The Return of Long Run Saturdays

Since my fall race training started last week, so has the return of long run Saturdays. I got up really early this morning to get it done before the sun decides to roast me like a marshmallow. Let's pretend this is me, except I don't look anything close to this cute or serene in the morning. I basically look like a sleepy nightmare. That' why I'm using this photo.

I drove to the Back Bay hoping that it would be cooler there for my 9-miles but it was still pretty warm at 71 degrees that early in the morning. I don't mind the heat so much but the humidity is just something I am not use to. I started feeling moisture on my arms 5 minutes into the run. By the time I was done around 8am it was already 81 degrees and I was dripping with sweat. I looked like I had walked under a waterfall. Man, that would have been nice. Plus, somehow I decided to take a shortcut which turned into a long-cut that added 2 more miles onto my run. I was just glad that I found my way back onto the main path before it turned my 9 miles into 20. I'm terrible with directions and that could have actually happened.

After my run and a shower, I went to the farmers market to pick up some produce for the week. I am planning on baking a zucchini bread soon. I was hoping to do it this weekend but I could not find any pre-ripen avocados so now I have to wait. Waiting is the hardest part. Also, if you like grapes they are coming into season and they are sweet and juicy. I wanted to take a photo of all the different varieties of grapes that were at the farmers market today but I was sweaty and cranky and got there too late so everyone and their relatives were there and I just wanted out. Maybe next time.

I also picked up these Hydrangeas for M's mom's birthday. I don't know the women at all. She doesn't like anything I get her. She is probably going to hate these.

Lastly, while I was driving to work last week I drove passed a street in Irvine that was taped off and crawling with police vehicles. I knew it was something bad because they never tape off the streets unless there was a death. Apparently, a girl was found dead in the trunk of her car on that street. Officials are saying that it is a suicide but it seems very suspicious to me. I've been following along with the story because I think there is more to it than what they are saying in the media. It is all very sad since she just gave birth a couple of months ago and investigators are saying that postpartum psychosis may have caused her death. This whole thing just reminds me of that girl who was killed at Harvard and then stuffed into the wall of her workplace. I just think there is more to this.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to everyone that comes here to my humble little corner of the internet to share in my shenanigans. I hope you are spending this day surrounded by loved ones, presents, great food, abundant health and joyous laughter! Seasons Greetings!

~Madison

Random Eats

Things have been busy at work lately which is why I haven't been blogging as much. The end of the year has always been a busy time at work for me so expect more delays in my posting. Despite being busy at work I've somehow found time to cook more often. Getting home late most nights always makes me just want to whip up something quick at home rather than go pick something up. So here are some dinners I've thrown together recently. Nothing fancy, just proud that I made myself food.

Crab cake, raspberry and sauteed mushroom salad w/ mixed green salad in a honey balsamic dressing.

Turkey burger with sliced tomato, pickles, guacamole, mayo on sandwich thins. 

Another shot of the turkey burger with the top bun on. I've been eating a lot of these turkey burgers lately. Particularly every night. They are so simple to throw together and easy to take to work for lunches. 

Tom yum noodle soup with chopped napa and baby bok choy, soft boiled egg and cut up turkey burger. That turkey is dominating my life right now. That's what happens when you shop at Costco for turkey burgers.

Tonight's dinner was beef tacos with chopped tomatoes, guacamole and chopped mixed greens (sub in for lettuce)

This was a delicious stew my parents made over the weekend. I died! It was so good!

Another random photo I found on my camera today:  Clif bar was giving away these Peppermint Stick bars to their Twitter followers and I snagged one! Score.

I don't even know what this is about! Puppy time-out?!?

Doggy Dental Care

I recently took Teddy in for a dental cleaning at the vet. I'm talking about some serious deep cleaning here. The kind that required anesthesia. I was so worried! I've heard so many scary stories about putting your pet under for medical procedures. I guess that was one of the reasons I've waited so long to schedule this appointment for him. Looking back, that was very selfish on my part.

I am a believer in maintenance care so I've been taking Teddy to the Gentle Dental lady (anesthesia-free dental cleaning for pets) for a couple of years now. On his last visit, she informed me that she noticed some dental decay and that I should take him in immediately for some deep cleaning. His breathe was terrible. I should have taken that sign more seriously but I didn't because for as long as I can remember, he has always had bad doggy breathe. I just thought that it was just something he had. Turns out that he had a very badly decaying tooth which was the cause of said bad breathe. The vet told me that there was a lot of food debris along with hair/fur logged in the tooth. Basically it was a really bad cavity. My poor baby! He also had a loose tooth that was about to fall out. So during the course of his dental deep cleaning, the vet did two extractions and thoroughly cleaned all the plaque and tarter under his gum line. 

When I went to pick him up at the end of the day, he was still a bit woozy but he was like a new pup. His breathe smelled clean and his teeth were so white. The vet sent me home with some antibiotic drops and some pain killer drops. It's been a couple of days now and he is back to his normal playful self. I am still feeling bad that I had not taken him in sooner and that he had to live with a sore tooth for so long. This sounds silly but I wish that someone would invent a way for pets to communicate. They just suffer in silence.

In an effort to be more diligent with Teddy's dental care, I found this oral hygiene solution at the vet office when I dropped Teddy off for his dental appointment. It is a tasteless and odorless solution that you put a couple of drops of into their water bowl. This solutions helps eliminate breathe odor, deter plaque and tarter buildup. I am also going to start trying to brush his teeth again. He hates it! I don't exactly love it myself but it needs to be done.

Prior to his dental deep cleaning, the Gentle Dental lady recommended this Oral Spray for Teddy which I was using on him at night before he went to bed. I will continue to use this spray, along with brushing a couple times a week and the oral hygiene solution. Don't be like me...take care of your pets' teeth so that they can live a long and happy life.

2011 America's Finest City Half Marathon - Race Recap

Date: August 21, 2011
Location: Balboa Park, San Diego
Start: 7:00am
Finish: 1:51:25 (8:30 pace)







Elevation:

Pre-race commentary: I ran this race back in 2008 as a part of the Triple Crown Series but have not went back since. This year I thought it was about time that I revisited this course. I have very little memory of my experience running there so it will almost be like running a new course. Almost! I think I might be running this again next year but we'll see how it goes this year.

Expo: I headed to the expo on Saturday afternoon at the Sheraton Hotel across from the San Diego Airport. I got there towards the end of the expo but it was still very crowded. Especially the line to get into the parking lot. A steady stream of people continued to head into the expo pavilion even as I was leaving.

This is the pavilion that the expo is held at every year. 

I almost purchased a pair of those knee high socks. 

Race sign-ups...yes please! Just kidding, I didn't sign up for anything. I wanted to!

I went by the Girls on the run booth to say hi to Monika. She is such a personable and friendly person. She was running the 5K the next day, so I wished her good luck and was on my way.

Post race commentary: I have a story and it is almost never good when I have a story to tell about race day. The night before the race, I had set my alarm for a 3am wake up call. Long story short, I had not noticed that it was set to "pm" instead of "am". Early Sunday morning, I woke up in a startled not sure what time it was since my alarm had not gone off. I quickly turned to look out the window to noticed that it was not as dark as it should have been for 3am. I quickly grab my phone only to notice that it was 5:01am and I was suppose to be at the San Diego Zoo parking lot before 6am or I would not make it on the bus in time to be bussed up to the starting line at the historic Cabrillo National Monument. I was filled with panic at this point thinking that I would probably not make it there in time. But I had to try.

Luckily I had set everything out and packed up all the stuff I wanted to take with me to the race the night before. I quickly jumped out of bed, washed up a bit, threw on my clothes and I was out the door in 10 minutes. Also, lucky was the fact that I had mapped out the exact and quickest route to the parking lot since the 163 freeway was closed on that morning and very lucky that I had ran this race before and it has not changed in 34 years, so logistically everything was the same. Again long story short...I made it to the parking lot, found a really good space, ran to the bus line and managed to get on a bus that made it to the starting line before the start of the race. Unfortunately, even though I made it to the starting line, the potta potty lines were extremely long and I was still in one when the race started. Oops!

I ended up being in the very back of the pack and had to make my way up over the course of 3 to 4 miles. It was very congested the first mile out. I ran my slowest mile at mile 1 (okay, not really, it was actually mile 13 when I had to run up that hill but you know what I'm trying to say, right?). It was tiring dodging and weaving and even though I am sore today from running what I felt was a good race, my time was not what I had expected. While I was running, it felt like I was putting in some good effort but my time just does not reflect that. I slowed down a bit towards the end when I realized that I was not going to make it under 1:50.

Mile 1 - 8:44                             Mile 8 - 8:34
Mile 2 - 8:26                             Mile 9 - 8:14                                   
Mile 3 - 8:08                             Mile 10 - 8:13
Mile 4 - 7:50                             Mile 11 - 8:16
Mile 5 - 8:20                             Mile 12 - 8:25
Mile 6 - 8:30                             Mile 13 - 8:53
Mile 7 - 8:37

I don't know why but I feel really disappointed in myself. Maybe it was because I overslept or didn't make my goal time, whatever it was I'm over it now. There will always be another race.

It's funny because I am smiling in this photo but I was really pissed off on the inside at my time. I'm hard on myself but that is what pushes me everyday.

MarathonFoto is amazingly quick! Race photos are already starting to pop up. They rock! MarathonFoto does, not me.

Teddy: I woke up early for this?

Another race in the books! 

Cabbage Patch Kids, Beach and Daniel Tosh!

I've had a thrilling though busy couple of days, can you tell from the title of this post? This past Friday I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get all my errands done in time for my weekend o' fun! I was suppose to go to the birthday of three very special little girls but I had to skip it because there is just not enough weekend sometimes. One of my errands was to pick up gifts for them. Like I was saying, I was running around all day like a crazy person, when I finally got home from work at the end of the day and popped open the trunk to unload my car, I saw this and it made me smile!

Here is what I got them! I hope they like it. When I was little, I always wanted a Cabbage Patch Doll so maybe they will too. 

Another one of my errands was to go to the bookstore to pick out a book for Sister S's baby shower coming up. Everyone was asked to bring their favorite childhood book to the baby shower to help start a library for the baby. The book I got wasn't from my childhood because well my childhood was unusual but I did get a highly rated book and it is cute to boot.

On Saturday morning, instead of my usual long run and farmers market routine, I went out for round two of errand running. Later in the morning, I finally got done and came home, packed up all my stuff, including this guy...and headed out to spend a lovely weekend with my family. There was a lot of traffic heading south, so we were stuck on the freeway for a good 2 hours but we made it. We dropped off all our stuff and continued further down south.

Because I had to come here to pick up my packet for America's Finest City Half Marathon on Sunday. I am working on a race recap that will go up soon. I promise.

I didn't stay long at the expo because well frankly there isn't really that much to stay there for. I did manage to make it back to where I was staying to catch the end of a beautiful sunset.

Something smelled good. The grill was being prepped to cook up dinner! 

Yum, Korean food! 

Then it was game time!

A little later, a bonfire was built, followed shortly by the roasting of marshmallows for smores. Then it was bedtime for me since I had a race the next morning with a very early wake up call. 

After my race, I came back to this lovely breakfast prepared by Sister S and K. Amazingly beautiful! You ladies did a marvelous job.

Meticulous chopped fruit salad maker! ;)

Beautiful mom-to-be pancake maker!

My plate!

Then there was more game playing except now there was poker chips involved. @_@

Before we headed back home, we decided to go out to the beach once more to soak up the sun and sand!

I had round 2 of breakfast as my race appetite finally caught up to me. Could there be anything better than breakfast eaten on the beach? I think not!

I am a lucky girl!

The pup passed out on the car-ride home. He had a very eventful weekend! Zzzzz!

My weekend ended here at the Honda Center where I went to watch comedian Daniel Tosh from some amazing seats. Sorry I don't have any photos of the inside as cameras were not allowed but I had such an incredible time and Tosh is just so funny! And that is my weekend in a nutshell. I hope you all spent your weekends wisely because once again we are back at work! But there is always next weekend, right? ;)