That's My Story

This year I'm going to choose 30 goals to work on in the next 10 months. Why ten months, and not a year? Because this year I am 30, but only until October 30. So starting now, I have 10 months to complete my 30 goals. That means I'm aiming for 3 goals per month.

Here are the first 10 goals.


30 Goals While I'm 30 (Part 1)

1. Try something new at Celia's
2. Make a grad school decision
3. Go to a country i've never been to before
4. Eat vegetarian for one month
5. Finish a triathlon
6. Learn to make Celia's coleslaw
7. Send 3 cards each month to 3 people I no longer see on a regular basis
8. Go back to San Diego
9. Read a science/history book ( nonfiction)
10. Go 1 month without spending money at Target

Bad Bad Blogger

Okay, so I didn't blog about my training. I also didn't do nearly as much training as I should have. I did, however, finish the half-marathon this weekend.

My official time was 3 hours, 11 minutes, 43 seconds. That works out to a 14:38/mile pace, which I am darned proud of. Seriously.

Training Tip #4

Oops.


Yesterday I agreed to go for a hike with Marina, what with the long weekend ahead of us. Dad went too. We decided to do a long hike, from Waddell Beach in Santa Cruz county, into Big Basin and to Berry Creek Falls. The estimated length of the hike was 12 miles. That didn't include the length of the driveway into the park. So, while training for a 13.1 mile walk in November, I ended up doing a 13.5 mile hike in September. My feet hurt a little this morning, so I guess it is time to lace up my new shoes from now on.

Training Tip #3

99 degrees is NOT an ideal training temperature.


It will, however, teach you to always look for the shady side of the street. Yesterday felt like our first real training, since the track was locked at the first one I went to. We had an injury prevention and stretching clinic beforehand, so we didn't start our 4 miles until about 9:30. I think it was already in the upper 80s by then.

The walk itself was nice, just waaaaay to warm. I managed to find a walking buddy, who will hopefully be around at a bunch of the trainings, because we went at a good speed. By today, the temperature was back to seasonal, and my walk was back to just plain enjoyable. I'm glad the HOT HOT HOT weather won't be around for too much longer!

Training Tip #2

Always have a back-up hair tie in your pocket. Or 2 or 3.


I walked in the middle of the afternoon today, because of Back to School Night. As I walked across Stevens Creek Rd. my only hair tie snapped. Since I only had a brief time before I had to go back and shower for the parents, I had to walk two miles with my hair sticking to my back. It is definitely still summer here.

Training Tip #1

From last Saturday's Team Training:

They mean it when they say use the bathroom before you begin.


You don't want to use the nasty port-a-potties that you may come across. Or at least, I don't.

New Training Log

I'm going to start using this blog as a record of the training that I'm doing for the Big Sur Monterey Half Marathon on November 15th.

I'm walking to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford, where I volunteer at every Thursday and for those who have a critically ill little one, it is an unbelievably amazing place.

Kick off was August 13, nearly two weeks ago, but I'm just now getting into the groove. Fun times to come!

Meet Champ and Lobo

Champ is the blue betta on the right (hard to see) and Lobo is the red one on the left 

Cary, NC is now listed as a "Cooming Soon" location on the Trader Joe's website. Hooray!