Graduation Day

It is Wednesday and my run total in the past 7 days since we sold the car has been close to 70 miles. Yesterday I showed up to the mall and to the chiropracter straight off of a run and really sweaty. The first few times I was in public places like that I was a little embarrassed, but now I just go with it. If I am going somewhere really nice I will run with an extra shirt to put on. It doesnt help that it has been really hot here, but it is the first time that the heat hasnt bothered me, which is really weird. Normally I dont sweat at all and get really overheated, but I ran 8 miles yesterday at 3 and felt great.

Last night Chris finally graduated from getting his masters. After I told him congratulations, I then reminded him he now has to get a job. The ceremony was long (I dont remember anything about my graduation, but I am pretty sure we didnt have 4 speakers at it), but it was great to get to see him walk across the stage to get his diploma after working so hard the past two years. Here are a couple of photos from last night at the Waikiki Shell, I must say that Hawaii is probably the most beautiful place to graduate.
Here we are before the ceremony - notice the awful post run bangs? That is what getting ready in 15 minutes will do. But as Chris said when I told him I needed to get a little bit more fixed up - for once it is my day and noone will be looking at you. Point taken. We were also instructed to take off our sunny-Gs that I normally use to hide my wrinkles, but we were facing the sun so now it looks like I dont have any eyes.

And here he is trying to put on his robe. It took him a couple of times to actually zip it up right. I guess they dont teach you that in grad school.


I am so proud of you babe, but seriously, this....

is not going to get you a job!

I learned how to pace from my dogs

Morning jog: 30 minutes with little monsters. I try and take them out every morning to get them tired for the rest of the day, and since the little one cant go very far it was an easy run for me to test out my ankle today after totally laying off of it yesterday. I got ready and hooked them up to their "best friends leash" (best leash ever for dog owners!) so that they wont totally knock me over chasing a bird or fish on the ala wai.

The run with the dogs is always the same, and has become increasingly similar to my pacing in recent races:
I spend the first minutes in zone 5 trying to keep up with the dogs while they sprint down the ala wai. Once they get tired they start to play-fight because they know I will make them stop and calm down. The next few minutes are great because we are all side by side though I can tell that they are getting tired. Then at the turnaround they get a burst of energy and haul ass again (zone 5 for me) for about 90 seconds until they realize that they forgot how tired they are. At this point the little guy will usually stop dead in his tracks and lie down on the grass. The last 13 or so minutes is always me pulling them on the leash to speed up and they are dragging behind me barely able to run. They then spend the rest of the day like this:


I keep telling them to slow down at the beginning but they never listen, and today I realized I should be taking my own advice. Other than this past race where I was forced to run slow because of an minor injury I start out too fast and run until I die, which is usually before the finish line. My goal for next race is a negative split. During the run the ankle was sore at first, but loosened up and felt good the whole time so I am going to try a hill workout this afternoon.
Totally unrelated, I am supposed to go into the office this morning here, and when I started getting ready I realized that I forgot to keep any work clothes from being moved so they are all on their way to Mexico. I have a choice between lululemon stretch pants and a tank top or really dirty jeans, not sure which is less offensive.

Down for the count

I am a believer that if I dont say something out loud, then it isnt really true. I have been keeping my mouth shut about some ankle pain I have been having hoping that it would go away. When I went to the chiropracter on Friday I mentioned it to him and he told me that I popped it out of socket and that I had been running like that for a few days. I have no ligaments in my ankle anymore due to a highschool injury. My ankle is held together by about 10 screws and some rubber so when the joint got unaligned, apparently it just stayed there. He popped it back in (not a pleasant sound) and said I should be good to go. I was until I woke up to chase the BananaMan in the 5K run. I was running to the start about 2 miles away and was in some pain - I knew that I had popped my ankle out again, so I tried to move it around and see if it would go back into place. It didnt, but I knew I could finish three miles. I also knew I couldnt run my fastest or really sprint because that was when it really hurt, so I really just got to relax and enjoy the my last race in Hawaii (at least for a while). I finished with 8:13 pace (not really that great, but I was fine with it considering I had to stop every 500 meters or so and shake around my ankle), and I got a really good acai cup and the finish line. I also caught at least one guy dressed in a Banana suit. The fastest time was a guy who ran it in 14:30. Incredible.
It looks like fast running and track workouts are out for a little while - even walking hurts right now. I am going back to the chiropracter this week to see what he thinks, and I may have to place a call into the ankle doctor who did my surgery in highschool. The last time I saw him I was in for shattering my heel after jumping into a friend's pool from their second story balcony about 5 years ago. He wasnt happy, and kept asking me how I could potentially have messed up his perfect ankle reconstruction. My only answer was the beer made me do it.
After the race I went to a friend's birthday party where we played pin the hose on the fireman. Here is the birthday girl...

And here my friend Sharon and I are demonstrating how to play the game...

Still Running

Day 2 with no car and true to my word I am running everywhere - today's total mileage was only 8, but I didnt really have to go anywhere. After I showed up for my chiropracter appt and sweated all over the bed (sorry Dr. T), I ran to Jamba Juice to pick up my packet for the 5K BananaMan run tomorrow. I have never done this race before, but I hear you chase someone in a banana suit, and since one of the sponsors is Jamba Juice the packet came with a free 16 oz smoothie coupon - NICE.
On the way back home, I rolled up the packet like a baton and pretended I was back in highschool in a relay race. I wasnt running as fast as I did for the 100s and 400s in highschool, but it made running home with it much easier. If anyone in Hawaii saw some random chick with a rolled up yellow envelope, that was me!

However, the packet did get wet enough from the sweat that it glued the envelope shut.
After cashing in on the free smoothie, I came home and gave myself a homemade manicure - the color is the same as my favorite all fruit smoothie from Jamba Juice and it is scented. I have never seen scented nail polish before, but I am hoping that it brings me luck tomorrow. It sort of reminds me of the smell of those old strawberry shortcake figures I got when I was a little kid.

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!

New Photo

Chris sent me a surprise today while he was studying for finals and finishing up his thesis. He changed my photo on my blog to this new one, and I love it! He added in some pink and purple and made it all snazzy like. He said it now looks like the outfit sparkles. Thanks babe - I am now going to have you make me a new one every month!

Getting Closer

The movers came Tuesday to move everything so we celebrated Cinco de Mayo away from the empty house in a wine bar since we figured it wouldnt be too crowded. We are still here for another week and Chris is getting bored to death with no TV, so he has been spending time at Legends watching hocky and drinking beer. I am guessing he will grow a large beer belly before we leave. The dogs on the other hand love the empty house and have been using the bedrooms as their wrestling arenas. This has been my desk/office from 2AM - 2PM all week (I am still working Mexico City hours right now). Not very good for the posture or back problems, but it will do for now.

For those of you wondering, the reason we moved the place early was so we could get the stuff to Mexico quicker, but we got a call yesterday saying that the box wont leave until May 20th, so we actually could have kept everything until we left. At least this way it is one less thing for me to stress about.
We also found a buyer for the car and as of noon today we are car-less. The bikes are on their way to Mexico, so the only form of transportation we really have is the ole feet. I will be running everywhere along with the morning run with the dogs, so the mileage this week may be more than it ever has been. Hopefully the chiropracter, my hair dresser, and the nice people at the Jamba Juice packet pickup dont mind me showing up sweating in full lulu garb. At least the clothes will look cute. I am not sure what Chris will do since he is still retired from running. I looked at his Garmin yesterday and the last run was on 12/14/08. True to his word he retired after the Honolulu Marathon. I am really hoping that he starts running again soon because he is pacing around the house constantly asking me what he can do. He is completely lost without is TV, WII and XBOX.

In Hawaii

I have been here for two days doing none stop preparation for the movers that come on Tuesday. Yesterday was all about cleaning out the closet, and there was a lot to clean because I am moving to a place where flip flops, beach dresses ,and rash guards dont make it out of the closet daily in Mexico City. Here are the results - 7 bags. See mom, I actually do clean out my closet!

Notice the swimming cap on the side? It is sitting out because I was going to swim yesterday. That never happened. Today, I promise. I got some comments in Houston about how my arms have shrunk to nothing, which is the cause of 5 months with no swimming. I finally fit into clothes with sleeves, but the triceps are a little flabby and I need to strenghten them up these next two weeks.
The movers come Tuesday which more importantly is Cinco de Mayo. Since the Mexicans cant celebrate because of the flu outbreak, Chris and I will celebrate in our empty apartment. We are a little worried as to what we are going to do for the next 10 days because we may actually have to have to talk to each other instead of sit in front of the TV catching up on DVRd 20/20s and 48 Hours. We will be stuck with a bed, two travel dog kennels and our suitcases for Mexico. I imagine a LOT of running, swimming, beach sitting, and dog walking will occurr. We are also trying to sell the car and hopefully that happens soon, but when it does we will really be stuck. I signed up for the NYC half marathon in August so it will be good to have nothing to do but train in the heat. Chris is still retired from running, so he is going to go to NYC for the first time to sherpa and cheer for me. Becuase I got into this race, I am leaning more towards the Chicago Marathon this year. Hopefully Chris will still be retired and will help me there too. It is always easier with him to keep me calm.
Because it is hot here the running has been a little harder (luckily I may go back with a tan this time), but yesterday's run was out of necessity. Chris had to go to school and took the car, so after my chiropracter appt I had to run home. I counted it as my workout. Today's workout will actually be a planned one - 2 hours around diamond head and to hawaii kai - I cant wait.