Becky's blog :)

Long time no post...

2008-12-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

Finals are finally over :)

This term was a real biotch. But I passed my classes and I've applied for spring graduation :) Whew!

My brain is still resting up. It's very tired of making sentences. Grammer is so overrated lol

wtf

2008-11-13T01:42:00.000-08:00

It's 1:30 in the morning and my neighbors are moving furniture >:(

Can't rain all the time

2008-11-11T00:45:00.000-08:00

You know life sucks when you to have to choose between finishing homework, sleeping or showering. Since I'm just going to have to shower after tomorrow's swim class, I'm choosing homework then sleep.

I forgot my new Asics at home. I have three other pairs of shoes here, but they've ran a combined 6 marathons and two are from 2006. There's no way of getting the new pair before Thanksgiving break on the 25th - three days after a half marathon and five days before the Seattle Marathon. So I get to choose between a pair of shoes that hurt my back, a pair of shoes that hurt my arch, or a pair without real laces.

At least there's only 2 weeks until Thanksgiving break, and 4 weeks until Winter Break :D

Yes We Can!

2008-11-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

I am speechless. Overjoyed and speechless.

To make up for the lack of my own, President-elect Barack Obama's words (full acceptance speech transcript here):

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

....

And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

....

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time ... to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can.

So over this

2008-10-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

I remember when Bill Clinton got ripped apart for getting a $600 haircut. John Edwards too.

Please stop saying every criticism about Palin is sexist. Talking about who wears what is silly and should be reserved for the LiLo ilk and the OK! cabal, but it's not sexism or ageism or racism or socialism or capitalism.

Now "Who's Nailin Palin", yeah sexist. Saying that my student body president is not qualified to lead the free world just because he makes executive decisions for 4 times the population of Wasilla, not sexist.

Oh, and while I'm at it, please don't use words like fascist or socialism if you have no idea what the hell they mean. "Spreading the wealth around" and supporting a war does not make a whole political doctrine. Does anyone still believe Martin Luther King Jr was a communist? If you heard that Obama was into dadaism or McCain was kafkaesque, would you believe that too? (Although Palin, yeah a little orwellian. Doublethinking like it's cool.) (btw, not sexist.)

Off to take a nap and kick some cyborg essay ass when I wake up....

If you're bored, then you're boring

2008-10-27T22:03:00.000-07:00

Life's pretty dull and stressful right now. I guess I'll appreciate taking such a heavy course load now by the time spring term rolls around and I can slack off instead of stress out. But for now, I'm not a happy camper.

Last weekend was really nice. I went home to Cow-town for the unit's birthday ball. Friday night got drunk and played Mario Kart until 3 in the morning. Saturday was the ball. Good times, good friends. My feet still hurt from bar hopping my high heels :S Sunday I helped Chris pack up the last little bit to be moved to the new house.

Hopefully I'll be going home this weekend too to help Chris get everything unpacked. We need to pick up a few things for the new house. Mostly some new lamps but we've been needing to do that forever. We've been using the same ol' stumpy lamp since 2002. Now we'll finally get a floor lamp for the living room and some paper lanterns for the bedroom. (Right now there's this fugly round white lamp hanging from the ceiling on a black chain circa 1985. So that's coming down.)

Not much to report for training. I've been so busy with school work and life that there hasn't been much going on.

Not much going on with TTC either. I was really disappointed about not being pregnant last cycle. I think I got my hopes way up with the Clearblue Easy monitor. But it just wasn't meant to be.

I'll try to post some pics soon, but for now, back to the grind. I have one last paragraph to hammer out, then a final proof read and I'm calling this essay done. Then I get to start on another that's due on Thursday - joy!

We're out

2008-10-18T17:50:00.003-07:00

No Hood to Coast for us next year :(

I hate hate hate to give up 2 spots on a great team. The fact we had to face: either we're not in Oregon or my body's too busy with another adventure. Either way, H2C will be physcially impossible.

It's a bummer. But life has other things in store for us and we'll be back someday....

La Petite Mort

2008-10-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Naps are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy :)

Last night at 1am I suddenly realize - aw crap I have work in the morning. At 6am. Shit.

After a short-staffed, crappy shift, I got back my room to read about the movie Tetsuo - Ironman. Metal fetishist salaryman penis drill. W. T. F.

I gave up and took a three hour nap. aaaawwwwwwwmygawwwwwwd, that ranks up there with sex and Paris food :)

Took a break from studying to waste more time: http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9660878

We're not pregnant yet, just doing some thinking ahead.

Really wish I was going home this weekend :( Oh well, just 9 days until I do get to see Chris. And he said something about going up to a recruiter's Birthday Ball in Portland. Two balls in one year ~ yay! Hopefully I can borrow a friend's dress (red halter top, so sexy!) and make up for the lack of pictures last year :)

New theme

2008-10-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

Went with a macabre theme for the blog overhaul. Something a little spooky for Halloween, I guess.

But this is all the time I have to waste today. I spent over 4 hours looking at lolcats and TotallyLooksLike.com and Fun with Charts. Then a while figuring out blogger and how to get everything formatted. At least I'm in much better mood than I was this afternoon :)

Stayed tuned

2008-10-14T19:12:00.001-07:00

Playing around with some new layouts, trying to fix it up before the outage begins in t-minus 45 minutes...

Aha!

2008-10-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

This cat is clearly taking Meditation 101. It's a sign!

more animals

Why?

2008-10-14T15:03:00.001-07:00

Why do I do this to myself? Whoever invented the butterfly stroke, I want to punch their grandma in the face. Swimming in general can go to hell and die.

I swear next term I'm taking redonkulous easy classes like Fitness Walking and Mediation 101. (Yes, those are real classes. Seriously.) WTF with this Japanese 414 and History 352 bull crap. I should just sit in my room all day and bang my head against the wall.

When I get done with yomikaki this afternoon, I'm going to read lolcats until my face melts off with cuteness and there's no braincells left to be grumpy.

Gotta go wash the chlorine and tears out of my swimsuit...

Godwin's continues

2008-10-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

Just so you don't think I was picking on one poor chick:

Palin mistakes fans for protesters at Va. rally

A massive crowd of at least 20,000 spread across the parking lot of Richmond International Raceway, and scores of people on the outer periphery more than 100 yards from the stage could not hear.

"Louder! Louder!" they began chanting, and the cry spread across the crowd to Palin's left. Some pointed skyward, urging that the volume be increased.

Palin stopped her remarks briefly and looked toward the commotion.

"I hope those protesters have the courage and honor to give veterans thanks for their right to protest," she said.

Sigh.

Sick Sunday

2008-10-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'm really sick of trying to memorize kanji and looking up all the kanji I don't know in my reading. Why can't we just write everything in kana and call it good?

I'm sick of reading about welfare rights in the 60's. I was raised on WIC and Foodstamps, I got free lunch in school. I can't count the number of times we either had the power or the water turned off when I was growing up. I get that bad things happen to good people sometimes and you have to do the best you can. I completely understand that dealing with the government is a confusing, time consuming abortion of a system. There's just a limit to my empathy. I used to think of the 60's as a bunch of rebels and hard-liners, no matter what you believed in you stood up for that and didn't back down. Now I'm starting to think they were just a bunch of whiners that had life too good in the 50's and never learned that life isn't fair.

I'm sick of waiting to know if I'm pregnant. I want to know right now what's going on. I'm trying be patient and wait until Thursday or Friday to test. I feel like one of those sappy chicks from the commercials.

I'm sick of trying to figure out swimming. I learned there's such a thing as over rotation. What the crap?! Everyone says rotate rotate rotate - but don't rotate too much now. How much is too much? How in the hell do you know these things? I need to stop being such a punk and just go to the UO tri club for some coaching.

I'm sick of kids who think they're too cool for school by "properly" pronouncing names from Akira. When I speak English, I use English pronunciation of things; when I speak Japanese, I use Japanese pronunciation. "My name is Rebecca" is pronounced differently than the Japanse "rebekka desu" (with the R sounding more like an L or a D than a back of the throat growl, ruh-BECK-kah verses leh-behk-kah). "I watched aKIra" is going to sound different than "akira mida". I don't go around calling myself "leh-behk-ka" just so everyone call tell I'm special because I took a Japanese class. And I almost made the mistake of calling the character Roy instead of Ryu - the horrors! Only losers watch the dub :P I've been watching this movie almost as long as some of you have been alive, get off my junk. And stay off my lawn you damn whippersnappers!

I'm actually sick. Yesterday I started out planning on doing half of my favorite loop, but by the time I made it Autzen I felt like poopy. My other runs after the Portland Marathon felt good. Slow and sore but really good. By the time I made it home yesterday, I could tell that cold I felt coming on has arrived. I was standing in line for my post-run breakfast burrito and my nose dripped onto my tray. Ewwwwww. If I was still out running, I could have dealt with the situation and moved on, but non-runners lack a true appreciation for the snot rocket. Now I'm a fully functioning mucus factory and just walking up to my room makes me want to take a nap. I'll get out and try for at least a mile in a little bit. Maybe.

Get some East Coast!

2008-10-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Besides eye-balling Rock'n'Roll Virginia Beach next fall, I've found three more races that I'm totally in love with:

The Lejeune Half Marathon is pretty much what made me want to do a marathon. I did my first race in August 2004. When we first moved to NC, I saw a flier for an 8k Mud Run that I wanted to do so badly, but I thought that there's no way I'd ever be able to survive 5 whole miles of running. The next summer while Chris was in Afghanistan, I started running to get into shape and decided fuck it - I'm signing up for the 8k. I never thought I'd make it past 2 miles, so crossing that 8k finish line was like being reborn. I discovered that the person I thought I was is no match for the one I really am. The next thing I knew, a flyer showed up in my mailbox for a 10k. Well, if I made it 5 miles surely I can do 6. And I finished my first 10k. Then a flyer arrived for a half marathon. No way, everyone told me. You'll hurt yourself, that's too much for you, you'll never make it. So I didn't sign up.

Then I started see people wearing these beautiful long sleeved blue shirts from the half marathon. I wanted one of those shirts. And I realized, I didn't even try. Once again I gave up on myself, once again I let fear control my life and keep me from doing something I wanted to do with my whole heart. I decided, not any more. I made my 2005 New Year's resolution to do the most foolishly impossible thing I could think of - a full marathon. I finished my first half marathon in September 05 and my first full January 06.

Coming back to Lejeune to do the race that got all of this started would be a dream come true.*

The OBX Marathon was started just months after we left NC. I've done marathons in Oregon, Washington (next month), Virginia, and Florida and I'd love to add Cackalacky to that list with OBX :) I've read that the organizers have fixed the major issues with the race. The only major complaint I've come across is the difficult spectators have getting to the finish line. But if I run the marathon, I'll probably be running by myself (the baby -knock on wood- either with a good friend in Jacksonville or at the base day care. Hubby will either be too busy with TBS or in need of a good long weekend of sleep and I understand that).

Beach2Battleship is an Iron distance tri in Wilmington, NC. I love Wilmington! If I were to chose a place to live on the East Coast, Wilmington would be it. I've ran parts of the course doing some 10k's in Wilmington (one of which started my addiction to Bojangles chicken biscuits), so I'd love to be able to come back and run the complete half marathon course. I also really need to replace the 26.2 sticker on the car and I refuse to replace with anything other than a 70.3

Plus - I haven't even scratched the surface of what's going on around Quantico and DC. Marine Corps Marathon is in the fall and I'm sure there's plenty to explore around the base.

Of course, all of this depends on when/if I get pregnant, how much training I'm able to do comfortably while pregnant, how our finances are doing, and when Chris begins TBS in Quantico. We've still got over 9 months before we know where we'll be next year. The Marine Corps has been very good to us with MECEP and being stationed at OSU, we'll just have to see how things work themselves out. As the saying goes, anything that can be changed will be changed until there is no time left to change anything.

Holy flipping crap - I'm getting excited about returning to the fleet :)

I miss the smell of cammies every morning, I miss driving on base to pick up my Marine at odd hours of the day and night, I miss forgetting to bring tip money to the grocery store, I miss KV meetings, I miss watching his LCAC disappear into the ship, I miss having an endless supply of boot bands all over the house, I miss the OWC ladies, I miss going to the beach hoping just to catch a glimpse of the lights on the horizon, I miss homecoming sex, I miss phone calls at 3am where all you get to say is "I love you" before the reception is lost, I miss reading the trashy gossip magazines every Sunday during Hubby's hair cut, I miss scrubbing cammie paint off the tub, I miss knowing that no matter how far away he is I'll always be in his heart, I miss having to translate for our civilian friends, I miss running through fake protesters and real riot squads, I miss the guys in the unit, I miss the incredible liquor selection at every c-store, I miss seeing a movie with a coke and popcorn for $5, I miss stressing out because I can't find the POA, I miss getting hit on everywhere by you go, I miss his smelly PT shirts, I miss every other store being a tattoo parlor, strip club, or pawn shop, I miss SOCEX and CAPEX and TRUEX and all the other EX's, I miss being called Mulkey's Wife, I miss feeling like a family with an entire town...

I just miss being a real Marine wife :(

* I forgot to mention, in 2005 the entire race series for Lejeune was cancelled due to lack of Marines to participate and we left before the race in 2006. I'm not sure why the race organizers thought that OIF3 would make participation so low, or maybe OIF2 made 2004 such bad year they didn't want to try in 2005. Regardless, I never got the chance to run the "one that got away".

Weekend ~ whew!!

2008-10-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

So glad it's Friday!

Thursdays are my long day - 10am to 10pm, 8 hours of class. Fridays are only 2 hours of classes, one at noon and one at 4pm. Besides less time in class, we also only had one assignment due and one quiz. Whew! I didn't study for the quiz (I decided to take a shower and clean my room instead last night), but I think I did pretty well on it and I think we get the lowest score dropped for the term. The assignment for writing was just a journal. So I just blabbered in Japanese for a few pages and called it good.

Now it's on to week 3! Going to use my weekend to get completely caught up and hopefully get a little ahead.

It's also time to get back into the running groove. I took a few days off to recover after the marathon, but I'm looking forward to getting out on my favorite paths around Eugene.

The Portland Marathon was awesome! I went into the race treating it like a training run. I didn't have a goal time in mind and I wasn't nervous at all. Just out there to enjoy a run.

I love the start of the race - one of my favorite moments of all the races I've done. Right after the start, in the middle of downtown is a drum corps. The power and rhythym of the drums echoing off the buildings. Simply amazing.

The first half the race just flew by. In sections I swear they measured the course short lol I even forgot I was on mile 11, I thought I was still on mile 10 and I was shocked to see the mile 12 marker. Then somewhere around 14 or 15, I had a little runner's high. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world! :)

At Checkpoint Charlie (mile 16.5-ish) before the St John's Bridge, my legs started getting a little cranky. Walking all the way up and over the bridge was a killer, but I knew Chris was waiting for me on the other side of the bridge (with a Coke and chips!) that really cheered me up. I love this part of the Portland Marathon because you know that every step after the St John's Bridge is a step closer to home. There was a lot of fog race morning and I couldn't see the bridge until we were about a mile from it. Watching the bridge slowly emerge from the fog was another amazing memory from this race.

Besides some fog, there was a bit of rain during the marathon too. I still had my long sleeve warm-up top and the rain was nothing more than a sprinkle, so I was toasty and dry - except for my feet. My socks got soaked early on, luckily no blisters but my feet felt pretty raw almost the whole way through. I was hoping Chris would be close enough to the car to grab another pair of socks, but no luck.

Mentally things got a little rough about mile 19. No surprises there. I told the whiny voice in my head to shut up; I wasn't going to listen to that "this sucks, why am I doing this, I want to go home" crappola today. I told myself there's only two things you can think about: eating my mini-bag of Fritos at mile 20 and making a honey bucket stop near the U of Portland campus. By mile 21, I felt back in the groove.

Right before mile 24 and the Steel Bridge, the rain started coming down again. Great, just great. I'm this close the finish and now I'm going to get soaked. Grrrr. This time the little voice said, "I wouldn't want to be in the rain anywhere else in the world right now." Damn skippy! I'm in my home, I've got a healthy body and I am so fortunate to have this day. You don't have a web-footed mascot for nothing. A little liquid sunshine? Ha! Let's do the damn thing!! Feeling great, I ran up the on-ramp and across the bridge. Down the other side (ahhhhh ~ I love down hills!) then bam! A volunteer was yelling that we had to stop, there's a train >:( We had to wait for the guards to go back up but it was only a minute or two and stretching out my legs did feel pretty good. Then I got right back into running and on to Front Street.

Usually right before mile 26, I walk. It's an annoying habit. I know I'm close enough to finish but by that point I just don't give a fuck anymore (ie me at this very spot in 2006, and earlier this year at the Eugene Marathon.) Well not this time. When things started getting a little rough, Jobber got me going with "A Little Less Conversation". (The marathon's big selling point was being MP3 player friendly this year, so I couldn't leave Jobber at home all alone.) With a few blocks to go, the Chili Pepper's "Can't Stop" ~ gawd, I luv you Jobber! You're like a miniature buddha covered in plastic! I crossed the finish line with a big goofy grin on my face and without stopping for the last 2.2 miles :) Fan-freakin-tastic!

Now here's where I hate the Portland Marathon - the chaos that is the finish line. We had some new disposable chip system this year, so no waiting in line to get your chip cut off. I also had a space blanket wrapped around me and the volunteer even offered to tie it around my neck for me. Cool beans. But trying to get a medal from one of the clueless middle school chicks was frustrating. There was like 6 of them standing around with armfuls of medals but they were all spacing off. I actually had to stop and ask one of them for my medal. Not cool. Then trying to find food is like playing where's waldo. There's tables set up along both sides of the street with people milling around and a mess of random boxes everywhere. Some people were drinking chocolate milk and eating ice cream, but I couldn't figure out where those were coming from. I found a big table of yogurt (urp!) and some chocolate candies thrown down in piles on another table. I prefer Disney's food area that's just a couple of small, well stocked tables that you have to walk past. No hunting around for some grub. The Eugene Marathon had people handing out chips and water bottles. Arg Portland. Not the worst finish area I've ever been in, but you can do better.

I got my rose from a nice Girl Scout and the guy at the finisher's shirt table was really helpful. He suggested an XS and it fits wonderfully :) I've never worn my shirt from 2006, which was way too big, the sleeves just flop around and the mock turtle neck reminds me a dickey. I skipped the finisher's pictures (there were only two stations set up and a line of people waiting, no thank you). I saw some booths with kiddie pools filled with ice and one with massage tables set up (I think they were free but I'm just not a fan of strangers touching me).

I made it to the reunion area around the block from the finish line. I didn't see him at all coming into the finish line, so I was hoping Hubby was waiting for me there. No Hubby :( I wrapped my blanket around my backside, sat down on the curb and rested against a garbage can. I took my shoes off to discover my feet were completely white and covered in the pruney-est skin I've ever seen. I threw my wet socks away and wished that I had brought some flip flops. After about 10 minutes and still no Hubby, I decided I should be walking around anyways and got up to go look for him.

I walked nearly down to Salmon Street Springs. Still no Hubby :_( I knew he had Hank-dogs with him, so I was looking at people's feet because spotting a dog is easier than spotting my medium built, average height, brown haired white guy of a husband in a crowd. But no Hanker-stanks either. At this point, I'm starting to get very emotional. Where could he be? Why isn't he here? I have no cell phone to call him with. And the thought of asking a stranger to use their phone is too terrifying. I just want to go home! I put my hands on my knees and bent over ready to start bawling. I realized that I must have looked pretty pathetic when some guy crossed the street to ask me if I was okay. So I sucked my crocodile tears up and started walking back to the reunion area. Finally at the last turn of the race, I see him! I must have somehow walked right past him when I first left the reunion area :)

I changed in the car on the way to Jack in the Box. Curly fries -mmmmmmmmmmmm. I napped in the car on the way down to Corvallis. I showered then slept some more at home before heading back down to Eugene.

Another great marathon (no wonder these things are addicting!) and a great weekend at home :)

Busy mofo

2008-10-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Ug ~ too much homework! Who in the hell signed me up for 17 credits?? I should punch them in the face >:/

I spent 3 hours last night writing a draft for a 3 minute speech. Then I get to class this morning and I find out that it's not due until next week. Arrrgg!! (The syllabus, class and speech are completely in Japanese=good times.)

Today I left swim class early (besides feeling like a major cold is in my future, I'm getting really sick of being the last one swimming. Seriously. Every drill and every workout DFL. And not by a little bit, I'm talking being last by at least 25 to 75 meters each and every time. Everyone in class will be standing at the far wall waiting for me to finish humping door knobs.) With my extra 15 minutes I had to choose between getting something for lunch or showering. Seeing how I've only had a cup of yogurt at 10am and it was now 3pm, I went with smelling like chlorine for a chicken ceasar salad.

I still haven't got my financial aid (and I owe over $6k so loans are kinda important), I need to talk to my counselor about graduation, my room is a malestrom of hate and discontent (looks like my hamper and book bag got into a smack down), I'm behind on my reading, I have two tests in Japanese next week, and I'm sure there's plenty I'm forgetting about :P

Whew! I feel a little better for bitching :) But seriously, I really need to go shower

Zzzzzzz

2008-10-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

Portland Marathon was good, but now I'm super sleepy and behind on my homework. I'll try to get some posts up soon (if I can get through my Japanese studying tonight)

Back to sleep for me...

Rainbow

2008-10-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful rainbow over Eugene....

Godwin's UCMJ

2008-09-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

Why is it, that whenever you try to debate something with a military member or spouse, they always resort to the "fighting for your right to say that" bs to make their point? This must be a new form of Godwin's law.

For example, I some how got involved with an email discussion about one of McCain's ads. I have no idea who these people are or how they got my Yahoo address, but the discussion was quite interesting until a Marine wife spoke up. Here's her email in it's entirety so that you can get the full effect of the longer the post, the closer to one the probability of bringing fighting for your freedom becomes (the highlight in red is my doing):

FOR ONE...ALL OF YOU OPINIONATED JACKASSES STOP INCLUDING ME IN YOUR FUCKING EMAILS...I DON'T KNOW A SINGLE ONE OF YOU YET I HAVE GOTTEN ALL THE BITCH SESSIONS YOU HAVE BEEN PASSING AROUND AND I AM TRULY SICK OF READING IT ALL...THIS IS A PRIVATE EMAIL AND DON'T LIKE RECEIVING EMAILS FROM PEOPLE I DON'T KNOW...AND THEN WANT TO BITCH ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON IN OUR COUNTRY...IF YOUR PISSED AND UPSET ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE COUNTRY THEN SPEAK THE FUCK UP...A GROUP EMAIL TO A BUNCH OF PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW ISN'T GOING TO CHANGE ANYTHING...THAT'S ALL YOUR BITCHING IS ABOUT IS CHANGE...WELL GET OFF YOUR ASS...STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER AND GET OUT THERE AND START MAKING SOME CHANGE...AND IF YOUR FOR OBAMA AND PLANNING TO VOTE FOR HIM YOU BETTER KNOW WHAT YOUR VOTING FOR!!!!! IF YOU THINK HE IS WHAT THIS COUNTRY NEEDS YOU ARE VERY MISTAKENLY WRONG...SURE HOPE YOU ALL LIKE PAYING MORE TAXES AND LIKE THE GOVERNMENT IN YOUR BUSINESS WITH EVERYTHING CAUSE I SURE AS SHIT DON'T...YOU ALL ARE A BUNCH OF SOCIALIST LIBERALS...I FOR ONE AM FOR MCCAIN/PALIN JUST LIKE THE MANY MANY OTHERS WHO ARE AND I LIVE IN A MILITARY TOWN...FOR ALL OF YOU WHO OPPOSE THE WAR...TO FUCKING BAD...WHAT HAS BEEN STARTED NEEDS TO BE FINISHED...IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SUPPORT THE TROOPS THEN GLADLY STAND IN FRONT OF THEM...YOUR SORRY ASSES CAN BE SHOT AT INSTEAD OF MY HUSBAND, MANY FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS...THEY ARE DEFENDING YOUR FREEDOM WHICH APPARENTLY YOU DON'T APPRECIATE...IF YOU DID INSTEAD OF SENDING POINTLESS EMAILS YOU COULD TAKE A VETERAN TO LUNCH OR DINNER...PAY AND SAY THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE...I AM A MARINE WIFE AND I STILL TELL THE OTHER MILITARY MEMBERS THANK YOU FOR WHAT THEY DO!!!! YOUR LIVES AREN'T AT RISK...YOU AREN'T THE ONES MAKING A DIFFERENCE...AND THE MILITARY RISKS THEIR LIVES CAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN WHAT THEY ARE DOING...NO ONE HAS FORCED THEM DO JOIN AND GO TO IRAQ...YOU PEOPLE TAKE THE BACK SEAT TO EVERYTHING...IT'S PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT HAVE MADE THIS COUNTRY AND SOCIETY WHAT IT HAS BECOME!!! I TRULY FEEL SORRY FOR YOU!

SIGNED A MARINE WIFE!

STOP INCLUDING MY EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR BITCHING!!!

I also have to point out she ironically "sure as shit" does not like the government in her "business with everything". That's pretty funny because last I checked, being a Marine is government job - in fact probably one of the most micromanaged government jobs you could possibly have. I know my husband is a Marine all day everyday in everything he does, so I guess her husband is only a Marine when he feels like it.

If no one has forced your loved ones to volunteer for military service or asked them to go Iraq - "cause they believe in what they are doing" - if you're so happy, then why do you need reassurance and ego stroking from the rest of us? Do you expect Chesty Puller to give you a high five every morning when you show up for work? If you think the rest of us are aren't worthy of your protection and precious time, by all means go be an accountant. Better yet, go live in a cabin in Montana then you'll never have to be subjected to ungrateful hippies ever again.

Off to finish my latte then eat lunch on my elistist liberal arts campus....

Beginning of the end

2008-09-26T22:37:00.001-07:00

This morning I moved back to UO for my final year. I'm so excited - and today has gone so much better than I could have hoped for :)

My work schedule is perfect. I have great shifts doing my two favorite things - barista and dining room. I work the opening barista shifts on Mon and Wed (my class schedule is all day Tue and Thu, and Fri afternoons). Everyone has to work one weekend shift and mine is Sunday nights, which means that I get to spend Friday night, all day Saturday and most of Sunday with Chris when I'm home. The dining room shift is mainly keeping the dining room clean and stocking shelves. Sounds kinda crappy but I love it because I don't have any mutha uckers messing with my shi :) No customers, no bosses, no coworkers. As long as I keep myself busy and stay out of trouble, no one bugs me for 3 whole hours. Hells ya.

My new room is absolutely amazing! Last school year, I shared one of the smallest double rooms on campus (about 140 sqft). This is a picture of my old room (and for the record my side is the left lol):

This year, I have a single room with a sink. There's so much space I have no idea what to do with myself! lol I'm still unpacking and getting settled, but here's a quick shot of my new room:

There's also two big wall lockers which can't be seen in the picture. Along with a dresser and vanity sink/medicine cabinet, the storage space is practically tripled what I had before. All the furniture and fixtures are brand new. I can still see the contractor's markings on the wall and smell the new laminate smell in the drawers. This may not sound like much, but the UO housing has been compaired to dungeons by the Princeton Review. My building was featured in the opening scene of Animal House; the dorm room they lived in before joining the frat was how my room once looked. The new updates are greatly appreciated!

Not to mention there's an elevator in this building so we didn't have to lug all my stuff up 5 flights of stairs. The laundry room is on the same floor so no hauling my clothes down to the basement. There's a tub in the shower room (although I haven't actually tested it out yet, it's nice to know the option is there lol). I can drink the water that comes out of my tap too, unlike the gross shared water fountain in my old hall.

And omg - the view! I can actually see Autzen Stadium, which is about a mile away.

In about a month when the trees lose their leaves, the view of the stadium will get even better. I wonder if I'll be able to see the big yellow O?

My old room didn't have a horrible view. Being able to look down on Hayward Field was great:

But for the most part all you could see was the roof of the covered walk ways below and the brick wall of the other building. (Sorta unrelated, but there's talk the Eugene Marathon will actually start and finish on Hayward Field. Kick ass! Although I'll probably only be walking the half this year depending on when I get knocked up, should still be a lot of fun.)

So far, there's a couple downsides to my new room. One, just two outlets for the entire room and none by the sink. Two, I now live right above the chow hall. Nice because it's much much quieter than my old room (no people standing below my window fighting at 2am or annoying people singing over the loud speakers at Hayward Field), but not so nice because I can smell everything that's cooking. Today was chicken strips, cheese sandwich and french fry day - drool! Tomorrow night is bbq chicken.

After I got moved in, Chris stayed with me for most of the afternoon. He made sure my computer was up and running, got everything arranged just right for me and helped me put up some strings of purple lights around the room. We went out to lunch then bought my books and some supplies, then sat in my room and talked for a while. He wanted to spend the night with me, but we couldn't leave Hank outside alone all night (it's been cold and I'd worry, plus Hank gets really anxious if he misses a meal). But now there's enough space in my room that both Hubby and Hank-dogs can come stay :)

Obviously, I'd live in a cardboard box if that what I needed to do for my degree. I no joke lived in a tent in my parent's backyard two summers ago*. To just have this opportunity to be at UO is an immense blessing. To have this space to live in on top of everything else is so much more than I ever could have asked for.

* In order to graduate at the same time as Chris, I needed to take second-year Japanese over the summer. Unfortunately, Oregon State does not offer second-year Japanese summer term; I'd have to attend either University of Oregon or Portland State. That same summer, Chris was in OCS at Quantico, Virginia and I was responsible for the pets. Our families live in Portland and my parents agreed to have me and Hank stay the summer with them, so back to Portland State I went. Unfortunately, my brother was also living with my parents after returning from Japan and my sister has my old bedroom. My options were to sleep on my parent's couch, sleep on my sister's floor, or pitch a tent in the backyard. I opted for the backyard.

Home! (for now)

2008-09-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

Yeah, those socks just kicked your ass ;)

I'm so glad to be home!

The trip to Yellowstone was fun. This was my dad's first major family trip, so he was really in to it. It was my 4th time in the park (June '89, September '96, and June '97) and so much had changed, especially Mammoth Hot Springs. Some of the old paths I remember were completely covered because there had been so much growth, but now so much of the springs were dry and inactive.

Very nice to visit Chelsi and Colt too. They took us to a yummy distiller for dinner then a tour around Boise. So much more than I thought there'd be. We might have to come back for some skiing on winter break :) Chris and I stayed with Colt's mom in Boise. She's awesome and we had some great conversations about everything from politics to feng shui.

Chelsi and Colt also just got two russel terrier puppies, lots of fun chasing around after them. Their cute little puppy smell and noises - awww! Chris and I had been talking about getting a blue heeler puppy because Hank seems like he needs a little friend. We'd name her Clemintine - Hank and Clem awww! But after spending the night with the puppy crying (they hate being separated in the kennel) and stepping barefoot in a pile of puppy poop, I think we're okay without having to go through all that again lol

We got home from Yellowstone last Friday, then we had to be back in Portland on Saturday. I was supposed to run the Champoeg Half on Saturday morning, but I was a lazy lump in our house. After being here there everywhere for the past 6 weeks, being home in my own bed feels so damn good.

Sunday morning, Chris's mom completed the 1 mile walk in Portland's Race for the Cure. She was so worried that she wouldn't be able to finish or that she'd be the last to cross the finish line, but of course, she did fine :) Last year on her birthday, she didn't think she could walk two blocks from a parking garage to Old Town Pizza. So for her to do a mile is great. I think we might have her talked into going for a 5k next year.

On the TTC front, no luck this month :( (btw, that's Trying To Concieve not Terriorist Training Camp lol) I was 3 days late and super excited, but nope. Must have just been out of whack from the trip or something. Boo.

To help us, we bought a Clearblue Easy ovulation machine. Not knowing when to do the doing was stressing us out more than using a kit (we're a little type A lol). Plus, we both agreed we would have paid $200 to be pregnant this month, so spending the money will be worth it. Tomorrow I get start peeing on a little white stick 10 days a month - good times :)

Tiny Fey/Palin on SNL

2008-09-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

Leaving...

2008-09-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

We're off to Yellowstone :) Tonight we're headed up to Portland to drop off Hank with my brother. Tomorrow we'll drive to Boise to see our friends Colt and Chelsi before they get married. I'm not sure what there is to do in Boise, but Colt has promised to show us around downtown. Hmmmm. I think I'd better take Apples to Apples just in case lol Then we arrive in West Yellowstone to meet the rest of my family on Thursday.

Getting a little worried about the up-coming marathons. My long runs have been lacking recently. The weather's been pretty darn hot, so I either squeeze in a short run before the sun goes down or get up early for a longer run. I've been having some major trouble sleeping lately (my brain won't shut off before 2am even with sleepy pills). I'm not much of a morning person anyways, so getting up early has been next to impossible.

I'm taking a break from triathlons. When I got out of the water during the PDX tri, I knew that it was time that triathlons and I see other people. Just feeling a little burnt out and frustrated. My first year running I only did 3 races as well (an 8k mud run, and two road 10k's), so doing only 3 triathlons this year seems about right. Maybe next year I'll up it to an Oly, then the year after that go for the HIM.

For now, just gotta focus on getting those long runs in and finishing school. I'm taking 17 credits this fall and probably another 17 or 18 in winter. I'm trying to set up my schedule so that I can return to OSU for my last term and that I'll only have to worry about transferring one more class before graduating from UO next spring. I'm pretty excited about my fall schedule. I'm taking the required 4th year spoken and written Japanese classes, and for my electives a cyberpunk film class (we're watching Akira!!! wooooot!!), a history class about the US in the 1960's, and an intro to fencing PE class. I'm going to be one busy bee, but spending only 6 months away from Chris instead of 9 months will be very much worth it.

I need to finish putting away the dishes before we leave. Boo. I hate dishes.

Holy Sh*t

2008-09-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

Portland Marathon is just 4 weeks away

O_O

Fuck.

Couldn't have said it better myself

2008-09-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

From this month's Runner's World:

But why feel pain at all? “It’s an amazing thing for people outside of running to get their heads around: Why would you put yourself through something you know is going to hurt?” says Atkinson. “A lot of runners say, ‘That’s part of the allure.’ Pain is not just a necessary evil; it’s a fundamental part of the process,” he says. “It’s part of the reason you go out there. You want to feel your lungs burn a little, to feel your quadriceps get fatigued. It’s part of feeling that you’re alive out there on a run.”

For many runners, the urge to suffer represents a turning away from society’s obsession with numbing pain or medicating every discomfort. “Many people are coming to running at a point in our cultural history where they’re saying, ‘I’m not satisfied with this anesthetized way of living,’” say Atkinson.

Long-distance races can also serve as a rite of passage, says Atkinson. “You go into a race with a sense of self, and in the process of encountering this really uncomfortable pain and suffering you’re forced to look in the mirror and find out, What defines me? Am I a person who perseveres? Am I able to endure?’” he says. “You may emerge at the end as a qualitatively different person, and that’s something you carry over to the rest of you life.”

hmmmm...

2008-09-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or does Sarah Palin remind anyone else of Paulette from Legally Blonde?

Every time I see Palin, I swear she's about to break out some bend and snaps...

PDX Tri

2008-09-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon I picked up my packet for the tri. I was surprised to not see that many people there; I thought the tri would be much busier. I switched from the Olympic to the sprint distance. Even without the staples in my noggin, I think 1/2 mile swim is barely doable for me. There's no way I was going from the 1/4 mile swim at the Midsummer tri to a 1k swim :P

After the packet pick up, we headed to Psycho Safeway downtown for a little brown bag lunch/breakfast. That place never changes. Even though it's been very nicely remodled, it's still a swirling malestrom of the unwashed/elderly masses (and a richy rich down from Goose Hollow every now and again).

The wedding went nicely. The Marine wives got to sit around and chat while our hubbies were getting dressed in their blues and taking pictures. The coordinator was a little odd. She would not let Nikki and I sit with Jiana in the church, so Jiana had to sneak across the aisle like we were in grade school or something. The ceremony was beautiful, especially the touching homily. I always cry at weddings! :_) lol

The reception had the most delicious peach, vodka, and sparkling wine cocktails at the hosted bar, so of course I had to drink plenty of those lol Chris helped himself to lots of Black Butte Porter too. For some reason, Chris and I kept getting bugged by the bartenders about getting two drinks when we're the oldest Marine couple there. Even our friend Ed, who is married to someone under 21, wasn't getting harrassed about double fisting. Guess you gotta keep an eye on us "skeezy eastsiders" as Ian put it lol (Ian also grew up in ghetto fabulous SE Portland, although I think I'm the only official Felony Flater, and the reception was held at the Multnomah Althetic Club in the afore-mentioned Goose Hollow neighborhood.)

Chris decided it was time leave about 9:30pm. He said that he was only thinking about getting me to bed for the tri in the morning, but it was suspeciously after the host bar closed and as soon as the dancing began. Hmmmmm....

Even with the help of some Tylenol PM's, I couldn't get to sleep until after midnight. Waking up about 4am sucks. I think that's the worst part of racing - tearing yourself out of bed at an ungodly hour. Why can't more races be like Boston and not start until noon??

We get to the race and find a great parking space under the Hawthorne Bridge. I get my transition area all set up, got a latte from Starbucks, then just waited for my wave to begin. (Although a good thing to note: go to the honey bucket before you put your wetsuit on.)

I didn't get nervous until we had to head down to the dock. I suddenly felt like calling the whole thing off and hiding under the bed with Hank.

The best part of the swim (besides when it's over): wetsuit=awesome! I wasn't sure what to expect, how warm it would keep me, how that water would feel, ect. I cautiously put a foot in Willamette. Yeah, it's officially cold. But there was no delicate way of slowing getting into the water, so sploosh - off the dock I went. And yay! the wetsuit made the water nice and snuggly :) I felt even warmer than getting into the pool sometimes.

The gun went off and I clung to the side of the dock for a moment letting most of the wave leave. I instantly hated putting my face in the water again. And as a bonus surprise, my goggles decide to fog up too. I tried to rinse them out like I do in the pool but without a bottom to rest on that wasn't happening. I gave up and decided to lick them. I went from foggy whiteness to spitty glopness. Ug. Well, I wasn't out there to sight see. As long as I can head in the direction of the blurry orange buoy I'll be alright. (Now I know that you can take a break on one of the kayaks, but at the time I thought that just touching one of the helpers would mean a DQ.)

I was cruising towards the turn around buoy. I wasn't setting any records but it didn't feel like I'd never reach the buoy either. Zoom under the bridge. Zoom to the turn around. Then, wait a minute, what the hell is this? Why do I keep getting closer and closer to the seawall? Why is getting back to the bridge taking so freakin long?? Oh. That's right, the current. I forgot, I'm now headed against the current >:( I tried telling myself it's no different than when you're running and there's a little head wind, but I kept feeling like I was just treading water.

Finally I'm passed the bridge, finally finally finally I reach the last buoy. Then it was time to get out of river. And my legs refused to work. The rocks were especially slippery and even though there were volunteers to help you stand up and reach the shore, I kept flopping back into the water. Reaching solid land, I'm usually overjoyed to begin the bike. This time, I left everything I had in the water.

I slogged through the bike. Two loops of ug. The hills killed me. If I had a cadence counter, I think it would be at 12. My derailer kept making an evil noise. I was scared to switch gears. Although, the sights were wonderful. I went past the new Andaluz house, where I hope to have our little Mulk munchkin at. The gardens, the OHSU trams, the Chart House.

One loop on the run. Down to the Steel, up to the Hawthorne. And I was finished :)

No finisher's medals for us :( We got a frisbee printed with "Yes, I swam in the Williamette". And yes, I've hung it on the wall with all my medals and certificates lol

1/2 mile swim - 31:22
T1 - 4:04
16.4 mile bike - 1:28:53
T2 - 1:29
5k run - 32:41

Just realized...

2008-09-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

If we PCS to Quantico next summer, I should be there in time for the Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach. And I might be able to do the new Rock'n'Roll Half in Seattle too :)

Flippin' sweet!!

Friday

2008-09-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

I decided that doing the Portland Tri a week after Hood to Coast just wasn't cool enough. I needed to do something to increase the bad-ass factor, so I got four staples in my head.

Friday morning, we were packing up and getting ready to leave Corvallis when I needed to put one last thing into the trunk. We have one of those bike racks that mounts on the trunk, so I had to use both hands to lift the trunk open because the rack and bike are so heavy. I packed up what I needed to pack, then without thinking, I reached up and pulled the trunk closed. Something suddently slammed into the back of my neck and I fell over in the drive way. I curled up on the pavement holding my head and crying. After a moment, I got a hold of myself. I figured that laying in the drive way crying isn't going to do much good no matter how bad it hurts, I need to get in the house. I sat up - only to find blood streaming down my head into a pool on the pavement.

Oh. Fuck O_O

It took me a couple of panicked moments before remembering head wounds are going to bleed like nobody's business, this probably just looks really bad but it's nothing to flip out about.

By this time the neighbor across the street (who just moved in and we haven't had a chance to introduce ourselves to yet) comes running over to me and Chris comes flying out of the house. And now blood is coming down the side of my head too. They're trying to figure out what happened and what's bleeding. I look up at the bike on the car and realize that it was just the teeth on the gear ring that chomped my head. The same thing that recently happened to my leg has now happened to my head. Now I've completely calmed down, whatever is bleeding isn't hurting at all and I'm more annoyed that this happened when we're already running late than anything else.

Chris gets me a wet wash cloth to clean myself up and a baggy of ice for my neck. We assure the neighbor lady that we're going to go to the ER and everything's going to be alright. We get Hank-dog into the car and leave the house. I tell Chris I don't want to go to the ER because I don't want my hair messed up. (btw, my head's still bleeding and I'm on my second wash cloth because the first one is full of blood. I'm also annoyed because Chris grabbed the good wash clothes, not the old stained-up, crappy ones. What was he thinking, right? lol) Chris thinks that I must have brain damage and convinces me we'll just make a quick little stop in the urgent care center to see what they have to say.

Urgent care is just blocks from our house and they already have all our info on file, so we're able to be seen by a doctor with no waiting at all. The nurse gets the blood cleaned up and the doctor puts the staples in (no shaving my head - yay!). I was doing really good - no pain, nausea, light headness, ect - until that last staple. Suddenly I got very pale, clammy and felt ready to throw up and pass out. I felt better after just a few minutes, but the doctor made me lay back for a long time and had me do all these weird tests (like sticking my tongue out) before they said I was okay to leave. I guess no brain damage after all lol

Finally, we get on the road to Portland. I pick up my wetsuit from Athlete's Lounge. Because I need to keep my stample dry no swimming in Hagg Lake like I had planned. Poop. We get over to my in-laws and unpack the car. Taking the bike off the rack I finally figure out that the pedal must have been what hit the back of my head. We wash my hair to get all the dried blood out. Chris lets me take a nap before heading out to the wedding rehersal. (The care sheet from the ER says to have someone wake me up every few hours to make sure I know who and where I am lol)

I know absolutely no one at the wedding rehersal and Chris is only there to help reherse the sword arch. When everything was done, I told Chris I didn't want to go to the dinner too. The staples were beginning to make my head ache, plus I'm normally very shy and today I just wasn't in the mood to make chit chat with strangers (even if it mean free food and booze).

Their church was a couple blocks away from where Chris and I were married, so we walked over and took a couple of pictures in front of St Mary's. When we get back to the car, I discover that we don't have any Tylenol with us. The only logical thing: stop at the Crystal Ballroom for drinks and dinner lol

I had 3 lemon drops (I've been craving them like crazy lately) and Chris had 3 pints of Terminator Stout. Even after playing the most pathetic game of pool ever (30 minutes and we were no where near being done), Chris still wasn't good to drive. So we decide to walk down to the waterfront. On the way there, I spot a bar with $1.75 Jello Shots - heck yes! But the first bartender decided to go on a brake the second I sat down at the bar, and the other one was too busy chatting with some guys to serve me a drink. Boo to you Scooter's. We decided to leave, I'm thinking Huber's or Rialto, Chris says he wants more Terminator. We start walking towards the other McMeniman's on 10th, when - huzzah!- the street car comes along. We run to catch it like we're a couple of high school dorks. A few short stops later and we're back in front of our first apartment. We take a couple of pictures then head into the pub.

Chris is busy calling other Marines to try and get the sword arch squared away. Apparently not everyone had a sword, so they decided that all the Marines - both enlisted and officers - would use the officer sword. Chris was trying to find enough SNCO swords for those who needed it, but he was too busy talking to be doing drinking. When I got to the bar, I ordered him a pint and me two shots and a rum+coke. He was still talking. So I ordered another shot. Still talking. A vodka+7up. Finally, Chris gets off the phone (which is good because I'm pretty sure the bartender was getting close to cutting me off seeing how I'm the size of a smurf and I've had 5 drinks and no food or water in about 30 minutes).

We decide to start walking back towards Burnside, when - huzzah! - Max comes along. We jump on for ride down to the water front. Chris sees the cinemas by Pioneer Courthouse Square and decides he wants to see a movie. We get off at the next stop so he can look up what's playing on his iPhone. He finds Tropic Thunder starts in 2 minutes at the mall. So we run down the street to the mall, run up the escalators, he gets the tickets and I get the popcorn. We get settled down just as the last of the trailers start rolling.

Funny freakin movie! I don't want to spoil anything, so go see it lol

All in all, a pretty crazy but awesome day :)

My weekend...

2008-09-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

What were you up to??

Hood to Coast pictures (finally)

2008-09-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

Headed up to Mt Hood (some of the road I'll soon be running)

When we arrived at Timberline Lodge, I had a sense of deja vu. Except the last time I was at this spot it looked like this:

The start for Timberline Marathon, September 2006. We need to stop meeting like this lol

Ready to start this bitch, about 6pm

The clock on the right shows how much time has passed since the first teams left that morning

Handing off to Dan in exchange 1

My first road kill

Meeting up with Van 2 at exchange 6 in Sandy, about midnight

My vanmates trying to sleep under the Hawthrone Bridge in Portland, about 1am

One of the tallbike jousters. I wonder what they were thinking of us lol

The exchange marker spray painted under the bridge. If I were the tattooing sort of chick, this would be a great design

Taking pictures of myself in front of the OMSI sign, then I went off to do some dancing in the parking lot, about 2:30am

The sun rising over Mt Hood, near Scappose (sorry it's so blurry, couldn't find a good spot to balance my camera)

Watching the sun rise from the van on Hwy 30

Vans and runners in exchange 24, about 10am. (This is only about a fifth of the vans stopped at this exchange. Hood to Coast has over 1000 teams, which means more than 2000 vans and 12,000 runners will be passing through this weekend.)

One of the most beloved Hood to Coast traditions: In line for the honey buckets. The clouds soon disappeared then the day got very hot and sunny

My blister and a view of the van's floor.

Resting and waiting for Van 2 (I was using one hoodie for a top, one for a blanket, and a packet of toliet paper as a pillow)

Dan, me, Jeff, Kim, Brian still waiting for Van 2, about noon.

Some of the roads in our last legs

The chick in the white t-shirt holding the clip board passed me up like I was standing still, then wasn't even sweating. Damn I hate Nike sponsered teams lol

Smoochies from Chris when we arrived in Seaside

Me and Kim at the after party waiting for Van 2 to officially finish

Watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, about 7pm

Finally! We crossed the finish line as a team about 8pm (27 hours after I started at Mt Hood)

On the road again

2008-08-28T16:22:00.001-07:00

Van 1 after our last leg - Kim, Jeff, Jessica, Dan, me, and Brian.

I'll try to finish off the Hood to Coast recap soon, but for now, we need to get back up to Portland. Technically we were supposed to leave this afternoon but we've decided to stay in Corvallis one more night for a little extra down time. Packing for this trip will be very interesting too. Not only do I need to take the ass-load of junk for the triathlon, we also need to take the butt-ton required for the dress blues. As a fun bonus: his uniform can't touch anything or be folded for fear of wrinkles, dog hair contamination, IPs, ect. Fitting everything into our Passat with the dog in the back seat - good times :)

Tomorrow I'm picking up my wetsuit and heading out to either Hagg Lake or Blue Lake to get used to the suit and get in some more open water swimming. Later that night, Chris is part of the sword arch in a friend's wedding, so we have a rehersal to attend. Saturday is the actual wedding and packet pick up. Sunday morning is the Portland Triathlon (my legs have been trash after Hood to Coast, so doing the tri should be interesting lol). Monday we're having a bbq with my family. Tuesday Chris meets with the OHSU doctor for the first time and hopefully get everything squared away to get the steroid injections.

A little update on Chris's back: he's been doing much better. He stopped taking the ibuprofen (the stupid doctor had him taking 800mg 3 times a day for almost 5 months) and started running again (even though the stupid doctor told him he should never run again because it pounds the body too much, like the people working desk jobs never have back or knee problems durr!). Basically he's doing everything the doctor said not to do and he's feeling a lot better. He still isn't 100% better yet (which is why we want to proceed with the epidural steroid shots), but he's not crawling out of bed every morning doubled over in pain anymore :)

Later gators!

Hood to Coast recap (part 1)

2008-08-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

(I'll add pictures soon, but right now the memory card reader is having technical difficulties...)

Leg 1 - "Get outta here!"

Friday afternoon, my van 1 teammates gathered up in Portland and headed up to Timberline Lodge. We were given an extremely late start time of 6:15pm. Last year we had basically the same team, started at 2pm and finished in about 27 hours. This year we were more than a little worried about finishing before the race ended at 9pm on Saturday.

I tried to sleep on the way up the mountain, but as usual on HTC, all I could really do was just close my eyes. We arrived at Timberline, checked in, loaded up on free Shot Bloks and Clif Bars, then killed time before the start by taking pictures and hitting the honey buckets. I felt much more relaxed and un-stressed after doing some jogging in the parking lot. I was more worried about the altitude than the downhill slope, but from doing a little warm up I found that neither were going to bug me on Leg 1.

Finally, our time had come. A few minutes before 6:15 our team number was called to the start line. As I was walking to the start I suddenly remembered - I hadn't put any Body Glide on my feet. Too late now. I shook hands with the runners around me, wishing each other luck.

The announcer counted us down then shouted "Get outta here! See you in Seaside!!" No horns, no fireworks, no canons. A deceptively low-key start for the largest relay race in the world.

Leg 1 was gorgeous! I am so glad that I choose this leg. The road's mile markers perfectly synced up with my distance so I knew how far I had to go (most of HTC isn't marked at all, so having some reassurance as to where you are is nice to have). The view from the mountain was amazing, the forest and waterfalls next to the road were beautiful. I was able to relax and enjoy the ride down Mt Hood.

I only passed one roadkill. And then I got passed by a runner who started 15 minutes after I did. He looked just like Ryan Hall too, so I couldn't feel too bad about being roadkilled

Before I knew it, I had arrived in Government Camp. There was one nasty little uphill before the exchange. My legs had spent the last 5 miles going downhill and did not want to cooperate going uphill. I passed off our braclet to Dan and with that, Hood to Coast 2008 was officially under way for Team #820.

Leg 13 - Living in a van down by the river

We stopped for dinner at exchange 6 in Sandy. Subway was a much, much better choice for running food than last year's pick of Doug Fir lol (I was Leg 12 last year, so while I was out running, the team decided to go to Doug Fir. Well, Audrey and the other guy who's name I can't remember decided to go to Doug Fir. Chris, Dan and Jessica had never heard of Doug Fir and just assumed the two people from Portland knew a good place for chow. Imagine 6 tired, sweaty runners in a trendy packed bar on a Friday night. While I was trying to stretch, a brawl started outside and about 10 police cars showed up. Ahhh good times! lol)

Our van rolled out of Sandy and down into Portland. We had about 3 hours before Van 2 was expected to arrive. Everyone else wanted to get some sleep, but I decided to stay up. I forgot to pack earplugs so I knew trying to sleep was going to be pointless and frustrating. While everyone else laid down, I listened to my iPod, played some sudoku, walked around, nibbled on a Powerbar and Gatorade, danced in the OMSI parking lot, changed clothes, took a bunch of stupid pictures, watched some ZooBomber-sorts tallbike joust. I love Portland! Nothing like running around underneath the Hawthorn Bridge in the middle of the night to make you feel 15 again :)

Sure enough, only one of my vanmates (who did remember to bring earplugs) was able to get a decent amount of sleep (if you can call less than 2 hours a decent amount of sleep lol).

After waiting and waiting to hear from the second van, Renae came into exchange 12 about 3:15am and I was off again.

Leg 13 follows the eastbank of the Willamette. I haven't ran the new esplanade because it was finished while we were at Camp Lejeune. I was surprised how pretty it is with sculptures every few feet, plenty of lights and the view of downtown Portland was wonderful. I look forward to running it again next week in the Portland Triathlon. We crossed the Steel bridge, made our way past the Fremont bridge, and into the industrial area. This leg follows the same streets as part of the Portland Marathon, so no surprises and not much to look at after leaving downtown. (Although yet again, Jenn did not have cookies for me as I ran past her apartment on Front St. One of these days, Jenn - sheesh! lol)

My hips felt a little tight, but otherwise I felt good after Leg 1. I know a lot of people get pounded on the downhills and my vanmates who ran legs 2 and 3 were no exception. My knees, shins and quads felt just fine though. My only complaint - I had the worst blister I've ever gotten and it was getting worse. The area underneath my big toe was one giant blister. I cut out a patch of moleskin while waiting for Leg 13 to start, but it wasn't helping.

I was so happy to finally see the exchange and to give the braclet away to Dan.

Alrighty, off to drink some more lemon drops and watch Colbert Report. I'll post Leg 25 and pictures tomorrow.

Oh yeah, and wooooooohooo!!! Yay for being able to vote for 88 years! :D Gotta get check on the pie now. (Seriously, I'm baking a pie with apples I picked from our yard this afternoon. Yum!)

We're home!

2008-08-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

I'll post the Hood to Coast recap soon, but for now, we're tired and glad to be back home from Portland.

Only 5 days til the PDX tri! :)

Marine wifey survey (I'm bored lol)

2008-08-19T17:05:00.000-07:00

**Name: Mulkey's wife

**Age: Just turned 29

**Significant Other: Sgt Chris

**Age of Spouse: 29

**What Branch of the Military is your spouse in? My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment

**Have you ever been in the military or are you currently in the military? No, I thought about it because I love being challenged and extremely active, but I hate being told what to do and I couldn't serve for policies I admantly oppose

**Has your spouse ever been deployed, if so, when and where to? Med float to Afghanistan Feb 04 - Sep 04, Med float to OIF3 Nov 05 - April 06

**If your spouse was deployed, how badly did you miss them? This best way I can discribe it: your right arm has been ripped off. Sure, you can live without your arm, but it's painful and it sucks learning how to deal with only half of what you need. The doctors estimate the arm will be reattached in 6 months, but maybe it will be longer. Maybe you'll never get it back. Who knows. All you can do is hope for the best and do what you can with what you have for as long as you have to do it.

**If your spouse was deployed, how long were they gone for? About 8 months the first time and 5 months the second time. Which doesn't sound that bad, but when he returned from Iraq, he had about 4 weeks at home then left for 3 months of MECEP Prep in MCRD San Diego, and the week he returned we dity moved from NC to Oregon.

**Where are you and your spouse currently stationed? Oregon State University NROTC

**Do you like the benefits you receive as a military dependent? Heck yes! Great health care (we pretty much pay nothing). I'm not in love with the commissary and PX but MCCS puts on some great races and I'm addicted to the base movie theater (a movie, popcorn and a pop for $5? I'm there!)

**Do you appreciate what your spouse job entails? Well, right now his job is to go to school so we pretty much do the same thing ;)

**Do you support your spouse as member of the United States military? Absolutely. I pushed him to stay Marine, helped him apply for MECEP and I will be there when he retires in about 30 years

**Do you like military life? Yep, we're both in much better shape than before he enlisted, our marriage is stronger and our sex life has never been better.

**Do you and your spouse have children, and if so, how many? Not yet, hopefully soon. Maybe 2 or 3, we can't agree lol

**Do you think your spouse looks good in uniform? Yes! I miss him wearing cammies all the time

**Do you think military life is more advanced then civilian life, why or why not? It's not "more advanced". They're just different. They have different stresses and different worries, but one isn't better or harder than the other. Being a civilian isn't for everyone just like being in the military isn't for everyone.

We were together for almost 6 years when he enlisted, so as of this year we've spent an equal amount being civilian and being military.

**Do you ever use your spouse rank in the military to your advantage? No, but I am aware of his rank when dealing with other Marines or other wives. I am always respectful to those senior to us, and I try to be a good example for those junior to us. I can't say I'm not looking forward to him being an officer though ;)

**What do you think about other military spouses/fiancees/girlfriends? The good ones are great - they're like a second family and kept me sane during the deployments. Unfortunately, most "wives" are lying, cheating little girls and I have no need for their pathetic drama in my life.

**What do you think about people who have gotten out of the military during basic or AIT for reasons on injury? The people I knew who had to leave before they joined the fleet are extremely upset and wanted nothing more in the world than to serve their country.

**What do you think about people claiming to be gay to get out of the military? I believe "don't ask, don't tell" is some of the most disguisting laws since Jim Crow

**What do you think civilian people don't know about the military or military life? Who cares. I probably know jack about their job or their lives, so why stress out if they don't know about ours.

**What would you want civilians to know about the military or military life? Putting a yellow magnetic ribbon on your car doesn't forgive voting for Bush.

**When you see movies about the military, do you notice when things aren't right? Yep. Especially on shows like NCIS. I'll start screaming if they don't have their cover on outside or they put a Gulf War ribbon on a 19 year old PFC lol

**When your spouse sees movies about the military, do they notice when things aren't right? Yeah, like we were both laughing how in the Hulk movie the two people not wearing body armor and kevlar were the ones who walked away from the helo crash. Plus, disel doesn't explode. So yeah right to all those humvees you see blowing up lol

**Are you and your spouse currently, or have you ever been stationed to overseas Europe? No, we're hoping for Hawaii or Japan after he gets done with TBS

**Where did your spouse go to Basic Training? Boot camp in MCRD San Diego and OCS/TBS in Quantico

**Do you know where Quantico is, if so, where is it? Yes, and we're scheduled to PCS there in just under a year. Virginia is a backwards shit hole and I'm not looking forward to being back there.

**Do you know where 29 Palms is, if so, where is it? Yes, it's a very depressing place but at least you can drive to Las Vegas and I'm curious if your running shoes actually melt to the pavement in summer time...

**Do you know where Camp Hansen is, if so, where is it? Yes, Oki

**Do you think being a military spouse allows you to travel easily? Yes, although careful what you wish for. You might not always be going somewhere you want to go.

**If you and your spouse are stationed away from home, do you miss it? Very much!! There's no where on earth like Portland. Thinking about that awful feeling getting on the plane at PDX headed for RDU makes me want to start crying!

**Where are you and your spouse originally from? We're both born and raised in Portland

**Do you think being a military spouse is a job, why or why not? Not really, because a job is 8-5 Monday through Friday. You don't have to worry about shaving on Sunday or wearing the proper uniform to the mall. If you need to stop at the store or the gas station after work, you don't think twice about what you're wearing.

Being a Marine is a life.

**Do you have any other military men's girls as friends on Myspace? No, I don't know any 9 year olds who are man's pocession. But I do have friends who are woman and one aspect of their lives is being married to a man in the military.

Busy

2008-08-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

We've been busy with family the last couple of weeks.

Chris's dad fell again and broke his shoulder blade. He's been in the hospital because the injury exacerbated his Parkinson's and he's stubborn about doing his physical therapy at home. When we haven't with his dad in the hospital, we've been helping Chris's mom out around the house.

I also went down to Lincoln City last weekend to help my family. We had to find some legal papers about a land dispute my grandparents had with one of their neighbors. The other guy figured that since my grandpa passed away now he'd be able to build whatever he wanted to build. I don't think so scooter, says my dad. We had to sort through boxes and boxes of unfiled papers - almost 20 years worth of back statements, old check books, ledgers from their hotel, ect - to find the court rulings.

Anywhos, Chris is still in Portland. I'm back in Corvallis to pack up the rest of our stuff for Hood to Coast. I'll be back probably tomorrow night. Then Friday afternoon we head up to Timberline Lodge. My first leg is at 6:15pm, then approximately 3am and 12:30pm, and we're scheduled to arrive in Seaside about 8pm Saturday night. Woot!

These things are so addicting...

2008-08-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

There's a 44% Chance You've Been Abducted By Aliens

Maybe you've really been abducted by aliens... but probably not.

Let's face it. You're just a little weirder than most people.

What Are the Chances that You've Been Abducted by Aliens?

What Your Dreams Mean...

Your dreams seem to show that you're a bit disturbed... but nothing serious.

You may have a problem you're trying to work out in your sleep.

Overall, you are very content in your life.

You tend to be a very productive thinker.

Your dreams tend to reflect your insecurities.

Your dreams indicate that you have very conflicted feelings.

You have a very vivid imagination and a rich creative mind.

You secretly want to hide your dreams from your waking mind.

What Do Your Dreams Mean?

What Your Sunglasses Say About You

You are down to earth, stable, and practical.

You see the world as it is. You accept facts easily.

You need to be shaded from overly dramatic and problem prone people.

You feel sunniest when things are calm and peaceful

The Sunglasses Test

What Your Fridge Says About You

You aren't greedy, but you don't really deprive yourself either. You strike a good balance with the stuff you buy.

You are a very thrifty person. You don't like to waste money... or food.

You are a very adventurous person. You love to try new things, and you get bored very easily.

You are responsible, together, and mature. You act like an adult, even when you don't feel like it.

You are likely to be an alcoholic.

What Do the Contents of Your Refrigerator Say About You?

You Should Try Ice Climbing

Cold, challenging, and downright scary

And there's no way the snow is breaking your fall

What Extreme Sport Should You Try?

Your Inner Eye Color Is Blue

You've got the personality of a blue eyed women

You're intense and expressive - and always on the go

You've also got a sweet, playful side - which draws men in

What Color Eyed Woman Are You Really?

Your Celebrity Boob Twin:

Charlize Theron

Who's Your Celebrity Boob Twin?

Your Toes Should Be Black

A total rulebreaker (and heartbreaker), you're always a little punk rock.
Your flirting style: Wacky and a bit shocking
Your ideal guy: An accomplished artist, musician, or writer
Stay away from: Preppy guys looking for a quick bad girl fling

What Color Should Your Toenails Be?

What Guys Think of Your Ponytail...

Girlish, free spirited, low maintenance.

The kind of girl he can take camping ... for fire building and romance :-)

What Do Guys Think Of Your Hair?

You Are the Swedish Chef

"Bork! Bork! Bork!"

Your happy and energetic - with borderline manic tendencies.

No one really gets you. And frankly, you don't even get you.

But, you sure can whip up a great chocolate mousse

The Muppet Personality Test

Double or nothing

2008-08-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

I have the greatest hubby ever!

Chris and I talked about doing the second triathlon after he woke up Saturday afternoon. When I told him how much the entry fee was, he said to do what I needed to do. Sunday morning at the lake, I was supposed to be doing some practice swimming before the tri but the water was too cold. I got about chest deep and refused to do anything else. Chris actually took off his shirt and shoes and jumped into the lake to swim with me. I'm sure the people on the shore thought we were crazy!

We did some swimming together. I felt fine about putting my face in the water and my stroke was smooth. I wasn't loving the dark, greenish water but if I watched the bubbles on my hands I felt just fine. Chris reassured me about the cold weather and I signed up for the Tri-it distance. (The swim is 1/4 mile instead of 1/2 mile, but the bike is still 12 miles and the run a 5k.)

I told myself that Saturday's race was just a warm-up and today was my day. The other people in the Tri-It distance were all really cool and we were chatting waiting for our wave to start. I entered into the start chute feeling good. I swam out to the start line and found a nice place for me at the back of the pack. Unfortunately, as soon as the gun went off, I instantly found putting my face in the water scary. I felt claustrophobic when my head was down and all I could focus on was that I couldn't breath. I tried to freestyle with my head out of the water, but I was just getting splashed in the face. So I flipped over and did the elementary backstroke. I'd do about 10 strokes on my back, then turn over to do a couple of front crawl strokes to sight. It was slow going but at least I was going.

There was some bumping about half way through the swim. A girl swimming next to me seemed to have a hard time sighting, so she was kinda all over the place. At one point she even swam right over the top of me. But I just kept doing my thing. After we turned the last buoy, I was doing more and more front crawl. I think I could smell the barn doors and just wanted to get out of the water as quickly as possible lol I stood up a little earlier than I should have, but I was just so relieved to be on land again that I didn't care about wasting the extra couple of seconds running instead of swimming.

T1 went well and I was off on the bike. I love to bike! So much faster than running and it makes me feel like a kid again :) The ride was pretty uneventful, which is so awesome! I forgot my bike's fanny pack with the flat tire repair kit and I swear I rode through every bit of broken glass on Marine Drive lol I did get a little bit of chub rub on my thigh from the seat, so lots more Body Glide next time. Before I knew it, we hit the turn around by PDX and were back to Blue Lake park. I was too nervous to try the trick of leaving my shoes on the bike and coming into T2 barefoot. Maybe next time.

The 5k went well. I hadn't eaten much because my ShotBloks were tasting like wax :P I was a little slower than I wanted to be, but I was in a nice groove by the end of the run.

Swim - 0:14:42

T1- 3:23

Bike - 0:50:17

T2 - 2:11

Run - 0:32:34

Total - 1:43:07

The only cruddy thing about the Sunday's race - I actually got an age group award! I was thrilled with just finishing and I've only gotten one other AG award ever before (and this was the 40th race I've finished), I didn't even bother checking the results before we left yesterday. When I checked my times this morning, I took 4th place in the Tri-It women's overall and 2nd in my age group. So even though I placed, I didn't get my award :( But I can't be too disappointed - going from a DNF to 4th overall is a nice way to end the weekend.

Yesterday I wanted to get into the pool to see what was going on with putting my face in the water. Without hesitation I was able to push off from the wall and start stroking away. No scary feelings about having my face down. Now I'm wondering if maybe I was holding my breath during the races. Hmmmm. My legs were pretty tired yesterday, so I just did a bunch of swimming with the pull-buoy focusing on zipper drills and bilateral breathing. Felt really good.

Another reason why my hubby is crazy awesome - I was feeling really bad about I how I looked in my swimsuit. There were chicks at the races who looked like they just finished a game of beach volleyball. Tanned, washboard stomaches, cute little tattoos, sporty bikinis, ect. Blah. When I started complaining about them yesterday, Chris hadn't even noticed them. He had been too busy looking at all the different wetsuits people were wearing so he'd know which kind I should buy lol

DNF

2008-08-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

I'm very disappointed to say, I couldn't finish the swim at this morning's triathlon.

Not long after the start, I inhaled a bunch of water. I tried to catch my breath and get back into a rythym, but every time I put my face in the water it just got worse and worse. I ran into a patch of seaweed (which I know doesn't sound that scary sitting in front of a computer, but out there in the cold and murk, it was very unsettling to me). I started having a panic attack not even half way to the first buoy. I decided to drop out and swim back to shore before I got even further out and worse off.

I think Chris is relieved to see that I do have limits. I'm not happy about my first DNF, in fact I'm pretty distraught about it and been crying all morning. I hate that fear got the better of me.

Even though I failed, I tried. And I will be out there again. Now I know that I need open water swimming in my training and I had already reserved a wetsuit for the Portland Tri. Also, the Portland Tri just announced a sprint distance along with the olympic, so I'll be switching to the shorter course.

There's another triathlon at the same lake ran by the same people tomorrow morning. I'm not sure about spending even more money on another entry fee, but not getting right back out there is going to upset me. Chris is still asleep (I think he might be coming down with something), so I haven't talked it over with him yet.

We'll see. But for now, I have seaweed goo to wash out of my swimsuit. (Some of it even ended up on my back! Wtf!)

Hurting the one you love

2008-07-30T22:48:00.000-07:00

I fell off my bicycle again today :(

I was cruising up to the stop sign by our house (just feet away from where I fell the first time). In order to make the left turn to get into the bike lane, I have to check a fairly busy street for traffic. A car was coming in my direction and I was too focused on traffic to think about stopping properly. By the time my mind started yelling at my foot to clip out, I was already tipping over. I was able to get my shoe unclipped by yanking my leg out, which by that point just made me fall over even faster. And just as the car was passing in front of me, I totally ate pavement.

Sigh.

My ego suffered the worst damage. The tape on my handle bar is a little chewed up and my knee is scraped. Nothing too bad though. I guess it could have been worse - at least I didn't fall over in front of some jackass in an F450 Turbo Diesel lol

My leg is still fubared from my last fall, but it isn't looking infected with jungle rot anymore...

Then at the pool today, I walked into one of the benches in the locker room. Going to make a nice big bruise on my leg. I still have the slice on my right hand from the medicine cabinet, and yesterday I cut my other palm with a butter knife. Yes, a butter mother effing knife.

I was trying to make a tuna fish sandwhich for lunch. The tuna press got stuck in the can. Hubby wasn't home and the can was too slippery for me to get a good grip on it. I decided to use a butter knife to pop the press out of the can. Which promptly sliced my hand open. Grrr. I ended up bashing the can on the sink until the press finally came loose.

So now I'm walking around looking like a poster child for battered spouses. My hands are all sliced up, my legs are all bruised and cut. If someone asks me what happened, like they're going to believe I fell off my bike, walked into a bench and cut myself with a butter knife lol

Life's a beach

2008-07-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

We had a really good weekend in Lincoln City. Thursday afternoon, I baked up some raspberry muffins and raspberry scones (my parents have raspberry canes in their yard so using the berries up makes my mom happy). Then Chris and I (and Hank) drove out to the coast after school.

Thursday night we couldn't get a lot done in the house because my dad wasn't down from Portland yet. But my mom has done a really good job of getting the cat smell out of the house. (Before he died, Grandpa D took in Jack, my cousin Jill's tom cat. Jack used the house, especially the upstairs bedrooms and the livingroom, as his litter box. It happens. Grandpa really loved Jack and it made him happy to have the cat around, but as people get older they just can't keep up on some things. Mom was able to get a lot cleaned up, but we still need to replace some carpets and pads and maybe even some flooring.)

Friday morning my dad arrived and arranged to have us all go out on a boat from Newport. We cruised out of the harbor and into the ocean. Just outside the jetties, a grey whale and her calf were swimming around. Chris wasn't too impressed. I guess floating across the Atlantic twice will do that to a guy lol On the way back in, the boat's crew pulled up a couple of pots and dumped the crabs into a box. One crab was upside down and Dad dared Chris to filp it over. Of course Chris did and the two crabs started fighting. One pulled off the other one's leg. Pretty gnarly but I guess it doesn't hurt the crabs at all.

At one point the captain said we were a mile off the shore. I look out and think to myself, "better jump in and start swimming. And if you like that, swim back. And you like that, bike from here to Corvallis. We'll have a marathon waiting for you when you get back." Which led me to think about how I should give in and get a bikini wax so I don't have to worry about shaving before I go swimming. My first thought was, "but a bikini wax is gonna hurt!"

Why can I size up an Ironman without blinking, then turn around and be completely scared crapless over a few minutes of waxing?? Chris always teases me because I'll do a marathon and I'm gung-ho for natural childbirth, but then whine and fuss when one of my toe nails had to be taken off or when I have to put hydrogen peroxide on a cut. Maybe those t-shirts and medals really do make the difference lol

After lunch in Newport, we headed back to Lincoln City and continued on the house. We were able to move all the new appliances into the kitchen, get about 75% of the house cleaned out (there's still the rooms in the basement, a few closets and some scary attic spaces left to go through), get the back yard cleaned up and yard debris hauled away, and get some of the old furniture to the dump.

The weekend wasn't all work though. One night we played my family's favorite board game, Parcheesi. Sadly, I think that's the most fun I've ever had at my grandparents's house.

My mom and I also finished a puzzle which we haven't been able to do in a long time. Back in high school, we used to put puzzles together over winter break. Now I have a cat that likes to eat puzzle pieces and Mom's too busy working with the Post Office, so doing the jigsaw puzzle was a lot of fun. We don't have a lot of time left in Oregon, so helping my family clean up the house and spending time with them means a lot to us.

Saturday morning I drove back to Corvallis for the OSU Youth Program's Running with Hat-titude 5k. Got my butt handed to me by some little kids, but overall not too shabby and none of the problems I had in the 10k. Chris and my dad still had a lot of work to do, so Chris stayed in Lincoln City and drove back after the 5k. The majority of the time we're either riding our bikes or walking somewhere, so I don't feel bad about spending a little extra for the gas.

Can't wait to get back to the beach :)

Back in the groove

2008-07-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

Training has been really good today. I took a rest day on Sunday because I did my long run with Saturday night's 10k. I moved my swim to today so yesterday could be a rest day too. Seems to have worked out because I felt really good today. Feels especially nice to be back into the training groove after this weekend's funk.

I road around town with my new pedals for the first time today. The entire way to the gym all I could think was, "don't forget to clip out, don't forget to clip out, don't forget to clip out" lol I made it home without falling over on my bike, so I'm very happy with myself.

Swimming went well. Chris saw my bike at the gym and stopped in to join me, but he couldn't tell which one of the swimmers was me. He didn't recognize my new cap and suit, and I must have looked like the other real swimmers because he wasn't able to pick out my goofed up stroke :D

I did a 3 mile run after dinner. At first Jobber, my iPod, was being a jerk. I forget to put on my armband then put on my shirt, so the cord was flopping all over the place and wouldn't stay in my ears. I had to stop, shove my armband and cord under my shirt before I could keep going. Then my shorts would not stay out of my butt. Otherwise, nice and smooth. None of the problems from the 10k. Maybe I won't completely embarass myself at this Saturday's 5k.

Yesterday, we had a good afternoon with my mom, my grandpa, and my sister at my paternal grandparents' house in Lincoln City. We went through boxes mainly of my Grandpa D's things. We found some of his old medals, his military ID cards, a letter from Chesty Puller congratulating him for making the Marine Corps football all-stars, and their wedding invitation. I went through some of Grandma D's cookbooks and journals. Making the decision about what to keep and what to throw away is so difficult. Things that obviously meant a lot to my grandparents (my grandpa's report cards from grade school, his diploma from UNC, first communion items, ect) but there's no way we can keep all of it.

It's especially odd because we weren't that close to my grandparents. Of everyone in the family and my grandparents' friends, I would never have thought we'd be the ones to inherit this position of caring for their home and their belongings. (My dad was the black sheep for many, many years.) I almost feel like a stranger going through stuff at a garage sale. Makes you wonder what people will think when they're cleaning up my stuff. What would they keep? What would they throw away?

Chris and I will join my parents at the beach again this weekend. We're going to iron out some details for the Yellowstone trip in September and maybe rip out some smelly carpets. Until then I have some freshly picked raspberries to turn into scones (or maybe muffins, I haven't decided yet lol)

Bad times, good times

2008-07-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Midsummer Night's 10k in Corvallis. Worst. 10k. Ever. Not only did I set a PW (personal worst), I wanted to DNF but the course sweeper wouldn't let me. The race itself would have been a good, hilly course and all the volunteers and other runners were great. I was just having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

I was feeling pretty tired during my swim practice on Friday. Just not able to keep a breath for very long, being sloppy in my drills, sucking down water because I wasn't turning enough, ect. I decided to skip my bike and swim on Saturday to rest up before the 10k. But all day Saturday I felt half awake and hungry. I was klutzy and grouchy, even slicing my palm open on the medicine cabinet's latch. (I still don't know how I managed that one because it'd be like cutting your hand open on a spoon.) I took a nap before the 10k and felt really good heading out to the start line. I planned on taking the race at a nice, slow long run pace. The field was pretty small so I knew I'd be in the back of the pack. No worries, this one's just for the t-shirt. Started off nothing out of the ordinary, but after 2 miles, I felt like I had nothing to give mentally or physically. Near the end, with the course sweeper following me on his bicycle I wanted to cut off the final loop and head to the finish. DNF be damned. I know I can endure, I know I can gut out some shit, I have nothing to prove to myself or anyone else. But the course sweeper was like nope, keep going. So I did. Very embarrassing to have all the finish line volunteers cheering for me as I ran in. They're all like, "good for you! way to go!" when I'm feeling like "don't look at me, I'm pathetic." Blah. I haven't checked my official finish time (and I probably never will), but I'm guessing it was around 1:10-1:15 and 15-20 minutes after the last runner. Double blah.

Then the cherry on my poop sundae - I forgot my snowcone ticket at home! No postrace snowcone for me. And I bet they had bubblegum flavor too :_(

But it happens. I'm not going to let one craptacular run turn into weeks of crappy attitude. Moving on...

We had our Hood to Coast team meeting yesterday. After 3 cocktails, I decided that I'm going for it - I'm taking Leg 1!

At our meeting yesterday, only one other runner from Van 1 attended and she wanted Leg 6. The team captain gave Leg 5 to one of our stronger runners (who I believe ran the same leg last year), which left me to pick from legs 1-4. At first I thought I'd take Leg 4, but since no one at the meeting was opposed to me taking Leg 1 and I was Leg 12 last year, I figured how fun will it be to end last year's race and begin this year's? And even if I'm able to run Hood to Coast again, what are the chances of being offered Leg 1??

I know my first section is a pretty gnarly downhill. Hell, I don't even like driving up to Timberline Lodge - and I'm going to run that?? lol But even with my shin and knee problems, I usually don't have a problem with running downhills. I ran the Timberline Marathon in 2006 that drops appox. 2000ft from the Timberline Lodge to Barlow Pass in about 5 miles without any trouble. That's pretty much what I'm looking at with the HTC first leg. Yeah, the marathon was on trails not paved roads, details details details lol

I am really looking forward to HTC this year. Next year we could be in Quantico, we could be parents, who knows what a year and the Marine Corps can bring, so this is probably our last HTC for a long time. It's interesting remembering back to last year's run and the trippy feeling that the only thing that exists is the van. Real time doesn't matter, just whatever the stopwatch in the van says. Where you are doesn't matter, just make it out of the van and back into the van. Eat when you can, drink when you can, sleep if you can, stand in line for the potties before you think you have to go. Last year, we were in the "Real World" van. Besides the two couples (me and Chris, Dan and Jessica) our van had never met each other before. We had one HTC vetran and the rest of us were noobs. Crazy good times and I've never appreciated a bed so much. Can't wait to do it all again this year!

I gotta get going. We're helping my parents clean my grandparents house in Lincoln City.

Catching up

2008-07-19T00:52:00.000-07:00

A lot going on and hopefully I'll get some old blogs finished and posted soon.

Swimming is still going really well. I'm still focusing on drills for now, but I think on Monday or Wednesday I'll be moving up to whole strokes.

I got my Pearl Izumi shoes and Speedplay pedals. It took me over four hours, a fight with Chris, and a trip to the bike store to get the shoes and pedals all put together. Now that I've got the shoes finished, I have no idea why it was so hard to figure out! You screw one piece to the shoe and then another piece onto that. But for some reason simple things, like deducing if my shoes are 3-hole or 4-hole, were like a calc final written in Chinese. (I'm more like a guy in the fact that I won't ask for help if my life depended on it, so the fight was over me refusing to ask a Home Depot sales clerk for help finding a wrench. Which for some reason Hubby took to mean that I'm never going to stand up for our children. I figured, screw it why waste time buying a tool to take off the old pedals that we'll never use again and don't even know if it will work when I can just go to the bike shop to get the job done right and for free in the morning. He saw it as my lack to confront people and take care of myself. But after I burnt the pizza and starting crying that I can't even get frozen effing pizza right, we talked it out and everything's groovy.)

I've successfully clipped in and out with the new shoes and pedals while riding around the neighborhood. Getting used to the pedals has so far been much easier than I thought it would be. But being able to leave my shoes clipped in for faster transitions is proving a bit tricky. Taking the shoes off is okay, but putting them on takes a while longer because the tongues keep getting in the way. Then I took my first fall on my bike. I had my left shoe clipped in and on, and I was trying to get my left foot into my shoe. Well, I ran out of street and needed to turn around. Silly me, I went too slowly turning around. I fell over on my left side and the thought of clipping out didn't even occur to me. I knew it was a matter of when not if I'll fall getting used to my new pedals. The fall wasn't all that bad just a bit of a scrap on my knee and arm, but my poor right leg has a good gash from the teeth on the big ring. After swimming this afternoon it looks like a shark took a bite out of my leg lol

Chris should be getting approval from our insurance to start seeing doctors at OHSU. I'm so happy about that! He's got a bad disk in his back and getting the care he needs in podunk Corvallis has been a painful (literally) process. He's been dealing with this since April, and the primary doctor wasn't even going to prescribe a well-known treatment (a steroid injection) until Chris bugged her about it. She's extremely physical-therapy-will-fix-everything chew-on-some-bark-you-don't-need-drugs, I don't think she really knows what she's taking about and I think she's been refering Chris to other doctors just so he'll leave her alone. On top of that, he's having to wait 2-3 weeks for the referal to be approved thanks to dealing with the buracrazy of the hospital and the insurance. Then after we get the referal approved, the doctors he needs to see don't have open appointments for at least 3-4 weeks. So wait about 5-6 weeks in pain so you can hopefully see someone that probably isn't going to do anything for you - grrr!!

The Spine Clinic at OHSU seems like our best bet for getting healed. They have one team of doctors who all work together (no more bouncing around and playing a he said/she said game with multiple doctors). It sounds like they have a lot of procedures to chose from (the primary doc said the only other treatment besides physical therapy was a surgery to fuse the bones together which would leave him in pain for the rest of his life). So far, it looks like the doctor he'll start off with at OHSU is scheduling about 1-2 weeks out. So right now, we're just waiting for the approval to go through and then hopefully Chris can start getting healed.

We're having a very white person Saturday: We're starting off with picking our VW up from service. It has only one bumper sticker (and it's on the window so it won't affect the resale value. Extra points that it's a 26.2 oval.) Afterwards we're going to ride our bikes to the market (yes, the exact same one mentioned in this article.) They have the best strawberries, that I'll use to make a fan-fuggin-tastic pie, and to die for feta made locally. Last time we took our dog, but he likes to herd bicycles so he doesn't do well on the waterfront. After the market, we're going to stop by a grocery co-op to see what kind of goodies they have. Hopefully we'll have time to stop off at the gym for some laps, but we'll probably move that to Sunday morning before we head up to Portland. I have a 10k in the evening which counts for my long run of the week and I don't want to be too tired from swimming before the run. Plus, we just got a bunch of new movies from Netflix, so we have to "watch" those this weekend.

I'm getting pretty sleepy, so I'm off to bed...

Just keep swimming

2008-07-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

I've had a pretty good training week :) I missed a couple of runs, but other than that, I've been really good about consistantly getting my work outs done.

Chris has joined me in the pool the last couple of times. Swimming with him is much more fun! Plus, I feel like I'm getting a lot better with him there because he's been helping me with the Total Immersion techniques. I moved up from only kicking on my back to sweet spot yesterday and to the fish drills today. Kicking and getting somewhere without fins - nifty! Maybe swimming isn't evil after all :)

Usually in the pool I just feel like I'm fighting with the water the entire time. I look at the other lanes and there's old ladies just cruising along lap after lap after lap. They look so effortless and relaxed while I'm gasping and frustrated. It's like they're graceful little dolphins and I'm lumbering, fugly mantee. I know that I'm doing something (well, probably more like a lot of things) wrong but I don't know what. I'm naturally a floater (poor Chris is a sinker) but when I start to stroke I feel like I have to fight to move forward and struggle to stay afloat. Even after taking swimming lessons at UO during the winter, I made some improvements (putting my face in the water, rythmic breathing) but still struggle to even finish 2 laps. So I read the Total Immersion book and got the freestyle DVD. I feel like I'm making some big improvements lately, maybe I'm not getting any faster or going any further but I'm feeling much more relaxed. Once I get the hang of a drill, it feels stupid easy and like I could keep doing it all day. I actually want to go swimming now. Crazy! Watch out old ladies, I'm coming for you! lol (btw, this is a really good article for Total Immersion - "Why is Swimming So Hard?")

To also help get me in the pool, I ordered some new suits. I was able to find another website, swimoutlet.com, that had the Speedo Flipturns suit I really, really wanted. I can't wait for it to get here! My old suit is looking pretty raggedy and the new one is going to be so cute. Since the cute suit has a strappy back that doesn't look very supportive for running in, I also order a blue Tyr suit for my tri's next month. (Sky blue has become my official triathlon color. My bike is blue and white, my helmet is blue and white, I have an old pair of Asics that are blue, my new bike shoes are silver and blue. Even our Passat is light blue. I didn't mean to start off all matchy-matchy, but now using another color like red or yellow would look really weird.) I gave up on ordering a tri suit because I've been biking in my swimsuit and running shorts just fine and I have no clue which tri suit I should get. Along with my two new suits, I ordered two new swim caps (one's sky blue and the other is pink) and two new goggles. I scratched up my current pair of goggles when I put the anti-fog in them (I read the directions that say to clean your goggles then apply the anti-fog after I used it - d'oh!), so I ordered a pair exactly like my current ones (which are also sky blue) and a pair in raspberry pink. The website also had some cheap but fun suits, like one with sushi and another camouflage, that I'm probably going to order as practice suits next time.

Other than training and spending money, this week has been a lot of fun too. We had Jason and Erin, Chris's brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law, over for some BBQ and sangria Tuesday night. (I'll post the sangria recipe below.) Wednesday we met our friends at a local bar for trivia night. We missed stupid easy questions like who played McGyver on TV and what do you say in Cribbage when you have no cards to play? (Dean Anderson and "go". If my mom knew I'd missed the cribbage one, oh lord lol) But I did score with who played the Scarecrow in The Wiz and what movie did the characters The Blue Raja, Mr Furious and The Bowler appear (Michael Jackson and Mystery Men). We ended up winning a couple of gift certificates and t-shirts - sweet!

We don't have much planned for next week. Chris has finals in some summer classes then starts two new ones. I'm going to try working up to the under-switch drills, pushing my long bike ride to 12 miles, and tomorrow's long run is going to be 5 miles.

I'm off to statisfy my pizza craving :)

The Best Red Wine Sangria (from RecipeGirl.com)

Simple and delicious...

2 large juice oranges, washed; one orange sliced; remaining orange juiced
1 large lemon, washed and sliced
¼ cup granulated sugar (I like to use superfine sugar)
¼ cup Triple Sec
One 750 ml. bottle inexpensive, fruity, medium-bodied red wine, chilled

1. Add sliced orange and lemon and sugar to large pitcher; mash gently with wooden spoon until fruit releases some juice, but is not totally crushed, and sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Stir in orange juice, Triple Sec, and wine; refrigerate for at least 2, and up to 8, hours.
(Becky's note: We found that waiting at least 12 hours makes the sangria much more mellow. The sangria also seems to stay pretty fresh for at least a couple of days, so definately the longer you can wait, the better.)

2 Before serving, add 6 to 8 ice cubes and stir briskly to distribute settled fruit and pulp; serve immediately.
(We found that mashing the fruit completely then straining to get rid of all the extra pulp works best. I also read somewhere that the fruit soaks up the alcohol, so def. mash that fruit up! lol)

Servings: 4

Cooking Tips
*Cook's Illustrated tested this recipe with more expensive red wines too and they found that the cheaper wine tasted just fine. It really is ok to buy an inexpensive bottle for this recipe. I used a Spanish wine... anything like a Rioja or the like is ok.
**The longer sangria sits before drinking, the more smooth and mellow it will taste. A full day is best, but if that isn't possible, give it an absolute minimum of two hours to sit.
***You can easily double or triple the recipe- just switch to a punch bowl instead of a pitcher.

Recipe Source
Modified from Cook's Illustrated

Moving forward

2008-07-06T01:43:00.001-07:00

Not too much going this weekend. Both Chris and I have been pretty lazy and the holiday didn't help much.

We had friends over Thursday night for some BBQ and MarioKart Wii action. I was border-line OCD with making sure that all hard surfaces got wiped down, using meat thermometers, double-hand washing, put the raw meat at the bottom of the fridge, ect. Chris keeps teasing me because I'm so paranoid about getting sick again lol

For the 4th, we slept in and went out to a late movie. The Hulk was much better than I thought it would be. Usually if a main character is CGI, the movie is awful and should be avoided at all costs (all I have to say is Jar Jar Binks). But this time it was fairly believable and Edward Norton did a really good job. After the movie, we rode our bikes downtown to watch fireworks. We found a spot on the bridge with a good view of the fireworks, and afterwards we were able to just hop on our bikes and ride away instead of fighting traffic. Pretty sweet.

In some crappy news, my new swim suit isn't going to be. It's sold out in my size, so I either need to order a different suit or order it in a size smaller. But this means that I have more money to spend. I recently found out there's a new shop in Corvallis just for tri gear called Northwest Multisports. I've been wanting to order an actual tri suit, but since I've never had one and know pretty much nothing about them, I was leary of ordering something online. I'm hoping they'll have something to try on or at least some advice about what to choose.

I've been getting a little better in the pool. By leaning back a little further until the water is just to my goggles, I'm now able to flutter kick on my back and actually get across the pool. That's pretty big for me. Not too long ago I would just bob side to side when we'd do flutter kick drills with the kick boards in swim class. So forward movement is very good :) I'm still trying to figure out arms and legs at the same time, but every little bit helps. There's a chance I'm not going to drown in the Willamette after all lol

Morphine's a helluva drug

2008-07-02T17:47:00.000-07:00

This past week has been pretty crazy.

Our friends had a wedding over the weekend - I'm so happy for them! Thursday night we glued 150 menu cards together. Friday afternoon we had the rehearsal dinner, then spent the rest of the evening setting up tables and decorating. Saturday night the wedding was so beautiful - it looked like it was straight out of a Martha Stewart magazine. The only bummer was the weather. The temp got up to like 100 degrees and the guys of the wedding party were all in their dress blues. I was sweating enough in my dress, I can't imagine how hot they must have felt. But the wedding was all outside under the cover of trees, so there was a good breeze and once the sun set the temp cooled off nicely. We had so much fun talking with friends and I even got Hubby to dance with me :)

Now the crudy part: Hubby and I got sick from food poisoning Sunday morning :( I went to an ER because the stomach cramps hurt so bad. I got a shot of morphine and phenogren (sp?) then slept practically 36 hours straight. I still can't believe it's Wednesday. When I wasn't asleep (only if I had to take more medicine or go to the bathroom), I was literally stubbling around the house, falling into walls and doors like I was hammered drunk and I kept seeing things that weren't really there. Like once I went to pet what I thought was our dog, but instead just I smacked my hand down on the table. Hank wasn't anywhere near me. Or I'd think that Chris was sitting next to me on the couch, but when I'd try to say something to him I'd realize that he's really in the next room. Freaky.

Although I'm feeling a lot better today, I took an extra day off training to be on the safe side. Hoping to get my long ride up to 10 miles this week and my long run to 5 miles. I might even be really brave and go for 1000 yards in the pool. But for now, I'm going to go chill out on the couch and play Rock Band with Chris :)

Just when I'm feeling better..

2008-06-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

Well, this morning I woke up with every intention getting in to the pool.

I carpooled to OSU campus with the plan to pay for my membership at the rec center, swim some laps, then run the 3 miles home. But Hubby was late for class, so I ended up dropping him off on the far side of campus and taking the car to the gym. When I got to the gym, my card wouldn't work. I figured, no problem, I'll just drive home real quick and grab my other bank card. But when I got home, I picked up our cat and smelled something awful on his head. After washing him in the sink and cutting off some hair, I found a big open sore that was very infected :(

I knew Davie had a little scratch probably from fighting a few days ago, but he never acted sick or in pain at all. He's been eating and letting the dog groom him. (Hank has a fetish for licking ears lol) So feeling like a major shitbag for not noticing that my pet has a giant festuring wound in the middle of this head, I took Davie into the vet :( Turns out he had a ruptured abscess. Poor Davie-cats. He'll be okay and is already running around, bugging us and the dog, but I'm still feeling guilty.

So tomorrow - and I really mean it this time - I'm swiming!

I've also decided to take on the pushup challenge. This site, http://hundredpushups.com, promises to have anyone doing 100 pushups within 6 weeks. Tonight I did the intial test and did 20. Pretty sad since last year I could knock out 77 in a little over a minute, but it's a start.

C'est la vie

2008-06-19T02:07:00.000-07:00

I just get home and start getting back into the training groove, so now I'm sick :P Ug

The Mt Tabor Doggy Dash last weekend was a lot of fun. At the last minute, Chris decided he wanted to run too. (We have pretty different running styles, speeds and goals, which usual leading to more fighting than running.) I'm glad he did because it was such a nice day for a race. I had forgotten how beautiful the views are and being up there brought back a lot of good high school memories. We wore Hank out pretty good too. Poor poochy isn't big on running anyways and he had worn himself out making new friends all morning, so by the end of the race we were practically dragging Hank up the final hills. Didn't help that we took a wrong turn half way through the race turning the 8k turned into more like a 10k. But all in all, we had a lot of fun.

I got my bike tuned up and just got her back yesterday afternoon. I wanted to take her for a ride today, but now I'm not sure with being sick. I went out for my run after dinner yesteday; I had to fight to finish 2 miles then I got sick afterwards :S So we'll see how I'm feeling before heading out on a bike ride.

Although I haven't had a chance to get back into the pool yet (working on the membership thing with Oregon State's rec center), I've ordered some new goodies :) For starters - I am so ready for a new suit. Chris says my old one looks like I've been dragging my butt across the carpet. Thanks, hon! That's a great mental image lol I think my old suit worn out from sitting on the bleechers before swim class then not properly rinsing out the clorine afterwards. But anyways, my new summer treat:

I also ordered a little lap counter from Sport Count. I can never keep track of my laps either in the pool or on the track. I got the problem solved by either wearing my Polar monitor which counts laps for me or wearing rubber bands around my wrists when I'm at the track (for each lap I just move a rubber band from one wrist to the other until I'm done. It's ghetto but it works lol), but I hadn't figured out what to do in the pool. My Polar is too bulky for the pool and my mind wanders way too much. Hopefully the smaller lap counter is a good solution.

I've been wanting to get a real triathlon suit too, but I'm not sure which one to get. Been looking at a couple of TYR and Zoot models. I think I'm going to order some clipless pedals and shoes soon. Then I can be cool too :)

I think my Nyquil is wearing off. I'd better take another hit and get off to bed...

Meme

2008-06-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

Been busy with school and attended a memorial service for my grandparents this weekend. Hopefully I'll have more time to devote to running/tri training and blogging soon, but for now just a nifty little meme...

1. What is your first name? Becky
2. What is your favorite food? Mac&Cheese
3. What high school did you go to? Franklin
4. What is your favorite color? Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Wolverine
6. Favorite drink? Lemon drops are always tasty
7. Dream vacation? Tokyo
8. Favorite dessert? Can't remember what it's called, but this puff pastery with vanilla-custardy creme and strawberries from Paris (not an actual picture, but the closest thing that the St Honore bakery in Portland has)
9. What you want to be when you grow up? An Ironman
10. What do you love most in life? Growing old with Chris
11. One Word to describe you? Stubborn
12. Your flickr name? mulkeyrd

Gotta use two hands

2008-06-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

Finished the Newport Marathon yesterday :)

The drive out to Newport went pretty smoothly and we had dinner at the Rogue brewery. Although I wasn't nervous at all, I got almost no sleep Friday night. I couldn't get comfortable until after midnight, then woke up every hour practically on the hour. At 2am I was too hot, so I opened a window. About 3am one of the NROTC students called Chris. Can't remember what woke me up around 4:15am (probably just paranoid about the alarm not being set). Then it was time to get up at 5am.

I was actually able to eat breakfast. Usually my body wants absolutely nothing to do with food before the race, so eating was a nice change. We sat around watching crappy TV. The only thing on besides cable news or infomercials was the movie I am Sam with Sean Penn. Ug. Then it was time to leave for the start.

I felt pretty sleepy for the first 5 miles or so. Spent a lot of time questioning why I was running instead of being in a comfy bed with Hubby (especially when we ran past the fish processing plants in town. Yeah, that's what I want to be smelling :P lol) After my first Gu's caffiene kicked in and the scenery improved, I was cruising along quite nicely. I was feeling good until the turn around at mile 15. The majority of the course was an out and back along Yaquina Bay with the runners staying on the eastbound side of the road. I'm not sure if the road's cant did a number on my legs or what, but after the turn around, my right ITB decided it was done with a capital D.

In a way, I was kinda lucky. Yesterday my ITB (which btw, if you've never had problems with your iliotibial band feels like being stabbed in the side of your knee) only hurt when I ran. I could run for about 3 or 4 telephone poles before the pain became too much. I'd walk for about a half mile, the pain would receed, and I could run for a bit again. That may not sound that great, but when I've had problems with my ITB before, once it started hurting it wouldn't stop regardless if I was running or walking. So even though doing 15 minute miles and being passed by speed walking grannies doesn't sound like much, being able to get at least some relief was better than it could have been.

I hobbled along. Slowly, painfully, eventually, the day was done. Marathon #6 was finished.

Now I need two hands to count my marathons with :)

Oha!

2008-05-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

We watched this in Lit class and now it's stuck in my head (a la Banana Phone):

I don't understand all the lyrics, but the basic gist is the mom makes breakfast then everyone greets each other good morning. (Oha is short for Ohayo.) And yes, that's a dude playing Shingo Mama.

If you need more kawaii/hen to rot your brain, this is pretty catchy too:

And yes, that's a chick playing Link. Don't ask, I don't know lol

Anywhos, I don't have much going on this week. I feel like I'm killing time until the Newport Marathon and finals. I have a couple big things left like another midterm test for Japanese and a short paper for history, but basically I'm done. I was able to get my big paper done and the book read by Sunday night. I'm such a rock star ;) lol I'm starting to get nervous/anxious for the marathon. Mainly though, I just want to get it over with and get summer break started.

Yesterday was weigh-in Monday and I lost another 2lb - Woot! :) Today is the first day when I'm like "I will punch you in the face for a Big Mac" kinda hungry. I think that's mainly because I didn't sleep very well last night and had to be up for the opening barista shift. I'm not hungry for something in particular, in fact I don't really feel like eating anything but my tummy keeps growling at me. Tonight's soba night at the chow hall. (It sounds good, but trust me, it's not.) So I don't know what I'm going to do for dinner yet.

My ballot was mailed in last week - can't wait to see the results tonight :)

Jog for Jim

2008-05-17T23:24:00.000-07:00

The Jog for Jim 5k was fun this morning. We got some pimptastic gold safety pins for the bibs - sweet! A little bling before 9am is always nice :) The heat was a little troublesome since I'm not used to it yet. I finished in 28 minutes and change. Not a PR, but not too shabby either.

This morning convinced me to break from running before Newport. My right ITB is acting up again and my left arch is barking at me. Iya da. I think a rest from the pounding will do some good, plus I need to get cranking on my bike and in the pool.

I've got 4 good pages and one very rough page done on my paper. Only one left to go. But now I'm behind on my Lit reading. We're supposed to have Socrates in Love (I've heard it described as the Japanese The Notebook) read by tomorrow night. Don't think that's going to happen. C'est la vie.

Ohhhh ~ something smells like fried Chinese food. Alrighty, I'm off to bed before I eat my keyboard...

Just checking in

2008-05-14T00:41:00.000-07:00

This morning I had a dream that Chris and I had twin boys. We also got two new puppies. Hubby was away on duty, so I was all alone trying to breastfeed the two babies and keep the puppies from destroying things at the same time lol

I had trouble sleeping this weekend, so I didn't do the Re-run Run 5k on Sunday. I slept until noon Saturday morning. Then that afternoon I wasn't feeling good, so I had a latte to pick me up. Big mistake. I couldn't get to sleep until after 4am. Someone's alarm went off about 5:30am and kept me awake until after 6:40am. By that time, I was in no mood to do a 5k. Oh well. I hadn't even signed up for the race yet, so I'm not counting it as an official DNS. This Sunday is the Jog for Jim 5k. Very excited because the race benefits Parkinson's research and the start is on campus. I want to try setting a new 5k PR, but I know I probably shouldn't with the Newport Marathon around the corner.

I've been doing really well on eating better :) Mondays are my official weigh-in days and I lost 5.4 pounds from last week - yay! Like I said before, I'm sure most of that was water weight from the marathon, but it's still nice to see the numbers come off and my jeans fit a little better. My goal is to lose about 10 more pounds over the next 6 weeks so I can start training for Seattle leaner and meaner.

Back to the grind with a six page paper due next Monday. The paper is supposed to be a "book report" on a very boring text book. Blug. I'm writing mostly the changes in social groups during the 12th to 14th century in Japan and how the warrior class used a code of ethos to help separate themselves from other groups. Trust me, it's just as exciting as it sounds. Then I have to turn around and do a four page "movie report". Probably going to do it on Seven Samurai. 4 weeks until summer break...

Love my Oregonian legs

2008-05-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a bike ride to pic up some groceries. Can't really see it, but there's about a week's worth of stubble too lol

Post-marathon glow

2008-05-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

Ahhh! I forgot how good this side of a marathon finish line feels - no wonder these things are addicting! lol Life has been soooo good this week :) Makes me want to start singing...

Congrats to everyone on their PRs! I am totally jealous. Hope everyone has been recovering well :)

Today was my first run post-marathon. Monday and Tuesday weren't too bad. Randomly having a leg give out while walking or cramping up in the middle of class are always fun lol Wednesday I was able to go downstairs normally instead of sideways (very nice since I live on the 3rd floor). Yesterday and today I felt pretty normal, but I've learned to take things carefully after my over-use injuries in 2006. So I waited until today and did just one very easy mile. I felt good, a little tired but I could have kept going. Tomorrow's 2 miles with a short bike ride. Then Sunday is the Re-run Run 5k.

Now that the marathon is done, I'm in need of focusing on getting back into the gym for cross training and getting back to a healthy weight. Yeah, technically I'm within a good BMI, but I don't feel good about myself and I'm not used to be this heavy. None of my summer clothes fit and I refuse to buy bigger sizes. I've already lost about 4 pounds since Monday. I know some of that was water weight from carb-loading, but it's amazing what happens when you stop eating ice cream sundaes for dinner and sausage bagel sandwiches for breakfast lol I still have about 10-15 to get back to my normal weight.

I'm also proud to announce: I'm officially Maniac #923! I qualified as a Marathon Maniac back in 2006 with the Timberline and Portland marathons, but for some reason, just put off finishing my application. Yay!

Pictures from the marathon

2008-05-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

Chris forgot to take my camera, so all these pics are from his iPhone:

Me at the top of the hill at mile 8 (you can't really see the hill, but I swear it's there!)

Behind the mall at mile 18. Chris refilled one of my fuel belt bottles with Coke - mmmm! He's so awesome! (I had to wear the Fuelbelt because Gleukos=vomit. Why does every race in Oregon insist on letting them onto the course??)

Heading into the finish chute. Jason, Erin and Hank are cheering on the left hand side.

Me, Erin, and Jason after the finish. I was too busy eating my bagel and trying to keep warm under the mylar to think about showing off the medal lol

Compare with the Recycle Run 15k from two weeks ago (not really able to see it in this picture, but there was snow on the ground that morning):

Eugene Marathon

2008-05-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's run was so amazing! I can't wait to do another marathon :D

I wasn't extremely nervous until I woke up. Then all the butterflies hit me hard. Thankfully, I live in the dorms just up the street from the start line, so I just sat around watching TV until the very last minute. Chris, Jason, and Erin were coming down from Corvallis. They were running late from all the traffic surrounding Autzen. Chris had also brought our dog Hank, so instead of waiting for one of the shuttle buses he just walked over to the start. I got to see him with minutes to spare. I stepped into the corral literally second before the gun went off.

I started off just like I planned by walking up the hill during the first mile, then again during the second mile. I cruised along trying to keep my heart rate in the high 160's, low 170's. Before I knew it, we were at mile 5 - time to eat my first gel. (The Vanilla PowerGel that was my bread and butter during my first round of marathons and training back in 2005-2006 just does not agree with me any more. The texture makes me gag while the Gu seems to be something I can actually chew on. I was able to eat one PowerGel but vowed it would be my last.) Then we were at the high school - such an amazing crowd with awesome energy! Loved seeing everyone out there cheering and giving us high fives. I stopped for a quick potty break, then walked up the biggest hill on the course to find Chris and Jason at the top.

Then it was down the hill to the Williamette. Before I knew it, the half marathoners split away and we were into Springfield. This part of the course eerily reminded me of being back in NC. The ugly, cheap little housing development with stupid names that must have been picked out by a fifth grade girl like Rainbow Street and Diamond Way :P Ug. Then we were back into the park and bike paths. A hippie couple complete with dreds and bongos were playing some music for us from a park bench. I'm not sure if they were official course entertainment (which seemed to sorely be lacking), but they were quiet entertaining and fitting for Eugene.

This marathon was flying by so quick and easy - I was extremely surprised. For the first 19 miles, I felt like every time I turned a corner another mile sign popped up. They must have measured this course short because that did not feel like a mile, I kept telling myself. (This is much improved from the usual feelings of swearing you've ran two miles and you still haven't seen the next mile marker yet.) I met Chris and Hank behind the mall at mile 18 for a quick boost. He was playing some country music from the car's stereo, which he told me plenty of the ladies were liking lol

The out and back then over the bridge between mile 20-21 was when I really started mentally going down. I felt like I had been sticking to my fuel plan nicely, but my legs just felt like death. Definitely one of those moments where I couldn't keep my pace and I no longer cared. I was pretty disappointed because before mile 23, I felt like I was going to be able to finish and say I RAN a marathon. Not that I walk and ran a marathon, but that I actually ran the majority of the course. Frustrating to because mentally you know there's less than a 5k left, can't you just suck it up for another 30 minutes? But it just wasn't happening. And was it just me or was the south bank trail all up hill?? lol Looking back, I'm very thankful that my only problems were in the last 3 miles. With the amount of training I did, especially lacking in long runs, I'm very surprised and happy with how nicely the day went.

We finally crossed over the Willamette one last time. Autzen stadium appeared and I was at the finish line :) Marathon #5 - mission accomplished!!

The marathon may not have been my best PR-wise, but I think this was the most enjoyable. I felt relaxed like I had a smile on my face for most of the day. My A-goal was 4:50, my B-goal was 5:00, and my C-goal was 5:15, so I'm very happy with 5:02. Erin finished her half marathon in 2:30 - she totally rocks!! :) I'm hoping she's caught the half-marathon bug so we can do more races in the future lol

Marathon #6 in just 26 days...

5:02:38

2008-05-04T13:30:00.001-07:00

Another marathon in the books :)

#1221!

2008-05-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

I picked up my packet this afternoon :) Racer #1221 is good to go!

I'm a little disappointed in this year's shirts. Last year's were awesome - white long sleeve, with the bright green, swirly logo across the chest. They really stood out. This year's are dark grey, with a very faint logo. You can barely tell it's a race shirt, it just looks like a plain boring ol' grey shirt. My volunteer shirt from last year looks better than this one - Ug! I'm double bummed because I forgot my wallet at home, so I wasn't able to pick up any of the expo goodies :( I'll just have to go back tomorrow afternoon for the pasta party and spend a little cash on a different shirt too.

I also have some very exciting news - my sil Erin is doing the half marathon :D

I am soooo doggone excited for her! We had no clue she was training for or even thinking about doing a half until she asked Chris to carpool to the start. I doubt I'm going to be able to keep up with her, especially over the first 8 miles with those hills. (They're not bad hills, I run them in training all the time, but I just don't want to pay for those hills at mile 22 lol.) I'm looking to keep an 11:04 pace so I'm sure she'll be flying past me. But just think - we'll be one big happy Mulk-tastic family this weekend. Chris and Jason out there cheering on me and Erin :) How much fun!!

Now the only thing left to do is rest and relax. I'm frighteningly under-trained and over-weight for this marathon, but nothing I can do about that right now. Makes me hungrier for Seattle, but all I can do now is focus on putting one foot in front of the other, staying strong, fighting the good fight in the face of my doubts and weakness on Sunday. For now, rest and relax. Whatever happens will happen and as long as I get over that finish line, it's going to be all right...

Not much going on

2008-04-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

Went home to Corvallis this weekend. Had a little bit of business to take care of, but got to see some friends too. I swear everyone's either engaged or having babies! lol Hubby's being extra sweet, gotta love that :)

Other than that, just been chilling out. Midterms are next week, so plenty of studying to be done. I have a Japanese test on Monday and a paper in Japanese Lit due on Thursday. Then Sunday is the Marathon :) So ready to get it over with lol

Just 6 more days!

Happy Trees

2008-04-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

I wake up this morning to find a little surprise - snow! :) I've never seen it snow this much in the Willamette valley, let alone at the end of April. Crazy! I wanted to take some pictures, but the batteries in my camera were dead. Again. Stupid POS camera :P

The Recycle Run 15k was nice but a little lonely. I did this race as a fun alternative to doing a training run by myself yet ended up spending 99% of the race alone lol We separated from the 5k'ers within the first mile. I passed a lady about mile 3, then another after the turn around by the mall. Other than that, just me and my heart rate monitor.

My goal for the race was to practice for Eugene Marathon by keeping my heart rate at 160. But no matter what I just couldn't slow myself down to more than 172-ish. No major problems though. Even got in some negative splits. My feet were a little cranky by the end, but that's to be expected (they always start barking at mile 9).

I decided right after the start my other goal was only positive thoughts. No getting on myself for being slow or having 5k gazelles pass me like I'm running backwards. I told the pissy voice to stfu. If she wanted to be nasty, she should have stayed in bed. Worked pretty well, kept my mind enjoying what was left of the snow and the spring flowers in the parks. Near the end when I was hoping the course went straight back to the park and instead turned up to the canals, the other voice started up again. I Bob Rossed right over her by saying, "hey, this runner needs a little friend. Let's put a happy little stream with our happy hills and happy trees. There we go...beautiful..." And just kept talking like that until I saw mile marker 9. Whatever gets you to the finish line I guess lol

I finished just in time to grab some apple newtons then the awards ceremony started. Not to sound like a sore loser - but I was robbed! lol The overall runners weren't taken out of the age group awards. There were 5 in my age group and without the overall winners, I would have gotten 3rd place - my second AG hardware ever :( Poop.

Next Sunday the Leadership Dash 5k. Should be a fun little race (ah! I can't make it stop lol), then it's A-Team time with the Eugene Marathon in just 12 days :)

Getting back

2008-04-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

Pics from the Xterra race are up :)

The du looks like it was a lot of fun too:

I'm starting to feel better. Last week, especially Saturday and Sunday, I felt like crap. No energy, no motivation, nothing. Feeling like this is so frustrating because I know my body is trying to tell me some thing's wrong but I can't figure out what it is.

Like I said before, I had originally planned to do my 20 miler on Saturday; I got about 1.5 miles in and had to walk home. I tried again on Sunday; got about two blocks from my room, my body slammed me with a headache and told me to piss off. Right then I decided that I'm done with caffeine and eating sweets. I walked over to the dining hall for a turkey sandwich and milk for my whey protein. My nutrition has been in the dumps lately, so I'm hoping that changing up what I'm eating will help. So far so good - today's the first day I haven't had any caffeine and I haven't taken a nap and I'm feeling grrrrreat! :)

I'm still sneaking in a few bites of sweets everyday, but that's a lot better than eating ice cream for dinner followed by a bag of gummy worms for snack like I was doing lol Plus, I have the debate with myself of what counts as a "sweet". Obviously, cake, ice cream, cookies, pastries, juice, pop, ect. But what about ketchup and peanut butter? I'm sure the university's ketchup has HFCS, so it's basically tomato flavored sugar. Why is HFCS in everything??? I just found out it's in Gatorade too. WTF >:P

I accidentally turned off my alarm this morning, so I slept through my triathlon class (today's swim day too, so I really needed to be there). But I got out for a quick ride in the afternoon. Mainly I needed to check out a race start to see if it's bike friendly. I'm doing the Recycle Run 15k on Sunday. The start is at a park in Springfield and I don't feel like walking or running over there, doing the run, then walking or running back. So I'll be doing a reverse du by biking over there, running, then biking back lol

I'm so in love with my new bike! :) Makes me remember the joys of riding a bike as a kid. And it's awesome how quickly the miles fly by verses pounding them down by running. This definitely means that swimming is by far my weakest link. I think I would like swimming more if I wasn't so frustrated by my stroke. I'm know I'm doing so much wrong but have no clue how to fix it.

I'm definitely in need of a coach. I need someone for at least swimming, but I'd love an all around triathlon coach too. Anyone know how to get started with finding a good coach?

Yawn!

2008-04-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry for being so quiet. Been doing pretty well on my no-sweets, no-caffeine mini-lent experiment, but I'm still pretty behind on my homework. I'll try to post something more after my nap this afternoon...

Try again

2008-04-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow.” - Mary Anne Radmacher

Yesterday's run was a no go. For whatever reason, my body wasn't having it and when I try to push through the funk I ended up with a nice 1.5 mile walk home. Sigh. Heading out for another go at the 20 miles today. I hope today's weather isn't nearly as hot as yesterday's. (Two weeks ago we were having snow and I did the Xterra race with temps in the 30's and hail. Then yesterday we get a record high the 80's - wtf!)

At least I got some time in the pool yesterday. That's the one nice thing I'm learning about triathlons: just because you're having a craptacular day in one sport doesn't mean all is lost. The Beaver Freezer for example, I had one of the worst swims I've ever had, got on the bike and had an awesome ride.

Deep breath...

2008-04-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

I've been going back and forth with myself for a few days...

I fell in love with the Portland Triathlon - such a perfect way to race in the city (not like running past the dump, Portland Marathon lol). The swim course is the Willamette River beginning at the dragon boat docks, under the Hawthorne Bridge, around the Morrison, and back against the current to the Waterfront bowl. The bike and run courses haven't been posted yet, but sounds like they'll include the Eastbank Esplanade and plenty of bridges.

The downside to this tri: it's an Olympic distance and it's a week after Hood to Coast. I told myself that I'd only do sprint tri's this year because I'm just getting started in the sport. My swimming is especially weak. Last weekend's Beaver Freezer swim was 500 yards or 10 laps in a pool. The Portland Tri's swim is 1.5km or just under a 1 mile or roughly 33 laps. That's a very scary amount of swimming to me - I felt like I barely survived the Beaver Freezer's swim. Plus, looks like I'll definitely need a wetsuit. I have no idea where to begin with rentals, how to put it on, how to get it off, ect. And the Willamette doesn't exactly have the greatest of reputations. The race directors are assuring everyone that the water is safe, but just the fact that you're testing for e.coli is a little unnerving (especially with the quantities of water I swallow lol).

I've been debating with myself if I should do this tri. Is this the type of fear I should listen to or push through? Is the swimming too much for me to handle or will I find a way? I'd have 20 weeks of training and the race website offers a training schedule that sounds very doable. I thought of waiting until next year, but then I worried that if we're trying for a baby this summer, who knows what type of condition I'll be in next year. (I plan to continue staying active during the pregnancy, yet as anyone whose been pregnant knows, there's no gaurantees.)

Finally it hit me: we won't be in Oregon next summer. We only have about 15 months until we're moving. Holy crap, it feels like we just got home. With Chris's commissioning and orders to TBS, this will be my one and only chance to do this tri for who knows how long.

So tonight I officially registered for my first Olympic triathlon - eeeepp!!!

In other big news, next week is the start of my taper for the Eugene Marathon. I'm extremely worried about my training for that race too. My school work took priority over running, so I feel I am no where near the level I should be for a full marathon. I think my longest run so far was a 15 miler back in February. I've only been doing about 15-20 miles per week, generally missing all my speed/strength work and long runs. I'm fairly confidant I'll be able to finish Eugene, but any goals for PR'ing have been abandoned. My stratery for the race is to keep my HR around 160, walk the big hills during the first eight miles, and hope for the best.

I keep reading that it's better to be under-trained by 10% than over-trained by 1%. Trying to believe that is true. I'm also trying to look on the positive side that I still have the Seattle Marathon in November. If I'm under trained now, that's much better than going into this summer injured and burnt out like last time. (In 2006, I did Disney in January and Shamrock in March. In about June or July, I developed ITB tendonitist and shin splints. I was able to be rehabbed through physical therapy, but I was not ready for my fall marathons at all.)

Got to get to bed. Tomorrow, Chris is coming down with my road bike and have a 20 miler...

Welcome to my journey

2008-04-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

This is my first post on my new blog :) I've been blogging on MySpace for a while, but I figure it's time to move on to bigger and better things (that aren't going to randomly delete my posts lol). I'm never sure where to start, so I figure I'll just begin with a little background...

I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon in a lovely little neighborhood called Felony Flats. I married my high school sweetheart on January 20, 2001 (yes, the day Bush took office lol). Chris decided he needed some major changes in life and he went to bootcamp October 2002. That spring we moved to Camp Lejeune, NC.

Because of the Marine Corps, I realized how much of my life I was sacrificing to fear and doubt. I was constantly telling myself this was impossible and I could never do that. I'd never be able to survive the 13 weeks of bootcamp without Chris. I'd never be able to move across the country. I'd never be able to live by myself. We'd never be out of debt. Running 3 miles is impossible.

Near the end of not only surviving but thriving during our first 8 month deployment, I looked at all the so-called impossible things I've done and entered an 8k. I finished that first mud run, then signed up for a 10k. When I finished that 10k, a flyer for a half marathon arrived in the mail. Everyone said that it was too long. I couldn't do it, I'll get hurt, it's impossible. And I agreed. I didn't sign up. Shortly after, I saw people wearing these beautiful blue long sleeved shirts from the race. I wanted one of those shirts and I realized that I didn't even try. I gave up on myself once again.

That New Years eve I vowed to do the most impossible thing I could think of: a full marathon. Long story short, that year I finished the 2005 Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon then the 2006 Disney World Marathon.

Last weekend I finished my first sprint triathlon. And I'm already making plans for an Olympic distance in August. Next month I have my 5th and 6th marathons. I eventually want to become an Ironman. I'm hoping this spring to climb Mt Hood. Chris is trying to talk me into going sky diving with him and I'm trying to talk him into going white water rafting with me.

I'm also working to check off another impossibility: college. The biggest regret I have in life is letting depression keep me from finishing my degree at the University of Oregon. I've made the difficult decision to return to UO while Chris is attending Oregon State. I don't expect anyone else to fully understand or accept my life, but just know that doing this is allowing me to forgive myself and move on into motherhood as a more complete, fulfilled person.

We're trying for our first baby this summer. After our graduation in the spring of 2009, Chris will commission as a second lieutenant and we'll be off to Quantico, Virginia. After Chris completes his training, we're hoping to be stationed in Okinawa, Japan or Hawaii.

I'm still scared and constantly questioning myself. But I try to fight the good fight. Some days I win, some days I lose. Welcome to my journey :)