My Life, As Told Between (Baby Cakes') Naps

This year marked the 25th anniversary of the LA marathon and the start of a new course.  The course traditionally starts downtown and runs in a loop, ending back downtown.  (In 2007, they tried something new and started the course at Universal Studios and ended it downtown, but it wasn’t very popular, so they reverted to the old course last year.)  The operating rights to the marathon were purchased by the owner of the Dodger’s recently and the course was drastically revised  this year.  It started at Dodger Stadium, ran through downtown, Hollywood, Century City, Beverly Hills and West LA before ending in Santa Monica.  I enjoyed the new course, but I wish I’d felt better during the run!   

Sunday morning found me, T and Alfie in the car by 5:40am heading to Dodger Stadium for the 7:20am start time.  We got caught in bumper to bumper traffic once we reached downtown and only made it on time thanks to T’s navigational brilliance and knowledge of secret streets in LA.  Unfortunately, many other people weren’t as lucky, so the marathon organizers ended up delaying the start time by 30 minutes to allow other people to get there …even then, I’m not sure they all did.  Traffic was a nightmare.

With 25,000 runners, the start line was chaos, but my friends and I managed to find each other and start the race together.  Unfortunately, I’d hydrated too well before the race, didn’t get there early enough to wait in the long bathroom lines, and had to take a bathroom break at mile 10 (and again at mile 18).  I never did catch up to them again. 

Encouraged by friends who are just faster than me, I did the first 10 miles too fast and was tired too early.  I started slowing down by mile 15, at which time it occurred to me that I wasn’t going to make my 4:30 goal time, which I’d been on pace to do.  Miles 15 through 20 were painful.  I’d never wanted to give up on a marathon before, but I came close during this one.  I had newish shoes that were giving me blisters, my knee hurt, my toes were sore from the impact of a largely downhill course, etc.  I barely noticed the scenic course as I focused on just fininshing.  On the upside, the weather was pretty nice for running.  It could have been cooler, but it was more than I could have asked for in LA.  Although Saturday was warm, Sunday remained lightly overcast all day.

The mental fog lifted after mile 20, when I cleared the Veterans’ Administration and finally got onto San Vicente.  I regularly run the stretch from San Vicente to Ocean, so the last six miles were nice and familiar.  That gave me the boost I need to get across the finish line in 4:45:50.  I didn’t meet my goal, but I did set a personal record so I was pretty happy…and thrilled to be done running!

In case anyone’s still reading at this point, for a great – and much less self-absorbed – recap of the race, the crowd support, and the course itself, check out this entry.  Also, this entry has a neat photo recap of the course and crowd.  Lastly, this super cool site lets you see how I did compared to everyone else.  Because why bother doing anything unless you can do it better than someone else.  Right?  =)

Ran the Pasadena Marathon yesterday!  There were only 5,600 participants (including the half marathon, 5k, etc.), about 1,000 of whom ran the full marathon (compared with the 25,000 expected to run the full LA Marathon next month).  It was a good run overall, although I hit the wall at mile 18 so the last 8.2 miles was a struggle.  I finished in 04:50:45, which is approximately an 11 minute/mile pace.  It’s a minute slower than my training runs and my goal pace for the LA Marathon, although it’s as fast as I’ve ever run a marathon.  (Hmm, may have to adjust goal pace…)

The course was hillier than I expected – with an especially brutal 300 foot incline stretching from miles 13-15 and a shorter 100 foot incline at mile 20.  On the other hand, the weather was perfect!  Not too hot nor too cold.  We were especially lucky in that we caught a break in the rain.  It rained the night before and the morning of the marathon, cleared up during the race, and only started raining again after the marathon ended.   

My favorite thing about the Pasadena Marathon may have been seeing T pop up frequently along the course however.  Given how small the marathon was, and how sparse the “crowd” was along the route, it was like an easy game of “Where is Waldo?”  =)  Since T and I had to pick up my race registration stuff and attend a housewarming party in Pasadena the night before, we decided to get a hotel room in Pasadena and luckily pricelined a hotel within the marathon loop, which made it even easier for him to meet up with me and cheer me on during the course.  Since he’s the world’s best husband, he also met me at the end of the race with a beautiful bouquet of roses.  =)

I don’t really make resolutions, but each year I tell myself I’m going to be better about dieting and exercising.  Sadly, eating better becomes more important each year as my metabolism slows down and I’m no longer able to eat an entire box of See’s candy with impunity, no matter how much I exercise.  =(

Eating better is more complicated with T in the mix since I try to prepare foods he would like as well.  I could eat the same thing for a week and not get bored, but he generally needs more variety.  Between the lack of time and the inability to decide what to cook, we end up eating out a lot.  This year, I’m going to try to cook healthier meals at home at least twice a week. 

On that note, I made mushroom risotto and scallops (not super healthy but better than what we’d eat in a restaurant) and salmon with rice and broccoli earlier this week.  The risotto and scallops were yummy.  The salmon was solely for T as I hate salmon.  I had a store bought roasted chicken instead.

Inspired by my friend S, I made quinoa last night.  It turned out to be super easy and was pretty good.  T was out late bowling and I was too lazy to make a main dish, so I just had it with the roasted chicken I’d bought earlier in the week.  This apparently wasn’t appealing enough, so T opted for a sandwhich when he got home.  Today, I think I’ll use the rest of the quinoa and chicken in a stir fry.  Hopefully that will tempt him to try some. 

During my trip to Trader Joe’s yesterday, I also picked up some steel cut oats, almond butter, pumpkin butter, flax seed meal, and polenta (again inspired by S and several food blogs I read).  I had the steel cut oats this morning with 1/2 banana, a bit of almond butter, flax seed meal and a smidge of brown sugar.  It was super filling.  Not quite as good as rolled oats, but I feel fuller (may be the flax seed).  We’ll see if this lasts ’til lunch!

As for the exercise part, so far, so good.  I’ve been half-heartedly training for the LA Marathon up until this point – and have felt it on the longer runs – but I need to start getting serious about it.  With a 22 mile run looming this Saturday, I tried to be especially good this week so I biked Sunday, ran 40 minutes Tuesday, did 30 minutes of elliptical and 10 minutes of weights on Wednesday, and ran 40 minutes today.

It was cold and cloudy this weekend so we spent most of it curled up on the couch playing videogames (T) and reading (me).  Managed to pry ourselves out of the house on Saturday to attend our friend’s annual cookie decorating party, where T made a scandalous gingerbread girl and I, apparently lacking any creative juices, made a very boring star.  Sunday we met up with T’s brother and his boyfriend to watch The Princess and the Frog, which was pretty cute, at the Grove.     

Didn’t make it to my 10 mile run on Saturday because it was pouring Saturday morning.  Sadly, by the time T woke up, the downpour had turned into a light drizzle and I felt like a wimp for not going on my run.  Am very worried about the 20 mile run next week considering how little I”ve run lately…

Can’t believe 2009 is ending already! November just flew by. I threw a birthday party for T’s 30th’s in early November. Inspired by the recent pizza-making party we went to, I threw a panini-making party. We bought tons of breads, meats, toppings, and cheeses. I prepared some appetizers (bacon wrapped dates, crab rangoon, and stuffed mushrooms), T grilled up some steaks and we had friends make their own paninis. I’d also prepared some crepes so we had crepes and ice cream cake for dessert. As usual, we bought way too much food and had leftovers from the party all week. I’d originally wanted to host a nice sit down dinner, but when the guest list started growing, I realized my plans were exceeding my limited cooking abilities. In fact, I almost failed to pull the panini party off, but fortunately several of T’s friends are excellent cooks and, more importantly, arrived early enough to help get everything ready.

The next day, we headed out to Disneyland to take advantage of their free-on-your-birthday promotion. It was fun, but exhausting. I don’t know how parents are able to spend all day with their kids running around that place – we were tired by 5pm and had to head home!

The following week we were off to Maui for my friend K’s wedding. It was such a great trip. T and I rented a three bedroom condo we shared with friends who were also attending the wedding. The wedding itself was perfect. Small and intimate on a golf course overlooking the ocean. The weather was beautiful the entire time we were there, we relived part of our honeymoon by laying by at the Westin’s pool, went snorkling at Molokini and Turtle Town, got massages, drove to the top of Haliakala, ate plenty of shaved ice at an amazing shaved ice place, and went to the Feast of LeLe, the best luau on the island.

Got back late Wednesday night and drove up to San Jose bright and early Thanksgiving day, with a stop in Fresno to pick up Alfie from T’s mom (who was dog-sitting for us). My parents and sisters went all out on dinner and totally outdid themselves this year. Delicious turkey, broccoli and cauliflower sides, home made buns, stuffed mushrooms, pumpkin cake, etc. In fact, my parents spent the entire weekend preparing all of our favorite dishes. We both came back 5 pounds heavier.

The best part came at the end of Thanksgiving dinner, when my littlest sister’s boyfriend proposed to her in front of the entire family. It was so sweet. My mom brought out a brown package at the end of dinner and told L someone had left it for her on the porch. Staring suspiciously at her boyfriend, she opened the package only to find another box inside it, and another, and another…we all started staring suspiciously at H at that point. But the boxes kept getting smaller and smaller and soon it was too small to contain an engagement ring. He denied any knowledge the entire time. At the end, she got to a tiny box with a note in it, he got down on one knee, pulled a ring out of his pocket and proposed. We were all in tears, it was so sweet! So now we have two weddings in the family to look forward to! Can’t wait! I love weddings.

Needless to say, all to this eating has been horrible on my diet and my running. I’d gotten up to a comfortable 18 miles before we left for Hawaii, didn’t run much in the subsequent weeks, and had to struggle through a 14 mile run yesterday. Hopefully, I’ll get back in shape soon. I’m really looking forward to this marathon and the new route, so I’d hate not to be ready for it!

We had such a lovely Labor Day weekend.  Although we’d originally planned to visit my family in San Jose over the three day weekend – seriously, every phone call home starts with “When are you coming to visit?” nowadays – T had to work on Monday so we decided to stay in LA. 

The weekend started off with a good (albeit hot) 8 mile run with the Leggers on Saturday.  I’m really enjoying the challenge of running with a faster pace group.  Then T and I headed downtown to grab lunch at Kendall’s (we made the mistake of getting their french onion soup – ick) before seeing a matinee showing of the musical Spamalot.  I had been wanting to see it for ages and really enjoyed it, especially since we got $20 tickets the day of the showing instead of purchasing $90 tickets beforehand.  T, however, was a little disappointed because he remembered the source material much better than I did and felt the musical was too repetitive.

On Sunday, we went to a beach party in Long Beach.  The weather was perfect, sunny but not too hot.  The party was on the peninsula, in a protected enclave facing the bay.  The water was warm(ish) and peaceful.  We brought our canopy and beach chairs and enoyed the day with good food and friends.  It was relaxing.

Sunday night we met up with some other friends at a houseparty, where we continued to stuff ourselves silly.  Fortunately, on Monday, T and I headed to the gym after work and ran off some of the food we’d eaten!

And on a totally random note, I started using body butter daily years ago, after my littlest sis L pointed out that my skin resembled that of an alligator’s, and have recently discovered a new body butter which I love.  It’s cheaper than the body butter I usually get from The Body Shop, it’s thick and creamy, doesn’t feel greasy and smells great. 

Went on my first run of the year with the Legger’s last weekend.  It was only 5 miles but it felt really good to be running with the group early on a Saturday morning again.  To challenge myself a bit, I joined a faster pace group than I’ve run with in the past and was surprised by the difference in the group – this group is so much more intense than my previous one.  I wonder if it’s because there are more guys in this group? 

Anyways, I was proud of myself for keeping up…although a little worried about how I’ll do on the longer runs since I had to work to keep on pace for this one!  I hope that joining the Leggers will encourage me to work out more during the week and actually run the marathon next year.  It’s supposed to be a new route that starts downtown and ends in Santa Monica so I’m excited to try it.

Think I’m a little burnt out on running and working out, which I’ve been doing more or less steadily for the last three years.  Lately, I’ve been waking up early to go running, but then end up finding little things to waste my time until it’s too late to actually get a work-out in.  Like writing this post. 

I’m hoping it’s just because work’s been really busy lately, which I’m not used to anymore.  Since I’ve been getting home later, I just don’t have enough time to sit around and do nothing.  Plus, my list of little wedding details to finalize/finish is growing by the minute and I’m starting to worry when I’ll get it all done.  T, on the other hand, seems oddly convinced wedding planning is a snap.  For example, we had this exchange a few weeks ago . . .

T:  Hey, do we still have stuff to do for the wedding?

Me:  (*Staring in disbelief*)  Um, yeah.

T:  We should make a list!

Me:  (*Thinking, I have about eight different lists*)  Okay.

T:  (*grabbing a post-it note*)  Let’s see, what do we need to do?

Me:  (*snort*)  A post-it?  Really? 

T:  What?

Me:  Um, there’s actually quite a lot of things we still need to do.

T:  Really?  I thought we were pretty much done.  We’ve booked all the vendors.  What could we possibly have left? (*taking pen to post-it*)

Me:  Well, we need to figure out what the guys are going to wear, plan the rehearsal dinner and beach party, prepare the slideshow, buy the rings  . . .

T:  (*abruptly stops writing*) Oh.  So you’re saying there’s a lot left to do.

Me:    Yeah.

T:  (*puts pen down*)  Hey, I think the game’s on.  Maybe we can make the list later?    

Went on a nice long run with my friend V Saturday morning. Rushed home in time to drop T off at his beach volleyball game (so he could drink with his buddies) and get back before my friends J and A came over with J’s cute, friendly mop of a dog Baxter. After some initial play fighting (we discovered Alfie’s secret weapon is a wicked butt bump), Baxter and Alfie got along really well. Unfortunately, T and I planned the day badly and I had to leave in the middle of the doggie date to pick T up, but we returned in time to hang out with J, A and the dogs a bit before they had to head off.

Saturday night we went to V’s 30th birthday party. (All my friends are turning 30. I’ll be up in a couple of months. Sigh.) There was tons of yummy food and friendly people. I fell off my Weight Watcher’s wagon and indulged in home made guacamole, empanadas, and cupcakes. SO worth it. Yummm.

Sunday, my friend D came over with her husband and their dog, Shelby. We hung out, played Scene It, walked to BOTH nearby dog parks, had a drink at the Coffee Bean and grabbed dinner at C&O (decent food, best garlic knots ever).  Alfie was great all day, even when we left him and Shelby home alone to go grab dinner!

My friend V and I stayed at the Omni the night before the race so we could meet our running group the next morning and take the subway to the starting line together. We woke up at 5:30, met our group at 6:15 and arrived at the starting line at 7:15, an hour before our race was due to start.

This year’s race got off to a much better start than last year. Last year, we waited in the freezing cold for almost two hours, so this year, I came prepared. Like many other runners, I had on disposable layers. I felt bad contributing to the piles of clothes strewn about the starting line (which I hope gets donated), especially since we weren’t waiting nearly as long this year and it wasn’t nearly as cold as it was last year. (Seriously, it was so cold last year, I feared losing appendages to frostbite. Then, when the race actually started, it suddenly became blisteringly hot.) This year, it was fairly mild to warm for most of the race.

I was oddly tired right from the beginning, but managed to stay with my group, which on track for a 4:30 finish time, for 21 miles. Sadly, at mile 21, I hit a wall and had to slow down considerably. T met me at mile 22 though and said I was looking better than I did last year, when I started out way too fast and hit a wall at mile 15. The rest of the race was a painful blur, but I got myself through it with the promise that I would take a break from marathons after this one. Finished in 04:55:58 and felt miraculously better as soon as my foot crossed the finish line. Quickly devored a banana and some apple slices and was feeling fairly human by the time I made it back to the hotel, where T greeted me with some lovely flowers.

Plus, thanks to a prescient phone call from T, I didn’t get lost this year finding my way back to the hotel! Hurrah! (The last two years, I’ve desperately wandered around downtown LA, lost and confused, for half an hour after the race. This year, I was tempted to make the same wrong turn I’ve taken the last two times – I am nothing if not a creature of habit – but T wisely thought to call and navigate me back to the Omni.)

Done. 04:55:58. About 6 minutes slower than my best time (my first marathon two years ago), but almost 30 minutes faster than my time last year. Think I’m going to take a break from distance running for awhile. This last one really wore me out.

Survived my 22 mile run on Saturday, with energy left over to meet up for lunch and a movie with my friend L. I’d originally intended to go into the office to catch up on some work this weekend, since T had to work both days, but ended up getting distracted by fun things and domesticy things the entire weekend.

L and I had lunch at the Curry House and headed to Pinkberry for dessert, where we were pleasantly surprised to run into our friend, J, and her boyfriend. J, L and I had all trained for the LA Marathon together last year but they’ve since taken a break due to various running injuries.*

After Pinkberry, L and I went to see The Waterhorse, which was cute and a little touching. So bascially about what I had expected.** I was lured in because of the sheer cuteness of the titular Waterhorse and he lived up to expectations. We were the only ones there above 10 and/or without a 10 year old in tow however.

Sunday I used up my quota of domesticity for the year. I went grocery shopping, did laundry, took out the trash, dusted, ironed, organized, and cooked (a decent!) dinner using one of the great cookbooks we got for Christmas! Whew. Tired just thinking about it.

*Actually, I’m thinking of taking a break from marathons after this next one and sticking with half-marathons for awhile. They cause much less wear and tear on your body. I’ve also recently signed up for Pilates classes, which will hopefully help balance out all the running. I love Pilates and am excited the studio next to our place finally opened. I had my first class today and although it was painful getting up at 5:40am, the class was fun and passed by quickly.

**Added bonus – the fancy theater showing The Waterhorse sold Tim Tams at the consession stand! I’m ashamed to say it, but as beautiful as Australia is and as much as I enjoyed various aspects of it during my visit, Tim Tams may be what I miss most.

I bought my wedding dress this weekend!! After unanimous approval from both the Girlfriends and the Sisters, and a little whimpering over the price, I handed over my credit card (which was emitting its own pathetic whimpers). I love, love, love the dress though and can’t wait to wear it! Oh, and to get married and all that of course. =)

My weekend got off to a nice start Friday night, when we had dinner at C&O with a couple of T’s friends. Unfortunately, we had to call it an early night because I had to get up at 5:oo a.m. for a 20 mile run the next morning. The run, my first 20 mile run since the Marathon in March, was great! Aside from a brief moment at mile 15 when I wondered if I could go on, the run was fun and fairly relaxed.

T and I spent most of Saturday cleaning house and preparing for the dinner party we were hosting for some of my friends who were visiting from out of town. Dinner (aka take out pizza and snacks) was fun, although we bailed on going out afterwards in favor of watching Battlestar Galactica Razor and going to sleep early. Because that’s how we roll.

Fortunately, I got in a lot more together time with them on Sunday, when they came over for brunch, wedding dress shopping, and cupcakes. After they left, T and his brother dragged me to do more manly things – like watching I Am Legend. Which I actually only saw 1/3rd of as my eyes were firmly shut for 2/3rds of the movie. Either because I was scared, anticipated being scared, or was recovering from a scare.

Happy Halloween all! Hope everyone’s enjoying their week! We’ve been super busy lately, but mostly with fun things. Friday night, we had dinner with a couple of T’s friends who were staying with us as they had a wedding in LA that weekend.

Saturday morning I did an 11 mile run by myself because I woke up too late to join my running group. Saturday night we went out with KA and some other friends in Hermosa, which was a blast. The girls dressed up as sailors and T came as a low-budget pirate (because the Halloween stores were ransacked we only managed to buy the pirate accessories but not the actual costume, so he wore jeans and a white t-shirt).

Sunday I went wedding dress shopping with some friends, which wasn’t nearly as horrible as I was anticipating, but a lot more involved than I thought. I even found some dresses I liked. Afterwards, T and I went to a pumpkin carving dinner party. But being the old fogies we are, by the time the dinner portion of the evening was over, it was so late we were too tired to do any carving. Fortunately, most of the other guests felt the same way so our hosts kindly gave us all cute little pumpkins and a carving set to go. T and I carved ours last night (well, T carved while I hurriedly threw together dinner since it was getting really late):

• Went on a great 11 mile run with my friend the Teacher this past weekend!
• Visited a beautiful possible wedding location both T and I loved. It’s a scenic ranch in the Malibu mountains. We’re looking at August ’08 and are leaning heavily towards a Friday wedding, since it’s so much cheaper, but we’re worried about the inconvenience to the guests. Wedding planning is hard. I’ll feel so much better once we book the venue.
• Bought some fantastic hand soap from Target this weekend. I’d been wanting to try it ever since I read about it. I bought all three scents available and the first one I used (Almond Flower) smells great. The soap container feels nice, looks beautiful and is biodegradable. The soap lathers wonderfully, is creamy without leaving a film and isn’t antibacterial! Yay for Method hand soap! =)
• Finally got an overhead light up in our bedroom without too much hassle. We’re slowly but surely getting our condo in order.
• Saw a beautiful bridemaid dress in one of the sample wedding albums we viewed. I’m now on a hunt to find out the dress’s designer and exact color. Unfortunately, googling “grayish blue bridesmaid dresses” hasn’t proven particularly useful, although it has exhausted my investigative arsenal.
• Hung out with T’s friends visiting from New York and their adorable 1.5 year old son who will hopefully be our ring-bearer. =)

We’ve been “working on” (i.e., messing up) the condo. This past weekend, we spent most of Sunday trying, without much success, to install overhead lights into prewired slots, a seemingly simple task. Except somehow, when we do things, the simplest tasks turn into minor disasters. After much cursing and fumbling, we concluded that one of the lights we bought was clearly defective (and hence it was not our fault we couldn’t get it on properly) and that the other light was meant to be slightly crooked. Oh well. At least we’ve got a bit more light in the place now. Also, a few more gaping holes until we purchase non-defective lights.

Between household chores (like laundry, installing lights, and battling against an invading army of ants), T and I went for a 5 mile run this weekend around the bluffs behind our neighborhood, which was fun. I also went to a Pilates class taught by my friend J and while I’ve done mat Pilates before, this was my first class with the Pilates machines.* I’m sore all over today. But in a good, I-feel-my-muscles-developing kind of a way. Can’t wait for the next class . . . which is unfortunately after my 12 mile run next weekend, so we’ll see if I survive to write about it. I have not been working out as much or eating as well as I should lately.

When not working out or puttering around the house, we did some reading (I finished a series recommended by a coworker while T started The Golden Compass), hung out with T’s brother (I watched while they played Halo 3), forced some of our friends to watch Serenity with us (one of my favorite movies), and caught up with one of my Quad friends who happened to be in town. (T also went to the UCLA v. Notre Dame football game, but considering the horrible outcome of that game, he’s choosen to pretend that it never happened.)

*Funny story. Upon being told that someone whistled at me on my way to Pilates (I realize I should be offended, but sometimes a good whistle is appreciated – especially when one is feeling a little tubby!), T’s response was a confused, “Why?”

Even though I should be saving my money for our first property tax payment, I’ve been doing a bit of online shopping lately. Nothing very expensive but it’s starting to add up. I really need to stop . . . although some of the shopping has been FOR the condo, so it’s practically like I’m saving money for property taxes, right? For example, I bought these prints from Etsy. They’re so cute and bright and colorful. I can’t wait to put them up!

I also finally bought some new clothes for work: a herringbone wrap dress, a silk shirt (in plum), and two skirts. Nothing horribly exciting, but they’re all functional and most were on sale. I particularly love the pencil skirts and am hoping they are short enough that I won’t develop the dreaded stumpiness KQ mentioned.

I’ve been running semi-consistently lately so hopefully the clothes will still fit when they arrive in the mail in a couple of weeks! I’ve found that my weight is pretty steady as long as I run at least 15-20 miles a week (the fact that I’m not actually losing any weight running this much is a testament to my love of food). Although I love running, I’m beginning to sense that my knees are not so thrilled with it so I’ve started taking glucosamine supplements and trying to work in more elliptical training. I’ve also been avoiding high heels in the hopes that my feet will convey the message to my knees that at least I’m trying. Fortunately, I’ve been oddly uninterested in shoes of late . . . although my friend recently bought this pair, which I have been enviously eyeing.

We started off the weekend Friday night having dinner with T’s mom, who was here on a four hour layover on her way to Costa Rica, and brother at a cute little restaurant suggested by a friend of mine.

Got up early Saturday morning for my first long run (14 miles) since the marathon three weeks earlier. It was great to be back out there running. Got to know some fellow runners that I’d seen but had not really had the chance to talk to, caught up with an old friend who’s been out for the last ten weeks due to a running injury, and received a compliment from a fellow runner who’s been out of the country the last five months. She thought I’d lost weight since the last time she’d seen me! (This, of course, totally gave me license to pig out the rest of the weekend.) Oh, and the actual run was nice too.

After the run, I dragged T out of bed and we had a wonderful brunch at a local restaurant. Feeling sufficiently stuffed, we headed out to the beach to meet up with my little sister L, who had announced the day before that she was in town with nine of her best girl friends. After ten minutes with a gang of giggling girls, T and I had to call it quits and headed out to do some bike shopping. Two test rides later, we found the bikes for us. My key criteria in bike shopping was finding one that I would be able to stay on. Fortunately, although wobbly, I managed to stay upright despite it being decades (literally – more than one decade!) since I’d last ridden.*

(Isn’t she a cutie? She’s little, but powerful. I’m going to give her a big, intimidating name, to make up for her diminuative size.)

Saturday night was spent at the Frog’s surprise going away party. I think we did a pretty good job gathering together lots of the Frog’s closest friends and family members for a big bash. (We love you Frog and will miss you horribly!) Surprised even myself by staying at the party until 2am. Didn’t get to sleep until 4am (due to some time collecting and ensuring that our drunken friends were all okay and could safely get home). =)

Sunday started off with another brunch, this time featuring the Frog, the Wombat, Savor, and KM (who is sadly blogless). Got back just in time to meet the realtor for some condo-shopping. Saw one that was almost perfect, but it’ll probably be off the market by the time we’re actually ready to buy (July). It gives us hope that we’ll find something we both really like come July though.

Finished condo-shopping just in time to rush back to the bike shop before it closed to pick up the two bikes we fell in love with on Saturday (but were unable to pick up because we had to hurry home to catch the UCLA game).

Collapsed, exhausted in our bed early Sunday night.

*Note: I did a little bit of bike riding in Santa Barbara with my Quad friends, but I was the caboose on a tandem bike, which totally doesn’t count.

The LA Marathon was yesterday. Of the three marathons I’ve done, this was far and away my worse one yet. I think part of it was that I’d eaten too early the day before and was starving even before the race started (despite my friend’s thoughtfulness in sharing her boiled eggs!). I then ate too much during the run in an effort make up for it, but it didn’t digest in time to give me any extra energy – just an upset stomach!

“Hitting the wall” is when you’ve burned through your body’s fuel and it feels like you can’t put one foot in front of the other anymore. In a marathon, this often hits around mile 20 because your body can only store a certain amount of calories to burn (or something like that, but more complicated). Although I generally find the last 6 miles of a 26 mile run difficult, I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve never really “hit the wall,” at least not like yesterday. Yesterday, I felt like the wall fell on me around mile 15.

The new downhill course also did a number on my toes. I lost feeling in some of them relatively early on in the race. Combined with my waning energy, upset stomach and the unexpected heat, it was all I could do to keep running. Rather than enjoying the race, I spent much of it focused on just finishing. One. Step. At. A. Time. I finished in 05:23:17 and while I’m happy that I was able to finish the marathon without taking any extra walk breaks, I’m disappointed that I finished 33 minutes slower then my time last year and 48 minutes slower than my goal time.

I guess I’ve learned some lessons for the next race though (either San Diego in June, Long Beach in October or SF in October). And I was fortunate in that I finished without getting sick or needing an IV drip, which happened to some of the runners because of the heat. In any case, I’m giving myself one more day of semi-indulgence before I get back on my diet and attempt to destroy Fat Mikey (as I’ve taken to calling my belly)!

Found out yesterday that a good friend of mine from law school recently moved from NY to Virginia.  Another good friend recently moved from DC to SF.  It looks like the Frog is going to the East coast this summer and Roomie is moving to Berkeley this fall.  I however am staying put for awhile.  After all, I really can’t change jobs again any time soon.  Three different firms in my first two years of practice probably looks suspicious enough! 

Funny, after I graduated from UCLA in 2000, LA was the last place I thought I’d find myself living.  Yet, six and a half years later, here I am.  And it looks like I may be here to stay, for awhile at least.  I used to make fun of one of my best friends from high school for never quite managing to leave LA despite a professed desire to do so after graduating from UCLA.  I never thought I’d BE her!

Anyways, things are good.  Not much new to report.  Having some friends over for the Superbowl this Sunday.  Not that I really watch football, but I do enjoy eating and socializing and this is as good an excuse as any.  I haven’t decided which team to root for, but I’m leaning towards the Colts… 

T and I are celebrating our one year anniversary next weekend.  We’re going to see Wicked.  With his brother.  And his mom.  Yes, after insisting we do something to celebrate the occasion (I don’t really do celebrations, so this was totally T’s call), T promptly forgets the actual date of the anniversary (despite my lack of desire to celebrate said event, I am still a girl and therefore knew the exact date) and invites his mom and brother to see Wicked that night when he was offered some tickets.  Boys.  I guess I should just be thankful I was invited as well!  =)

Oh – one last complaint – I woke up this morning feeling fatter than I’ve felt in ages!  Maybe it’s because I’ve missed the last two long runs (an 18 miler and 12 miler) due to illness and being out of town.  Maybe it’s the entire box of See’s candy I consumed this past weekend.  Maybe it’s the fact that the heater has caused all my clothes to shrink (a possibility suggested by a friend of mine).  Whatever it is, it has to stop.  As of today, I vow never to eat an entire one pound box of See’s candy in a weekend again!