Hasta La Vista, Texas!

Today marks my last Texas trip for work. It's likely I am jinxing myself by saying that, but technically, they have hired a replacement and that should mean my services are no longer necessary. It's also likely this will be my last trip since I will probably refuse to return. I started my Linear Algebra course this week and since that meets twice a week, traveling between offices is no longer feasible. ************************************************************************************* Since I started my traveling in June, I have spent 30 nights in Dallas. Over one month of my life this year was spent away from my home office, my husband and my dog. I know many people travel much more than that, but I am not built that way and am glad to be done. I've learned a few things along the way: ************************************************************************************* * 1. True torture is being close enough to a Chipotle to see it, but unable to partake. Damn the 114 highway and my lack of a rental car. ************************************************************************************* * 2. I don't really like my regular job. I enjoyed the last few months in this office under temporary assignment much more than I have enjoyed my real job in quite some time. Thankfully, grad school is almost upon me. ************************************************************************************* * 3. Women that don't wear makeup and/or highly stylize their hair are FREAKS in the state of Texas. I know that my minimalist approach to beauty was frightening to the other women in the office and I really got a kick out of their horror at my appearance some days. ************************************************************************************* * 4. Black swans are beautiful. The hotel I stayed at most has two black swans living next to their pool area... It's odd and I would visit the swans after each workout and converse with them via whistles... (Some nights were lonely, leave me alone.) ************************************************************************************* * 5. There are at least two Democrats in Texas. I met them both. ************************************************************************************* * 6. Preferred Guest Programs are the bomb when used well. As I type, I am enjoying a free glass of Chardonnay on behalf of the hotel. The free breakfast and chocolate dipped strawberries came earlier. ************************************************************************************* * 7. Texas drivers don’t have any qualms with running down pedestrians, it’s “walker beware” in the Big D. ************************************************************************************* * 8. Dallas Love Airport is awesome. It has a “backdoor” security area that most people don’t know about and you can carry open beers throughout the terminal. ************************************************************************************* * 9. I can pack a carry on suitcase in a way that will boggle most people's minds. While I am not quite a George Clooney's level in "Up in the Air," I am pretty close. Last week when I went through security, the TSA guy said, "Looks like you've done this a few times before." True praise! ************************************************************************************* * 10. The frequent flier miles were nice, the hotel perks and room service made life easier and I avoided my boss for over a month of this year, but none of the good stuff compares to how much I missed seeing Daniel and Riley each evening. I am ready to be home with them.

Haiti & My Nephew

My thoughts are with the people of Haiti tonight. Even more, my thoughts are with my nephew, Josh. He is currently living in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispanola with Haiti. He lives 150 miles away from the quake epicenter. He is fine tonight and didn't experience damage from the quake, but I worry about what life in that area may look like over the coming months as the Haitian people find limited aid from their government. Already that area is racked by poverty and unrest. As people begin fleeing into the Dominican Republic, what does that mean for Josh's safety and security in his last nine months in that country? I suppose I just want to know that he will make it home safe later this year and hopefully still be the same sweet and innocent kid he left as... So, my prayers are with Josh and with those on the island of Hispanola. I hope that aid comes swiftly and that comfort is found.

The Tragedy of our Children’s Inheritance

No, no, I’m not talking about the national deficit, social security, wars, or healthcare. While those are sad for sure, I realized the true travesty of my future children’s life last night as I watched the greatest movie of all time… National Lampoon’s Vacation. [I took quite a bit of liberty in bestowing that title.] I wondered wistfully if my kids would have any idea why that movie is so dang funny. Certainly, they will never take a road trip in a station wagon. (Are those still made?) And when Clark brings up the family trip on the computer, I am sure my kids will say, “What is that prehistoric thing he’s typing on?” My kids will probably plug into their Ipods before we leave the driveway and miss the joys of listening to Mom & Dad sing along to horrible music. ************************************************************************************* Also, it may not seem as funny to them when Cousin Vicky jokes about kissing a teacher or when Clark uses a gun to take over a theme park. Sadly, those things actually happen today and the results are not so funny. Even more ghastly, the hideous white dress shoes Clark wore in the film are actually back in fashion and for sale today at a department store near you. When Clark misses the detour signs and has to go wandering in the desert for hours to find a gas station, I can already hear my kids saying, “Why doesn’t he just call someone on his cell phone?” or “Where’s his GPS?” To console myself, I take small comfort in the fact that Clark’s hubcaps were stolen in St. Louis since that’s one of our possible school locations. Seems like a good sign!!

2009 - A Year In Review

On January 3, 2009, I ran. This was significant since it was the first time I had run, on purpose, in many years. In the year since that time, I have logged nearly 450 miles on these increasingly toned legs. Somewhere in that mileage is my first 5-K, 10-K, Half Marathon and Marathon. Amazingly, I didn't lose a single toenail in those 365 days. I do own four knee braces, have eaten hundreds of "energy jelly beans" and taken one incredibly painful ice bath. I have devoured 12 issues of Runner's World and bought three pairs of running shoes (1st pair: Brooks-a pair I will always remember, 2nd pair: Nike-only wore for running a handful of times due to arch pain, 3rd pair: Brooks-very similar to pair #1, but a half size too large). ************************************************************************************* While 2010 hasn't had the most auspicious running start, (I severly sprained a toe on New Year's Day and it's been purple ever since) I hope to be back out there tomorrow and many days after enjoying everything that running has brought to my life. It started out on a windy day twelve months ago and I am proud to claim at least one new year's resolution kept in 2009. Bring on 2010!

Feel Free to Get Offended...

You have my permission to get offended or take this post personally. I rarely get on my soapbox, but this had to happen. Daniel (my husband) recently told me what his co-worker named her new born baby boy...Vaden. This is one of the many times I have heard of someone taking a name I really like, Aiden, adding a letter to the front and pretending the result is a human name. Name your dogs what you want, but these are people, people! Tonight, I saw a story about the top baby names of the decade. Normally, my husband's name is a winner. Reliably top 25. This year, he dropped to 28. Aiden is #1. I then saw #11, Caden. I said to my husband, "Let's play a game and see how many fake-Aidens beat you." The result, three. In addition to Caden, we have Jaden (#14) and Brayden (#22). On the positive side, only one name in the girl's top fifty had gratuitous use of the letter "e" in the name.

Another PR

Tonight we ran the Albuquerque Farolito 5k. For those of you not versed in your hispanic holiday traditions (or terms), a Farolito is a luminary or more simply, a sack of sand with a candle in it. It was actually pretty neat as I don't ever intend to run after dark, but I will make exceptions when the course is candle-lit. The thing about a 5k versus the longer distances we have run lately are the appearance of gangs of children. Since 3.1 miles is totally doable for kids, you constantly here the thundering of feet approaching to overtake you and possibly trip you, if you're super lucky. Despite the packs of stray dogs (sorry, I meant kids)and a pitch black section over uneven terrain, I finished in 33:25, beating my previous record by over two minutes. I felt pretty strong through the whole run and enjoyed the holiday theme. ************************************************************************************* Honestly, the encouragement was much needed. I didn't run in DC last weekend or at all this week. I was in DC for a conference and have been working on my grad school applications with each waking, non-working, moment. At this point, I am seriously considering running the half-marathon in January since it seems completely unlikely that I will be ready for the marathon. I hate to think about dropping down, but don't quite see the point in running horribly in an event I am not ready for. We are five weeks away and I don't think I can get to where I'd need to be to run 26.2 miles in one go. Time will tell, although time is running short...

Not a Good Idea

Maybe it's just a phase, but if you asked me today, I would tell you I will never consider running a marathon in January again. It requires a certain toughness to run on a normal day. Today, the high was 30 degrees. It was dark by 5pm. With the wind chill, it was 10 degrees at 6pm. Needless to say, I crapped out on my run. Does it count that I drove my route in search of LED Christmas Lights? The rest of December looks about the same. I peak on my mileage during Christmas week. We'll be in Colorado, surrounded by snow, trying to run a 20-miler. Good luck with that. My parents have a treadmill, I guess I could try 20 miles on that. (Kill me now.) ************************************************************************************* This weekend, we head to DC. I need to run 12 miles this weekend to feel even remotely on track for January's Rock & Roll Marathon. I am hoping the interesting sights of the nation's capital will keep me distracted. Hell, it's 50 degrees there right now, that should help. ************************************************************************************* Last week, I ran a 10K in Mesa, AZ for Thanksgiving. I really wanted to finish in 68:30. If you are trying to set a PR, I don't recommend drinking a bottle of wine and getting five hours sleep the night before. Through mile 4, I was on track with my pace. During mile 5, the heat started to kick my ass, as did the dehydration. (Clearly I am difficult to please since I complain about it being too cold above and now too hot.) I ultimately finished in 70:09. I was frustrated with my time until I realized I beat my previous PR by over 3 minutes. While I am still slower than I would like, I feel myself getting stronger and I don't quit as easily as I did when I started running in January. I guess I will take those improvements and work for 68:30 next time!