after school program I was going to rearrange my entire life for so that Nicholas and potentially Evie could participate): You have a maximum of 7 kids per team and we had enough for 2 teams. Another parent and grandparent (within the same family) were going to co-host the 2nd team with me. As of this morning they have officially cancelled. So have several other kids. So... sigh. I have to believe that everything happens for a reason. They are down to 9 kids total, so the voting will be on Monday and they will turn away 2 kids. Super N is in if they vote him in. I told the coordinator that if he gets in, I'll take the required classes, get my TB shot, etc, and help the program (not to the crazy level I needed for a 2nd team, tho). But if he doesn't get in, then I need to use that time and energy on my own kids. She was very understanding. Who knows, maybe my offer to help out will have the power of swaying whatever behind-the-scene conversations happen.

This = less insanity

3. Miss E had her first basket ball practice last night. She was the only 2nd grader there and long term she'll be playing at a different school where they actually have a 2nd grader team. So ultimately both kids will have B-Ball practice after 6pm at 2 different locations, but I don't know which nights. Yesterday, though, she was running around with a pack of girls wherein Miss E only came up to the shoulder of the next shortest girl. From a distance they towered over her. They seemed to think she was cute, too... to me it seemed like they thought she was like a mascot. She asked me later why the were petting her hair and I suggested that they were impressed that she was the only 2nd grader brave enough to go out and play. She stood up straighter and smiled.

This = more insanity. (either different practice locations on same night or different nights cuz 2 different schools)

On the plus side, the althletic director already knows us because we did Track and Field last spring. He chuckled, said Super N would be on his team, and that Super N would hate him pretty quickly. I wouldn't count on that, though. Super N is really excited to have this chance to play. I made it explicitly clear to both kids that this was something special and life was easier for me if we didn't do it, so they are approaching this like the privlege it is. I am also going to warn Super N that the coach is going to challenge him to see how tough he is. Maybe I can prep Super N's mental toughness before he is running laps around the court next week.

More insanity...

My back was killing me this morning (same pain since Wednesday). Instead of going to gym, I soaked in hot tub with jets on it for 20 minutes at 5am. It was great while I was in there, but that only lasts until I get out. sigh. But there surely was a beautiful sky out this morning. Fo sho.

On the surface, it looks like my insanity scale hasn't budged, however in the grand scheme of things, NOT co-hosting OM has reduced my internal stress. All the other stuff we do is ultimately optional and unlike OM, other families won't rely on my sanity, just mine.
threadwalker: (Default)
1. Insanity update:

1.a. Cheerleading is out. You have to be 8 yrs old, so Miss E will have to wait a year. There was much upsetness on her part, especially when she saw that they had mascots who were her age and younger. All mascot slots were filled, though.

1.b. First Basket Ball practice tonight.

2. The area between my shoulder blades is in agony. I am pretty sure it's the 300-work out. OMG! PAIN! Fortunately, I work for a company that makes OTC pain killers and we have a small company store on site.

I told F all about the 300 workout. He was horrified, amused and told me I rock.

No work out today. My body has voted for a day to recover from Tuesday and Wednesday's work outs. I've gotten much better at listening to my body.

3. Slacks were loose when I put them on this morning. Nice!

4. I love cute shoes. I've been digging out some of my more patterned and unusual shoes and the random compliments on them are fun.

5. Calshakes tonight. Yay. Last play of the season, though. If anyone is interested in coordinating season tickets for next year, shoot me a message.
threadwalker: (Good Sweat)
I've been rockin' my work outs. Nutrition has been a little rocky - trying to find the right mix.

girlie squee over compliments, goals, recent fitness details and post-workout food )

WTF?

Sep. 15th, 2010 11:07 am
threadwalker: (Good Sweat)
I lost weight. Yay! But I don't know why. So I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop (or for the scale to spring back up...)

The only reason why I don't lock this blog for my eyes only is that I think so many of us struggle with our bodies, weight, personal images, finding motivation to stay fit, get fit or finding a new way to enjoy being fit.

I struggle too. I struggle everyday and I envy those who don't lose the battle to impulses.

I haven't blogged as much as I have in the past because it seemed like it was the same-old same-old fight and I had nothing new to add. But I had a break through and want to share both the woes of the last year and the (still suspiscious) success of the past week.

gory details; what changed in a week, what I suspect and what I'm eating )

Although I'm waiting for this to turn into some practical joke, a few co-workers were asking me today if I lost weight because they felt my clothing was fitting differently.

Fingers crossed I'm not lying to myself.

RAWR!!!

Sep. 13th, 2010 12:32 pm
threadwalker: (Death Raven)
The good, the bad and the ugly. Plus,
For a Few Dollars More...
triathlon recap )

And today is a new day. The back of my neck is raw from lack of grease while in wetsuit (Glide). D'0h! But I spent last night digging through cook books, prepping some Clean Eats (a la Diva Tosca Reno) for lunches and dinner, and digging out my Tri-training books. I've moved beyond all the "getting started" type of tri-books. I can recommend the ones I like to anyone esle who wants to start, but I'm looking for something more hard-core and specific. Right now I'm working through Gale Berhnardt's Training Plans for Multisport Athletes and Sally Edwards Heart Rate Monitoring Training. I've also got a cycling book and a women's running book set aside for after. I ran for 30 minutes (407 calories) and lifted weights this morning. I'm full to the brim with excitement. I'm also not working on any project deadlines right now, so I feel very unpressured by other concerns and capable of submerging myself into this right now. I'm not planning to make any 12th Night outfits (last years will suffice for a while longer I think!) and of my current tasks, I'm enjoying them instead of flogging myself.

Go me!
threadwalker: (Good Sweat)
I have a race I've been looking forward to all year and it's on Saturday in Pacific Grove. I LOVE this race. It's a weekend away for us sans kids at a cute B&B and I get to throw myself into the ocean, do a great bike ride and then run alongside some happy-go-lucky fellow triathletes.

Thanks to evilviscountess and ermine_rat (I feel like i have a secret pit crew-scout corps), I am now aware of the health advisory that's been on-going at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove. A warning of high bacteria was posted yesterday, recommending people stay out of the water and since testing is weekly, it won't be tested again before the race.

First Thought: The Race Must go on! I am on antibiotics right now, I'll be fine!!!

Second thought: I live with kids; I've been exposed to everything and continue to live "at risk." Can this really be all that bad? I've been in kiddie pools afterall. Those have to be the worst bug factories ever.

And then I did some 'net research. The risks: I could race on Saturday and spend all of Sunday and Monday vomitting, diahrhea, gain a stomach parasite or two and, if I'm really lucky, get another skin condition. (I admit, a small voice in the back of my head said, "The Race Must Go ON! Antibiotics Forever!")

However, I then found a link to the posted results for the emo monitoring and although the results for this week are up, it's the average that's high, not the single sample.

Swimming is on.
threadwalker: (happy in my own world)
I totally crashed yesterday. Like wiped out and crashed on the sofa, alternating between reading a cheezy Kim Harrison novel and sleeping. I woke up this morning going, WTF? What happened to Saturday? All my lovely time to "do stuff"?

My week was rough. Monday was my day off, but all the other days were crazy-busy-exhausting. a week spent tripping over my own super cape )
So when Saturday rolled around I crawled out of bed at 5am to do a store-run for my fruit-salad fixings. I carpooled with Ermine_Rat's family to Purgatorio and I sat in the back seat privvy to Hawk_Lad's muttered side-commentary. The world is a funny place through the eyes of a child. I am amused at how he reframes everything in terms of super-heroes and buffoons.

We got to site in good time, set up food stuff and spent the morning socializing with Villa Luna family and friends. It was fabulous, relaxing and I got to talk to some people who I don't get to see enough of. I was honored to speak for Aminah in her Pelican Ceremony; she is gifted and inspiring leader. I am jealous (in the best sense of the word) of the Pelican coat her Pelican made for her. Very styling! And then we went home. Zoom! I think I was home by 2pm and I didn't even have to drive. I thought that with such a "light" morning/ afternoon I'd have all sorts of energy. I'd planned to run, sew, BBQ, hang in my shed, chase kids (Hawk Lad spent the night with us), etc.

I did an hour run right away, but after my shower I fell asleep reading on the sofa. I was totally wiped out. I woke up around 7am today, refreshed. tired I was

I'm boggled at how totallly weary I was, but I guess sometimes I just need to slow down and sleep. A day of sleeping should recharge my batteries and I should be good for a month.

And today? I made waffles from scratch, cleaned out my fridge, started loads of laundry and will go running again before 5pm.

I have a race in 2 weeks and I'm thinking about that, too. More later... this bloggy thing is cutting into my "doing stuff" time.

What a great weekend!!!

Ah-HA!

Aug. 23rd, 2010 10:28 am
threadwalker: (Amazon Warrior)
The SCA has fully become high school. Not sort of like it, but just like it.

I feel like between math-club geekery and the service club where I help the elderly that I missed the big blow up back at school where the jocks and the cheerleaders had some sort of internal war. Now when I walk into the cafeteria everyone is sitting at different tables, they aren't talking and they are either pretending to ignore each other OR they are glaring at each other over their bright orange lunch trays. I didn't have time for this drama the first time around in high school and I don't have empathy or sympathy for it now. It's hard to respect the boundary lines and avoid getting dragged into it when you can't see them and you really don't understand why they are there. So I've been a bit bewildered for over a month with the rising tension. I even got LJ-unfriended and I think it was related to this. I could be wrong since no one sent a note saying why I was unfriended, but I'm guessing it's related to the political food fight in Hobby Land.

I respect that others are emotionally invested in their turf war, but I'm not emotionally invested in it and I expect my disinterest to also be respected. I spend my day making medicine that saves lives. Period. Then I go home and put my energy into my health and into my family. There is no room on this list for food fights in Hobby Land.

I finally got some of the scoop on what's been going on. I'm disappointed. I'm sure there's more because there always is. No doubt people are also already rewriting history as they start to look back and realize they've been behaving foolishly. Regardless of who threw the first banana slice in this crazy food fight, Hobby Land is supposed to be fun and I resent turf wars in Hobby Land because they ruin my freedom to socialize with all my friends without being labelled as a member of someone's camp. It also hurts everyone who doesn't want to get involved, especially new comers. Because believe it or not, some of us don't care about the turf war and are capable of having a fulfilling experience in Hobby Land without ever going to a football game. Believe it or not, the turf war makes going to Hobby Land less desirable and it makes hanging out with the people who are perpetuating this undesirable. It makes Hobby Land less appealing to new comers as well and that's a huge loss to Hobby Land. When the food fight gets this big and goes on for this long, everyone is hurt and there are no "good guys" or "bad guys", just selfish people who think their turf war should dominate everyone else's experience and whose egos won't set differences aside nor (frankly) grow up. I feel like I'm being bullied by someone else's agenda and I don't like it.

Looking down the lense into the future, I wonder how many more private events will start to spring up like Erinwood. As those of us who don't buy into this food fight throw up our hands and walk away, we take our energy and creativity with us, looking for new places to play. I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't need or want it or want to be near the political ugliness of it. What changes will happen to Hobby Land if everyone who resents the food fight just quits going to Crown events and coronations? The gate count at June was abnormally low. Fifteen years ago the Guilds were active places that drew in newcomers and used that newcomer enthusiasm to create fabulous gift baskets for the royals to hand out and at that time there used to be a lot of pride in the giving of hand-wrought items to the Crowns; times have changed and the Guilds aren't as active nor bountiful. Perhaps the exodus is already happening and we mistook it as the fall-out of a weak economy.

Does it matter who wins the food fight if the only ones left in the cafeteria are the jocks and the cheerleaders? Have fun with that.

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?" -Ghandi
threadwalker: (Default)
It's not a rock star's life, just my life. Sometimes I don't know why I blog; it's a pretty boring life. But I like to remind myself of what I've done, so I blog for me because as boring as it is, dealing with boredom is a life-skill. (I tell the kids that all the time, too! Learn to deal with it and life will be good).

Anyway,...Cal Shakes, S'Mores and Trail Running, Oh My! )
threadwalker: (happy in my own world)
woot woot.

That's it.
threadwalker: (Death Raven)
I rode my bike to work today.

My GPS failed. I got on a trail at the end of Olympic and instead of turning off it to cut through Lafayette, I looked at the sign that said it was 2.3 miles to Orinda. Sounded good. Unfortunately, I missed THAT turn. I suspected something was wrong when I passed St. Mary's College. Then I got to Moraga Rd. WTF?

Eeeeeek!

I pulled over and texted my boss that I'd be missing the 7:30 meeting. Wherever I was, I was definitely running late. As the sun came up I found a parks trail map. Looks like I'd gone south and around the Lafayette Reservoir. It was a beautiful ride, just not one I'd budgetted the time for.

My 2.5 hr ride turned into 3.25. And my ride up Wildcat Canyon began around the time I thought I'd be arriving at work, so it was a heart-pounding adreniline race against the clock because I erroneously thought I had an 8am meeting with my director. I shaved 3 minutes off the climb and more off the Shasta-side descent.

And that faulty GPS? D'oh. There has been no manufacturer's recall on my personal ability to navigate, although there probably should be.

And now? I'm riding to BART, but getting off in Lafayette so I can get in an hour ride home.
threadwalker: (Default)
The weekend was a whirlwind of activity.
long; on the town and playing with balls )

Profile

threadwalker: (Default)
threadwalker

December 2018

S M T W T F S
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 11th, 2025 10:31 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios