J and M invited us over to J’s parents’ for a 4th of July BBQ. Everything was great and J’s family was so nice. Afterwards, we all went down to Tidelands Park at the end of the Embarcadero in Morro Bay to watch fireworks. As always, it was foggy and we couldn’t see much but colored, glowing clouds for the first part. After a bit, the fog blew away and we could see more and then the smoke got so thick that it was back to glowing fog again Still, we had a great time!
I ran 10 miles this past Saturday! (View my route.) There’s an intense hill in there that goes on for a couple miles. That was kind of fun, actually. My left knee started to give out around mile 8 and I ended up having to walk limp the last mile. I finished 20 minutes behind everyone else and the team was ready to send out cars to look for me by the time I made it back. D’oh! However, that knee lasted 2 miles longer than the previous week so maybe it’ll continue to get better.
After the run, I iced the knee for a bit and went to Phil’s sushi birthday lunch. The whole gang was there and it was a lot of fun to see people. Directly afterwards us Burners met up at Cathy’s house for a meeting to organize our finances. I continued to ice the knee and was in pretty good shape for the drive back home.
Sitting in the car for 4 hours was probably not a very good thing to do, however. When I finally made it to Rick’s house that night, my legs and feet were as swollen as if I had sat in an airplane for a trip to the Philippines. The next morning, I got out of bed and almost fell over because my feet had stiffened solid! Stretching helped some but a one-hour full-body massage that evening helped even more. The massage therapist said she’d never felt quadriceps that tight before.
Monday I was back to school and work. This week has been so crazy - everything seemed to go wrong and I had my midterm drawing portfolio due along with two major projects. Right now, I’m so grateful that it’s over and I have a nice, long weekend to relax and NOT drive to LA again.
Also, my auntie (who had emergency surgery for an aneurysm) has been moved out of Critical Care and into the Step Down unit. She’s off the ventilator that they had to put her on when she crashed last week and is on oxygen. Thank goodness. Send some good thoughts/prayers her way if you can.
I went down to LA for a Friday for a dental appointment and my first Saturday training session with the East Valley Train To End Stroke Marathon team. I ran 7.7 miles in 1 hour and 45 minutes. (View my route) That’s an average of 13.64 minutes per mile - my best time ever! Even at 7am it was so bloody hot in Griffith Park on Saturday. I’d never run in such heat before but I carried Gatorade with me and stopped 3 times at water stations. I also carried Gu with me and downed a shot 15 minutes before the run and every 45 thereafter. It worked out very well - I never got hungry and didn’t tire until the last 1.5 miles. I think the big bowl of pasta the night before helped, too.
I feel so good about it and am very excited to do 10 miles this coming weekend. Hopefully Griffith Park will be a little cooler this time.
Still, we had a great time!