Evidence of Life on the Beach

This is a crab hole surrounded by doggie footprints. My visitor from Sacramento mentioned the beaches on the Windward side seemed so clean and devoid of the usual detritus often associated with beaches: shells, fish bones, seaweed ... so I took this photo of a crab hole yesterday morning. It's big enough for me to stick my fist inside.

This morning is my last morning in Kailua. I'm flying back to Sacramento at noontime, and go back to work tomorrow morning. It's been a very quiet visit, but the weather has been glorious! Time for me to shower and finish packing now.

Kailua Beach

This is my favorite beach. Today, I brought Dierdre with me (we met on the flight over) to Lanikai beach, and then we stopped here at my mom's beach. The waves were good for riding - not too big, not too rough. Everything's green and blue.

Coming Home

Where is home? Is it the place you came from? The house? The town? Is it the place where you currently receive your mail?

What is home? Is it a place? A feeling? Is it a habitual routine you fall back into reflexively when you go there?

In my case, I know I'm home when mother, who doesn't dare boss around the caregiving staff, puts away her politeness and bosses me around because "they don't know anything at all about it." Because I'm "family" and not "help", she feels she's entitled to resume directing every aspect of running the house, from which lights to turn on or off, when to open or close windows and drapes, how long to let Mary swim, and making sure I have remembered to feed the animals next door. Because she can no longer do it herself, she manages the house through me, as my parent, nagging until I assure her every task is satisfactorily completed.

I was given to understand that Mom was slowing down significantly, but that applies only to her walking. Her mind is as aware as it ever was, except for some short-term memory lapses. Her mind seems to be recovering - she's sharper now than she was last summer - and I know it's thanks to Isy's good care as much as to Mom's iron constitution.

I love it here. I miss my family in Sacramento. I guess I have two homes!

Brave Beginning, Disappointing Ending

This is the beginning of the 2008 Avenue of the Vines half marathon. More than 700 runners and walkers crossed the starting line at 8 a.m. There was a simultaneous 5k going on, but somehow, they all sorted themselves out. The results were posted quickly.

The heat was brutal - heat records were set all up and down the Central Valley. Stockton reached 105; Lodi peaked at 98; Sacramento at 99. There was no shade along the route, which did in fact loop through vineyards - and also several odiferous dairies!

For the first 6 miles, I buddied up with Bridget because we seemed to be walking at the same pace. And then it all fell apart for me. Bridget finished - I didn't.

It took 3 1/2 hours to reach the 10 mile marker, where I realized I was having trouble breathing - almost like an allergic response or an asthma attack - very hard to suck enough air in, even though I was not "out of breath" from exertion. Walking made it worse, even after resting a bit. I knew I was more than 3/4 of the way to the finish line, but the thought of getting into respiratory trouble between aid stations - especially since I knew I was the very last person still walking, with no one behind me - made me decide to abort and get a ride back to the winery. It would have taken another hour to finish if I were not in distress, and I had no wish to be found collapsed on the side of the road.

I was - still am - crushed, disappointed, angry, embarrassed that I failed to complete the walk. I realize it was not my fault; I just don't do failure well. After the tears, though, I have decided what I am going to do: I will continue training this week and walk the 13.1 miles next week. In Hawaii. So there!

Walking is Hot Stuff

Our first summer heat wave arrived yesterday, with temperatures pushing 100.  The high pressure area is expected to stick around through the weekend - great for the pool; not so great if you're doing a long race.

This is my Avenue of the Vines half-marathon race weekend. I did my last walk this morning; tomorrow is a rest day, and Sunday is the Big Day.  At our training meeting on Tuesday, we received our red singlets, driving directions, and tips for surviving the race: eating, drinking, clothing, rest, sunscreen, mental prep, and walking strategy. Tomorrow, Marty and I will drive to Stockton to pick up my race packet, and on the way back, we'll swing by the Woodbridge Winery to get the lay of the land. I'm all stocked up with Gatorade and powerbars, and will be attending the Pasta party tomorrow afternoon at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Elk Grove.

I know I will finish; my team mates say they will stand by the finish line for as long as it takes me to get there!

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Training is Tapering This Week

This is the last week of prep for the Avenue of the Vines half-marathon next Sunday. By Thursday, I will have logged 258 miles since I started training in the last week of January, and the race will add another 13 for a total of 271 miles! That's about three times the distance between Sacramento and San Francisco!

I walked 10 miles yesterday. I started walking at 6:45 a.m. and returned home at 10:15 a.m. - just in time for the nice Mother's Day brunch Pat and Laurel prepared: Eggs Benedict, toast, and coffee. I'll be attending the interval training on Tuesday, then the walking tapers off to 3 miles, 2 miles, and two days of rest before the race.

I saw a map of the course, and it looks like the grid is conveniently divided into 1-mile blocks, so it should be easy to pace myself. I know I can do it, but the thought of walking 4 1/2 hours nonstop is a little daunting! I downloaded some more marches to my Shuffle, including some circus marches, and that should help me focus during the last couple of miles.

John Phillip Helps Me Focus

Two more weeks till the Half Marathon in Lodi. Our weekly "long" walk has jumped dramatically from 6 miles to 9 miles, and next week it will be 10 miles. So, how do I know when I've walked 9 miles?

Aside from knowing that I'm a pretty consistent 20-minute-miler, there is a neat "pedometer" hack for Google Maps - you "record" your walk by clicking on the map, and it calculates the length of each segment as well as the total length of the walk. You can turn on other features, like mile-markers and calories burned (based on your weight.) This is where I walked yesterday. (You will have to zoom out to see the entire route.)

Ah, but you ask, "Who is John Phillip?" Well, here's the story. I've been listening to audio books on my walks to make them a little more interesting. I've walked through Lois Lowry's "Gathering Blue", a couple of pedantic motivational titles, and am currently involved in "Snow flower and the Secret Fan", by Lisa See. This is all good, as long as I'm walking in the green belt parkway or on lightly-trafficked streets. Walking on the levee, however, is much noisier, because it runs right alongside the immensely-busy I-5 freeway. I was looking for something to listen to that I could hear above the traffic noise, and thought that perhaps marching music might be just the ticket. I downloaded a handful of John Phillip Sousa marches from iTunes, along with a couple others that are very different (Irish, New Orleans). Now, I stride along to the tubas and trumpets I remember from my childhood - my dad was in the Army band during WWII, and had several recordings we listened to often - and discovered it's GREAT walking music! Even if you're getting tired, the next march has you stepping right along and loving it! (Photo courtesy of SoldiersMediaCenter on Flickr and used under the terms of its Creative Commons license.)