News Break

I was reading about how frustrated one blogger was about all the bad news. I admit that from time to time I get a little addicted to the latest news. Here's today's headlines:

• India explosion kills at least 20 Police blame Maoist militants.
• Baghbad blasts leave 15 dead Dozens injured in 4 bombings.
• Winter Olympics flame out in TV ratings Worst since 1988.
• 'Times' sues for NSA records Cites Freedom of Information.
• Two British soldiers killed in Iraq bomb blast

Okay, time for a news break. It's time for me to turn off the email news alerts, radio, cable TV, and newspapers for a while. I did this some time back and sailed on, blissfully unaware of all the messed-up happenings in the world, all the misery, and lived like the 8th-graders I teach. All I worried about was the day-to-day stuff, my hair, getting my training done. Bliss. Of course, the civics teachers at my school was nonplussed as to how I could possibly isolate myself in such a manner. But I'm not isolating myself from people, ideas, or society. Just its ills. for a while.

Right now, my gray tabby (Hissy Fit) is chasing a straw around on the floor. It's not trying to get away, so she creates a little drama by tossing it up on the air and then chasing it. She's completely in the moment. Think I"ll join her. Not literally, of course. I'm taking a news break. I'm going to concentrate on my hair, training, work, and good food, the fabulous weather in northcentral New Mexico, my fabulous Husband.

Meanwhile, here's some links to explore: PositiveNews and UpBeat.

Wanted...Dead or Alive.

We got new uniforms today!

Remember when you were a kid and you wanted desperately to have some sort of superhero costume to run around in?

Nothing lends itself more to cheesy and good-spirited fun.

Let the games begin!

Vanity, thy name is me.

Ellie posted a link to her pictures, and since we were in the same race, I had to run (virtually) and check mine. As I've mentioned before, I didn't get a medal because they ran out, so I was looking forward to at least seeing some pictures. First, I put in Husband's name to see his - his turned out wonderfully, as did Ellie's, who looks all fresh and happy. Then I put in my name:

Unfortunately, we have no photos indexed for this participant number.
Many photos have obscured team numbers.
These photos can be located by browsing through the lost and found section for the event.

Well, of course there aren't. I'll just sift through the 1700 or so slightly-larger-than-postage-stamp-sized photos to find something that looks like me...should be easy enough, just try to find a woman lumbering along with a running hat, dark glasses, and her hair pulled back - nobody else with that description in a marathon, is there?

Of course, I blame myself. You see, I don't like being cold. (I blame my southern upbringing.) So, in the absense of warming fires and cocoa, which we did not get, being the lazy half-marathoners that we are...I was wearing a running bra top, short-sleeved cool max shirt, long-sleeve cool-max shirt, and light-weight jacket. Problem is, once I start running, I heat up real fast. (I blame fried food.) So, I start peeling off layers until I'm running with layers of clothing tied around my waist, like some kind of confused belly-dancer who couldn't quite get all the scarves off.

The result is that my race number, hanging from my handy race belt, is completely obscured by the sleeves tied around my waist.

I finally found myself, eventually. Unlike Ellie, I don't look fresh and happy. I look heavy and pained, except when I'm walking. Then, I'm smiling.

There has got to be a way to do this more glamorously. Either that, or I'll have to make another painful decision between vanity and running. I cut 8" off my hair last summer, a necessary sacrifice to the chlorine god who rules my world. I practically had to get therapy just to do that. Next, came the artificial nails. God, I loved those nails. But pool water got under a couple of them and my nail turned green--I'll just spare you the details. It wasn't pretty. Anyway, here's the pictures.

I edited this to add another one from earlier in the race, so that you can get the full strip-tease effect.

More 8th-grade humor.

Pimptastic Pilgrim Love

Here's my pimp name. What's yours?

What does it take to get off the couch?

Learning about the benefits of exercise is always a nice, validating feeling. There are, for instance, studies that show that the benefits of running around like a maniac on the weekends and during my summers may extend beyond the obvious ego boost. When coupled with the information that cardiac risk is improved by exercise, it just seems to make sense.

So why are so many people still on the couch? I was humbled recently to take a fitness test and to learn that for all my running around, I'm still at the very low end of "moderate fitness" or the high end of "low fitness" in most fitness tests which means, holy cow, that the people I see walking around me every day, who sit when they can stand, drive when they could walk, are practically walking dead.

I don't say this becuase I have some sort of superiority complex. I don't. I'm just wondering why people do nothing so often. I watched helplessly as my mother sank into heart failure and then died amazingly young (61). She never exercised; she was overweight most of her adult life and nothing could get her to exercise. Now, for me, I got tired of being so weak and fat, and the knowledge that I didn't want to leave a huge gap in someone else's life the way my mother's death left a gap in the lives of my father, sister, and me.

But that's just me. What does it take for people to get off the couch?

By the way, I don't mention this often, but I have two master's degrees. So I get a little paranoid when I'm perusing the articles about exercise and read things like, "Higher education may be tied to faster Alzeimer's decline". Hopefully, any negative effects of my brush with being a professional student will be offset by becoming a triathlete, since "Exercise and Heart Health May Keep Dementia at Arm's Length".

Half marathon recovery

I've been looking up stuff on the Internet and have found tons of post MARATHON recovery info. I wonder if they hold true for half marathons? Is there a recovery period after a half marathon? I'm wondering also, because my swim on Tuesday (2 days post) was the slowest I've ever swum in my life, except when I was three years old, doggy paddling in Hoover, Alabama.
Most of all, I'm interested in this sudden rapid weight gain (about 4-5 pounds) that I got afterwards. What's that all about?
On a related subject, we're thinking about getting a Tanita Innerscan Scale. I'm not sure why we need this new toy other than, well, we haven't bought any new toys for a while. It's supposed to provide, basically, everything about your body that you would want to know (weight, BFI%, bone mass, hydration, etc.). I'm naive enough to think, if they claim that it can, then it will. As near as I can figure, the difference between it and the Tanita Ironman Innerscan Scale is perhaps $20 or so more and the Ironman Logo on it.

Fresh meat.

Weird! Did you know about this? I remember learning on an old Quincy episode about how carbon monoxide poisoning caused blood and tisues to turn bright red. And, hey, it's used for fish, too.

Carbon Monoxide.
It's what's for dinner.