First Day With No Plans

Despite the fact that I've been on sabbatical for over two weeks now, today was the first day I experienced with no plans. Actually, I did have a plan when I woke up. Go out for a run and meet two of my sailing buddies for a few hours on the harbor. But the Big Dig struck again. Tragically, a section of the concrete ceiling in one of the tunnels collapsed last night killing a woman. Billions of dollars spent and the stoooopit tunnels leak and now collapse. Needless to say, traffic in downtown Boston was horrific today which coupled with the forecasted thunderstorms for the afternoon made us call it off.

So I found myself this morning, at 8:30am, post-run with nothing to do! I thought ever so briefly about doing some house work, putting another coat of paint on the French doors or maybe even starting the graphics for Rocket. While sitting there staring at my feet, I realized what I really needed to do was get a pedicure. And of course, once your feet look nice, it's good to treat them to some new shoes (in this case running shoes).
And then I went to the farmer's market to grab a couple jars of pickles (the spicy ones are wonderful.) I'm starting to really like having nothing to do.

Not Listening To My Own Advice...

I'm not sure I'll ever learn. A month ago I wrote about how if you want to do well in a race, some training is necessary. I haven't exactly been a slacker but I can surely say I haven't been focused on one particular sport. Some day I'm going to have to decide whether I'm a runner or a cyclist because apparently I can't do either one well unless I concentrate on one of them exclusively.

A month or so ago, I signed up for the Ryka Iron Girl 10k. It was held down in Marina Bay, Quincy. It was a pretty hot and humid morning and thankfully the race was scheduled to go off at 8 am.

Lately, my goal for any 10k is to run under 50 min. I would really like to stretch and make it an ongoing goal to run a 10k in my age in minutes. Maybe I should wait until I'm 50. Or in Sunday's case, 52.

The course was nice and flat. For the 10k runners, it was two loops of the 5k course. That's good if you're aiming for a PR since the first lap gets you well acquainted with the course. For those of us who are really just trying to hang in there, two loops of the same course gets old.

Before the race, I stretched on the pier. No one else was out there so it was a good quiet place to stretch and think about what the *&^%$ I was thinking signing up for a race in July and not training. Around 30 min before the start, I headed to the port-o-john line which was the longest I'd ever seen. Someone should tell Dave McGillivray (race director) that women really don't like to pee in the bushes like the guys and 13 port-o-johns isn't going to cut it for 1,000 women. Made it to the "start line" as the national anthem was being sung. It was too crowded to work my way closer to the front so I was stuck in the back with the over 9 min milers. Not only did that mean an extra 20-30 seconds on my time (that's how long it took me to get to the start line once the gun sounded) but I had to cut and weave my way for the first half mile before I could settle into a pace.

My splits show how I faded: 7:57 8:09 8:20 8:40 8:48 8:43 1:29

My watch time was 51:56 while the official chip time was 52:19. Bleech. It got me 17th place in my age group. If I was a year older, I would have been second. So I guess there is something to be said for getting older.

I did get a nice Iron Girl tech fabric t-shirt. And a finisher's medal. Overall, with the exception of the paucity of port-o-johns, it was a very nice race (especially for an inaugural one). And I should stop whining. At least I'm lucky enough to be able to run a 10k - and one with nice views of the harbor and the Boston skyline.

More Bahsten Speak

Overheard in the Women's room at the Garden before the Madonna concert:

1st Girl: "Do I look retahded?!?!? Do I look retahded?!?!?"
2nd Girl: "No, you look wicked good."
1st Girl: "Did you heah that dork?" That guy from Southie? He asked if I was a hookah?!?!?"
2nd Girl: "No, he did NOT!"
1st Girl: "Did to!"
2nd Girl: "No way!"
1st Girl: "Way!"
2nd Girl: "I think you look wicked good!"
1st Girl: "Yeah!! I'm dressed like Madawnner in the 80s! Do I look retahded?!?!?"
2nd Girl: "No, you don't look retahded! That dork's retahded! You don't look like no hookah."

Yeah, hard to believe, but I still love Boston.

Sweating With The Material Girl

Our friend C from LA has been visiting the past few days. Last night, the real reason for her visit became apparent.

I've always wanted to go to a Madonna concert. For one reason or another - bad timing, couldn't talk anyone else into going, fear of being mocked ;-) I never got to go. A few months ago, I heard about her going on tour and asked C (who is a self-proclaimed concert whore - she used that exact phrase, don't blame me!) and who has connections, to get some tickets. I'd even travel to LA if I had to. But it just wasn't possible. We couldn't seem to get tickets on dates that would fit both our schedules. And then a few weeks ago, I looked for tickets in Beantown and found seats going for a few grand in the front row. Yeah, right. NFW I was paying that even for Madonna.

So fast forward to last night. S and C decide they want to go to the south end for dinner (We went to Stella. Get the mussels. Yum!) but they wanted to go at 6pm. I figured, well, they're getting to be early-bird-special age but what the heck. Perhaps we could catch a movie afterward.

Halfway through the birthday celebratory bottle of champagne and the aforementioned mussels, they handed me a birthday card. Inside, two tickets to the Madonna concert that night. I was a bit confused since there were two tix and three of us. Were they taunting me and nominating me as designated limo driver while they bopped away to Ray of Light all night? Would I have to find a friend in the next 90 minutes to go with me? Was I going to have to pull some random off the street? Then it started to make sense..... S doesn't particularly care for Madonna's music, C was in town for really no particular reason....light dawns on marblehead .C and I were headed to the concert.

And it couldn't really be called a concert. More like a theatrical show. As the first song started (Future Lovers), this giant disco ball descended from the ceiling. And inside was this little, tiny blonde dressed in riding gear. It looked like Madonna. She sounded like Madonna. Who knew the Material Girl was so little! (I think my new mountain bike would fit her perfectly!

Our seats were fantastic. We were 17 rows back from the main stage and about 5 seats away from the runway that extended from the main stage out in into the middle of the arena. I was close enough so I could check out each pair of the eight shoes she wore. How she dances in some of those is a mystery to me - I'd have two broken ankles.

She played her heart out for two, hot, frantic hours and the entire garden danced and sweated like crazy. I found out later Madonna doesn't like to perform with AC on. Good thing I was wearing capris and a tank top. We were all burning up with her. And that's ok - I'll get sweaty with Madonna anytime!

And before I forget - every year I have a spectacular birthday and this year was no exception. Thank you, S, for the ticket. And C, thanks for suffering on that red-eye, buying your own ticket, and enduring my constant dancing all through the evening! You guys rock!

Meet Rocket!

Ok, let's get this out of the way right off the bat. Mom - I know you're reading and I know the very first words you're going to say are, "When is my daughter going to grow up?!?!" Well, Mom, I promise that when I turn 97, I'll grow up. At least a little bit. ;-)

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, meet my new mountain bike which I've dubbed Rocket. It's a Santa Cruz Juliana (size small) that had been languishing on the rack at Belmont Wheelworks for a couple of years. Poor thing was just waiting for the right "vertically challenged" woman to walk in and adopt it. I've been watching the price drop on it now for six months. Today, it was marked down another $200. I offered the manager yet another $200 off the asking price and got a deal. I've already swapped the pedals out with the Candy's on my cross bike. The handlebars are a bit wide for me so I need to get out the hacksaw and cut them down a few inches. Other than that, the only thing it needs is a custom paint job which I'll be doing myself. Just want to add a few Rocket graphics, a few shooting stars and whatever else I come up with.

The guys at work are very excited and are arranging a ride for me next week. That should be interesting. Hopefully, they keep it easy. And maybe I can even get one of them to help me adjust the shocks. Full suspension is totally new to me - I've got some learning to do both on and off the bike. Can't wait!!!

Fireworks!

Our friends M & M just recently bought a new sailboat. We were accustomed to sailing in their 36 foot sloop and last year we squished M & M, their twin boys (4 at the time), M's parents, another couple and their two daughters and the two of us (so, what's that - 12 of us) on board as we watched the Marblehead and Salem fireworks from the mooring in Marblehead harbor. It was actually a good thing last year as the weather that night was a bit chilly so we all huddled under blankets in the cockpit.

This year, on the huge, beautiful, gorgeous 48 foot catamaran there were only 7 of us. We had a BBQ, ate dinner on the outdoor table, and no one got sea sick. ;-) It was a beautiful warm summer evening and we had a great view from the trampoline on the front of the cat.

Best of all, M let me take out his new dinghy for a spin in the harbor. I actually managed to keep it upright. However, that doesn't mean I actually kept us dry. I missed the approach to the cat the first time as a small shower hit so we had to go around again. Got drenched. Good thing I planned on capsizing because it meant I had packed dry clothes. :-)

Happy 4th, everyone!