I Have No Lid Upon My Head - Look Inside

I saved the neighborhood

2012-01-04T21:17:00.000-08:00

When you are walking so slowly due to injury rehab you tend to notice things you might not otherwise see.

On one of these numerous walks I noticed one of those square metal sidewalk cover things that had a jagged hole in it. A hole that went down about a foot or so and that had very sharp metal edges. This hoe was downright dangerous.

I called the City of Seattle, and after numerous on holds and transfers I reported the incident and that was that.

Curiosity got the best of me and I repeated the same walk the very next day. Sure enough there was a big huge orange barricade surr

ounding and protecting the neighborhood! Look at that a city government actually springing to action to fix a problem! Amazing!

I feel good about saving the neighborhood from certain death, destruction and injury!

ACL Surgery Fun Times

2011-11-17T08:38:00.001-08:00

Last week I had my torn ACL repaired and what a week I have had since then.

The surgery itself was nerve racking and the worst thing about that day was the fasting they require you to do. You know me, I love eating and to be told I can't, well, that is just unacceptable. It was very surreal to be walking into the doctor's office (that is right, I had my surgery at a docs office and not at a hospital) holding the crutches I knew I would need in mere hours.

I was hyper that day, took a walk in the morning, did a lot of cleaning and moving around, simply because I knew I would be sidelined on the couch for so long.

Before I went in I wrote on my bad leg, "This one" with an arrow pointing to my bad knee. When the surgeon came in to talk to me before the surgery he told me we would both be signing the leg which was to be operated on. Ha, I had beat him to it!

It all happened very fast, one minute I was talking to my family, and the next I was taken to the operating room and was given an IV and felt groggy. I remember asking the anesthesiologist if she had ever read the book "Oxygen" about an anesthesiologist in Seattle who kills a patient, right before I was knocked out.

The next thing I know I am groggily waking up in the post-op area with a nurse beside me. What a weird sensation that was. I felt no pain at that point and didn't really know what was going on. My throat hurt more than anything else from the tube they shoved down it to help me breathe.

I had been very concerned from the very beginning of what would happen to my body during the actual surgery. You are really trusting these people who you have never met to keep you alive, do their jobs well and not do anything untoward. That is why I was a little confused when shortly after waking up the nurse brought me my underwear, in a toxic waste bag? I went into the OR with said underwear on and have no recollection of taking them off. Curious indeed.

Another curiosity of mine was flatulence while being under general anesthesia. Did it ever happen? How does one control it? Has it ever been so bad it has messed up a surgery? Inquiring minds wanted to know. So, inquiring minds asked the nurse. She laughed and told me she wasn't in the operating room but would ask. I never heard back.

Seeing my mom and my boyfriend come into the recovery room was great. There is nothing like seeing a friendly face after a traumatic experience.

Then came the bathroom. They hauled me into a wheelchair, which is when I first saw the infamous leg brace. My god, this thing was HUGE! Wheeled me over to the bathroom where my mom helped me down to the toilet and then tried to get my underwear back on (we should have just left it off).

Less than half an hour after waking up from the surgery I was in the car being carted home. I had no pain due to the nerve blocker they shot directly into my leg. Life was good.

Stairs involved going backwards on my butt.

Biggest Loser was on TV! Bed!

More about recovery and life after nerve blocker in the next post.

Hot coffee from a stranger!

2011-09-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

I seem to be collecting little stories of the great humanity still left in this world.

There I was, shivering on Alki Beach last Saturday. Why you ask? I was volunteering at a waterstop for the local Team in Training run group who were on their longest run of the season, training for the Nike Women's Marathon and the Victoria Marathon. All of the participants had raised a lot of money towards The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and I thought it was a good way to give back to all those that have done waterstops for me, back in the day.

It was really the first day that you could feel fall in the air. It was windy, it was threatening to rain all morning. I was cold, still wearing my summer gear, not wanting to give up the warm days quite yet.

The runners were appreciative as I cheered for them. Now realize, this is early morning Saturday. Usually neighbors do not appreciate cheering on a Saturday morning so I was noticeably nervous when the neighbor from across the street came out with a wife beater shirt on, shit-kicker boots and tattoos. I was thinking, "I am sorry, I will be more quiet, please don't yell at me!" as he approached.

But, much to my surprise (lesson learned, don't judge a book by its cover), he said his wife saw me out there, apparently I looked cold too, and thought I might need a hot coffee or tea to keep me warm! Yes, I said, in relief.

Sure enough, he brought me out a pipping hot cup of coffee, in a rainbow mug nonetheless, complete with a little thing of cream and sugar and a little spoon.

It did in fact warm me up and I was so appreciative of his neighborhliness. It made my day and I told everyone who stopped at my waterstop what had happened.

Yet another example of the good still left in people!

The only problem? I then had to pee! Luckily for me I was across the street from a park with a porto-pottie. Phew!

To the woman at Sees

2011-08-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

To the woman in line ahead of us at See's Candy today at Northgate Mall - thank you for being so sweet to a stranger.

A friend of mine and I had about an hour to kill up near Northgate so we decided to hit the mall, old school style. She wanted to go to See's and get a free sample. Now, I had never really experienced See's before. How could this be, you ask? I do not have an answer for you, my friend.

All I know is that I was excited, well, like a kid in a candy store and was expressing my delight and asking which is my friend's favorite. The woman in line in front of us told us her favorite and it did in fact sound quite good.

Next thing I know, the woman had completed her purchase, turned to me and said, "OK, yours is the one on top!" She had bought me her favorite just so I could try it out.

Now, if that does not restore your faith in humanity, I don't know what will!

Thank you Woman in line at See's! You made my day! And, I ended up getting about 4 different flavors.

I am Important!

2011-07-20T15:51:00.001-07:00

I was contacted not too long ago, in a letter from the US Census informing me I was chosen to be a part of a census survey and I was one of only 55,000 participants. I thought it would be a mailed survey that I had to fill out.

Then my doorbell rang. It was a census woman! I was in my PJ's and my house was a mess. I invited her in and she asked me questions for about 45 minutes. Turns out I am important and will be representing thousands of households.

So, what were the questions? Mostly about work and about internet use.

And, this survey is not a one time deal, I will have to answer questions about work every month for the next 8 months!

I guess I will have to keep my house clean!

Aqua Notes, making me so much more effiecient!

2011-06-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

No, I have not been paid to write this, nor did I get free product as incentive! But, this product I felt the need to share.

I have always been a shower thinker. Something about the quiet, uninterrupted alone time, relaxed without distraction seems to breed good ideas and more importantly always brings up important lists of things to do. I have always struggled with how to record these thoughts. In the past, at the end of the shower I would dry off really quick, run over to a piece of paper and hope nothing has gone down the drain.

Then I had a great thought (in the shower, of course). I knew there had to have been someone else struggling with this problem. Good thing I remembered as soon as I got out because I found AquaNotes.

I have to be honest, I was skeptical but I read reviews and saw the videos and thought, heck, what is $10!?

I got them in the mail yesterday and immediately jumped in the shower. It really works! I was amazed. This is the first note I wrote to myself:

Can't really read it, but it says "Blog about AquaNotes!" I am going to be so much more efficient. Perhaps I should have purchased them on the company card!

Run Scared 5K

2010-07-02T16:27:00.000-07:00

Last year I organized a fun run on Halloween called Run Scared. I did this as a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and it turned out so well I am doing it again this year. The first annual was sort of strung together at the last minute, I worked really hard on it and it all paid off with a $4,000 total raised. This year I have already started working on it, with new improvements such as a chip timing, a sponsor from Champion Party Supply and t-shirts!

Sign up today: www.runscared5k.com $25 and 100% of your registration goes to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Get in before I cut off registration!

Date: Halloween, October 31, 2010

Time: 9:00am with packet pickup starting at 7:30am

Location: Seattle's gorgeous Seward Park (traffic free course along the shores of Lake Washington)

Benefiting: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Cost: $25 in advance, $30 day

What you get: A trick or treat bag filled with goodies, a t-shirt, a gorgeous course, finish line treats, free photos, other spooky surprises.

Other fun stuff: Costume contest! Doggie costume contest! Lots of giveaways, prizes for top runners and random door prizes. Walkers, dogs on short leashes and strollers welcome. No time limit. USATF sanctioned.

How to register: Donate $25 here.

Ah, the humanity

2010-06-15T09:57:00.001-07:00

This falls into that category of "there are still good people in the world."

On a recent walk around my adopted neighborhood of Mt. Baker (currently house sitting) we stumbled upon a great tiny little bakery called Repast. Every time I go for a walk I always know there is a chance I will end up at a bakery, so I always carry a credit card, just in case of an emergency pastry situation. We ordered our gorgeous looking pastries and then found out that they do not take cards. I had no cash, no checks.

The woman behind the counter asked if we lived in the neighborhood, I told her sort of. She told us to eat, enjoy and come back and pay later. Really!? Does this really happen these days?

Well, yes, it does. She told us she does this all the time and has never had anyone not come back and pay.

I left with a belly full of flaky almond pastry and my heart full of love for humanity.

Market Find of the Week - Seattle Cutlery

2010-06-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

So this week I found myself at Seattle Cutlery, I know what you are thinking, a non-food place!? Yes, that is right, Seattle Cutlery is a knife store (although during the same visit to the Market I did stop at two different food places). I have been in a couple of times before and actually ended up buying a great knife that I really love.

This week I had the task of finding somewhere that would sharpen garden shears (it's a long story) and much to my surprise Seattle Cutlery does just that. One day, garden shears sharpened! They are very friendly and fast. So, if you ever find yourself in need of garden shears sharpened, or just regular kitchen knife sharpening too.

Another good tip - I have found a good way to transport knives that need to be sharpened is in an empty cereal box.

A Tiny Little Spring Running Nuisance

2010-05-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

Why is it that those tiny little flying bugs that like to hang out by the water in the spring time, which is where local runners like to hang out too, seem to know exactly where your mouth is? And why is it that they always hang out in packs on the uphill, its like they know when you are going to be sucking in more air?

I think I have swallowed a bug on every single run for the last week.

Oh, and PS why is it that inevitably someone you know will happen to drive by right when you are taking a walk break!?

Market Find of the Week - Cafe Yarmarka

2010-05-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

So I haven't really been faithful to the whole notion of a once a week market find. But, nonetheless, I was in the market this week with a friend who was shopping for a catering gig, she loves buying fish from her fish boyfriend!

Anyhow, we were both hungry with a hankering for something different. We had both been to Cafe Yarmarka before but it had been a while.

Unlike its Russian, more polished cousin around the corner, Piroshki, Piroshki this place has a more homey feel. It just so happens that my mom used to make cabbage rolls growing up and I have fond memories of the warm, saucy, meaty rolls on a cold winter night. Since then I have grown up to be a vegetarian so I have forgone the notion of cabbage rolls. But, this place, now, this place speaks my language. Not only do they have amazing pierogies but they have vege cabbage rolls. Served with tomato sauce, steaming just like I remembered it, minus the meat of course.

They have recently changed their menu, now when you order a main dish you get a choice to get any and all sides that you desire, from sour cream to potato salad to beet salad to spicy carrots. What a deal.

It's worth a hunt around the Market to find, go to Post Alley and turn in at the Seattle's Best.

Couldn't find a website for them but here is their Yelp page:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cafe-yarmarka-seattle

A Lesson in Nature

2010-05-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

This falls into the category of 'Who Knew'! I recently visited Larabee State Park, was peacefully watching the tides come and go on a gorgeous day and a seagull came and sat on a flat rock. It was playing with something, on closer inspection it became clear it was a starfish. It had plucked a good size, innocent, starfish off the ocean floor. Now why would it do that? I had never seen a seagull play before, their lives usually consumed with pestering diners on the Seattle Waterfront and leaving their signature on your newly washed car.

Soon this particular seagull took the starfish into its mouth and just stood there for a few minutes. What was it doing?

A few minutes later the seagull started to choke back another leg of the starfish. What the what!?

Then it just stood there, a starfish half in its gullet. Was it trying to eat this poor thing? Now, I know from my childhood visits to the aquarium's touch tanks, that starfish are not soft, they are rigid creatures. How could this seagull be attempting this feat? Was it digesting it as it went? Was it like a snake that it could unhinge it's jaw? I was enthralled.

Sure enough a few minutes later it looked like it was choking back another section and pretty soon it had about half of the creature down.

This process repeated itself over the next 15 minutes or so. Sure enough, this seagull managed to ingest the whole damn thing. It was fascintating and disgusting all at the same time. It made me gag just to watch.

Then, as if nothing at all happened, the seagull pooped, and flew off, happily sated, I am sure.

Nature fascinates me!

Market Find of the Week

2010-01-15T15:59:00.000-08:00

Hello All, I have been very neglectful of updating my blog and I apologize. Since I am at the Pike Place Market almost every week I thought I would post my favorite thing from the market once a week to get me back on the blogging bandwagon.

I love the market, despite all the tourists I still manage to enjoy the localness of it all. Almost every time I am there I find something new and delightful. I love my dirty produce guy who tries to kiss me each time I go in for fruit, I love the cute guy at the Greek place, the sweet woman who runs the Turkish place and my pastry buddy who always knows when a big race is coming up.

This week's favorite came from a quick trip before I dropped a friend off at the airport, she wanted snacks for the plane. It was morning and I stopped into The Crumpet Shop. Have you ever had a crumpet? No!? Go, now, find a crumpet and eat it! It is a British treat, a griddled savory, slightly sweet cake. It has these wonderfully tender nooks and crannies that hold onto butter. The particular one I had was green eggs (eggs mixed with pesto) and cream cheese on a buttered crumpet. My god! After every bite I was practically moaning with pleasure.

Next time I will bring a camera to document my favorites. More next week!

Disturbing

2009-09-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

Last week I went on a crazy hike, to Vesper Lake. I mean, crazy, on all fours, up steep rocky cliffs, about 3 hours of straight up, hanging out by a gorgeous blue lake, then about 3 hours of hard down. Got back late at night, showered, went to bed and was fast asleep in about 3 minutes.

Next morning I woke up, could barely get out of bed, flipped on the morning news and saw a news story about an apartment fire. I curiously looked at the images and had an eerie feeling that I had seen this building before. Yup, it was the building across the street from my building. Witness interviews talked about glass explosions, fire trucks, and scorched apartments. I heard none of it! And, my windows were all wide open.

Disturbing! Good thing it wasn't my building! Ah!

I am a Published Author

2009-09-08T18:56:00.000-07:00

Adventures NW Magazine and Team in Training asked me to write an article about what it means to run for a charity.

Click here to see the article and what it looks like with pics and all!

Here is the text of the article:

The Unselfish Selfish Runner

Running by its very definition is a selfish pursuit. People run to stay in shape, to stay sane, to lose weight, to be able to consume mass quantities of calories, for the medals and t-shirts, to just feel good, or for a myriad of other self-centered reasons. More often than not a runner runs by him or herself and pursues his or her own personal goals. But, what happens when the selfish runner has an unselfish purpose? I attempted to answer that question when I signed up for a season with Team in Training (TnT), raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Feeling helpless after my father had gone through lengthy treatment for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma I signed up for TnT. As a self-certified couch potato, overweight by about 70 pounds, I signed up for the Anchorage half-marathon thinking even I could probably drag myself through 13 miles.

Our first week of training we were to run 40 minutes, starting at Redhook Brewery (which I took as a good sign, running and drinking, I could handle this). While the coaches introduced themselves I found myself shivering, from both the cold dark morning and anticipation. The most I had ever run was from the fridge back to the couch so I wouldn’t miss the next episode of ER. We started out and I quickly gravitated to the nicest woman, who was exactly my slow pace. I had visions of the coaches having to wait for me to finish, checking their watches, annoyed at my slowness. So I was thrilled when I found out I was not the slowest one and there were other beginners like me. We finished the run and went out for breakfast. I could handle this. Well, the next morning I could barely walk. But, training for a marathon does not happen in one run.

Over the next several weeks I discovered a few things. First, how fast the body adapts to new challenges. I had been given the full marathon training schedule even though I was suppsoed to be training for the half. By the third or fourth week I was surprised I was running 8 or 9 miles, and I had optimistically figured if I could do that I could do 26.2 so I dove right in and committed to running the full marathon. Second, I realized how many places in the Northwest I had never visited, despite being born and raised here. Our team met at places like Centennial Trail near Snohomish; Lincoln Park in West Seattle; Pioneer Park on Mercer Island; Seward Park in south Seattle and Discovery Park in Magnolia.

We trained through the winter and spring, and being able to—first-hand, through all the elements-- experience that change in seasons gave me a deeper connection to this region. I was no longer just looking out the window during the commercial breaks. Third, how hills in this area can be a good thing despite the pain they inflict. Running up Queen Anne Avenue trained me well for my first marathon. When I encountered runners from Ohio struggling on some slight inclines in the marathon I had to smile as I passed them and thought, “hill, what hill!?” Fourth, how generous people are when they discover that you are doing something as unselfish as running a marathon for charity, and what a selfishly good feeling all that support garners. My fundraising was completed within two months, people kept on checking on my progress and telling all their friends and family what I was doing and on the training runs people would shout out words of encourgament and the national team cheer “go team!”

That selfishly unselfish feeling came to a head for me as I was on mile 25 of my very first marathon a few short months and many training days later. A woman twenty-or-so yards ahead of me on the side of the course held up a sign that read, “Leukemia survivor, thank you!” Realizing that she had been out there for well over 5 hours in the chill rain of an Anchorage June to say thank you to me and to support me and my team was almost unbearable in my emotional and physically exhausted state. I lost it. I started to cry. And as I passed her, she called out a powerful “thank you!” I told her she had to stop or I wasn’t going to finish that race.

Then, as I saw my TnT mentor coming around the corner to run me up that last hill, I started to cry again, this time at the sheer magnificence of what I had accomplished over the previous four months. I was within one mile of finishing a full marathon, had lost about 20 pounds, raised over $5,000 for the Society, inspired so many around me, made a ton of new friends, and made my father that much prouder of me.

I have run five other marathons and one ultra marathon since then. Not all have been with Team in Training. One or two were to get a personal record, a few for fun, some to just stay in shape. While each race is an amazing accomplishment, the ones run with an altruistic element—runs to give support to a fellow runner, runs for a good organization, run to raise money for those in need— always feel a whole lot more significant.

So, what happens when the self-interested pursuit of running collides with the desire to change the world? For me I gained a new-found passion for running and for the amazing weather and trails we have in the Northwest; I became part of an instant community of runners and athletes (and now friends); I scored access to top-notch coaches who have helped me to best my marathon times by over two hours; and I have experienced the unique human knack for turning something innately selfish into a pursuit that benefits so many.

Ilana Balint has been running with Team in Training for the last four years and has acted as participant, mentor and team captain and is currently training for Big Sur Marathon with Team in Training. Aside from running four marathons with the Team she has completed an ultra marathon, two other marathons and countless half marathons. She is organizing a 5K race to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on October 31 at Seattle’s Seward Park.

Who is William Arnone?

2009-05-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

Who is William Arnone and why is he in my dreams!? Have you ever dreamt about someone you have never met or heard of? I just have.

In my dream I had chosen to write a thesis paper about ghost stories of a small town (don't know where). I traveled to this town with a friend of mine who was taking care of a young child in search of ghost stories to fill my thesis paper. After speaking with several people in the town we could not find any ghost stories so we headed to the local library. The librarian did not know of any such stories but showed me to the old fashioned card catalog. As I was browsing the library caught fire. I panicked as this was the only chance I would have to write this thesis. I grabbed a bunch of cards and tried to find my friend and the small child. I found them playing in the bath tub (why there was a bath tub in the library I do not know) and she refused to get out of the building until they had found some sort of face recognition toy. Finally we found the toy and got out of the burning building.

As we were outside I started to look through the cards and noticed a huge chunk of cards under the name William Arnone, whose name, in my dream, rang a bell. When asked, the librarian told us that yes, Arnone was a well known author and hailed from this small town. I thought, ah, this is the ticket, he must have written a ghost story.

So I tried to track down this William Arnone, without much luck.

This was my dream.

And, when I awoke I found that I had written down Arnone's at some point during the night. I googled this mysterious dream like figure and found he is a left wing activist or a lawyer. Now, why would I have dreamed of someone I had never heard of, never met as being this famous author when he is not even an author at all. Very strange indeed. I sort of feel like the woman in Medium. Scary! If you are William Arnone reading this, perhaps you can explain?

Sleeping with Giants

2009-05-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

There is something about large trees that calm me and at the same time make me hopeful about the world. Perhaps they are a testament to human beings that in a small part of the world we have been smart enough not to mess with nature, the result of which is a magnificent swath of giant trees. I of course am speaking of the Redwoods in California, which I had the privilege of visiting this past weekend.

The drive down was rainy and long but gorgeous nonetheless. I picked up a friend in Portland, where I spent the night and was taken out on the town and treated to a Voodoo Doughnut (I chose the Bubble Yum flavor) and some classic Portland nightlife spots.

Woke up at the crack of dawn to start the 9 hour trek down the coast. Among the highlights were finding a drive through espresso in Rice Hill, Oregon, arriving at a tulip festival too early to be let in and taking a picture by a tulip planter with 5 tulips in it, getting checked for produce at the Oregon/California border while eating an orange, the giant Paul Bunyan statue on the side of the road, spending awesome catch up time with a friend and just driving in those trees.

Got to the Avenue of the Giants just in time to pick up our race packets (yes, of course I went for a race, why else would I go!?). Our friends from Sacramento had arrived just then and we headed for the spaghetti feed put on at the community center to benefit the local fire department. Such a great community feel, all these runners sitting at long tables with plastic tablecloths chowing on homemade spaghetti in the middle of nowhere in a run down community hall. Who needs a fancy restaurant to create a special atmosphere?

Unfortunately it was raining as we set up camp but managed to keep the inside of the tent dry and hung out amongst the giants around a campfire. I had such a sense of peace, just being there. I am one lucky girl.

Slept like a log, with the rain pelting our tent the whole night. I had a dream, a dream where it was raining all night but then we were walking to the race start and the clouds parted and it was sunny. I woke up, with cold damp feet and told my friend about this dream, she told me to keep dreaming. Managed to break down camp and stuff all the wet stuff in the trunk of the rental car (so glad I rented a car cause it was stinky in there) and headed over to the race start, in the rain.

Found a super secret parking spot where there was actual private, locking bathrooms that had just been cleaned, within two minutes walk to the start. As we arrived the clouds parted and the sun came out. I felt like a prophet!

The race was amazing, a half marathon through the trees, giant, loping trees, no cars and lots of sunshine filtering through the oversized branches. We even got a medal. Who could ask for anything better?

Found a great cafe in the woods and had an amazingly tasty breakfast of huevos rancheros and took off back up to Portland. Some highlights of that drive include having to roll down the window when we could cause we were slightly stinky, coming up with some great, steeping-too-long-in-a-car business ideas, trying to find a mom and pop burger place to get a strawberry milkshake, stopping at the Jerkey drive up stand to buy elk jerkey from a guy with no teeth, passing an RV with the name "Flair" and one with the name "Beaver" several times, stopping at the beach to feel the warm sand and cold Pacific waters on our toes, seeing several elk in the park and again, spending time with a friend and just driving in those trees.

The visit was too short but I feel better about the world just knowing those trees are out there.

Frolicking in the tulips

2009-04-30T08:49:00.001-07:00

This is the current scene up in Skagit Valley:

I got a chance to go frolic in the tulips yesterday and it was well worth the drive. I went last year, on a busy sunny weekend day only to find that there were no tulips and just lots of stinky cars. Not so this year. We found this amazing field with vibrant rows of flowers, which we practically had to ourselves due to the fact that it was a Wednesday (god, I love my life).

My only question is this, these flowers are in full bloom, huge fields of them. They even have a Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. But, these flowers are clearly in the later stages of their life. Are they here just for our viewing pleasure? Do they not get harvested and sold? If so, why hasn't that happened yet? If not, do they just sit there until they die?

I think I need to read a book about the secret underworld of the flower business called Flower Confidential to get the answers I need!

What a weekend!

2009-04-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend I did several things, went to Nashville, stayed in a hostel, ran a full marathon on a 90 degree day, saw Dave Matthews Band, flew home.

About Nashville: Nashville was cool, I mean, it was hot, but its a fun city. It was different than I expecting. I went to the honky tonks, sure but I thought it would be more country than it was. Was not expecting such a big downtown, or such a vibrant college scene or such beautiful amenities like Centennial Park. I thought it would feel a little more Southern that it did. I didn't even get a chance to eat any grits or collard greens or fried okra. I did have great pizza though!

About the hostel: It was fantastic. I have never really stayed in a hostel before so I had no idea what to expect, I just thought it would be a cheap place to lay my head each night but it was so much more than that. It was cleaner than I thought, the staff were great and the people I met were so much fun, for the most part. I stayed in an all girls room with two cute teenagers and one of their mom's. The teens were doing the half marathon and they were adorable, and had such a cool mom too. I met an Australian guy traveling for several months, a couple of too cool for school Danes, another Australian in Music City hoping to break into the music scene by singing in local competitions, two German girls on vacation from their banking jobs in New York, a few Americans just tooling around the country, and one American guy who came to Nashville to visit and ended up staying for three months and is now trying to develop his southern accent. It was great because it was an instant group of friends and travel buddies.

About the marathon: It was hot hot hot hot. There was a reader board at a bank near the start, it read 84 at 7:00am and it only got hotter from there. The problem was that there was almost no shade out on the course so there was just the pounding, unrelenting sun. Did not make for a pleasant day. I started out next to the 4 hour 15 minute pacer, yeah right. They passed me within the first mile, then the 4:30 group passed, then the 5:00 passed me. I knew within the first two miles that it was going to be a brutal day. I ended up walking the majority of the race. I had some serious doubts about mile 6 or 7 when I was already dying and nauseous. The half marathoners started out on the same course as the full and I had more than a few thoughts of just peeling off at mile 11 with them and calling it quits, but I stuck it out, mostly thanks to a Team in Training coach that helped me through. And I am really proud of myself for sticking with it. The half way mark took forever to come. I kept on thinking, I am not even half way yet. When the halfers went on their merry way the course became a lot lonelier, and a lot hotter. We did an out and back with no shade, no spectators, and just a lot of sun and heat, some of which was along the banks of a river that I just wanted to stop and swim in. At this point almost everyone was brought to a walk, even some fast looking, experienced marathoners, at least I was not alone in my suffering. When we finally finished that out and back we ran past the damn finish line, on our way to another out and back. I hate that! Why do races do that? I then saw my Team coach again and she remembered me and was proud that I stuck with it. At this point I was just trying to take it one mile at a time, figuring that I just wanted to survive this thing. All the while hearing ambulances coming and going, seeing people being pulled off the course and just feeling like it was a death march of sorts. The out and back was brutal because on the way out we saw the 25 mile marker but we knew we had several miles to go before getting back to that spot. Around the park we went and finally headed back to the finish. 5 hours and 46 minutes later I crossed that damn finish line. I felt great about my effort, despite the fact that it was my slowest marathon in years. I had my medal and my flip flops and was happy. At each aid station I had grabbed a chunk of ice to rub over myself, the result of which is a huge sunburn that hurts more than my tired legs.

About DMB: So, I managed to catch a free ride back to the hostel, took a cold shower, ate some easy mac and was then picked up by my friends going to the show. We hung out at a friend's house who was not going to the show and offered to drop us off and pick us back up from the show, awesome!!!! No more walking for me! They played in a football stadium on Vanderbilt campus and it was a great venue, so much energy, which reflected in the show. Jason Mraz opened and he walked out and I commented that he looked a bit tired. He played a rocking few songs and then gave a shout out to all the marathoners in the house, for which I yelled and screamed and held out my medal I was still wearing. He then told us that yes, in fact he ran his very first ever half marathon that morning. I could have run with Jason Mraz, if I had only known!!! DMB came on stage and I was so excited. They played a high energy show, with a few new songs I had never heard before and some old songs that they haven't played in about a dozen years. I love the feeling that you get when you would not prefer to be anywhere else in the world.

After the show I was ravenous, as were the people I was with. We got picked up and ordered some pizzas. Let me tell you, that pizza was he best pizza I have ever had. So we hung out for a bit, they dropped me back off at my hostel about 2:00 or so. There were people hanging out and my airport shuttle was coming to pick me up in mere hours. So I decided it would be better just to stay up rather than to try and get one hour of sleep. That is what I did, stayed up all night after running a hot marathon and going to a show. By the time I got on the plane I was virtually delirious, I passed out on the plane, don't even remember any of it.

I ended up landing in Seattle and getting home around 1:00 and fell right asleep, slept for about 6 hours, went over to a friend's for a cupcake and a meeting about a relay we are running, then back home and fell asleep at about 9:00 and slept for 11 hours!

Talk about a weekend warrior!!

P.S. I just had cheesecake for breakfast, I love running!

One More Reason to Love Obama and My Life

2009-04-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

I have always maintained that the worst part of getting laid off was the lack of health insurance. I of course was offered Cobra, but at an insane rate, something that any unemployed person would not be able to afford.

I got a mysterious package in the mail yesterday, looked like junk mail from some insurance company. But it was a notice from my Cobra company! Because of the newly enacted stimulus plan I now get the option to re-enroll at only 35% of the cost!

I now can break something without worry of paying through the nose! I might just go run some trails today, or next week after my next marathon!

Thank you Mr. Obama!

Not OK

2009-04-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

I just found my first gray hair. Not OK!

Note to Self

2009-04-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

Note to self: Do not run 20 miles, a half marathon and a stair climb and then 23 miles in the weeks preceding a 20 mile race.

Note to Self: Do not eat a ginormous plate of Mexican food the night before a 20 mile race.

Note to Self: When you have the chance to use the porto potty at the start of a race, use it, even if it means starting a little bit late.

Lessons learned this weekend. I just finished the Birch Bay International Road Race and it sucked! My legs just did not want to run, they were ok with walking and my gut felt like there was a brick in it. The first half was great, was steady, at a good comfortable pace and then I broke my stride going up a hill and it was all over. Never got my rhythm back, so many people passed me it was embarrassing. Oh well, lessons learned, still got my medal, still got to eat whatever I wanted.

So what!?

Farewell old friend

2009-04-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

Last night was the series finale of ER, a show that I have watched religiously for the last 15 years. It was a sad night. The episode itself was sort of disappointing, I was really hoping for a really regular show, then a huge explosion where the whole building goes up, then fade to black. Oh well.

But, the thing that made the night was how we honored the show. You have to understand that a group of us has been watching ER together every single Thursday for so long now so this had to be a special evening. We decided to do food that all had body parts in the name.

Here was the menu (brilliant, I think!):

Bloody Mary shooters, served in test tube shot glasses

Heart salad featuring artichoke hearts, hearts of palm and hearts of romaine with a blood orange dressing

Kidney bean and veggie wiener chili

Elbow macaroni in a pea cream sauce

Beet salad (like you were beet and then had to go to the ER)

Seared halibut cheeks

Fingerling potatoes

Pirates Booty

For dessert:

A death by chocolate platter featuring chocolate ice cream cake and chocolate cookies

Thumb print cookies

Nuts

Navel orange slices

Garbage's final resting place

2009-04-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

Just talkin' trash, that's all!

Apparently the Cedar Hills Landfill, King County's only landfill, is the envy of the nation, and a landfill that Wally the tourguide (not even joking) is fiercely proud of, calling it the Cadillac of landfills.

It was a grey, rainy day and we pulled up to the landfill, confused about where we had to go. Eventually we found our way, Wally was waiting for us in a van. He started telling us general facts about the landfill, how many acres, when it was built, how many people work there..... as we were driving up the hill of garbage to what they call the active face, the active dump sites.

Here is how it works. The trucks come in to the site, the majority from local transfer stations, they get weighed on the way in, they drive up to the active face and place their truck beds on these huge machines called tilters (see below, the big things tilting the trucks)

The garbage gets dumped out and the bulldozers come in and flatten it out. There is only a small section of this vast landfill that actually accepts garbage and let me tell you, it accepts a ton of garbage. Just in the ten minutes we were standing there about five trucks dumped their load, and the landfill accepts garbage 6:00am until 6:00pm, Wally estimated about 140 trucks a day, which is down from about 200 from a few years ago. The good news is that the amount of garbage is decreasing as recycling gets easier, but it is still mind-blowing.

One of the amazing things was the lack of birds you might expect, basing my only knowledge of landfills on pictures I have seen of swarming birds. We did however see magnificent bald eagles swooping and diving and a whole family of deer grazing on the grass. Ah, America, bald eagles and trash, I have never been more proud!

Everywhere we drove and walked was covered up garbage, which sinks due to decomposition about 1 foot year. Mind boggling really. The landfill fills sections at a time, in a crisscross pattern laying down pipelines every 30 feet or so to catch the leachate (toxic garbage juice) and methane gas that naturally occurs.

The leachate gets funnelled to one of two leachate ponds (not recommended for swimming). The leachate has so little oxygen that before sending it to the waste water treatment plant they have to stir it up. It was like a calming garden water feature.

The gasses that get collected are vacuumed out to a processing center (of which Wally is the Gas Lead, I want that title!). Essentially the gasses get sucked out of the landfill and are burned cleanly. However, in a new green twist there is a private company on site who is building a methane collection plant and the county is selling this methane to this company who is purifying it on site and sending it back out to the natural gas power grid.

Each and every truck that drives on the active face is considered contaminated and has to go through a recycled water carwash before being allowed to exit onto city streets. Our little van even went through, it was thrilling.

This landfill can only contain so much gargage. Wally thinks they will be able to accept gargabe until about 2016, maybe 2018. What then!? Well, probably like the City of Seattle does, ship it off to central Oregon.

As with the transfer station and the waste water treatment plant, tours of these facilities should be mandatory. It should be, you get a driver's liscence and you have to take one of these tours.

Thank you Wally for the amazing, eye opening tour. Now I have to watch the movie Wall-E.

Next is the recycling plant and then perhaps the Cedar Hills composting facility right next door to the landfill.

13.1 and 69

2009-03-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

What's a half marathon and 69 flight stair climb between friends!?

Well, its sore muscles is what it is. This past weekend, in addition to being auctioned off, I ran the Mercer Island Half Marathon in the morning and then did the Big Climb up Columbia Tower in the afternoon and I have to say, I felt like a bad ass.

The half marathon was great, despite a rainy start. I was wearing my brand new Club Fat Ass shirt, yes, its an actual club, on the back of which said, "I may be a Fat Ass, but I am in front of you!" I heard snickers and laughter behind me the entire race. And, it actually made me faster, I felt like I had to be in front of people and then not let them pass me. Consequently I matched my personal best for the half marathon, even after stopping and helping this poor woman who was cramping bad (after I stopped and then walked with her for a bit she then proceeded to take off and finish way ahead of me). I kept on telling myself to take it easy, to leave some in me for the climb, but, just couldn't manage that. I have never been a very patient runner and this was no exception.

My friend and I went out for a quick breakfast to refuel, back home for a shower and a wardrobe change. Off to Downtown.

Lining up with the other people in my time slot, I was getting nervous, how were my legs going to handle this. I had already pushed myself mere hours earlier. Was I going to make it? Would I take forever? I felt the need to tell someone of my plight, which just made me feel like a total ass kicker. I mean, really, who runs a half marathon and then races up a tower in one day? Me!!

I actually passed some people on the way up, that's how good I felt. And despite my efforts that morning I managed to finish only one minute slower than I did it last year, 16 minutes for 69 flights, not bad, especially considering that I stopped once again to help someone who was hunched over in a corner on floor 53.

The best was getting to the top (which brought back wonderful memories of the Firefighter climb) and seeing Mercer Island, knowing that I had run all the way around that island and then was seeing it from way up above.

Yeah, I was sore the next day, I am not superwoman after all!

A Whore for Charity

2009-03-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

I am officially a whore for charity. I was auctioned off as part of a bachelor and bachelorette auction this past weekend to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

I was petrified that I was not going to get a single bid, so, I really made an effort, wore a dress, makeup and even high heels. Yes, that is right, this tomboy wore a dress and heels. I was chatting with someone who had been to one of these things before and told me that the highest money maker was a woman who handed out cupcakes. I bought cupcakes. I mean, I did not want to go home and spend the night crying cause nobody wanted me.

The auction began with a quick hop up on stage for all the bachelors and bachelorettes where we were introduced to the crowd, which was only friends at that point. There were 11 bachelorettes and 9 bachelors, that's a lot of competition!

The evening then proceeded with a lot of aggressive mingling. As soon as a potential bidder walked into the bar they would practically be swarmed with us whores trying to convince them they wanted to bid on us. I did not discriminate, I tried men, women, old, young, friends, other bachelors, even took to the streets at one point.

I got three bids! But, the last bid was from a creepy old guy who had bid on a bunch of other people as well. It was starting to get desperate. I needed someone to outbid this guy. I did not want to go kayaking and dinner with a creepy old guy! Help! In walks in this guy, intriguing because we had seen and chatted with him on the street. We started to chat, clearly he was interested and clearly I was interested in him. We were flirting, all the while I am convinced he would be the one to save me so I invested my remaining 15 minutes chatting with him. Under normal circumstances we would have most likely exchanged phone numbers but I told him that he would not be getting my number unless he bid.

After the final countdown, bidding was closing in mere moments this guy had still not bid on me. I was in a panic, I was going to have to go on a date with creepy old guy. Bummer, I would have liked to go out with this other guy, but not if he is not going to support a great cause, too bad buddy!

So, I am going out with creepy old guy, I am hoping he just donates the money and doesn't really call me. Keep your fingers crossed.

But, meanwhile I bid on one of the other bachelors who was adorable and nervous he wasn't going to get any bids. I bid on him early just to get him started, sure I was going to be outbid. Turns out not and now I 'have to' go out to dinner at Salty's with him, bummer!

So, I guess the evening was not a total disaster like I thought it might be. My ego in check, walking out with a hot date and making some money for a great cause.

Get sold as a bachelorette for a good cause, check!

Firefighters are a girl's best friend

2009-03-08T20:50:00.001-07:00

You have never really lived unless you have had the sweat of 1500 firefighters all over you! I was in heaven today, volunteering at the Scotts Firefighter's Climb to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, an organization near and dear to my heart.

I was stationed at the top of the Columbia Tower, floor 73. My sole task was to disrobe firefighters when they reached the top. Yes, that's right, disrobe hot, sweaty firefighters!

These men and women were amazing, I really have no idea how they do it. They climbed all those flights in full gear, masks, tanks, boots, jackets, the whole nine yards. Once they reached the top they were greeted by cheers from a line of volunteers. One firefighter cadet to turn off and take off their ringing and hissing tanks, and one civilian volunteer to disrobe them, take their helmets, gloves, masks, jackets...to make sure they cooled down as fast as possible. Each firefighter was paired with one volunteer to make sure they were ok, had water and to take all their gear and deposit them in the resting area which was packed with half naked firefighters all the time! Was I in heaven? I think so! I could not get the smile off my face. Once you were done with one firefighter you went back and got a new one.

What a job!

Plus I had the added benefit of the amazing view from 73 floors up.

At the end of the day I had helped a ton of people, all their reactions so different. Some wanted all the help they could get, some wanted to do it all themselves, some almost passed out, some didn't look like they had done anything, some were mean and wanted to get out of there, some were so nice and chatty, some had I Pods, some were so focused on stopping their timers, some just wanted to see the view, one almost threw up, one had to get down on all fours to prevent passing out....So interesting. But, all were sweaty and I smelled like 1500 firefighters at the end of the day. Let me tell you, that's a good smell!

Next, I do the civilian version of the climb, The Big Climb in a couple of weeks, but in tshirt and shorts, the only gear my watch. I will be thinking about these awesome people today doing it in 50 pounds of gear. I know I will feel like a wimp.

Paved Paradise and Now are Reclaiming it!

2009-02-28T18:15:00.000-08:00

It's like the song, Paved Paradise and put in a parking lot. Well, today was my chance to reclaim paradise. I volunteered at Discovery Park today to replant some native trees, shrubs and berries and cleaned out some invasive species. REI organized a cleanup day at Discovery and I run there enough that I thought it would be good to give back, plus I got a shirt that says Get Dirty and cookies!! What could be bad?

We started out planting winter berries but I had noticed that there were a bunch of trees waiting to be planted. So, I asked the park ranger if I could plant a tree, because my name means tree and I don't think I have ever planted a tree in my life. I just wanted to plant one, but I ended up planting paradise. And, the kicker was they were Magnolias, and I was in Magnolia neighborhood, so great!!! I was the only one assigned to the Magnolias and I had free range over where to plant. I felt very special. I also felt the atmosphere getting just that little bit cleaner.

I cant wait to go back in a few years to see my field of trees.

If you ever get a chance to volunteer with REI on one of these projects, do it!

Need a little help!?

2009-02-25T09:53:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share my recipe for what I like to call My Little Poopers, just in case you need some...help. I eat two of these little guys for breakfast each morning and I am good to go!!! And, don't be frightened by the list of ingredients, they are actually pretty tasty and give you all the nutrition you need for the day.

Makes about 50 little poopers, can easily be halved.

2 cups wheat bran
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups ground almond meal
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
6 teaspoons flax seed meal
1 teaspoon cinnamon
As many walnuts as makes you happy (or raisins, or pecans...)
A handful of carrots, chopped in the food processor (can also use zucchini)
1 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cup milk
2 mashed up bananas
a healthy dose of honey
2 eggs

Mix together all the dry ingredients
In a separate bowl mix together all the wet ingredients
Combine and be sure not to over mix
Spoon into muffin tins
Bake for 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven

These guys can freeze easily. I usually put two in a little snack bag and take em out each night so they are ready to go in the morning. One hour later you will see where I get the name!!!

Enjoy!

So What

2009-02-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I went for a run today, so what!!!???

What goes down must come up? Huh?

2009-02-09T08:45:00.000-08:00

I have just returned from my weekend of the 2009 running of the Orcas Island Fat Ass 50k Trail Run and just like the shirt says, 'its a whale of a run, its a killer' and it was! Probably one of the most physically challenging things I have ever attempted. For those that are into reading race details, please read on, for those of you who this isn't interesting just know that you can now officially call me an ultramarathoner!

As we packed up the car on Friday to catch the ferry at Anacortes it was raining and I had this impending sense of doom. But, we caught the ferry, chatted with some other crazy runners and the clouds parted, blue skies emerged.

As we stood in line to pick up our race packets I started to get extremely nervous, was I about to really run 31 miles up several thousand feet of elevation gain!? I guess I was, I had my number and the shirts were on their way. We weren't staying at the campsite but rather at Doe Bay to soak in the tubs and eat good food and get a good night sleep. I was so nervous that I could barely eat, I soaked in the hot tub which made me feel slightly more relaxed, but really that only lasted a few minutes.

I went back to the camp to pick up my shirt. What the race director had done was rather than producing 250 brand new shirts he went out and bought used ones and screened them himself so there was a huge pile of shirts to chose from, all shapes, colors, fabrics, makes and models. I got a hoody for myself and a pink tight shirt for my friend A who ran the 25k.

Tried to sleep but literally was checking my phone every five minutes to see if I had missed the alarm. Tried to eat but was too nervous and only managed to choke down half a bowl of oatmeal. Tried to relax but could not manage. I did however manage to not throw up!

The weather was cloudy, but it didn't look like it was going to rain. All I wanted was to have a view from the top of Mt. Constitution, and I managed to get it. The day got progressively more gorgeous.

We arrived at the camp for the early start and the race director was explaining the route and how to read the various tree markers for the course, I was sure I was going to get lost at least once. Then it was time. About 20 of us early starters walked up the hill, race director counted down and then said go. I shook my fist at him, knowing what course he had laid out for us.

The first 4 or 5 miles were up up and up. I was very delighted that the other early starters were all walking the ups and running the flats (when there were any) and the downs. That comforted me. I lost most people and was alone for most of this chunk of the race, except for a guy with his dog who stuck behind me for all the ups (he would later prove to be instrumental in my race).

Let me tell you that I had studied that elevation chart and knew it like the back of my hand. Probably a mistake in hindsight. But, I knew that I had three major climbs in this race and that is how I was breaking it down in my head. So, I knew that when I got to the top of Mt. Pickett there was some down in my future. I love down, but I knew that what comes down must go back up again. Counter0intuitive, I know, but not in this ultra. I had to save some for the two huge climbs ahead, this first one was the most mild out of all of them.

Just as I crested the top and started to gradually sink down, out of the mist appeared the guy in red with the dog. He passed me and we chatted for a moment. Then the regular start guys started to fly by me. They had done in one hour what I had done in two! I asked the guy in the lead what took him so long. I don't think he appreciated that so much.

As I approached the first aid station, which happened to be at mile 10, back at the start line, I heard what I thought was yelling and screaming and cheering and I knew my crew was there. I had the best support crew out of any of those racers that day. Six strong they were. As I emerged into the open muddy field I saw pompoms, flashes of photos and friends all screaming. I felt like a rock star. I was slower than I wanted to be but seeing them helped to boost me. I fueled up, restocked on water and tried not to go inside and quit. I knew the next time I would see this place I would be an ultramarathoner, I couldn't quit now. Back out I went, back out to the up.

Doom and gloom were in my head as I approached what I knew was going to be the toughest climb of the day. At the bottom of the power lines mountain (don't know the actual name) the guy in the red with dog, now without the dog, came up behind me. I knew I needed a buddy so I started chatting with Max just as we started the ascent. Thank god for Max! I felt like a mountain goat. At one point I was on all fours, that's how steep it was. But, Max kept me distracted enough just by his mere presence. And so we climbed, and climbed and climbed and climbed. This sucker was just not cresting. Just when you thought it would be over and we got to run down for a few yards you would look up and realize there were people several hundred feet above you and you would soon have to go there too. My heart was pounding, my stomach was growling, my calf muscles were screaming, my lungs were burning... and all I was doing was slowly walking up. My god! We climbed so far up that there was now snow! The best par of this, was just ahead of a big snow field there was yellow caution tape! This was the part that the race director was worried about! Not the 2500 foot climb, no, the little bit of snow and ice up top! Uch! I cursed his name as I laughed about the warning.

Then, finally, just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore I saw a sign pointing us to the left, down a hill! Down! But, as my heart was soaring, I saw it, the ominous sign that pointed me left "50k first time" what! I had to come back to this spot again! I was crying on the inside but on the outside I felt like I was flying down that mountain. All the meanwhile I had lost Max somewhere on the uphill climb. I knew he would be ok because this was something like his 130'th ultramarathon. I wouldn't see him for a while but eventually he caught me again.

As I am going down, my calves enjoying a bit of a rest I had this feeling, like something wasn't right, there were racers coming back on this trail. Most were the 25k people but then I started to see a couple of the 50k people that had passed me earlier. I then knew that I would have to come back up this sucker, after having completed the last of the three huge climbs. I shook my fist at the race director again but not too badly because I was enjoying some down time. But, like the title of this post says, what comes down must go up again, this time straight up it was to be.

As I looped around Mountain Lake, I knew that the water only aid station at mile 19 was coming up and Mt. Constitution was looming. Just then I hear some chatter, two ladies who had passed me ages ago and Max! Turns out the two runners had taken a wrong turn, missed the orange tree markers, an easy thing to do, and added an extra 5 miles onto their day. Max hung back with me and we finished the Mountain Lake loop chatting together.

Just as we approached the aid station I had a sinking feeling that my crew was not going to be there, after all I hadn't heard any cheering from across the lake. I was right and my head was pounding, I had an unusual headache and my crew had my Advil. Max offered me a big white pill and I took it, hoping it wouldn't react badly.

The race director was at the aid station and told us there was some bad news, he was imposing a cutoff at the top of Mt. Constitution, we had to get up, three miles up, in under an hour. Now, normally three miles in an hour, no problem. Yeah, problem when you are at mile 19 of a race that had already taken you up two mountains. Max's problem were the uphills, he claimed that he didn't have the climbing muscles like he used to. He told me to get on up there and leave him be. I knew if I took off he wouldn't make it up top in under an hour but I hadn't come this far just to be pulled.

I was mad, I was mad at the mountain, I was mad at myself for not realizing there was a cutoff, I was mad at the snow that was started to appear, I was mad at the race director, I was mad and swearing. I knew my crew would be up there and I didn't want to have to cry in front of them being pathetically pulled from this race. I hoofed it. I was pouring sweat. I was so concentrated on making it to the top of that climb that I didn't even stop at the lookout to absorb the amazing view. I cursed again. And, then as the time was dwindling I kept on looking at my watch, knowing I was not going to make it and was preparing a speech for the director in my defense, I was going to convince him to let me go on.

I could feel I was getting to the top and I saw two of my crew taking pictures from a particularly gorgeous spot and I was jealous that I couldn't stop to enjoy. I was sort of mean to them as I blew past them in hopes that I would still make it.

Then, up ahead I saw my friend R with orange pompoms, I knew I had to be getting close but the snow was slowing me down. I was determined and angry. I was not going to get pulled. Although, if I did get pulled I wouldn't have to run another 10 miles, that was sort of appealing. But, no, I was determined and I gritted through it.

Then, finally, finally I hear the screaming of the rest of my crew and saw that damn aid station. All I could concentrate on was not getting pulled and as I crested I screamed at her, "are you pulling me?" and she just shook her head no! My shoulders relaxed, I had made it! The directed was there and my crew took a great shot of me flicking him off with a big smile on my face. I again refueled, hung around and rested for a bit knowing that I would make it the rest of the way and hoping to see Max come up behind me. I never did. Seeing my crew and that view, my god, that view, it was everything I had hoped from the day, I set off, down! Mercifully down. But, I knew, I knew that back of the out and back that I had enjoyed as a down earlier was coming up as an up.

As I was descending from Constitution on one switchback I heard some familiar voices. It was two friendly ladies who I chatted with in the first mile of the race who had offered me cookies when I finished. They were faster than I was so I was confused about where they had gone to. They too had taken a wrong turn and were just now getting back on course. They blew past me and I only saw about 3 or 4 people after that. The last 10 miles were lonely miles.

But, I knew the majority of the real climbs were done. I had that last little bit of up, then a huge down, then around the lake and I was done. Yeah, easier said than done!

As soon as I got to that ominous sign that said "50k second time" at the top of the power line mountain I knew I was going to be ok. But, then we continued to go across the top of the mountain, wait, should we be heading back already, we are going to far across. I hadnt seen anyone for a long time and started to question if I had made a wrong turn. I actually stopped to listen to see if anyone was around. I had no choice but to continue on, I did not want to backtrack. That was a good call. Finally I saw some orange tree ties. Phew! Then glorious down! Or so I thought.

Switchback after switchback, foot after painful foot of descent. I couldn't even see the lake below. But, I chugged on and actually thought I was moving pretty fast for having all those miles and climbs behind me. But, I wanted that lake to come up. There were a couple of points that I thought, ok, I must be getting close, its flattening out, I must be getting close. But, no, it dragged on and on and on. I actually screamed at one point and once again, unfairly, swore at the race director, mostly because I knew I still would not be done once I got to the bottom, why did he have to add the lake at the end, uch!

Then, finally, like a thirsty person seeing the oasis in the desert, there was that lake! I whooped and hollered. I crossed over the highway and thought, ok, you can do another 2 miles, no problem. I had actually done this lake, twice, years ago when training for my very first marathon. I knew this lake. So what! I looked at my watch and knew I had to chug it a little bit in order to make that 9 hour cutoff. Then I heard the whistle and a vision, my friend R had come back out to get me! Just about a half mile to go! I arrived back at camp to hoots and hollers from some of the campers and I pumped my fist. It felt strange to be running on pavement after so many miles of trail.

R told me it was just up this last little hill, what! UP! Again! My god, could I not catch a break! Then I saw two of my crew taking photos and twirling batons, then I saw some more of my crew right at the crest of the hill, then I saw the last little short downhill to the finish table!!!! My watch said 9:00:33 when I stopped it! My crew had a 3 and a 0 candle in two pastries for my 30th birthday, 30 mile accomplishment. They handed me a tiara and a piece of pizza. Then, my friend A surprised me. I normally run races for the medals, this was such a no frills race that they didn't do medals which disappointed me. She had gone out, bought me a real medal, engraved on the back: my name, Bad Ass, Orcas Island Fat Ass 50k, February 2009. Wow! I really do have the best crew ever. Everyone else was jealous!

I then took one last photo with the director, flicked him off again and was all smiles. I really had hoped to be the very last finisher, I thought I was because I hadn't seen anyone in a long time. Turns out I was second to last, argh! But no matter, I was eating cheesecake and pizza and was an ultra marathoner.

The entire race I was formulating this thought. I did this race to celebrate my 30th birthday. Each leg of this race, each climb mimicked each of the decades in my life. The first 10 miles everything was new, I was taking it all in, it was a joy, it was relatively easy. The second 10 miles were the rough ones, a lot of struggle and questioning everything, with a big push at the end, coming out ok. The third 10 I was feeling confident and now its all downhill!

Here we go

2009-02-05T22:28:00.000-08:00

Orcas Island Fat Ass 50k trail race, here I come! So nervous becuase of this:

Yeah, thats not an EKG, its the course elevation profile.

Wish me luck!!!

Closed on Thanksgiving - Dump Tour '09

2009-02-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

I love garbage, am fascinated by it and all its aspects, including what happens to it once it leaves your curb. That is why I went on a tour of a dump today. This was the second installation of my three part tour, the first happened last year when I toured the waste water treatment plant at Discovery Park, the third will be a landfill tour.

The transfer station, as they are officially called, was the brand new state of the art facility in Shoreline. We arrived to a friendly staff and donned our safety gear and heard all about how green the building is and how the surrounding area waterways are protected in every way. That would be the main theme of the tour, as if we were with some environmental group going to report to someone about how clean their facility really is.

Our tour guide was a 15 year veteran, a self-described "not a garbage man" who seemed to relish telling us about his plant.

As we went out to see the pit I was shocked by how empty it was. There was barely any trash. Turns out it was a slow day, amidst a slowing garbage economy (according to our tour guide trash levels have reduced by 7% in the last year). Also turns out that garbage that comes in on weekends is very different than garbage that comes in on weekdays, its fluffier, who knew?

The way the dump works is that the public and commercial clients dump their trash into the pit, directly from their cars or trucks. It is all bulldozed into one hole in the ground, which is dumped directly into a brand new, high tech compactor below. This is where we went next. We learned that the entire floor is slightly sloped to one corner for all the leachate (garbage gu) to drain into.

We then walked directly onto the pit floor, which was thrilling. Here is a pic:

We then went upstairs to where they have some odor and dust controls and the behind the scenes generators and hydraulic something or the others.

That was pretty much the tour. We ended up back at the office and had fun in the state of the art bathrooms with high powered hand dryers and boot warmers.

I highly recommend any citizen of the US to go on these tours, it will open your eyes to how wasteful this country is. The waste water treatment tour made me rethink almost all the bathroom and kitchen products I use, this tour made me want to recycle more than ever and I am sure my landfill tour will open my eyes to more wonderful tidbits.

So, next time you throw something away, just think where its going to end up!

Dreams

2009-02-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

I have had a series of funny and stressful dreams lately. I think I am feeling the pressure of my upcoming 50k race and its coming through in my dreams. First one is funny, second one any runner will relate to!

My friend E, who in real life is a Microsoft geek, was training to be a flight attendant and I was lucky enough to book a ticket on one of her final training flights, which was an actual flight that she was in charge of. It was fairly empty and she didn't have much to do so we chit chatted, I went to the bathroom right before the final descent, when all of a sudden I see the windows being removed and a crew of people in black are putting things on to the plane, like a baby in a crib into the aisle, and an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair and just random bags all over the place on seats. They even opened some overhead bins here and there. Then, without a trace disappeared. I opened the window shades and it turns out we never left the ground, this was all a simulation to test E. I ran up the aisle and told her not to panic but she was being watched and there was a baby in the aisle that needed to be strapped in before 'landing,' amongst other things she had to all of a sudden deal with. Of course she panicked! I was more mad because we weren't actually in London, which is where I bought the ticket to. Uch, stupid surprise tests for flight attendants. She passed with flying colors (no pun intended) and all the passengers applauded and were all given free airline tickets for a year. So, not all that bad.

I was running a race, one I had run several times in years past. The location of the start line had changed slightly from year to year, but always within the same big park. My friend L had planned out the entire trip and somehow managed to book a hotel within walking distance of the start line. I woke up, nervous but excited for the race, wanting to conserve as much energy as possible. She was going to wait at the hotel and come cheer me on later in the race. I walked over to the park and didn't see the usual crush of runners and lines of Honey Buckets. I did see a few very large tents and thought that perhaps they had changed starting lines again this year and wandered over to the tents. Turns out they were setting up for a carnival and not the race. I started to panic because I wanted to make the early start but didn't know where to go. I screamed at the numerous people milling about asking if anyone knew where the start line was. All I got back were quizzical looks. I am in a full out panic now. I started to head back to the hotel where all the race information was. I didn't have my phone on me and race start was approaching. I didn't want to run and waste energy so I tried to hail a cab, no luck. I finally made it back to the hotel and L wouldn't open the door, she had fallen back asleep and was dead to the world. I pounded until she let me in. This threw her into a panic. We found where the race was supposed to start and it was across town, we hadn't even looked the day before. Uch. I go back down to the front desk to ask the concierge to call me a cab, asap! He told me it was National Cab day and no cabs were operating. Time was running out, but I had some extra time built in because I was only trying to get to the early start, there was still regular start time. But, as I wound my way through the city streets I realized, with the 31 miles that was the race I was now adding an extra 10 miles, at a fast pace too. I realized that maybe I should just call it quits and try another race. No, I was determined..........

Then the alarm woke me! Uch! Did I get to the race? Did I do well? Did I give up? I guess I will never know.

A long long run

2009-01-30T10:18:00.000-08:00

I am a bit crazy and I have decided to train for an ultra marathon (for the un-initiated that is any distance longer than the standard 26.2 mile marathon). Yes, that means a lot of running and a lot of trail running. My race is just next weekend and I have now completed my longest training run and am now officially in the taper phase, I love the taper phase. But, this is the story of my long long long run.

My race is on Orcas Island and has about 7,000 feet of elevation gain and is all on trails. So, naturally I wanted to get some serious hiking/hills in and headed up to Cougar Mountain. There is a distinct possibility that my race course will change if there is snow. In that case there will be two loops of 25k each, which is an entirely different mental game than one long loop. So, preparing for this possibility I decided to do two loops of about 10 miles each on Cougar. Armed with a tiny piece of paper with all the directions of the route, about five Payday candy bars, a bottle of water and a high pitch whistle just in case I started out in the snow. I was so sick of snow at this point that I whined like a little kid, in my head. But, I had to do it.

First loop: first loop started out well, didn't get lost, the snow was actually turning out to be beautiful to run in, saw a few other people out there which was encouraging. The entire loop I kept on thinking about having to do this a second time and a sense of dread came upon me, especially on the uphill sections! I saw some great things on my first loop, I saw two women peeing (not at the same time), a woodpecker, a gorgeous frozen lake and a sweeping view from Anti-Aircraft Peak (don't you love that name). Finally I get to the end of the first loop and with a very deep breath and a Payday I started the second loop.

Second loop: I was already tired. Do you know how hard it is to start out another long loop when you are already tired? Very hard! And, with the added pressure that I wanted to do the second loop faster than my first I started to get tense about 1/3 of the way through, my shoulders started to tense and I actually had to stop and shake myself out a couple of times. Yeah, it didn't work and my second loop was about five minutes slower than the first. I wont bore you with all the painful details. As I rounded the corner to the main road back to my car I pumped my fists and sang the Rocky theme song at the top of my lungs. I was done. I didn't really see much during that second loop, either because nothing interesting presented itself or because I was just looking down in a grimace the entire way, not sure which.

By the time I ran back to my car my body was done, completely. It took me just over five hours to do about 23 miles and the thought of having to do about 10 more miles on race day with more elevation gain really makes me want to cry and I find myself questioning my ability and my sanity.

Then I went to the nearest grocery store and in the parking lot wolfed down a huge thing of mac n cheese from the deli, a bag of Doritos, about a gallon of orange juice and a mocha. Finally, my reward!!!!

Now, my body rests until the big race day, next Saturday. Wish me luck!!!!

Ah!

Another perfect day

2009-01-25T20:15:00.001-08:00

I think I might be luckiest girl alive. I keep on having these perfect days and yesterday was no exception.

I got to sleep in, and that is always a good start to anyone's day, right? I called up a friend to see if he wanted to do breakfast and he did. We went to Cafe Flora, where I had never been for breakfast. Normally, being unemployed and all, I cannot afford Flora, its one of those places reserved for special occasions, when someone else is paying. But, brunch is just as cheap as you find anywhere and about twice as tasty. Good to know! I had the pesto eggs with potatoes and this really yummy slice of sweet bread.

So, with a full belly and about an hour to kill I headed over to Vivace for a gorgeous latte made by a good friend who works there.

But, no time to waste, I had to get to.......yes....that's right.......wait for it......Stars on Ice! My mother and brother bought me two tickets for my birthday and quite frankly I was giddy! My friend came all the way from Portland to experience this event with me (she is just as much a skating geek as I am). Our seats were fantastic and Sasha Cohen and Michael Weiss were there in all their glory. It actually exceeded my expectations and had some real skating and only a little cheese.

The next event happened fast and furious, back up to Capitol Hill to pick up a friend (who had baked cookies, this day just keeps getting better) to go see Speedy Delivery, a film my friend from grad school directed and produced that was being shown at the Seattle Children's Film Festival about Mr. McFeely from Mister Rogers. It was really a great and touching film and my friend was there and so was Mr. McFeely. You should really check it out, especially if you grew up with Mister Rogers.

Another perfect day.

Off to bed to rest up for my long long long run tomorrow. More on that later.

New Day

2009-01-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was my birthday and I always like to do a day of new things on my birthday, this year was no exception.

New President - The day started out before it was actually day break with my friend A picking me up at 6:30am so we could be a part of history. On the front seat sat a big bag of presents, I love my birthday and it started off with a bang. We picked up our other friend L and went to the Paramount and found a rockin parking spot right out front. We didn't think we would get in as the line was literally around 3 blocks but we decided to stick it out and see what happens. Sure enough, we got to the doors and were greeted with a free cookie and samples of coffee. We got great seats amongst thousands of people, all electrified, watching this historic event on a huge screen. As we sat munching our baked goods and drinking our coffee the President Elect was making his way to the mall. People were whooping and hollering, crying and laughing. What an experience. Tired but happy we returned to our rock star parking spot.

New Restaurant - My friend A and I were going to go for a birthday run but decided to skip that and head straight for breakfast, at Dish, a restaurant I had never been to. So good! They even put a birthday candle in my scone and the whole restaurant sang happy birthday to me. What fun!

I then had to get a visit to my dad in and we headed out for a coffee and spoke with my brother who lives in Israel.

New experience - I have this list, some might call it a bucket list, of things I would like to do before I die. One of the things on this list is to shoot a gun. God bless the new president, lets go shoot a gun! Picked up a couple of brave friends and drove over to Wades in Bellevue. So scary! L's brother met us there, L's brother is an ex-military guy who knows a thing or two about guns. I was shaking from the moment I walked in. I used the bathroom, lest I pee my pants when shooting. We signed our life away on the two page disclaimer form and rented our guns and bought our ammo. So scary! We walked into the shooting area and with every gun shot I jumped, which happened about every two seconds. We started off with a small pistol, L's brother's personal pistol. The first shot was thrilling. I got such a rush looking down the range and seeing my own shot being fired. We each took a couple of turns on the little guy and then moved onto the glock 9! Wow, that is a big gun. L's brother showed us how to load it and hold it and shoot it. I was the first one to go. The clip was full with 10 bullets. I fired the first shot and it kicked back way more than I thought it would and the gun flew up over my head. Freaked me and L's brother out who then held my hands for the remaining 9 shots. The guy who worked there gave us a tongue lashing about that and I was done after that. I did not want a birthday tragedy!

New Restaurant for dinner one - We all needed a drink after that experience so we headed back to Seattle and went to Press, a place I have always wanted to try. We ordered wine but then the menu beckoned to us so we ordered, a lot of really really yummy food. And, ate it all. Complete with the server sticking a candle on the table so I could have a birthday candle without the dessert.

We went home for a brief 10 minute snooze.

New Food Experience - Dinner number two - I have never had Ethiopian food before so I booked a reservation at Kokeb and invited everyone. I think we had 17 people and I was treated to an Ethiopian birthday song and was given a robe and crown to wear as I blew out my candle on dessert. I was surrounded with all the people that I love in life and had a great time eating the spongy bread and yummy food.

New Bar - Not done yet. As it got closer to the end of my birthday we headed over to The Garage, for some bowling, although we never really got to the bowling part. We sat down and people started buying me drinks. I am a lightweight and cannot handle much alcohol but these drinks weren't affecting me so much, I think I ate too much all day. I did want to bowl, but didn't want a whole game so I marched up to three cute boys playing a game and told them it was my birthday and I just wanted to bowl one time. They let me, I took off my shoes, took the smallest ball, threw it.....and got a strike! So great! They all looked at me in awe and I walked off!

Just when I was getting sad that the birthday festivities were all over I returned home, exhausted and got my mail, there was a card from my mother. Such a great way to end the new day!

May we all have new experiences, everyday.

Squirrels can fly?

2009-01-21T18:32:00.000-08:00

I learned an interesting lesson today, one which I do not know if I will ever use or need in the future, but a lesson nonetheless.

Squirrels can fly, and not the flying kind of squirrels you see in nature documentaries, but regular city squirrels.

I was sitting at my desk when I heard something right outside my third floor window. A squirrel had managed to climb to my windowsill. I tried to tap on the glass to scare it away but instead it started to make its way to my bedroom, whose window was open. I bolted to the bedroom to shut the window and reached it just as the squirrel arrived. I slammed my window shut and the squirrel leaped. Suicide style. It landed with a thud three floors down, on concrete. It waited there for a second and I immediately had guilt. But, it then scurried off. Unhurt!

Who knew!?

What a difference a friend makes

2009-01-21T13:22:00.000-08:00

I was recently laid off from a certain Seattle theatre and for all of you that have ever experienced unemployment you know that there are good days and bad days. I woke up Monday morning and I knew it was going to be one of those bad days. I had nothing on my calendar to do, after my morning ritual of making myself a coffee and reading all the new job postings I was done with everything I had to do. Now, for those of you employed reading this, you might think, wow, sounds great! Well, sometimes when you have nothing to do and no money to do it with you feel useless.

It was a gorgeous day out and it was also National Day of Service so I thought I would try to find somewhere that needed my help as a volunteer. I tried 17 places and none of them needed any more volunteers. That sunk me further into a funk.

I finally called my best friend who told me to shut up and come over for a cup of coffee.

I drove over and insisted that we walk as I needed my daily dose of vitamin D, a rare occurrence for a Seattle winter. We strolled down Broadway, the sunshine on our backs. We know many of the people at our favorite coffee spot and managed to score two drinks and a bagel for $2. The coffee was poured perfectly and we sat and enjoyed listening to the Israelis sitting next to us.

Our friend joined us for our walk back as we were discussing my upcoming birthday and what they could buy me. I didn't want anything, until we passed by a frozen yogurt place. They could buy me a treat. We went in and asked if they had a birthday special and we managed to get a free yogurt. This day was starting to look up!

We ambled back to my friend's apartment and sat on her deck, in shorts and t-shirts, in the middle of January and sunbathed. Another friend came over and we decided that a trip to the Arboretum was in order. We packed in the car and made our way down the hill.

I have to make a confession - a native Seattleite, a runner and someone who's name means tree, I have to admit that I have never walked through that glorious park. Sure, I had been to the Japanese gardens and driven through but never taken the time to explore that treasure of a park. Our destination was the winter garden but we were stopped on the way by a huge Sequoia that was begging to be hugged. We gathered around and linked arms (and one leg) and just barely managed to get four of us around it.

The sun was streaming through the trees and we sat and we lounged and discussed the nature of trees and peeing standing up. It was magnificent.

All that fresh air was making us hungry and one of us had a Whole Foods gift card. You know we went straight to the hot foods section and sampled our way through the cheeses and soups and bought some snacks to fortify us for the shopping that lay ahead. Now, the friend with the certificate is a food lover, a student of the culinary arts and lover of cool packaging. One would think that such a person would not know how to control their spending when it comes to Whole Foods. After 45 minutes of wandering like lost Jews in the desert she still had nothing. She was grumpy and about to give up when, there, up ahead, at the end cap of an aisle stood a coupon book, of all Seattle stuff, for $20! Elation and celebration!

We sat in the parking lot going through the book, page by page, getting more and more excited about all the fun stuff we were going to get for 20% off when we saw it, the "free tote bag" at the nearby Center for Wooden Boats. Not buy something, get a free tote, just a free tote. We hustled down to the water, the two friends dashed in and came back gleaming with a shiny new blue tote bag. Life is good.

We then collectively decided that we should use yet another coupon at the local Goodwill. Who could beat 20% off an entire purchase? Especially when there are three people buying?

We each managed to buy something, a lamp, two skirts and a dress. Unfortunately the really great 1970's orange and pink housecoat that she tried on didn't make it into the cart!

Exhaustion set in. We went back to my friends house, only to realize that the time was approaching to make an airport run to pick up two of our friends returning from a romantic weekend in San Fran. Off we zoomed.

Pick up - smooth as can be at Seatac.

Hunger again sits in. Drop off the luggage, head over to Broadway again for some food. The food took a really really really really long time to arrive from the kitchen. While we were waiting we got some beverages, one of which was hot tea, served in the most perfect mug I have ever seen. It was glass, the perfect size, the perfect shape, the perfect handle, the perfect little lip to direct the beverage of choice into waiting mouth. Being the good citizens that we are we asked if we could have it, rather than stealing it outright. The server said yes, elation and celebration.

It is late now, and approaching the birthday witching hour, which meant only one thing, cake was in order. We swam our way through the pea soup of the fog to BandO and ordered a lemon chiffon cake that I have been craving for weeks now. Elation, celebration.

The end of the day had come, tuckered out from a glorious day of elation and celebration I drifted off to sleep with visions of the next day full of birthday adventures. What was destined to be a bad day of unemployment and moping turned out just the opposite.

To all who are having a bad day, go seek out your best friends, they will turn your day around.

7 Wierd Things

2007-06-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

One of my friends did this on her blog and I thought it was a great way to get to know someone so here are my top 7 wierd things about myself. Feel free to share yours!

1. I hate joints (The smoking kinds dont bother me!) and the worst are wrists.

2. I still sleep with my blankie and have a hard time if I dont have it with me (I dont travel with it for fear of someone stealing it). When I do have to travel I always take a 'fake' blankie as a substitute.

3. I love looking through the ads in the Sunday newspaper, I dont know why, I never actually go out and buy anything I see, I just like to look.

4. I get really really specific cravings for really specific foods. The worst one to date was a craving for poppy seed danish roll thing. I will go to 15 different stores to find exactly what I want. I will stop at nothing to get whatever it is that I am craving.

5. I love looking into people's houses and apartments. I think I am just fascinated with how different people live. I did pizza delivery for a long time becuase I loved seeing into people's houses.

6. I love, and I mean, love to throw things out. I love to clean out people's clutter and get rid of stuff. One time I sent my friend away and cleaned her house for two days straight, took 3 car loads of crap to the dump.

7. Related to number 6: I love garbage, it fascinates me. I love going to the dump, its one of my favorite activities. I have read numerous books about garbage and waste. I regret not majoring in waste management in college. I love running in my neighborhood on Tuesday cause its recycle day and I get to see everyone's garbage out on the street. Garbage excites me.

7+ I had to throw this in cause it really is weird. For the life of me I cant spell the word "thier", it always comes out wrong, I have tried every trick in the book to remember i before e.....nothing works and I get it wrong every time!

2007-04-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

I went to a great Passover Seder last night at my best friend's parent's house where they recreate the desert Exodus in their living room. They request that everyone contributes something to the Seder. I am a runner who has run a marathon with Team in Training and I modified my marathon story to be adapted for the Passover story. The great thing was I got to wear really comfy running gear. Here is the story that I told:

Sinai Marathon Report
Participant #613

It all started when a friend of mine, Moses told me about this incredible task he was undertaking, something about getting out from under Pharaoh’s regime. He was asking for support from the community. He spoke with Pharaoh and asked if the Jews could leave, but the battle was an uphill battle. But, he was getting somewhere. A year later I figured if Moses of all people could do something about the situation I figured I could as well.
So, here I am, a year later, having never run a single mile, undertaking the biggest task of my life, I was going to run a marathon to support the Jews. I had a mentor (Moses) and a coach (Aaron) and a whole team of people who were training together. The race would be the annual Sinai Marathon.

I pounded the sand for months and months, grueling mile after grueling mile. Finally, race week had come. We were ready! Moses had coordinated so that race day would coincide with “something major” as he put it. Turns out there were these massive plagues that he someone managed to orchestrate. It was incredible, but needless to say, it was a little distracting the week before the big race to have to deal with darkness (do you know how hard it is to run in the dark) and the blood and the locust and the wild boars (man, that was a stench!) This all ended the night before the marathon when God and Moses somehow managed to kill all the front runners, we were assured a good marathon finish time. Boy, was I in for a shock!

The night before the marathon, I was tossing and turning, trying to get just a wink of sleep. But, I was awoken by an urgent Moses who told me that the start time had to be pushed to an earlier time, there was no time for carbo loading he told me, not even time for stretching, I barely had time to use the porto-potties!

I grabbed my unleavened PowerBar (which, believe me, you do not want to taste, they are bad enough when they are nice and fluffy) and started right away. The first few miles were ok, despite the fact that I hadn’t had a chance to eat my normal bowl of oatmeal or had time to stretch my quads. I had learned from Aaron not to start out too fast, he always told us not to get caught up in the excitement of race day. So, I took it slow and ran and even walked a little bit.

The course was tough, not so many hills but man, it was way sandier than I trained for and a lot hotter. There just so happened to be a heat wave that day, not ideal conditions. And, then the course changed a little bit and I was confronted by a huge body of water. I thought to myself, ok, I know this isn’t the Sinai triathlon, what is going on here. We started to get a little panicked when behind us we heard all the Egyptians (apparently, the race rules clearly stated that there was to be no killing of the front runners and they were mad). Right before the angry mob descended upon us the water started to rumble and move. Within minutes this big body of water had split, right down the middle, I had never seen anything like it before! So, we took that as a sign and started running down the course. There were even mile markers set up! Who knew?!

It seemed to be that the miles were taking longer and longer to get through. I was sure that someone had been misplacing those mile markers, I had to have been approaching mile 18 already, my legs were telling me that it was mile 18. But, alas, no mile 18 marker. I didn’t know what was going on.

At this point I need a water stop, my unleavened PowerBar was long gone and I was dying of hunger and thirst. But, none were coming. So, as I am running I am praying for just one water stop maybe with some PowerBars. All of a sudden I look up and there is water flowing from a rock, as I approached Moses was standing beside the rock and told me that he had done this just for us. What a guy! I asked him about the mile markers and he said he had some bad news, this race was going to be a little bit longer than 26.2 miles. He told me that it would actually last about 40 years or so. So that’s why the mile markers were misplaced, it was going to be a long marathon.

I started to lose it at year 30. I just wanted to be done and all I could think of was two things, a chair and pizza. I just wanted to sit down and eat a greasy piece of cheese pizza (fully leavened). I couldn’t stop thinking about all the things I would eat when I was done.

But, 39 years, 364 days and 23 hours later I saw that finish line! I had done it, I had survived the ultimate Sinai Marathon. It turns out that I had come in 324th, not bad considering I never stretched or carbo-loaded. By the time I reached the finish line I was bawling, everything was making me cry, the land, the sky, the tablets that we had gained, all because one person stood up to Pharaoh. And, someone was at the finish line, not with a medal or a free t-shirt but with a huge fluffy bagel and croissant, finally, my leavened bread!!!

I have still been keeping up, even though I no longer have Moses or Aaron or team. I do about 2 years at a time, now 26.2 miles seems like a warm-up! Now I am a mentor and have a whole group of people that I run with and am now raising funds for this really great Temple we are building.

This was taken from my actual marathon report. I trained with Team in Training to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. To donate please go to:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntwaak/tntwaakIBalint

Welcome

2007-04-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hello Plethora of people that will be reading this (meaning, myself and one other probably). I have never blogged before but thought I would start. Why not, lets all jump on the bandwagon!

About me: I am from Seattle, I work at a theatre doing PR, I am a runner (well, sort of) and I love Dave Matthews Band (as you can see from the title of the blog) and I love cheese danish.

More to come. Just wanted to say hi to the world.