In which we stumble upon yet another slumped over body on the trail…

9 miles, 1:24:19

Last summer while on a long run, my DH and I caught a shocking sight out of the corner of our eyes; a body. I remember the instant feeling of dread that washed over me as I slowed down and got closer to the body. It was a female, laying face down in the dirt behind a small (2 ft) wall on the side of the road. We took tentative, silent steps toward her, scanning for any sign of life, but there was no movement at all. In fact, as we got closer, we saw flies circling around her, and we feared the worst. I called 911, and within minutes an office pulled up along side the trail. We were standing back from her now, still watching for movement, and we waved the officer over to her.

“Well, that doesn’t look good,” he said, walking up to her. He nudged her a few times and finally, thankfully, she stirred.

I breathed a sigh of relief; we asked the officer if we could leave (and by the way, that had been an AWESOME run up until that point), and he waved us along. Our pace as quick as we high-tailed it home, grateful to not be one of “those” poor early-morning runners who find a dead body. Later I found out that the woman had been on meth, was trying to get “home,” when she decided to take a nap, and once she convinced the officer she was able to walk, was released on the spot, I guess left to wander the neighborhood? Nice.

So today, once again, very close to the same spot as before, we came upon a body. This time we didn’t get close; the body appeared to be a male, and was laying across the trail with his back to us, in the shadows of a freeway overpass. We couldn’t tell if he was awake, if he had a weapon, nothing. Only that he wasn’t moving. My DH called 311 this time, not wanting to overreact, after all not all dead bodies turn out to be dead. They transferred him to 911 anyways.

In the meantime two walkers came up the trail toward the body; I could see them approach him (the body was actually facing them), and bend over to see if he was alright. He finally started moving, information that I relayed to my DH. Then they left him and walked over to me; one was a nurse and said that the man had a medical ID bracelet. The walkers left, and we waited for the officer to arrive. The man sat up as the officer approached; we walked over to let the officer know it was us who called. The man denied having a medical bracelet, but I told the officer that was what the walker told us. The officer made the man show his wrists; there was a hospital bracelet. And then the man’s story began; the officer waived us off, and we trotted off.

I remember that the other body, the woman, looked like a mess. She was covered in dirt, her hair in tangles, just what you might expect someone recovering from a meth-bender might look like. But today, this man, he was different. His hair was in dreadlocks, but his face, upon closer inspection, was perfectly clean shaven. His clothes were a little mussed up (from sleeping on the pavement) but otherwise clean. In fact, for the brief moment I heard him speaking, I would almost conclude that his story was more about emotional drama (maybe his girlfriend dumped him). Did we do the right thing, calling the police? Well, if you want attention, lay across a running path like a dead body, and you’ll get it. I suspect he wanted the attention. My husband was less impressed.

“We gotta find somewhere else to run,” my DH muttered.

Will I ever be thin enough for boy shorts?

15k; 1:28:58 woo-hoo!!

This year I’ve been sporting a Team-Sparkle skirt during my half marathons. Why? What can I say? They make me happy! But I do NOT wear boy shorts underneath (not the underwear, the running shorts, you know, super-tight, super-short shorts that ride up on any thigh with an ounce of fat). Although I’ve seen so many pictures of runners sporting their sparkle with a simple pair of boy shorts underneath, I just cannot do it. I’m not sure those sparkle skirts are flame resistant enough the withstand the smoke that would result from the horrific chafing that would ensue.

You see, I’ve never had the legs for those boy shorts; my upper-inner-thigh does not enjoy those boy shorts. Those boy shorts ride up (into my crotch) almost immediately after I pull them on. And then they just look dumb, and I don’t think there is enough bodyglide in the world to prevent the inevitable super-chafe.

So I wear running shorts under the skirts. And I guess that’s ok; I guess it doesn’t really matter if the shorts poke out under the skirt; the skirts are just for fun, right?

Still, every once in a while I’ll catch a glimpse of myself in a race photo and see the shorts showing under the skirt, and I’ll admit it; I’m so jealous of those who can wear a boy short. I mean, gals who can really get away with a boy short. Without the ride up.

Then again, sometimes I’m grateful for the coverage; the boy-shorts leave little to the imagination when the skirt flies up.

Now that I’ve lost a few pounds (actually weighed in in the 130′s – barely, but still, haven’t seen that since the 90′s!) I was thinking I might try again, except that the reality is that even though I’m smaller, my thighs are still, um, shapely.

Some people wonder what it’s like to run a marathon (or a half marathon). I wonder what it’s like to have skinny thighs. At least running a marathon is an achievable goal for most. Without a training plan that will change my genetics/physical structure, I guess I’ll just have to embrace my “shapely” thighs!

Smaller and faster: Long overdue training update

It’s been a busy couple of weeks; crazy really. I finished my Clean cleanse, signed up for the Dopey Challenge, entertained some very special visitors for a week (my awesome niece and her dad, my equally awesome brother), and ran a half marathon.

The Clean = Smaller: I joined a DietBet on the first day of my cleanse, so I took a picture of my weight on that date: 156.8. It wasn’t an easy weight to look at, that’s for sure. But I figured between the monetary incentive (don’t lose my money) of the DietBet, and the cleanse I was embarking on, I’d surely lose the 5% I needed to. I’ve posted about how I felt mid-cleanse, and I have to say, the feel-good feeling did last until the end. So much so, that I was determined to keep eating clean even when I was done cleansing. Unfortunately, the last day of my cleanse was the first day of a week-long visit with my brother and niece. So I made some compromises while they were in town (I didn’t want meals to be an issue). I was able to find fairly clean options wherever we ate; from the buffet, to a small-town diner, to Buffalo Wild Wings. Sure, I also chose some unhealthy options here and there, but once they left I was happily back on the Clean wagon. I doubt I’ll go back to my daily espresso, and I love the feeling of not being bloated, so I’m actually happy to cut out white starches (including my formerly beloved white rice). I’m exchanging my super-probiotic (50 billion CFU) to a 15 billion CFU probiotic (less money, hopefully still good results). I’ll maintain the 12 hour dinner-to-breakfast fast, and avoid snacking (now that I really understand the difference between hungry and really, really hungry). My days are no longer filled with energy highs and lows; it’s a nice, even energy flow, and it’s wonderful. With as busy as I’ve been over the last few weeks, my energy has been steady and strong throughout. As for weight, I’ve been at 142 for the week since I stopped my cleanse, so I expect my DietBet weigh in will be a success (I only had to get down to 150). In fact, after my race yesterday, I weighed in at 140! Yahoo! I knew it was all the water loss, but it sure was fun to dream about being in the 130s again.

Cleanse Day 1

Cleanse Day 21

Hiking with the family (and eating).

Start of Rockin Rabbit HM. Um, is this all of us?

Boo! Trail…

Almost there!

Me on February 3, weight approx 153lbs

Me on April 7, post-race weight of 140 lbs.

The Rockin Rabbit Half Marathon = Faster. I had absolutely no expectations going into yesterday’s race. Well, that isn’t entirely true. I expected to walk, to crash, to die. Friday before the race we went to the course and ran the first 4 miles (for a total of 8 miles, out and back). Those first 4 miles climb somewhere around 500 ft! Memories of Red Rock Canyon came flooding back between that Friday run and Sunday morning, so by the time I was at the starting line, I was totally psyched out. And since I was running alone (DH skipped this one), in a field of 70 runners, I started preparing for the humbling experience of being at the back of the pack, if not DLF. I made a deal with myself; just don’t stop running for those first 4 miles; I could run as slow as I needed to up the steep ascents, but no walking. It was just 4 miles of pain, then I could coast down to the finish (over 1000 ft descent).

And I did it; I coasted over that top elevation mark and realized I might actually finish in a decent, sub 2:10 time!  I flew down hill for 6 miles (there was a few steep ascents but they were short in distance and bearable); I was running at a sub 9:00/miles (pretty close to 8:30/miles) down those hills, and even dared to dream about a sub 2-hour half! Alas, that dream was short-lived; unbeknownst to me, the last 3.1 miles were on dirt trails. The Historic Railroad Tunnel trail. It was a trail I’d walked many times; I remember the many times I had to drag my complaining son up that first uphill mile. (Ok, it probably only climbs about 40-50 feet, but still.) That’s what I thought about as my feet left the pavement for the soft, rocky dirt. YUCK! My legs were in shock; I had to walk a few steps to get my legs used to the change in terrain. I was grateful that I’d done a few trail runs in the last month, but frustrated that my running shoes were slippery against the fine powdery dirt. How I longed for my trail running shoes. And my 8:30/miles quickly turned into 10-11 minute miles as I slogged down the trail.

I’ll admit it; mentally I gave up. Did I have a little more push in me? Of course. But feeling myself slow down so much, I mentally switched gears from possible-PR to just finish the freakin’ race. I crossed the finish line and stopped my Garmin: 2:04:54. Exactly what the race clock showed. And as I cooled down at the finish, my brain started churning numbers; that time wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t bad at all; in fact, it was my FASTEST time since the 2011 Disneyland Half Marathon. And I only missed beating THAT time by 11 seconds (yeah, 11 seconds I probably could have made up if I hadn’t given up out on the trail). And when I thought about how challenging this race had been (an overall ascent of 945 ft, and an over descent of 1681 ft), and how really strong I felt (physically; mentally I totally wimped out), I realized, I might just be getting faster. Smaller, and faster.

Here’s to eating clean and getting fast!