Monkeying Around



Of course today's font has to be green. It's spring! Spring, and I spent the early morning today monkeying around. I did my longest run since the LA Marathon (three weeks ago) and it took me out the Berkeley Pier, east to West Berkeley (think about that) and then up to the 'hood, where I monkeyed around until I hit the 8-mile mark.

To back up a moment here, yes, I did run/walk the LA Marathon. There was some build-up to the event in this blog, I know, about my excitement and apprehension, but post-marathon lethargy has kept me from posting about it yet. I can tell you, the actual day was wonderful. Both my boys and their families supported me above and beyond the call of filial duty. 

 The course was packed with enthusiastic spectators--bands! DJs! cheerleaders! adorable children! handsome cops!--and the weather was decent, although really warmer than ideal. I felt that my training served me well. I stayed hydrated and sufficiently fueled, and never really bonked the way I did at both CIM and Oakland in recent years. 

 My only regret is that my time was so slow. Blame it on the heat. Blame it on the line at the porta-potty at mile 10. Blame it on my desire to walk a mile with both my grandchildren and my beautiful daughters-in-law. Whatever. The result was my slowest marathon ever. I swore it was my last, but OF COURSE now I'm thinking, just one more, where I actually do everything I did in preparation for this one but also just move more consistently (and faster).

 Yikes. This post was supposed to be about monkeying around on my run this morning. But here I am, still under the influence of endorphins, telling you what's really on my mind. Transparency in blogging? What's next? Transparency in government? Kidding.

 At any rate, I'm so glad I ran LA (thanks, Kathryn), so glad it is spring. May your running/walking/swimming/biking/napping bring you joy today!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trying to Make Lemonade

Image
What am I meant to learn from the challenges being thrown at me these days? That I am strong. That I am loved. That life goes on and can be good. My favorite nephew congratulated me for making lemonade when I'd been handed lemons--not sure his belief about me is justified, but I deeply appreciate the notion. Plus, I have an actual lemon tree in front of the house, so I've been practicing my tangy-beverage making. My ribs have healed up well. I'd say I'm at about 95%. I'm glad my minor medical matter is clearing up so I can turn my energy to a more major one: Z is scheduled for big-time surgery on March 31. He is calm; I am calm. Aaaaaaack! Oops, I meant of course I'm serene. The procedure he faces, which involves patching up some crucial circulatory parts, is a common one, and the success rate is high. But still. Send good vibes our way, if you'd be so kind. In other matters, I did run 10 miles Saturday. The run itself went well--I went down to the Bay Trai
Read more

By the Numbers

Image
10.62 -- Number of miles run (per MapMyRun) 16 -- Number of Miniwheat biscuits consumed for pre-run breakfast 3 -- Number of red lights waited for 159 -- Number of days since hip injury 5.5 -- Number of backyards along trail being eaten alive by morning glories 2 -- Number of couples arguing as they walked along 1 -- Number of chocolate Clif Shots slurped on run 12 -- Number of dogs being walked 4 -- Number of songs playing in my head at various times 10 -- Number on a scale of 1 to 10 representing my happiness over being healed
Read more

Where's Elizabeth West?

Image
Elizabeth will be back someday, perhaps as the author of a best-selling novel. As part of a New Year's campaign to be more accountable, I've decided to abandon my nom de guerre for the purposes of this blog. Yep, Elaine is me--now you have the Full Monty . To borrow from Stephen Colbert , may this be the beginning of many posts of truthiness. As your reward for reading this post, here is the special gift of an image I captured today from one of my favorite webcams . Note that in the image the time is 9:13 am. I believe I've posted a Chita image previously (maybe a couple of years ago?) but I wanted to do it again. Chita is in Siberia. Chita is always cold and usually dark. Its citizens, who carry on their daily lives as if they are living someplace reasonable, are for me the embodiment of courage, so I love watching them lurch around as the camera updates the scene every eight seconds. As you enjoy our current chilly weather, just realize that if a Chita native came here t
Read more