Lordy Lordy!

What was I thinking???  So I just finished the equivalent of a half-marathon (13.1 miles) and it took me 3 hours and 27 minutes!  Holy cow, at that pace I won't be anywhere near my goal of under 6 hours...it's now calculated at just under 7 hours!!!  Sorry Lauren, you're gonna be finishing waaay before me, so bring your iPod for company!  I'm hoping that the excitement along the marathon route will help me plug along a little faster due to the distraction factor.  Running today was sooooooooo boring and the old feet started yelling at me at about mile 8.  By the time I hit 10 they were screaming bloody murder! Hahahaha!  Heaven only knows what they're gonna be telling me at mile 26.2.  They will probably tell me I'm on my own and I may be crawling over that finish line. LOL

On a positive note, I haven't had any equipment issues...yay!  No blisters or rashes from stuff that rubs the wrong way.  I think I might get some "running" shoes today though,  I only have "walking" shoes.  Maybe my feet  know that and that's what they're hollering about...yeah right!  What's their excuse any other time?!  They're just "moody"  Hahahaha

I've heard about this so-called "runner's high" after pushing yourself for 30-40 minutes...well this body had PLENTY 'O TIME to kick it in.  All I felt was runner's pain!  However, if runner's high can also be described as the 3-5 seconds you see stars before hitting the deck, well I could actually see that happening. Snicker Snicker!  Wanna real laugh?  I was perusing the results of last year's marathon....and there was an 87 year old woman that would've beat me by a minute!  Jeeze!!  I guess I should've started training way before now....like maybe 10 years ago. LOL

Oh well, it's all good really.  I'm just complaining to complain.   I'm thankful that I'm healthy enough to even give it a shot...it was always on my "bucket list" for some reason.  Next...skydiving!

So here's an image of my Half-Marathon route: Ran from house to Fullerton Road twice and then the little loop to Colima and back to the house!

Call Me Crazy !

For those of you who don't already know, I'm training to participate (notice I didn't say running...don't want to offend "real" runners...LOL) in the Los Angeles Marathon being run on March 20th. The route is awesome; winding its way from Dodger Stadium to the Santa Monica Pier. My daughter-in-law Lauren and I are doing it together. She will absolutely run circles around me, which is waaay ok, and knowing that actually drives me to train harder. Thanks Lauren, I'm so proud of you! But jeeze Louise, it's seriously hard work, and makes me wonder, "What the heck was I thinking ?" when I suggested it in the first place!  I'm just praying my feet and ankles hold up 'til it's over. I plan on getting in shape for this thing and staying in shape. Yay me!

Holy cow, as I'm writing this I'm watching "The Bachelor" (don't laugh...well yeah, go ahead and laugh) and it's only the second week and there is soooooo much DRAMA already, crying girls, bitchy girls, OMG it's hilarious. The way some of them are acting makes them look really ugly! Hahahahaha!

OK back to my marathon. I can't believe I really used to be able to "run!" I ran "Baker to Vegas" (B2V) for heaven's sake, what the "bleep" happened?! Oh yeah, several surgeries and a couple of decades (and pounds...ouch). I crack myself up!  But you know, I think a huge part of doing something like a marathon is mental. There's something that I always say to people that ask me if my feet are ok.  Even though they hurt most of the time, I tell them, "I'm just glad I HAVE feet!"  There are sooo many people that are far worse off than I'll ever be. No pain, no gain.

Well, I wrote in yesterday's blog that this is intended to be an autobiographical blog, and I just remembered my B2V story that makes me say to you "don't ever trust a policeman when they say 'trust me!'"

So....I was but a lowly boot, aka, officer still on probation, assigned to Shootin' Newton, when the B2V team captain approached me and asked me if I would be an "alternate" runner on the team.  I was very hesitant because #1, I was a boot, and #2, my best mile was just under 8 minutes (not great for a relay race), and #3, I would be the only female on the team. He said "trust me, you won't have to run, but the rules say we have to have an alternate and there isn't anyone else available." I told him no, but because of excuse #1, I wasn't really allowed to say no. Chuckle chuckle. That being said, the guy PROMISED me that Newton had never ever had to use an alternate runner and they'd never had a female actually run in the race, and certainly didn't want that to change (what a bunch of chauvinist pigs...yes, pun intended...tee hee).

Fast-forward about a month to Baker, California, March of 1987. At about 6 in the morning I hop into the chase van with a few other guys and we just drop off and pick up runners as they start and finish their particular leg. There are 20 legs, each one a little different (hills, distance, etc.) Mind you, I wasn't even going to spend the night in Vegas after the race. The plan was to ride in the van from B2V, and then head home. I was dressed in running shorts and a t-shirt. I had nothing to eat or drink because we couldn't make "pit stops." I was dozing at about 2 in the morning when one of the guys shakes me and says, "You gotta run!" Oh funny haha. He said "No, I'm not kidding, it's snowing over the pass and the runner for this leg (#13...how telling) can't get over the pass from Vegas, where he's been waiting." Really ??!! I didn't even have a jacket! The snowstorm had come out of nowhere and caught everyone off guard. So, I borrowed an unlined windbreaker from the driver, who wore about a size 100, and stepped out into a cold-hell!

OMG, I've never been so cold in my life. I'm sure I looked ridiculous with my bare legs sticking out from under this tent-sized jacket. LOL!! I can't remember how many times I caught myself from falling because the ground was so icy. It was unbelievable that I was actually running in a snowstorm! I did finish, but don't even know if I ever knew what my time was. I was just numb and glad to be finished.

That 1987 B2V Race is indisputably the most infamous of all the B2V races ever. Nooooo, not because I ran in it, but because the 1987 B2V Relay was halted at Leg 14 due to "blizzard" conditions on Nevada Highway 160 over Mountain Springs Pass. Seriously??!!  They couldn't have halted it one leg earlier!??  My luck :0

So there you have it, my first relay race was "infamous"...and Newton had its first female B2V runner.....hahahahaha on them !!!

So with that, I encourage you all to challenge yourselves with staying young at heart and to treat your body like it's the only one you'll ever have (boy that was brilliant wasn't it ! LOL). Be good to yourself.  Believe me, it's so much easier to STAY in shape than to GET in shape!

Welcome to my humble mumbles!

Over the years, I won't say exactly how many (but suffice it to say that I was in high school when President Kennedy was shot) I've thought that it would be a good idea to keep a journal of my thoughts, contemporary things of interest, and what was going on in my life.  But because of the usual excuses of "life just got in the way," I never got more than a couple of days written down before the idea fell by the wayside.  And now, because I've such a minuscule memory cache (in my head not my computer LOL), I regret that I didn't take the time to record my life as it was happening.  The only thing I remember is that I forgot so much !!

We now live in such a fast-paced, data-filled, age, that my hope is for my family and friends, and anyone else who happens to be reading this, to take the time to write down a little bit of their day every day.  It's so easy with computers and voice recorders, minicams, cell phones, etc,(and BLOGS!)  that it seems a sin not to start an autobiography of sorts.  In my defense, in the "olden days" when I was growing up, we actually had to handwrite with a pen or pencil in our trusty "diary," to record our deepest thoughts, and then we had to find a good hiding place for it, so snoopy siblings or parents wouldn't invade our privacy! LOL  

I wish I could tell stories to my kids and grandkids about my life, but they're just not on the tip of my tongue.  If I'd have kept a journal, I could peruse through it to remind myself of funny or curious things that I'd experienced. If nothing else, I want to leave this earth with some sort of legacy, although I certainly don't plan on going anytime in the near future, not even close.  But I just don't want to put off my musings any longer.

So thus begins "McMom's Mumblings."  I call them my mumblings because that seems to be how my memory recalls them...kind of like trying to listen to someone that's mumbling...you keep saying "Say again?  What?  Pardon me"?  It's very frustrating,  So I'm just planning on writing what's on my mind for the day, and if I recall something from my past, I'm just gonna write it down LOL!  For the most part, I'll try to keep this all "PG-rated."  Hopefully I will sometimes amuse you, and sometimes make you think, but always  make you want to keep reading!


I'm planning (so typical of me...hahahaha) to also post the major California and/or National headline of the day, with perhaps a link or two.  Whatever I feel like, after all, it's MY blog!

Comments are always welcome, but please be gentle with this old gal !  And just for grins, why not be one of my "Followers?!"