According to Berni

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head…

We were soaked before the race even started… but we got lucky!!  The rain stopped right before the horn blew and we were able to run with no rain.  Hoorah!

The drive to the race this morning was in torrential downpour and slow…   I still had to pick up my bib and chip so I jumped out of the car at the gate and my daughter parked… but in my rush I didn’t grab my bag which meant I ran without  my essentials

• NO iPod
• NO Garmin
• NO hankie
• NO gloves

so on top of being wet I was without music and time, had a runny nose and cold hands….

Let’s run!!!

About 1/4 of the way into the course there was a river puddle we had to cross that was halfway up my calf…  we were certainly NOT coming out of this dry!  I had high hopes of a PR with this race, the course is completely flat and wide, but sadly none of us had a PR today, I ran my worse times yet.  Bummer.

Oh well, it was certainly fun and I was extremely happy to have all 3 of the kiddos there watching,  they were good sports for getting up at the butt crack-o-dawn in the rain to stand around waiting for me to cross the finish line….

I LOVE THOSE KIDS!!

A hot shower, cup of tea and a DVD player… are all on the agenda for the rest of today…

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Stay dry!

xoxo

65 kids

4 teachers

2 parents (one of those being ME)

1 school bus

No matter which way you do the math, I was outnumbered…

Yesterday Makenna’s class, along with another class took a field trip to the San Juan Capistrano Mission.  I was invited to come along and enjoyed every minute of it.

The mission is a beautiful place to visit and the minute I got there I was so bummed that all I had was my point and shoot camera!  I wished I had brought my Big Girl camera, I would have been in heaven!

We saw beautiful brick and adobe buildings…

an herb garden…

bells…

we made adobe bricks that we brought home… (yay for cow dung!!)

I don’t know about you but I could look at and photograph old buildings all day long…something about them I love!

Tomorrow I have a 5k and according to Mr. Weatherman we are supposed to get some rain… hopefully it will make me run faster!!   I would love nothing more than to hit my 30 min goal tomorrow!!   It’s been a rough week and I could use some motivation!

Have a great weekend my friends!!

xoxo

Raise your hands in the air like ya just don’t care!!

Who would have ever dreamed that a little old blog could have created such a wonderful friendship??

Certainly not me… but I just had THE BEST WEEKEND!!!

Cindy and her hubs invited me out for a visit and the term EAT, DRINK and Be Merry was a perfect description of our visit.

We ate cheese fondue with veggies and bread and chocolate fondue with fresh fruit.  We drank wine and whatever else her doting hubs put in front of us… some of which looked like this

and we were most certainly drunk MERRY… have you ever seen happier girls??

It’s funny to think that we have only known each other a short time because I feel as if I’ve known them forever.  The 3 of us sat and talked for hours and hours and it was 2:30 before we ever thought we should stop gabbing and get some sleep.   We snacked so much we never wanted dinner and were drinking Lattes at midnight with no regards to responsibilities or bedtimes.   Cindy had a room prepared for me with chocolates and spa like touches all over, I felt like I was in a 5 star resort.   We started this morning with coffee, the BEST banana pancakes I have ever eaten, fresh juice and some more chit chat by the fire.   It was noon before I could tear myself away from them and made my drive home.

My new best friend JJ ate Elmo cupcakes and kept us entertained all evening… the screeching chicken never reared his head and he was the perfect little gentleman!!   I could listen to that boy say my name all day, it sounds like he is saying “Birdie” when he says Berni and is so sweet I could eat him up!

Friendship is so important and it’s not often we are lucky enough to make REAL friends who are genuine, caring and accepting, later in life.   We had a funny conversation last night about MOVIES of all things….   it turns out Cindy and hubs love them some movies.   I on the other hand will avoid having to sit still for any length of time and would rather do anything than watch a movie… turns out they still love me…even if I have never seen Pirates of the Carribean or Star Wars…  we had a good laugh over that one.

We parted ways and made plans to get together again soon….

xoxo

TGIF- this could mean any number of things…  the most common being Thank God it’s Friday.  Today I lend new meaning to it.

This Girl is Fast.

Honestly, I’m laughing as I type this….please play along.   Just to clarify the term Fast is being used loosely here and I am in no way comparing myself to any other runner…. because these legs may NEVER see a 9 minute mile.  But compared to what I have been running, today I was FAST!

What a day!!

I had clear plans to run today but after getting up and seeing gloom out my windows I quickly started talking myself out of it…

But then when I mentioned my lack of motivation to my friend Cindy she was not going to let that happen!  She said “get out and run, enjoy the fresh air, you know you’ll feel better if you do”.   Truer words could not have been spoken.

Off I went.  I didn’t plan on running FAST today but after a .25 mile warm up,  once I started running I took off quicker than normal and it felt good.  I decided then that I was going to run 3.1 as quickly as I could.  It took almost a mile to get my breathing rhythm down and by mile 2 I was starting to feel myself slow down.  Remembering something Shari posted about the other day, I decided to walk for 1 minute (exactly) after mile 2 and when I started running again I did feel my speed again.  Before today my fastest 5k time was 32:16 and having set a goal this year to run a 5k in under 30 minutes I really pushed hard.  My time today??   31:45!!   I’ll take it!   There may or may not have been thoughts of dry heaving at the end of todays 3.1 but regardless I felt good!!

Ahhhhhhhhh   there is just nothing better than a good run in the crisp cool air!   Or a refreshing glass of homemade juice to quench your thirst afterward!!

romaine, apple and lemon- Mmmm good!

Well friends, I am so very excited to see my friend Cindy this weekend, her and hubs have graciously invited me out for some girlfriend therapy that will most likely include cheese, chocolate and wine!!    I’m so excited I want to go to bed now just so tomorrow will get here!!

Any fun plans for the weekend???

Tell me, tell me do!

xoxo

No… not the H1N1 bug.

The Half Marathon bug!!!

You may not know this about me but I’m kinda an “all or nothing” kind of person…  I tend to find new things and jump in with both feet and obsess about them.   Until I get bored and then I just walk away….

Well, after running the Surf City Half Marathon a couple weeks ago, I cannot stop thinking about doing another one.   I think the Half could quite possibly be my favorite race distance so far!   Sister and I have agreed to do the Long Beach ICB on October 17th but geez that is 241 days away according to their website!!    I don’t think I can wait that long.

I threw out the idea of running the OC Half on May 2nd, which gives us roughly 10 weeks to train and since we aren’t really starting from scratch I figure NO SWEAT.

Sister says “maybe, let me think about it.”

That means “no” in sister language…. the thing about sister is she is completely incapable of saying NO so she says ‘we’ll see’ or ‘maybe’  but never NO.    I’m ok with that.

I figure we don’t really run together anyway (as in side by side) so if I have to do it alone then I’m willing to do that.  And I also know her well enough to know that once I commit, she won’t want to miss out and she’ll jump onto my bandwagon as she has for the past 41 years!

The only thing holding me back is the $70 registration fee….  when your not working that could mean the difference in eating or not eating and at least for now I guess the responsible thing would be to feed these kiddos…  BUT,  there is a birthday coming up in a few weeks (mine!!!) and I’m not above directing my kids on how to spend their money so Happy Birthday to ME!!!

It looks like I’m going to be running the OC Half Marathon after all…..

Wooooooo Ha!!!!!!!

This story could have been told differently…   I could put up a post about how awesome the 60 mile Tour de Palm Springs ride went…. leaving out details and painting a nice pretty picture.

But since I’m all for keepin’ in real I’m going to give you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…

I didn’t finish the ride.

The weather could not have been any better if I would have special ordered it and I had the best day regardless of the outcome!!

The day started out not so bright and early…5:00am we headed out in the dark to the start line where we parked and had breakfast.   Our start was at 8:00am and I heard the announcement saying there was 10,000 riders this year!!  Wowie!!    Nothing like a long bike ride with 10,000 of your closest friends!

We conquered the hills in the first 10 miles with no problem.  At the first SAG stop (mile 18) I was still feeling strong.  Then somewhere around mile 25 the lactic acid in my legs was getting pretty bad.  My sit bones were also screaming….  something about the new seat they were sitting on, they were not getting along!   Great…..

The second SAG stop was at mile 32 and it was there I decided it wasn’t fun anymore and I informed sister that I would probably not make it the 60 miles… but she was still feeling really good so she was not going to hop the shuttle with me.   I thought I could make it to the next stop so we headed out…   these next 12 miles were all about survival and I seriously was in pain.   I stopped every 4-5 miles and by the time I got to the shuttle I thought I’d either cry or throw up!!

I jumped on that shuttle and was never happier to be off my bike.   It took about 45 min before we arrived at the finish line… and by then my legs were starting to calm down.   I made it there to see sister cross the finish line and was never more proud of that girl!

Looking back there are probably a few reasons I was not able to finish,  none of them alone would have done it but all of them together spelled trouble.

• The longest ride on the new bike before this was 30 miles…
• I had not been on the bike since my trip to Vermont which was early October!!!   (what was I thinking??)
• I got horrible sleep the night before the ride…
• I had just ran a Half Marathon 6 days prior.
• my pre-ride dinner was not very carb heavy

all in all, I had done the ride before and after just coming off of my Half Marathon high I was just out there for fun which is why I decided that when it stopped being fun I was tapping out….

Here are some pictures of day in the sun!!

xoxo

It’s funny how much these two completely different things have in common…but having experienced BOTH I couldn’t help but compare the two.

Childbirth and running a half marathon.

Training for my half was like pregnancy.  It was very exciting in the first few weeks, it then became routine and eventually I just wanted it to be over with!

The actual running of the half was alot like labor.  In the first few miles I was feeling good and extremely confident that I was prepared to conquer this thing.  At about the halfway point I started getting a bit tired and pains here and there were starting to peek their evil head.  Then in the last couple miles I gave it all I had to just be done with it already.

Crossing the finish line is like the delivery.  One of the proudest moments of my entire life.  Nothing can compare to the joy you feel but you are pretty sure you don’t want to do that again.

Once it’s all over and you’ve had a day or two to recover…… you find yourself thinking “That wasn’t so bad, I want to do that again!”

Crazy women we are!!!

This weekend I will be riding in the Tour de Palm Springs for the 3rd year in a row.   It is a Century and a Metric Century ride thru the beautiful Southern California desert surrounding Palm Springs.  The very 1st year we did the Metric and had amazing weather.  The 2nd year we did 73 out of 100 miles and had the coldest HARDEST wind I’ve ever seen in my life~!  This year we decided that because we just ran a Half last weekend we should probably do the Metric again and that’s what we will be doing … 60 miles of bliss!!!    Cycling is my first love and I am SO excited to be back in the saddle tomorrow!!   We are supposed to have great weather in the low 80’s!

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL weekend and a Happy Valentines Day!!

xoxo

Whew….   what a feeling!!

The day started out bright and early, I stayed the night at my sisters house (all the kids stayed at my house) and we were able to get a good night sleep and an early start without having to do the Kiddie shuffle….

We had to park about 3 miles from the start line and take a shuttle over- there were ALOT of people there!  But we made it and were off and running!

I had doubled up on shirts, short sleeve with a long sleeve over it because it was COLD!!!  So at about mile 2.5 I was warm and I took off my long sleeve shirt and tied it around my waist.   At mile 3 ish I realized the dates I had in the little pocket on my water bottle were GONE!!    Oh NOOOOOOOOOO, not my dates!!   I think they fell out when I was doing my presto change-O while running….   my plan was to eat a couple of them at the half way mark.

I felt best from mile 3 to mile 9, I found a good rhythm and held a good pace and was feeling really good.  At mile 8 we turned back onto Pacific Coast Hwy and ran the last 5 miles along the coast.  It was a beautiful day, blue skies and cool air.  The sun was in our eyes at this point but it was an awesome way to finish the race.  Mile 9 is where I started to feel the blister forming on my 2nd toe on my right foot.   By mile 11 it was getting really big and I could feel it squish with every step.  I kept wondering if it would pop and offer some relief or major pain but I kept putting one foot in front of the other and was never happier to see a finish line in my life!!!

I had my nephews Flip video camera with me and made this video… I apologize for the un-steady hand but I wasn’t about to stop and video along the way so I did it while running…   the quality isn’t great after I transferred to Youtube but at least you can see how much fun I was having!!

Surf City Half Marathon

We did it!!!!

and look at the adorable finisher medal we got!

I couldn’t be happier with the whole experience!!!  It was an awesome first Half Marathon!    I was pretty sore for the rest of the day and am a bit better today but still sore.   We are already making plans to do another one, probably in the fall!!

Thank you all for showing me soooo much support and love!!   I had every one of you in my mind along that course and just knowing that you were all cheering me on was enough to keep me going…every step of the way!!

xoxo

Well I did it!!!

I ran my very 1st Half Marathon!!!

What an amazing acomplishment,  I cannot tell you how amazing it feels to know I ran, I ran well and crossed that finish line with a BIG smile on my face.   I couldn’t have done it without all the support of my bloggie friends, that’s for certain.  The kind words and cheering section you all provided was what kept me putting one foot in front of the other for parts of todays race.

I finished in 2:33  I had set a goal of 2:30 and came ‘this close’ to making that goal.  I really thought that I made my goal when I crossed the line, my garmin time was 2:34 but I forgot to stop it for a bit and chugged a bottle of water.  Oh well, I’m happy with the 2:33 time and will most certainly take it.

I have some pictures and videos to post and will do that later today or tomorrow with a complete race report…for now I have a blister that needs tending to and I feel the need for a nap!!

xoxo

SURF CITY HALF MARATHON here I come!!!

The weekend has finally arrived.  You know the one.  It’s the weekend I will be running my very 1st Half Marathon!!!

Eeeeeeeeeeeek!

I’m not afraid of alot but one thing I do fear is the UNKNOWN.  Which would explain the butterflies that feel like they are trying to tear their way out of my stomach!  I keep telling myself that “I CAN DO THIS” and really I know that I can but I’m still nervous.

Sorry for the randomness of this post but I am having a hard time focusing on anything other than Sunday right now and I just wanted to share a few things…

After 15 weeks of training and even more time mentally preparing, I have done two 10 mile runs.  One felt great, one not so much.   Looking back at the training I think it was an OK plan, but I have already been thinking of ways to tweak it a bit to get more out of it.

Yep you guessed it, there WILL be another one.  I kind of have that mentality of “if one is good, two is better”  so sometime around the Fall I will plan for another Half.

My sister and I run on the riverbed trail every Sunday morning for our long runs.  Every Sunday we see this woman running, we see her on our return trip so she is always running toward us and we always say HI.   Last weekend I asked her as we ran by if she would be at Surf City and she said YES.   I wonder if we’ll see her there…  I just found it interesting, like ‘running’ is the ’shoelace’ that ties us all together.

Tapering is hard mentally,  I find that I have the urge to go out and run or I’ll lose all that I’ve built up.  I know that is not true but not running the week before a big event is as hard as I’ve heard it to be.   I ran my last run yesterday, an easy peasy 2.5 miles.  Then I came home and whipped up some juice!!

An interesting thing I learned while training for this (from Thrive of course!) is that immediately after a hard workout you need to replace the Glycogen stores in your muscles.   I always thought that I needed protein immediately after a hard workout, it turns out that should come a bit later.  According to Thrive,  immediately following a workout, the best snack is one that contains Simple Carbohydrates with no fats, not even good fats.  This will allow you to replace the glycogen in your muscles so that it will be readily available for your next workout.   The nutrient rich meal that would include protein should follow about an hour later.

Carrot, Romaine, Beet & Apple   Mmmmm good!!

Have a wonderful weekend my friends, watching football, getting massages, going wine tasting, running 10 miles, whatever it is YOU will be doing this weekend… just know that you will all be with me at the beach as I run my first Half.  Thank you for all of the encouragement and kind words.

xoxo