The latest. The dealio. What's up.

Things have been pretty good lately, other than the glimpse I just caught of myself in my sunglasses and I looked super fat. Whatever.

The last couple weeks have been really good. I'm sort of laying off the pressure on myself a bit to be uber-fitness & running girl. That is for other people. I want to be faster at my races, but I also just want to be active & skinnier. And I've been doing alright. Last Thursday was the only day that I didn't exercise at all, basically because I got in the car at 6:30am & wasn't done with my day until 6:30pm. Too pooped to party!

Basically, I've been out walking, bike riding, hiking, etc. every day. And I've been really happy. Friday, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to work out, so I took a sweaty, geeky walk during our lunch break from the Leadership Summit. I slapped sunscreen on my tattoo, put my running shoes on with my skirt, and headed out into the neighborhood behind the church. I say again that I am very grateful to not live in the Sacramento valley. Too hot! Then I ended up going to Reno to visit a friend where we danced and walked around the casinos a lot. So, I got more exercise, which was great. I really love dancing and so rarely get to do it. Of course, it was a little difficult dancing in heels and tipsy, both of which were firsts. I just stopped drinking and started hydrating because my leg muscles were feeling weird.

Saturday, we went hiking up near the summit of Mt. Rose (8000', near Tahoe) and it was so wonderful. I actually clapped a few times because I was just so happy to be out in the woods and hiking! I have felt like summer has just been flying by and I've barely gotten to stop and enjoy it, so I was very grateful to be out in nature, working my tail off. We probably did about 4 miles, and it was more hilly than expected, but great. The elevation didn't kick my butt too much. We then went down to the beach and, after pizza, lay in the hot sand (mmmmm....almost fell asleep!) and walked in the water a bit before heading home.

This week, I've been walking, riding a bit, had a successful 45 minutes on the elliptical,& did some spot toning videos. I still haven't gotten in a lot of miles, which I would like to get in before my race on the 30th. I want to get in at least 8-10 miles twice, just to warn my butt & feet. As I've said before, I know that I can do 13.1 miles. It's my 4th half coming up; it's all a matter of preparing my body before hand so I won't be quite so sore after. I want this one to be strong with no walking like an old lady afterwords! It's been a little difficult to run this week, though, because it's been near 100 all week, and I am NOT a "get up early in the morning and go walk/run for 3 hours" kind of gal.

But I'll be fine. I really want to go down to Pt. Reyes and do the 8.2 miles out & back to the ocean. I loooooove that trail- it's so beautiful and just the right softness for flat-out running bursts. Of course, that doesn't really help me prepare for a half-marathon on paved surfaces. But it's fun!