New York and the UK

Snowy and rainy outside, I have a few hours to myself. Kids are at school and James is teaching the high schoolers for the afternoon. J and I had a lovely morning alone together. I am thinking about New York and the UK. I look back on my blog when we were in Europe from June 2006-Dec 2006. I find myself welling up missing Paris and the village. I want to go back. I miss the people, the puppies, the adventure. Oh wait, I AM going back, sort of. To the UK (England, Scotland and Ireland) at least in March. I long for the lazy days of getting up and cooking all day and deciding what I will teach the kids each day. Don't get me wrong that was a chore and at times I was absolutely sick of it. But our lives are so busy now there is little time to breathe. We haven't been to a museum since we returned to the states. But the kids can still spot a Monet, Degas or Van Gogh from a mile away though. I am getting excited about traveling back to Ireland and seeing Scotland for the first time. I fear because I am in the middle of school and working f/t that I won't put as much TLC in planning a I did before. I probably won't but I'm sure it will all be wonderful. I think of New York, where James will spend 10 mos next year. We still don't know if we will all go or not. Each day it changes. Today I thought it would be easier to just stay behind and visit. Kids would stay in school with their friends. I would keep my familiar and comforting job. But I read my journal from when James and I were apart for 50+ days in Europe and it was so hard. My heart broke when he left Paris and I still to this day feel pain there from it. I find myself struggling between wanting stability, comfort and quiet and all out adventure. I love adventure and I love for my kids to experience it. Uprooting sux but they can learn so much from being in New York. New York is greta for those of us who get bored easily.

We'll see.

I was going through my memory card sending olds pics to friends tonight. This is one of those pics that the kids begged us to take. We didn't really want to do so figuring it would not work on my camera. I think it is along the grapevine to Southern CA on our way to Grandma's at sunset during the holidays.

I really did run in the snow!

I ran in the snow...yay! James and I went to the par course. It was bit late. The snow was beginning to melt and turn into slush. The redwood trees were dripping and dumping snow. The path was a mix of snow in some spots, thick slush and muddy slush. Leaving my big coat and boots at the bench, I wore James thick winter wooly socks in my running shoes and went for it. I ran only one lap (1.2 miles). I loved every minute of it (not so much the slush and cold feet)...the feeling of packing my feet in the snow was incredible. It was everything I expected. I wish I had gone earlier. I was off work and frittered the day away but James convinced me if I had gone earlier before the snow melted, I would have run into ice below the snow. Hopefully we'll get more snow this week. I'm hooked and dreaming of going to Tahoe and learning to run in snowshoes wondering what it is like to mountain bike in the snow, admiring the snow xterra athletes. Running in the slush and letting go of fears of getting my feet wet helps me to run in more rain next time. When I arrived home, My wooly socks were dripping.

Running in Snow

Sunday night I woke up to snow before work. It wasn't much but the flakes were pretty big and they were sticking. Throughout the night it snowed. By sunrise I wondered if I would be able to make it up the hill to home. I heard from incoming coworkers that the hill was not plowed. My supervisor was calling all the day nurses to see if they needed a ride in the 4 wheel drive. Really, I was thinking about the snow, but not whether I'd get home. I had chains. I really wanted to RUN in the snow. I was due for my weekly 10K run and I SO wanted to do it in the snow. I wanted to feel and hear the sound of the soft snow packing under my feet to my running tempo and smell the snowy air. I was like a kid with a snowday. woohoo. I'm running! A coworker thought I was nuts when I told her. I conveniently left out the complicated logistics of wet feet and slippery ice in my fantasy. the roads were slushy. My running path in the valley was definitely wet and slushy. My only shoe options were my running shoes (not waterproof) and my boots (not conducive to running). There is still the par course in the neighborhood. Maybe no one touched it. If I am the first to put a footprints in the snow, it would pack down and be a great run. No slush and hopefully no underlying ice. I passed by on the way home and already two cars were there. *sigh* I came home and did some research on snow running here. The kids wanted to sled. The roads were un-runnable. That par course was slush. Okay I'm going sledding with the kids. It was wonderful. My kids would take these amazing risks going down a crazy hill James carved out for us. I took advantage of the hills and ran up the hills after sledding down to get some sort of training in. My quads were sore at the end of our fun. Running uphill in big boots is a lot of work! It was modified but I did in fact get to run in the snow. Later that night James and I went to the club and swam.

There is more snow to come this week. I have other chances to hit the par course on fresh snow. I have to go to the city today. I might stop at REI and look for snow running shoes.

Running

Been running with some cross training. I am focused on completing a half-marathon (13.1 miles) by Spring 2008. I began a training program over the holidays, increased my base runs to 4.25 miles and got sick. I started over again last week and am staying consistent. Two days ago I ran 5.5 miles and decreased my avg mile time by 12 seconds. It has been cold and rainy so the bike has been hiding. I took it out on the first day of sun and had a fabulous time riding 18 miles in the valley passing cows, sheep, turkeys, geese and horses. I swim on the rainy days or when I need a break from running. My speed has increased since I began bilateral breathing. I can draft with James.

What is really cool about running is I began hating it every step. There are days when I still feel that way on a run and find out my time is fast. But really I am loving going out into the country and just running. No cars. No distractions. Just getting lost in my world running feeling proud when I finish. My time is slowly bust consistently getting faster. Honestly though I am in it for the distance and enjoyment. Not so much speed. But it does help when I am hyperventilating all 4.5 miles and find out I have cut a few minutes off my time.

Today I am planning a 10K followed by a swim.

Byron is going to Alcatraz!!!!!!!

Byron was selected to compete in the prestigious Escape from Alcatraz triathlon June 2008. It is a very rigorous course where he will swim across the San Francisco Bay from a boat near Alcatraz Island to SF for 1.5 miles in cold current filled water then bike 18 miles (what seems to be mostly uphill) and then run 8 miles through the trails of the Golden Gate recreation area (again what seems to be uphill).

See the video from last year.