terrible timing

Spent the afternoon researching food bloggers for work and then realized: Crap, I haven't blogged in ages.

Instead, I have been seeing my fix-me specialists, trying to figure out how to get rid of the psoas/rectus femoris issue that has been plaguing me for the past week. The chiropractor said my hips are crooked. The massage therapist said I need to strengthen my hamstrings and my glutes. The Pilates teacher said I should seriously re-think my plans for San Francisco.

I haven't run since Sunday, and that day was a mere six-miler. (Granted, it was a fast one -- quite possibly my fastest six miles ever. The photo above was taken when I was waiting post-run for everyone else to finish. True, they were all running farther. But still. It was nice to be first for once.) The pain isn't too bad when I've been moving around -- in fact, it lessens with activity. But going from sitting to standing (or -- even worse -- attempting to get out of bed and stand) is pretty damn excruciating.

I feel old. And kind of sad. Just as I was finally getting faster, finally starting to regularly see a pace in the high- to mid-8s, this happens.

And let's not forget that race day is three days away. SF, will you forever be the race I associate with injury?

misunderstanding

I read this as 5 x 400, followed by one 600. And I thought: Man, track is going to be super-easy today!

Oh, how I was mistaken.

Today's workout was five sets of both a 400 and a 600. And by the second set, I kind of wanted to die.

Why?



Because my stupid left hip started acting up. (Sorry -- couldn't resist the pun with the silly Shakira video.) It's been sore on and off for the past few weeks, and after the extremely hilly 12-miler I did on Saturday (I chose the hilliest route I could think of to prepare for San Francisco), it was bothering me more than normal. My hip is so tight that it's pulling on my rectus femoris, and basically my upper quad and lower abdominal area pretty much hate me right now.

Anyway, I still gutted out the workout. Clearly, this was not the smartest decision, but it did result in my fastest 400 ever (1:40), and I was fairly consistent with my 600s (2:45, pretty consecutively). Also, I am now officially no longer the last person in the track group. Hooray for me, right?

That said, I am seeing my chiropractor Thursday, my Pilates teacher Friday and my massage therapist Monday. The hip needs a little professional help.

take to the sky

I've been in a helicopter exactly three times in my life. (Thankfully, none of those times involved being airlifted out of Annadel.)

The first time was back in my journalism days, when I covered Camp Roberts. The National Guard was doing a training exercise, and I took a military helicopter out to the "battleground." Pretty cool to fly with the door open and see the golden rolling hills unfold beneath me. (What was not cool: Later, I had to pee by penlight in a port-a-potty. And then I dropped my reporter's notebook on the floor of said port-a-potty and had to make the awful decision: Do I abandon it and lose all info, or do I touch germs? I went with germs. Shudder.)

The second time was in Tasmania. Happily, no port-a-potties were involved. Instead, there were views of white sand and ocean. And a tricky landing between some powerlines. That pilot had mad skills. (On a side note, every time I think of Tasmania, I think of pie. And then I become hungry.)

And the third time? This past Friday. I took a wine writer out for an aerial tour of the vineyards. Sonoma County is so pretty.

We also flew over Annadel.

From the air, the trails looked like ribbons.

volunteering

Clearly, volunteering at Vineman today was rough.

Not only did Layla beat me silly with this Gatorade stirrer, but I was forced to watch elite athletes in spandex do amazing things, all while I drank Irish coffee. (The last part was my idea -- I figured if I was going to volunteer for hours, I might as well maximize my time.)

I was at the aid station at the bike/run transition. I said the word "water" more times than I ever imagined possible. And there were a few moments when I thought my arm was going to get ripped off by a very forceful water-grabber. But it was fun. And I liked being able to help out.

doughnut power

As you can see, I finally made it to Dynamo Donuts. (Crossing another one off of the list!)

The fried dough haven served as the starting point for Jessa's birthday scavenger hunt last Saturday.

I was immediately overwhelmed as soon as I walked in the door. The doughnut menu was just so awesome -- caramel de sel, banana de leche, candied orange blossom! I couldn't choose just one doughnut, so I got two: Passionfruit milk chocolate and lemon pistachio. (Confession: I actually dropped the passionfruit doughnut on the ground on my way out to the patio. But instead of crying, I picked it up and ate it anyway. Mmmm. Dirt.)

The verdict? Sweet. Very sweet. So sweet I kind of had an insane sugar rush afterward. But perhaps the sugar rush helped because my team created this ridiculous video ...

... and went on to win the scavenger hunt.