Pura Vida!

Lo hice bien a casa de Costa Rica después de tener unas maravillosas vacaciones allí con mi hermana. Teníamos un tiempo de diversión explorando el campo, comiendo el alimento, y vinculación.

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I took a week off from running to explore the Costa Rican countryside with my little sister, Anna. We had a blast! Anna and I have spent everything Thanksgiving together since I moved to California; it's our tradition now and we really look forward to it. Next year, we're thinking about taking a Mexican cruise. Anyway, I obviously didn't get any runs in (although I did see other tourists out running in some of the small towns and I talked to one local waiter who asked me how much MP3 players are at pawn shops in the US because his broke and they are expensive in Costa Rica), but I still did get some exercise walking, hiking, zip-lining, and swimming.

If you know me, then you know I love to go hiking. I especially love hiking uphill. It's all about the challenge! We didn't climb any mountains in Costa Rica, but we did forge through some pretty rough and wet terrain:

One of the most fun things that we did on the trip was go on a zip-line canopy tour. I highly recommend it. The zip lines were fun, the rappel was pretty cool, and the Tarzan swing was wicked, to say the least.

After all of our adventures in San Jose, Arenal Volcano, Monteverde, and all the horrible roads in between, we ended up on the Pacific coast at Manual Antonio where we relaxed on the white sands and went swimming in the warm waters.

All that sun was baaaad for my pathetically white skin, despite SPF 45 and so I retuned from Costa Rica last Sunday feeling like burnt toast and looking like a lobster. People as white as me should be banned from beaches. Here's the photo documentation of both of our sunburns at dinner in our last night in Costa Rica:

Since I was so roasted toasted from the beach and also since I had to dive right back into work and teaching (and unpacking, cleaning, meetings, etc.), I wasn't able to get back to running until this morning at 5:40am when I met Diana for a 3.5 mile run. I am hoping to get some nice runs in this weekend, despite the cooler weather that is in our forecast (cool for SoCal at least). Stay tuned...

Oh, if you'd like to see all of my pics from Costa Rica and read the story of our trip, click here.

A Run Through the Night

It's that time of the year. The evening breeze is chilled, the slight rustic smell of dying leaves wafts through the air (even in SoCal!), and the sun sets before I freakin' leave the office at the end of the day. Yes, Daylight Savings Time is over:-( And so, I have begun to run outside, after work, in the dark. Luckily, I live in a populated area and the places I run in and around are very well lit. On Wednesday night I ran 3.5 miles around Laguna Niguel...down Alicia to Aliso Creek to La Paz to Pacific Park. I felt great during the run and am very glad to be back into the routine of running, even if it means I'm back outside in the dark.

I skipped out on my Thursday run and instead had dinner with Sabina and watched "The Office" with her. Ack...I'm down 2 miles.

Tomorrow morning I'm waking up before the crack of dawn to go running with Diana during the opposite end of the dark. We're planning on a six mile run and it should be light before we finish for bagels and coffee at her house.

And then...on Sunday...I am going to Costa Rica for a week with my sister!!! I won't be running while I'm on vacation, but I will be hiking and zip-lining and swimming and playing with monkeys.

One more thing: You may have noticed a few changes to the header of this blog. I am no longer running in the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona 1/2 Marathon and am instead running in a race closer to home, the Surf City USA 1/2 Marathon in Huntington Beach. I'm hoping to recruit a group of friends to run in the 1/2 marathon with me or to run in the 5k race at the event. Instead of racing through the streets of Phoenix on the 13th of January, I'll be gliding down the ski slopes at a resort in the Rockies.

Alright, I'm running out of steam for the day and week. My wit is nil. Check back here in a week to see what sort of non-running adventures I had in Costa Rica with Anna.

Why don't you stay?

I can't stay. I need to run.

Last week I ran 4 miles at the gym on Monday night, 3 miles outside on Wednesday morning with Diana, and 3.5 miles at the gym on Thursday super early in the morning. Then on Saturday morning I picked Megan up (she was in town--yeah!) and we ran 3 miles around the Laguna Niguel Lake and then up to Diana's house to visit with her and Cameron. It was fun to be running with Megan again and I think she enjoyed being back in her old neighborhood. I love my running partners!!!

This is a picture of Megan and me on Friday night at dinner:

And this is a picture of Diana, Cameron, and me at her house midway through Megan's and my run on Saturday morning. I told Diana that she'll have to save this picture and pull it out on Camron's first date...it's too funny that he is picking his nose!


I should have run 5 miles on Sunday, but instead I slept in and then got a mani/pedi with Nicole B. And then it happened...it's gone..I didn't want it to stay though...it was time to go. My left foot's big toenail finally got axed. Literally cut off. The woman doing my pedicure said that she had to cut the dead toenail off because the new one was growing in underneath. And so, almost half a year after I ran my marathon, the final bit of me that was hanging on to that once-in-a-lifetime experience fell off. I guess everything in life must move on...must be renewed...must change and grow. Even, or rather, especially, toenails.

This morning I was at Diana's house at 5:30am again and we ran 3.5 miles outside. I cannot stress again how thankful I am to have Diana and my other friends as running partners. Running with these ladies gives us a chance to talk, share our lives, bounce ideas off each other, get free therapeutic advice, laugh, and get to know each other even better. This morning, ten minutes after Diana and I finished our run, we were still standing outside on her driveway talking.

Today's song of the day is "Stay," by Sugarland. Although I have never dated a married man, the song still speaks to me and gives me goosebumps when I hear it. I think it's because at the end of the song, the woman finally gets the strength to stand on her own two feet and move in a more positive direction in her life. She realizes that she does not deserve to be second place in her married lover's life. I am finding that same strength within myself these days and it's pretty cool--and very empowering.

I've been sittin' here stairin' at the clock on the wall
And I've been layin' here prayin'
Prayin' she won't call
It's just another call from home and you'll get it and be gone and I'll be cryin'

And I'll be beggin' you baby
Beg you not to leave
But I'll be left here waitin'
My Heart on my sleeve
Oh for the next time we'll be here seems like a million years and I think I'm dyin'

What do I have to do to make you see
She can't love you like me

Why don't you stay
I'm down on my knees
I'm so tired of bein' lonely
Don't I give you what you need
When she calls you to go
There is one thing you should know
We don't have to live this way
Baby, why don't you stay

You keep tellin' me baby
There will come a time
When you will leave her arms
And forever be in mine
But I don't think that's the truth
And I don't like bein' used and I'm tired of waitin'

It's too much pain to have to bare
To love a man you have to share

Why don't you stay
I'm down on my knees
I'm so tired of bein' lonely
Don't I give you what you need
When she calls you to go
There is one thing you should know
We don't have to live this way
Baby, why don't you stay

I can't take it any longer but my will is gettin' stronger
And I think I know just what I have to do
I can't waste another minute
After all that I've put in it
I've given you my best
Why does she get the best of you

So next time you find you wanna leave her bed for mine

Why don't you stay
I'm up off my knees
I'm so tired of bein' lonely
You can't give me what I need
When she begs you not to go
There is one thing you should know
I don't have to live this way

Baby why don't you stay

Here's a YouTube clip from their performance at last week's CMAs:

Slowly Movin' Along

Slowly, slowly, I'm advancing in my training. Let's see...where did I leave off. Oh, yes, I last posted that I ran 3 miles at the nasty 24 Hr. Fitness in Aliso Viejo. That was Monday. Last Wednesday and Thursday I met Diana super duper early in the morning and we went to her gym and ran. We ran 2 miles on Wednesday and then worked out for 20 minutes on the elliptical machine and then we ran 3 miles on Thursday. I also did "buns of steel" (i.e., lunges) on Thursday. My buns just stopped hurting from that little exercise yesterday! On Sunday morning I again went running with Diana (I'm SO glad I have her to run with). I met her at 6:40am and we ran 3 miles around Laguna Niguel. Cameron, her 14 month old son, came along with us in the baby jogger. I was supposed to run 4 miles on Sunday, but we only had time for 3 and so that had to do. After our run, though, we did have time for coffee and bagels at Diana's house. And, I had time to play with her son, who is absolutely adorable. Sometimes eating, bonding, and playing are a lot more important than running!

Tonight I need to run 3.5 miles...which I'll probably end up doing at the gym since I'm going to get home later due to a bowling event that my work is sponsoring.

I'll post more updates later in the week...and a rant on the end of Daylight Savings Time...sigh...I miss you already DST!!