putting the knit in shizknitz

Do you have days that go by and you sleep, or not sleep much but still you feel the same? But that’s another issue altogether. Saturday morning with the Leggers was another story. I set out that early, freezing morning focused on doing something like 16 miles (since my previously longest distance was 14), although the rest of the group who are on schedule were doing 24. I ran into another 10:30 (pace) who was on the I’m-injured-I-need-less-distance like me, so we decided to run together. Around mile 5 I got cocky and said, let’s just do 18 - this way next time we can do 22!

I saw some beautiful parts of Marina Del Rey that I hadn’t known existed, tripped and almost fell face flat on the cement, almost got run over by a cyclist (contrary to popular belief, by about mile 12 my legs don’t move horizontally as quickly). So we did. 18 miles with a negative split (faster on the return trip) including potty and water breaks, 3 hrs 20 min. What’s so strange is that I’m really not that hungry afterwards, just damn thirsty. Since the water stations only have water, I need a better method in carrying more of the Gookinaid powder I love - they should create a capsule that dissolves in water, or better yet something that fizzles in water like Airborne. I have a feeling I was pretty dehydrated since I came down with a migraine for the rest of the day. My legs are finally not in pain, 3 days later.

I’ve been attempting to watch commercials more closely since starting this Marketing class (although I haven’t been doing such a good job - I haven’t had time to turn on the TV in a good week or so) and all of a sudden came this relaxing, refreshing commercial… just cute, and sweet and… I’m entrenched. I don’t care who the target audience is, and I sure the hell are not paying attention to what message they are trying to covey. I just want to keep watching it.

Hilton Hotels. They’re whole new line of commercials is awesome. My favorite is the one with James Blunt, “High“.

Oh, right. Perhaps I’m the target audience.

Mia likes to swim. In fact, she has webbed paws. I’ve joked that I would like to get her a pool to swim in, however in an apartment in LA the only place we could put it would be in our living room. Someone was crazy enough to actually do it.

I had given T’s mom a copy of A Million Little Pieces during the Holidays. I’ve read a few of Oprah’s Book Club books and they’ve been great, so I didn’t hesitate in picking this up for her. I’ve been listening to it on my commute off my ipod, 3 hours into it and I’ve realized in horror, this isn’t one of those books you give to your potential mother in law.

Maybe she won’t read it. Maybe there’s a happy ending.

Hrmm..
“Winfrey’s pick of “A Million Little Pieces” was unexpected since it overflows with vulgar and graphic language. It marked her abrupt and bracing return to the selection of contemporary authors after more than three years of choosing classics (and propelling those titles, often for months at a time, to the top of bestseller lists nationwide). Prior to tabbing Frey’s book, Winfrey’s other 2005 book club choices were three William Faulkner novels. Winfrey had selected books by John Steinbeck, Pearl Buck, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Leo Tolstoy, and Carson McCullers in the two prior years.”

Here are two works in progress - the Jaeger is being used on the Orangina and the Kid Seta is being used on the Aimee from Rowan Vintage Style.

I also have a stack of unread, brand new books as well - another work in progress. Had I discovered audiobooks for my ipod a month ago, perhaps I wouldn’t have so many “in progress” things to do.

I’ve heard of people doing the strangest things to procrastinate, I do some of them myself - dye my hair, clean up the bedroom, vacuum, groom the dog, eat, and write on blogs. However, this time, I have a good excuse. This developing country report for my macroeconomic analysis class is on Vietnam. Yes, the land of unheard of fruits, spring rolls and hella good pho. I’m hungry.

Have you guys seen the new Nextel commercial? Its the one in the office with two guys dancing to Salt N Pepa’s “Push It”… well I’ve been meaning to buy it off iTunes but guess what, they don’t have it. They have the radio mix, the remake, the extended version all done by another artist, but no original by SNP. What The Hell? This is a classic song! I remember singing it in 4th grade not understanding a single damn word coming out of my mouth but I could sure shake my booty to it.

10PM update: got a copy. shaking booty.

A short cappuccino. You’ve never heard of one? Try ordering one next time you go to Starbucks….

Not too long ago during the Leggers 14 mile run, something started happening in my knee around mile 10. I ran through it until mile 12, then walked the last 2 miles back to the center. Then I went through sheer pain for the next 30 hours, limping around where it hurt to go down stairs and to just plain walk. For some reason I thought it off as a fluke, got a McDavid Knee Strap, took 2 weekends off (one weekend to Stanford and another weekend sick) and went back for an 8 mile run. Bad idea. I finished, but again was in pain for about 30 hours. So I did what every sensible person would do. I thought about it and called my doctor for an appointment a week later . Well of course, it takes 2 weeks to get an appointment, but I waited it out. During that time I tried a 3 miler on a nice soft track which was o-kay, but not great. The doctor took some X rays (I knew I hadn’t hurt it in that way) and came to the conclusion that it was Patellar bursitis, gave me a prescription for Ibuprofin, instructed me to buy a knee brace, take 2 more weeks off and do leg exercises to strengthen my quads. Well the worst thing was happening - I wasn’t exercising and I was eating more through the holidays. This made me feel like a big piece of lard. And when you feel like a big piece of lard, all you want are your good ‘ole sweats (T calls it my holiday uniform).

Anyway, so the last Wednesday of the last year I did one of my weekday short runs (2 miler with Mia) where my knee was fine, I was more worried about the additional burden on my heart! New Years Eve I awoke to a misty, cold and dark morning but I made myself go for the Leggers 10 miler, a short holiday run. This time we went North - which is a route that takes us up an incline the first half, than decline the returning half. The path starts in Santa Monica, down Ocean, up San Vicente and turnaround at Barrington. Ironically we pass my doctor’s office on the way. It started misting/raining at one point, my fingers were freezing (my hands are usually warm but I seem to have a problem keeping them warm when I run) but, I FINISHED. And most importantly, NO KNEE PAIN. I followed it up with my regular weekday runs (two mornings of 2 miles and one morning of 6 miles) and today went back for my 14 miler (everyone else is at 22 miles). AND FINISHED. AND NO KNEE PAIN. It would have been better had I had a more filling meal last night and more than 4 hours of sleep

So what have I changed? I’m still doing my knee exercises, and most impotantly I started taking some vitamins and supplements. These are a combination of what my Leggers mentor and others have mentioned. 1) women’s daily multivitamin, 2) Apex Max Recovery - aids in muscle repair and recovery, and 3) Apex FIT Joint Support. I’m usually not one to have problems taking pills, but all three of these are pretty big horse pills. To add to the burden is that the Apex ones have a horrible smell and taste. Then a friend of mine realized that good ole Alacer Corp - Emergen-C came in a version that included the same amount of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate as the Apex FIT. Since I take the regular Emergen-C anyway, this was a real life saver.

YAY! Countdown to March 19!!

It’s January. So I did today what everyone else is doing this month. I went to Weight Watchers. Perhaps I should say that I went BACK to WW. I’m no newbie, but I haven’t been in a few months (citing my Tues afternoon class making me unable to make it back in time…) and now that I’ve worked my class schedule into two days, Tuesdays are once again a viable option.

There’s been a few changes: the weigh-in process is now electronic. Now you know I’m all for technology but some things just shouldn’t be automated. Now instead of hiding behind the cubicle wall with Judy (the leader, my most favorite leader that works Tues nights), we walk up to her and she is behind the counter. I know we’re in Culver City, but come on. Next thing you know they’ll put up the bullet proof windows like they do at the Jack In The Box on the corner of Overland and Venice. Its harder to get in a hug (or a groan in my case today) when you’re being helped from behind the counter. Once they’ve weighed you in, a little label gets printed out similar to the scientific labels they give you for your urine sample when you go in for your annual physical. This label gets placed in your book, the same book we’ve always had. Since its been a few months and considering its a new system, I started a new book (I have a whole collection of the hand-written version here at home).

The first of the year brings in lots of new people. It’s almost comical what you hear while you wait.

“Weigh in next week? Are they kidding? I was hoping for some weight loss once a month. Weekly is just too soon.” (have they ever watched The Biggest Loser?)

“I ate this hummus from Trader Joes and after eating it [the container] it said it had something like 16 grams of fat. I almost cried. It was only HUMMUS. It didn’t even taste that great. Only the pita chips that I dipped into them did” (and how much fat grams were in those chips??)

“I just want to lose 15 lbs. I can’t wait to get this over with and go back to my normal life.” (and that normal life of yours got you into this mess in the first place!)

“I haven’t weighed in. I’m not waiting in that line. In fact, I’m not even going to pay.” (huh? why are you even here?)

Just like the other January’s past. Judy passed out a worksheet “A Winning Outcome” (note: a sheet to help set goals). I have many copies of them at home. In fact, if I could lose a pound for every copy I have….

update: good news - a weight loss of 4 lbs for this first week!

Allllllright! I’m sending a shout-out to all of you out there avid travelers or those who are familiar with Argentina. I’ll be going the last part of April, spending the first week in Buenos Aires. The second week will be completely up to T & I, so I need some suggestions on travel. I just read an LA Times article on Salta, a northern province. Any enlightment on the following would be greatly appreciated!

1. Any preferred Airlines? I see a lot of them stopover in Miami.
2. Will a language barrier be a serious problem?
3. Places that are definitely a must-see.
4. Are credit cards readily accepted or is cash better?
5. Things to know - i.e. don’t buy chickelets, drink only bottled water
6. Are tours (like the one the LA Times author went on) better, or just figure stuff out on the internet before we go?
7. Recommended tourbooks?

It’s raining. “Hot Damn”, some of you may say, “so what”. Well, for one, its raining hard. Really hard. The rain is coming sideways, diagonally and when I went to go take the Pet out for a walk (yes, she wants to go out regardless of weather conditions) I swore it was coming up from the ground. It’s also quite windy. I don’t think the streets were designed to deal with this kind of water, since we basically swam across a few intersections.

I’m watching the Rose Parade with some nostalgia, as once upon a time I used to play in the marching band. I’ll never forget the rainy season, practicing out on a field that was so wet our placemarker tapes would float and water would be up to our ankles. A 4 mile parade that rained so hard that my socks drenched and caused bleeding blisters on my feet. Of course, the pads on my piccolo that I had to keep dry so it wouldn’t mold and stick.