Congratulations Grads!

This morning on our run, it occurred to me that we all had children graduate this year. Marathon Mom saw her second son leave middle school, C watched twin daughters graduate from high school, our friend Mary watched her daughter move on from middle school, and I watched my third son graduate from college. A couple of the graduates joined us on our run today, and I have to say, I really like the energy we get from having a bigger group of people. Also having the younger ones with us, keeps our pace pretty respectable even if we don't keep up with them the whole way. We started to run our loop behind the car dealers and the baseball field, but were turned away at the trail entrance on Valencia, because of a Police Olympic bike time trial. We had been out for 2 miles so we just turned around and headed back to Bridgeport Park where we started from. We all agreed that we don't like that loop anyway, and the mess under the freeway overpass just confirmed that feeling. We finished our 4 miles in 9.2 pace, which made all the inconvenience seem like it was not so bad after all. Getting back to the graduations, I have been thinking about how hard it was to leave my son in San Diego, a new college grad with his whole life ahead of him, and no real idea of what he is going to do. When I left him 4 yrs. ago I knew that even though he was away, he was going to school, it was hard to leave him then, and just as hard the other day. Who knows maybe he will come home again, and that is good too. I am not sure what he learned in his classes these past 4 yrs, a lot I hope, but I do know some things he learned while he was away from home. He learned to iron, cook (quiche, cookies), rent an apartment, wait for the cable guy (over and over), take the bus & train, find a job, pick out a tie, find the casino, grocery shop, buy fruit, wash clothes, buy cards and gifts for his family, and many more things that don't come to mind right now. I am amazed at how our babies grow up so fast, and it makes my eyes water when I think about how proud I am, and I know my friends feel the same way about their graduates! I have to say I am very proud of the fact that mine seems to have learned to like running!

More the Mary-er

This morning we were joined by our friend Mary. We haven't seen in her in a while and it was nice to have her join us once again. Me, Patty, C, and Mary struck out from Cheese Park on the paseos toward Helmers and down toward the bridge crossing McBean. From there we entered the river trail back up towards Cheese Park. The entire loop was 4.0 miles and we ran it under 10 minute miles, which is respectable considering the hilly terrain. I did panic a bit when we were almost back at the park and saw construction workers along our dirt trail by the power lines. I was afraid that this road was also closed and we would have to turn and go back another way like we did the other day. It seems we all had a rather busy weekend so it was good to be able to get this run in.

Exercise and Aging

I was looking back at some old photos of me, my husband, and some of our friends and that got me thinking about the aging process. Why is it that some people age well and some not so well? I'm sure many of you have come across old friends and acquaintances that you haven't seen in a few years and thought "wow, they really don't look so good" or "wow, they look great!". I'm sure a lot of it is just good genes, but I think it also has to do with how active people are in their daily lives. I've always felt that it's the increased blood flow and oxygen to your cells, which helps keep you looking younger. According a recent study, exercise actually changes the makeup of your cells and increases the life of those cells. Below is the link to that article.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/28/AR2008012801873.html


And if you want to know your fitness age, take this test from the MORE Magazine website. Based on simple fitness tests that you do, it tells you how old you are in fitness years.

http://www.more.com/2027/4792-how-fit-are-you--take#1

An Unexpected Detour

There is nothing more deflating than running all the way somewhere and thinking you are almost done when you see the road is closed and you have to turn and go back the other way. That is what happened to me, Patty and C on our run today. We started out from Peet's and ran up the east side of the river trail to Copperhill to the other side of the river and down toward the train bridge. C was feeling really good so she stuck it out with us and decided to go longer. When we got to the train bridge at mile 7, the entrance was completely fenced off and men with a huge crane were trying to lift a heavy piece of metal drum into some round well. We tried several times to get their attention to see if they would allow us to go around and pass, but they completely ignored us even with Patty just in her sports bra and her top off. Finally C was able to get one of their attention (I suggested that we flash them and then maybe they would look our way), but they still wouldn't let us pass. So. . . . we had to turn around and go back the way we came from. We even debated on trying to cross the riverbed, but it looked too thick and creepy down there. Sure there were road closed signs, but they had been there for the last 3 weeks and we were still able to cross. As it turns out, it really wasn't that much further going back another way, perhaps 1/4 mile more than had we actually crossed the train bridge. All in all, we all did fine and are now ready for two days off and Patty can enjoy her son's graduation!

A Bit of Sun Please

When I got ready to go run this morning, there was a little bit of blue sky showing and I felt encouraged that we may see some sunshine today. Unfortunately as we got further into our run at Central Park, the clouds thickened and the sun was nowhere to be seen. I now know I could not live in the Pacific Northwest. Today we had a larger than normal group, which consisted of myself, Patty, C, C's two daughters, and "See N Sun". It felt like we were running faster than our usual pace, and we attributed it to the younger runners in our group today. Central Park is okay to run at if you're wanting a shorter run, but what it really lacks is a coffee shop. I'm looking forward to tomorrow at Peet's.

Summer Running

This morning was our first official run of Summer Vacation! We are all off for the summer break, or in my case, until Summer School starts. Marathon Mom, C, and I ,met our teacher friend "M" at Lowe's this morning to kick of our summer running. We all look forward to the summer and to being able to run in the cool of the morning, instead of the heat of the afternoon. This morning was especially cool, as June gloom is in full swing and seems to be lasting for the entire day. As far as running goes, there is not much we can complain about, except maybe that it is a bit humid. We all started off with jackets, but soon peeled them off and had to run with them around our waists for the rest of the run, (lesson of the day, don't wear a jacket unless there is frost on the ground!). I could tell when we started that our pace was a bit faster than usual, and I am sure it has to do with our new friend, who is not only younger than we are, but as I have mentioned before, used to run competitively in High School. Marathon Mom kept that pace going and we managed 4.25 miles at a very respectable 9:15 pace. I felt like I was just trying to keep up today but the legs were pretty fresh, even after a short 3 miler with C last night. The best part was getting to sit at Starbucks afterward and chat, catch up, and plan our next run. I hope my friends won't get so comfortable with these morning runs that they won't occasionally run in the afternoon with me when I am working!

A Family Affair

Today I dragged my husband and son out on the trail with me. I'm sure they can't wait for Patty to get back from her trip so I would leave them alone. My husband ran with me while our younger son rode his bike. We ran to the San Francisquito River trail from our house and down to the old train bridge and back up the east side of the river trail toward Copperhill, back to our house for just over 8 miles. I have to say I'm not crazy about this route because it its torturous to have to run by Peet's Coffee and not stop for a cup. My legs were a bit tired today so I could have used the caffeine. As we finished, I commented to my husband about this run being the furthest that he's run in a long time. He surprised me by telling me that it was the longest run since high school! I guess you learn something new even after almost 21 years of marriage.

Commencement

When I was younger, I often wondered why graduation ceremonies were often called commencement ceremonies, but now the term seems to fit. When one chapter ends in your life, another one begins, and as one door closes, another opens. As someone who works in the education field, it has been an extremely stressful week with people coming and going, teachers losing their jobs, and others being transferred. It is sad to see some of my new friends leave, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to get to know them. As today's quote states, we all graduate everyday. My youngest son graduated from junior high this week and will begin high school in the fall. How did he grow up so fast?

On my first official day off for the summer, I had plans to go running in the morning with "C", but she was not feeling well and had to cancel. I hope to get another run in by this Sunday since Patty texted me from Palm Springs saying she got to run this morning :(

Happy National Running Day!

Even though today is National Running Day, I almost didn't run. It's been one of those weeks when you forget what day it is and your normal schedule is all out of wack. My friends and I had plans to run in the afternoon, but then I had to cancel on them thinking that I had to take my son somewhere at 4:30. As soon as I dropped him off at 4:30 and drove around the corner, I realized that his appointment time was actually 6:30! I called to let him know, but they had an earlier time open for him and it actually worked out okay. Uugghhh!

I was feeling really tired, but I dragged myself and my husband on a run from home to our hilly paseo route for 3.25 miles. Boy was I dragging! I'm glad I did go out because I ran into someone I work with who also happened to be running. I've been trying to talk her into joining us and training for the marathon with us. Just like me, she hears her biological clock ticking and feels that she better do it soon 'cause we're not getting any younger.

On a funny note, my husband was so happy with himself for running "9" miles so far this week. Unfortunately I had to break it to him that we start all over on Monday so the 6 miles we ran on Sunday doesn't count toward this week's total.

I hope you were all able to go out for a run today on National Running Day, no matter how short. Patty sent me this link to Deena Kastor's perspectives on running that I really enjoyed. I found it inspirational and hope you do too.

http://www.deenakastor.com/

M.O.R.E. Monday

I know it's not a very original or particularly catchy title but it's all I've got. I met Marathon Mom, and C at Cheesepark for a 4 miler to Heritage Park and back. The weather was mild, but humid and it made my mouth feel like the desert. I haven't run since last Thurs. so I wasn't sore, I did spend the day yesterday, walking all over San Diego, but since my 77 yr. old mother-in-law did also, I don't feel I can in any way complain. Marathon Mom ran 6 miles with her hubby, and he was so inspired by running with her that he is thinking about blogging about it. I have a similar effect on my hubby! Since Marathon Mom did not share with us the pace we kept, I have to assume that it was nothing to brag about, so I won't. All I will say is, that it was nice to be home running with my friends, and even though I am looking forward to the coming weekend with my non-running friends I want to get in as much time with the M.O.R.E. girls as I can before I go. We are going to try it again on Wed. Do you think they will take the weekend off while I am gone? I would like to think they would in solidarity, but I know better.