This update will probably be all over the place. I'm sitting in the office on campus, where I'm technically "on duty" but have nothing too important to do. The LSA Institute is still going on (2.5 more weeks!), and I'm on technology duty, which means I go around to all the classrooms at the beginning of the class period and make sure everyone's computer/projector is working, and then I sit in the main office for the rest of the shift in case of any major breakdowns. In which case I wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to fix things, so I'll just keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't come up!
Anyway, the last two weeks have been crazy. Crazy. We're moved in, and most of our stuff is put away, at least to a respectable extent. I'm still way behind on laundry, and I don't know when that's going to be rectified, but I'll get there in the next week or so, I guess. The first few days we were there (a week ago now), I was really good about doing a little bit of arranging/putting away every day. But then Roger's dad got here on Thursday night, and we hung out with him for a few days, and I ran my marathon on Sunday, and now it's back to the ol' grind and it's already Tuesday!
I may type up a proper race report in the future, but for now, suffice it to say that the race was great and really really fun and I'm very glad I did it. I was a little worried going in, because my training went something like this:
February: start running with Sarah and building up long runs from 12 miles to 17 or so.
March and April: keep building and get up to 20 miles. Run Big Sur at the end of April.
May: recover from Big Sur for two weeks, then do one long run.
June: two or three more long runs.
July: plan far more long runs than I actually do. I don't know if I actually did any really long ones in July. Get worried that I'm not ready... then... marathon!
It really snuck up on me. Between the 4th and moving and the Institute, suddenly it was time for the race and I realized I hadn't done a long run in about a month. It actually turned out great, though, because it was enough time to get well rested and fully recovered but not lose too much fitness.
And the race itself was great. I came in at 4:00:08, which is just over a 9 min/mile pace. I was secretly hoping to come in under 4 hours again, but not being very optimistic about it, since SF is a considerably harder course than Columbus (my last full marathon). But to my surprise, I definitely had the fitness to do it - I would've easily made it if I hadn't gotten trapped behind hundreds of people on the Golden Gate Bridge. Since I waited until the very last minute to sign up, I was given a late start time (about an hour after I should've according to my pace), which means I started with all the people hoping to finish under 4:45 instead of under 4:00. So I was already dodging and passing a lot of people for the first few miles, and then we hit the bridge, and there was only so much I could do. The lanes were very, very narrow, and I did my best to pass people without being a jerk and pushing them out of the way. On the one hand, it was good in that it made me reign it in so I wasn't completely dead at the end. On the other hand, I was only 8 seconds over 4 hours, and it would've been nice to have that 3 at the beginning of my time!
Anyway, after the bridge, I was able to pick it up quite a bit, and I actually ran negative splits for the whole race. (Non-runner translation: I consistently got faster from the beginning to the end.) The best part was that my legs didn't cramp nearly as bad as in Columbus; I learned my lesson from the first time and was careful to hydrate throughout the race. My right calf started bothering me around mile 23, but didn't get really painful until mile 24, and never really seized up as badly as in Columbus. I was tired the rest of the day on Sunday and went to bed early, and my quads were pretty sore yesterday, but I'm only a little sore today.
The main thing is that I need to try to get more sleep this week to let my body repair itself, and it's hard to make that happen when I have so much stuff going on. The dogs still need to be walked, food still needs to be bought and prepared, I still have to be on campus by 8:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, etc. I'm enjoying my classes, but I must admit, it will be very nice when they're over. And then I'll have a week and half before my "real" classes start.
Okay, I think I'm done for now. I'm going to finish my lunch and try to get some work done. More updates later!
Oh, P.S. to my grandma, Michelle, and anyone else who was wondering: the stairs in our big room go up to a second story. On the second story is another bedroom and a bathroom; however, our landlady uses this space for storage, so we just keep the door at the top of the stairs closed.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
New House Pictures
We just got back from signing the lease for our new house, and while our new landlady admired Roger's bike, I was busy snapping pictures.
I'll be moving small things in this week, and we're planning on finishing up the big stuff on Saturday and spending our first night there that night.
Awesome rec room:
I think this will be the seating area. The half bathroom is on the right, and the laundry/storage room is on the left:
Looking through the kitchen towards the dining area:
Looking down the hall towards the rec room/backyard:
Bathroom (this shot is for my mom):
Entry area as seen from dining room:
Looking into the kitchen from the dining room:
Looking at the dining room from the entry area:
The Galapagos Islands on our kitchen floor:
Looking through the rec room into the backyard, from the hallway:
The other side of the rec room (can you tell this is my favorite room?):
Looking towards the hallway and laundry room. I'm hoping to fit the dog crates under the stairs:
Backyard:
I love it!
I'll be moving small things in this week, and we're planning on finishing up the big stuff on Saturday and spending our first night there that night.
Awesome rec room:
I think this will be the seating area. The half bathroom is on the right, and the laundry/storage room is on the left:
Looking through the kitchen towards the dining area:
Looking down the hall towards the rec room/backyard:
Bathroom (this shot is for my mom):
Entry area as seen from dining room:
Looking into the kitchen from the dining room:
Looking at the dining room from the entry area:
The Galapagos Islands on our kitchen floor:
Looking through the rec room into the backyard, from the hallway:
The other side of the rec room (can you tell this is my favorite room?):
Looking towards the hallway and laundry room. I'm hoping to fit the dog crates under the stairs:
Backyard:
I love it!
Friday, July 3, 2009
What is wrong with these people?
First let me state that I do not believe in watering lawns. If you live in a climate where grass is not supposed to grow, do not try to make grass grow. (Exhibit A: Arizona) Especially since California has been in a drought situation for the past few years! And we're in the dry season anyway, for crying out loud! We only have two seasons, and their names tell you when things are supposed to grow and when they're not!
I say this because I experienced another stunning display of Berkeley hypocrisy today. These people are all high and mighty about saving the environment, and yet they maintain their unnaturally lush, green yards year round. Today I was outside actually doing some gardening - trimming back a bush and doing some weeding - and my neighbor across the street (the one I particularly don't like) comes over and says, "You know, when you first moved in here, there was a sprinkler system that would come on and water the plants. We have one just like it, it's really simple..."
Awkward pause while he stares at me condescendingly.
"Uh yeah, I know," I say. "We turned it off because it was using so much water."
"Is it broken?"
"No, we just turned it off. It was really expensive."
"Did you turn the water down or turn off the timer? Because I know how the timer works. I can show you right now, if you want." And he starts heading for the side of our house!
I'm stunned. In retrospect, I should've countered his unbelievable rudeness by launching into the rant I started this post with and trying to make him feel guilty for deepening the drought with his ubergreen landscaping. Instead, I said something like, "It's in the backyard" to stop him from tinkering with our watering system. And then he offered to come over some time and turn it back on for us, and I said thanks and hoped that he would go away faster.
I can't believe these people are so obsessed with our yard! Being obsessed with how your own yard looks is weird enough, but other people's too? First the weeds, now the fact that our grass is turning brown. It's supposed to turn brown, you idiot. I refuse to water the grass for 8-9 months out of the year. I take that as a sign that we do not live in a climate that supports grassy lawns.
The thing that really gets me is that he's not saying it in a friendly way. It's not like he's genuinely concerned that we might not know how to work our sprinkler system. He's just informing us that he does not approve of the fact that some of our grass is turning brown, and he intends to do something about it. I would like to add that our front landscaping is really not that bad. The plants are still quite nice, there are absolutely no weeds (anymore), and there are lots of purple flowers. It's just that some of the grass has started to go dormant because it hasn't rained since March, and it's not going to rain again until November.
I am so glad we're moving.
I say this because I experienced another stunning display of Berkeley hypocrisy today. These people are all high and mighty about saving the environment, and yet they maintain their unnaturally lush, green yards year round. Today I was outside actually doing some gardening - trimming back a bush and doing some weeding - and my neighbor across the street (the one I particularly don't like) comes over and says, "You know, when you first moved in here, there was a sprinkler system that would come on and water the plants. We have one just like it, it's really simple..."
Awkward pause while he stares at me condescendingly.
"Uh yeah, I know," I say. "We turned it off because it was using so much water."
"Is it broken?"
"No, we just turned it off. It was really expensive."
"Did you turn the water down or turn off the timer? Because I know how the timer works. I can show you right now, if you want." And he starts heading for the side of our house!
I'm stunned. In retrospect, I should've countered his unbelievable rudeness by launching into the rant I started this post with and trying to make him feel guilty for deepening the drought with his ubergreen landscaping. Instead, I said something like, "It's in the backyard" to stop him from tinkering with our watering system. And then he offered to come over some time and turn it back on for us, and I said thanks and hoped that he would go away faster.
I can't believe these people are so obsessed with our yard! Being obsessed with how your own yard looks is weird enough, but other people's too? First the weeds, now the fact that our grass is turning brown. It's supposed to turn brown, you idiot. I refuse to water the grass for 8-9 months out of the year. I take that as a sign that we do not live in a climate that supports grassy lawns.
The thing that really gets me is that he's not saying it in a friendly way. It's not like he's genuinely concerned that we might not know how to work our sprinkler system. He's just informing us that he does not approve of the fact that some of our grass is turning brown, and he intends to do something about it. I would like to add that our front landscaping is really not that bad. The plants are still quite nice, there are absolutely no weeds (anymore), and there are lots of purple flowers. It's just that some of the grass has started to go dormant because it hasn't rained since March, and it's not going to rain again until November.
I am so glad we're moving.
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