It's been awhile..........

..........well mainly because my computer crashed and I had to get a new one and it has Vista. Yes lovely Vista and I have been haveing Hell saveing pictures and well what is a blog without pictures!
However, I got inspired after lookeing at my niece's Blog and all the great pictures of my nieces son. So he would be my second nephew...huh how does that work. Will have to look into that.

Lots have happened since March! LOTS! Too much to go into details.

Done a bunch of run's since then. Noteable one Beach to Bay. My business is going well. Got in touch on Facebook with an old Boyfriend That I hadn't seen in like 20 years...craziness! Then my ex husband from 1981 to 1984 contacted me to get annulment through the Catholic Church. That was thanks to google! Technology is scary!
I am single again after an 8 year relationship. I am starting to believe in the 7 year itch.

So still running mostly inside on the boring a$$ tredmill. Because the heat endex at 5 am is about 100 with 100% umidity! and I am a wuss for the heat! Did the whole butt kicking 90 day P90X workout and still doing it.

It has been super windy here in South Texas we are in a 20 inch drought. Drought = Wind. I bought a new Quatro 63L wave and thought I would have to wait until fall to use it but with several 3.7 and 3.4 days under my belt have used it 5 times. KEWL


That is my recap!

Prickly Pear 50K my first 31 miler!

I was getting worried when I heard the forecast for Sat. in San Antonio. Temps in the mid 80's and wind 25 mph! All good for windsurfing but not for running! Ecspecialy not for running 31 miles!

My running buddy Donna and I took off on friday and drove up to San Antonio. We stayed with my friend Darrell who would be running the race with us on Saturday. He picked up our packets for us. Very nice White Technical shirt for the 50k and Donna got a Gray one for doing the 10 miler. Nice that they were womens shirts too. We met up with some other friends and had a great Pasta Dinner. Heading back to the casa early drank 1 Black Butte Porter and to bed.

Of course I did not sleep!

Sat morning up early. We were well organized and ready to roll. Donna commented that it was already warm out for a 31 miler......Thanks Donna!!!!! We got over to Mc Callister Park without a hitch following Darrell. Lots of people milling about. Plenty of restrooms water food etc. Tracked Down Charlie and he was already smiling and ready to Run! The 50k would start at 7am and the 10 miler at 8:30.


Listened to the lowdown from the race director on the course how it was marked etc and in no time we were lined up and off. The course was very well marked. Mostly small hills but there were a few big ones. Charlie had advised me to walk the big hills from the start and I took his advice. Actualy everyone that was around me was walking the big hills. So we were doing 3 10 mile loops and an extra section added to the frist 2 to make up the 1.6 miles. There were many rocky sections and places where the trail was a trench from (long ago) rains. Mostly shady but a few wide open spots. One part of the trail had us running on a levee straight into the wind for about 1/2 mile. This spot became brutal on the last loop as the wind had realy started blowing. We were blessed that it was cloudy. This helped but temps were 84 by the time I finished and even in the shade in the woods it was HOT! I saw lots of deer on the trail and at times it was like I was out there running alone. Scary wondering if I had taken a wrong turn until I would see a trail marker.

The aid stations were well stocked. Bananas, Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches, Pretzels, Oranges, Animal cookies, and HEED (GROSS). The second loop they all had Potatoes too. Everything was going great the first loop. I gu'd I ate pretzels and tried to stay hydrated. 2nd loop I started eating potatoes and mixing more water with the HEED. The 3rd loop it just got to the point I could not drink anymore of the HEED. By mile 27 I was extremely nauseated. The heat was realy getting to me. Sometime around there I came to an Aid station and drank some Sprite and poured water over my head. This helped and I was able to keep on going. The last 3 miles were Brutal my legs were fine but I would run and feel sick then walk and feel better run and feel sick then walk and feel better. The last half mile I just wanted for it to be over so I just picked it up. As I came into the clearing and saw the finish line I could hear my friends cheering and Donna came running out and ran me in. When I crossed the finish line I had to hold my nose from the smell of the BBQ to keep from barfing on the little girl takeing off my timing chip. Then this guy handed me my medal a nice etched glass medal. That finalised it for me. I did it. It was over. The next thing I remember seeing is Charlie Smileing from ear to ear. I think the first thing he said to me was You did it and now you have to do SUNMART?????????? What are you kidding me!!!!! I almost started crying. I don't know if I was happy for it to be over or proud of myself for doing the 31 miles!

We hung out cheered for the runners still comeing in. Talked about what we learned. I Found out that Donna placed 2nd in her age Group for the 10 miler. Way to go Donna! My friend Shannon placed first in our age group 4:46:09 despite falling down 5 times that girl is a machine. I ended up with 6:20:27. Charlie in 6:15:42 and Darrell in 5:41:13

This is a remarkably well done race. Lots of Volunteers along the course and everyone was so nice. Tons of BBQ at the end. Beer from Alamo Brewing Co. Beautiful park nice trails that I wish were here in Corpus but it is in March and can be HOT! hmmmm maybe I should do Sunmart!!!

Drought = wind in South Texas

So I said I wasn't going to sail the front on sat....but I did. Went to Port A early Sat morning. It was cold wind was cranking. Typical of Port A. There was hardly any wind in the waves and it was honkin' on the outside. I rigged 3.7 and took out my 70L for some flotation getting out. Waves were small but some real big sets would roll in. Problem was if you got a good ride you would end up in the NO wind zone and get worked going out.
Sunday it was still windy but I had to get a 13 mile run in so I had Joe take me downtown and drop me off and I ran home with the wind at my back....cheeting....
Now the Gulf Water temp's have dropped after the front and the wind is back SE so it is not sticking. Bay is back windy starting tuesday.
I went to the beach and looked......no wind. Didn't feel like sailing the bay.
Wed...no wind at the beach so I went to the bay. It was 4.2 and choppy hardly any swell and wind direction was not good for jumping....better than nothing and I got hot in my 3/2 converitble. Windy yesterday and today. Sat it is suppose to be in the 40 mph range! No sailing for me yesterday and today. I am heading for San Antonio to do the Prickly Pear 50k tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know why do I do it. My goal is just to finish.....run.................walk...................crawl...........finish!
I am going to treat myself to some real good beer afterwards at the Flying Saucer! www.beerknurd.com

Still Windy

Got in another day yesterday. Waves were bigger but wind was steadly dropping the whole Time I was out. I will take it. 4.7 again. I got a couple of good drops but waves were pretty gentle all in all.
Still Windy today. Will go again. Tonight a front hits and it will blow hard from the north in the morning and be cold. I think I will pass on the north wind sailing. I sdon't sail well going out port and rideing waves comeing in Starboard. I am weird like that.
Instead I am going to do a Down Wind Run on the beach from the South Pack Jetties out to Bird Island and make( ask very nicely) for this friend to pick me up. I can pretty much judge when I will be done and he can sleep a little later.
Gotta love the temps here in South Texas at the end of Feb. 80's here on the coast and 93 inland!!!!!!!

First Good South East Gulf Day

Finaly the South Wind is sticking in the Gulf. Everything was perfect for my first day of the year on a South East At North Packery. Waves were knee to waist and some bigger on the outside. Warm 4.7 windy. 5 Windsurfers and about 20 kites. There are lots of windsurfers here in Corpus but most people sail the bay or out at Bird Island. Looks like more wind for the next 4 days... this is realy going to upset my running.... as long as I get a good run in sat, I will be fine!!!!!!!!

Cold Front, Light winds and a 20 miler

Friday was one of those picture perfect days... just beautiful sunny and perfect temps. Went to a big wedding party for some friends that had gotten married on the 14th. Tons of food tons of beer and wine.... So decided to wait on my 20 miler until sunday so I could party.
Saturday was another incredible day. Went shopping for Tomatoes, Basil, and a fig tree for spring planting and waiting to see if the cold front would come in time to windsurf before dark.
It hit about 4pm with Gusto...winds 28 to 34 so everyone was networking and heading to
Port A. The waves were so so but disapointing wind. The cold front had come in with a punch but was quickly dieing.... Lots of people went out to Schlogg for a wave. I decided to set it out since I was running 20 on sunday. Now don't get me wrong. If it had been good 20 miles or not I would have been out there. I went on the Pier to take pictures. I will post some later. They are not that good because people were mostyly Schlogging. 2 friends got sucked under the pier. One because he just rode a wave in to far to No wind and got caught in the current. The other just rigged to small from the get go. Never got out of the break and the current pulled him all the way down the beach and under the pier. The pier can be nasty. Covered with barnacles and waves breaking under it. Can tear up your gear just like the rocks at Hookipa!

I did get up and run my 20 miler on sunday... Dang it was cold. The front realy dropped the temps. It was 41 when I started and wind was about 15 from the north. I waited for the sun to come out. So I could wear shorts and layers on top to peel. I am experienced enought to know not to wear tights on a long run. As it can warm up fast then be a BRUTAL run! The will be my longest run now since the marathon in prep for the 50k. Still haveing some hip problems but.......
I can do it...I can do it....I can do it.... It may not be pretty.......... but I can do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday was another beautiful day. Met some friends with their dog on the bayfront and walked around lookeing at the boats. Then we went to the Executive Surf Club for apps and pints. The dogs were hanging with us on the patio. Nice end to a wonderful weekend.

Getting Older Healing Slower

Wind has been good around here lately with warm temps.
After my couple of epic days in the bay I ended up with a jacked up back/hip. This prevented me from doing all the things I love...windsurfing, running and playing.
Thankfuly a chiro friend from new mexico was here. I used his stem machine on it for a few days and he gave me an adjusment. Still was stiff and uncomfortbale to sit. Plus the blisters on my toes were still bothering me. Throughout I continued to run. Seems my blisters hurt worse than my back when running. Did a 14.50 miler on sat and it was VERY Humid. I started on a slow place from AJ and stopped at 7 to fix the bandades on my blisters. The group kept going before turning aorund to get 15. So I decided to head on back as my blisters were screaming. So happens one of the fast guys was haveing a real bad day so I ended up running faster the last half to keep up with him running slow........PATHETIC!!!!!!!!! Made me forget about the blisters.
So last night I started doing some different back side and upper body stretches. Not just my legs like I had been doing and Viola.....I feel great. Did 5 on the red yesterday rest today and back on track for Prickly Pear 50k March 7th.....Yes that's the ticket I am telling myslelf I am going to do it. Signed up and ready to Rock and Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oleander 2-7-09

Here are some pictures of Oleander also know as Ole, and Cole Park. This is one of many sailing spots along the bay. The bay shoreline is round. Our wind direction is mostly SE so this is the most sailed spot.

Here are some of my friends hanging out by my van after sailing. Probably because I had the cooler of Beer! :-) Notice they are in shorts in Feb. 80 out water still a bit cold this day was upper 60's water temps...Gotta love South Texas winters.







Nice grassy rigging area. There is a sidewalk that runs through the park so lots of runners, bikers and walkers are going by.

This used to be the sight for lots of windsurfing races. US. Open, The Nationals were here a few times and The Whataburger Windsurfing Series. The US Open was sold and is now called the Velocity Games and has moved to a beach closer downtown. Not as good a venue.








The other direction you can see the city skyline. There is a table and water fountain behind the palm trees. The orange fencing is because the city is doing some work makeing the cliff more sloped and grassing it. Before we had little trails that are steep and slippery. Hard to get your gear down to the water.








Lots of people out. It was actualy realy windy. I was on 3.7 and 62L board. Some good swell rolling by and ramps for jumping. This day the wind was real South so there was a wind shadow. Most people were walking there gear out. It is real shallow like knee to waist deep for a long way out. Sandy bottom.

The bad thing about this beach a very long time ago they hauled in all this rock and it kills your feet. I do not wear booties.





The lone Palm Tree.

You can tell we have not had rain. The grass is Brown.

Lots of Wind

The Gulf waters are still too cold for the South wind to stick so I headed to the Oleander on the bay. It was very windy. It is funny how some people who aren't used to sailing there will think there is not much wind up on the point but just looking upwind when you see the water is white. You know. You know it is WINDY! I rigged 3.4 on my 62L and it was AWESOME. Mostly overpowered in the gusts. It was a great jumping direction and there were plenty of ramps. Toward the end it was getting real gusty and I was getting into some holes. So called it a day to save myself for today. Already it is 25 to 35 in the bay but just got back from the beach and like yesterday...notta... Not even enought up high for the kiters. So I think the call may be North beach. The launch is sooooooooo much better over there. Even though the city has been working on the launch at Oleander the rocks on the edge of the water are brutal and I just can't wear booties. Lookeing good for the next 2 days. Windsurfing always (mostly always) trumps running unless it is an actual race that I have been training for. I am suppose to do a Pancake fun run with the club sun morning 10 miles with 4 added early with a friend who is in training for the Rome Marathon..Her first and I am excited for her... So we shall see. I may just have to be a wuss and do 10. I always like to do at least 13 the weekend after a marahon but may be sailing all day!!!!!!!WWWWoooooooooooooTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!

New Orleans

This is New Orleans..... these guys were putting on a show on the side of the street at the little ampa theater on Decatur and they were awesome. It was a cross between comedy and Serc de Sole. I laughed so hard. They did some incredible gymnastics and break dancing combined with drawing in the crowd and makeing fun of people walking by. You can see the size of the crowd.

The Superdome! This was the start and finish for the Marathon. I walked over the day before so I would know how long it was going to take race morning. There wasn't anyone around I could not get past thinking about all the people that were staying in there after Katrina and how horrible it maust have been.

This is my and Ultra Don haveing lunch. Ultra Don is incredible. 70 years old and jran the marathon faster than me. He has done 100's of Marathons and countless Ultra's every year he does the run accross London. He donates his house to the running club for runs and get togethers. Hes a great source of running knowledge.

The Mighty Mississippi!

It is hard to tell from this picture (I took it through a window) That tall building still has all the windows blown out from Katrina. Just standing there like a skeleton. The building around it have been restored. I saw this alot.

The old JAX Brewery on Decatur. I poked my head in but did not really look around good. Someone told me later the story is JAX quit brewing becuase the beer tasted so bad because they were useing water from the Mississippi River! Remeber those old JAX commercials.

Cool Building I forgot what it was???? Also here are the horse drawn carriages you can ride in through the French Quarters. This is near the French Market.

My Flight Home out of Houston Check out the Guy in the Orange Vest! OK!

There is a zoom shot bellow.

I hope he is not supposed to be checking out the plane while he is eating those Hot Dogs!!!!

Thats it. You can see that most of my pics were down around Decatur. I liked the atmosphere a whole lot better down there. I did not care for Bourbon Street. Maybe I am just too old for that.

Maybe it was because I went down there friday evening after my arrival at the Disaster Hotel.

I booked through Hotels.com The Canal Street hotel. I did not read any reviews except the ones on the hotel website. Great reviews! Beautiful pictures of this great historic hotel with a awesome entry and awesome pool. I invisioned resting up by the pool on sat reading a book.

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank God I arrived early in the morning and not at night. Remember I was traveling alone. This place was HORRIBLE! First of all it was NOT SAFE. It was Filthy. It was NOT the hotel in the pictures. Holes in the walls Tile and chunks of carpet missing in the room. The gangsters in the lobby all came to the counter to see who I was and what room I was staying in. I threw my luggage in the room and took off! I found another hotel and was afraid to go back alone to get my luggage. Not knowing that it would even still be there. I did get in a nice safe hotel but I think that changed everything and set the tone for my stay.

Been there done that not sure I will ever go back.

Mardi Gras Marathon Feb 1, 2009

This post is only about the Marathon. I will post later about my New Orleans adventure.

I arrived in New Orleans on Friday morning. Packet Pick up started at 2:00 so I went ahead and got that out of the way. It was a nice Expo pretty much same as all the rest. We got a long sleeve tech shirt but the problem is they are huge. My small would fit a large man! They would not let me use my own chip. I was happy to hear they would not be useing bottled water on the course but would be setting up a water filteration system to hoses at all the water stops. So they would not be running out of water either.

Sat I met up with some friends for Pasta on Decatur. They had all done the race and one of them has won it several times. So was good to hear their take on it and their preperation.

Race morning I walked about 7 blocks from my hotel right over to the start at the Superdome. It was warmer than I had expected somewhere near 50. I had planned on ditching some clothes along the way but went ahead and ditched them before the start. There was plenty of port o potties and water/gatorade.

The course was basicaly two 13.1 mile loops loseing the half marathoners back at the start. I do not mind looping back but they had us run the first 13 through the french quarters starting straight down Bourbon. I did not like this as the streets are narrow and there were lots of Delivery trucks restocking the bars and resteraunts. Of course lots of people do not line up with their finish time so it was slow going trying to manuever around everyone while watching out for potholes, uneven roads, and trolly tracks. Crowd support along the French Quarters was not much there were a few people still drinking and I heard one lady yell out asking why we were running. Someone yelled back something about Forest Gump! We continued up and around Auduborn park around a paved walkway. At the half we kept running and they had the halfers exit to the left. Just as we were heading on. They started the 5K race right in front of us.... Great now more people to run around. The roads were in pretty bad shape and somewhere I think around mile 17 they had us running on a road that was being resurfaced and all the asphalt had been scraped off leaving a pretty bumpy mess. I am not sure how long we ran on this 4 miles? It seemed like forever and that is where my blisters started. I had slowed down at a water stop to fill my bottle and could not catch back up to the pace group trying to run faster on the messed up road. We ran around another park and back. I realy don't remember much else after mile 20. My Feet were screaming and I was nauseated so I was haveing trouble Guing or drinking Gatorade. I do remember a few spots with lots of people yelling and dressed in their Mardi Gras attire.

At the Finish they had Red Beans and Rice, Subway Sandwiches and Beer. All Good. I went to see if the clothes that I ditched were still there. The Jacket and Pants were gone but my vest was there. My stomach was still not good so Red Beans and Rice did not sound so good. I talked to My friend Ultra Don for awhile to see how everyone else did. Grabbed me a subway to go and headed to the hotel. After about a block I had to take my shoes off and walk in my socks. The blisters were huge and the one on the side of my foot was bloody. The last 6 blocks were endless. I soaked in an ice bath bandaged up all my blisters and headed to the Cresent City Brewery on Decatur for some Brew and the freshest Oysters I have ever had. Like Melt in your mouth good.

It is for sure a Very Flat Marathon but the running surface is bad and the course could use some tweaking. Everyone was Super Nice and they had a well stocked Course with Gu, Cookies, and Pretzels at every stop after the Half. Nice Medal and nice oversized Tech shirt. I would have liked to run it in 4:00 hours but ended up 4:12:38 not too bad. It is acutaly a PR for me by about 2 min. I have never had a problem with blisters but I do need to figure out the nausea problem and learn what I can eat on the course. The Nausea had happened on Every half and full Marathon I have ever run and if it is hot even the smaller races. Another one down....how many more to go????? I guess I will keep running until I can't run anymore.

Random Photos

My little Scout hanging out with Santa!!!!

Oh he loved that....not..

Me on a sailboat in the bay.
Couple of Jibe photos of me at the Hatch.
Several years ago...trying out pic size.

Nancy, Debra, and Me after the Hogs Hunt 25k in Huntsville State Park. The socks tell the story. It was pooring rain and super muddy. We had a blast.

Scout at his favorite place in the whole world.

Here we are The Hot Flashes. Womens Masters Team for Beach To Bay relay Marathon.

Here we are with our 6th place medals!

Nancy, Henri, and Me!

My B-day pic with Alissa. Sailed 4.7 on my 47th.

Lastly my little boy hard at work!!!!

Can I have my chair please!

Growing Up!

NO...Say it isn't so. Yesterday it was warm and windy and I chose NOT to windsurf because of my Marathon on Sunday...Risking injury after spending all the money and time on it...Ok well that was part of it. The other was it was NOT windy at the beach. Not that I am that great at sailing at the beach and I am not turning into a snob but it is my favorite sailing spot and it was Very gusty. Which is pretty unusual for Corpus it is usualy pretty steady! Ecspecialy compared to the Gorge! I just like sailing in the Waves. The Gulf is smoother and not choppy like the bay.
So yesterday since it was windy I went to the Gym and ran on the boring, horrible, tredmill I thought 4 miles was going to take an eternity! Funny How your mind works. I can go out and run 20 miles because I have the mind set at the beginning of the run that I am going to run 20 miles. Then you go run a short run and you are counting the miles by quarters!!!!!!!! So I went to $2 pint night at the Surf Club.......yum Kona Pipeline Porter on tap and for only 2 bucks.
Narlens is only days away!

Tapering is not for me.

The Mardi Gras Marathon is this sunday so I have have started somewhat of a taper. I used to do the full on 3 week taper and that just does not work for my so my last marathon I didn't and haven't for this one. To have put in all that mileage then just hardly run at all. I will do easy runs this week and rest up. I am lookeing forward to the trip to New orleans and see some of the city while running by. I have traveled alone alot when I was younger so this will be an interesting adventure to go run the marathon alone.
It is windy here today....Windy enough to sail. Not sure yet. It is warm about 78 degrees out and it probably will not stick in the Gulf. Waves are small. I did get to sail on friday. It was my 47th birthday and I sailed on a 4.7. Actualy overpowered most of the time but it was super warm. I sailed in the bay water was not bad. I got hot very hot in my 5/3 hot enough that I dropped several times and let water in. I have a birthday pic that I will post.

Wow how time flys....

Since my last post....Christmas was awesome. Spent with my family. Had a blast playing battle of the bands. My little sister, me and her two girls ROCKED!
Bought a Company... Yep now a business owner. More on that in a later post when I have more time.
Still training for the Madi Gras Marathon Feb 1st. Training is going well. I have gotten in tons of long runs. My longest a 20 miler and a 22 miler last weekend. Now I start the taper. Oh how I hate to Taper. I don't taper near as much now as I did my first Marathons. I do better with out the head games of NOT running. So Marathon in 3 weeks...yippppieeeeee..
Then Prickly Pear 50K March 7th. My first 50K. Hopefuly barring any injury I can keep my mileage up and complete it. All I want to do is just finish it.
I have been soaking in an Ice bath after all my long runs and it does miricales. No soreness. It sounds brutal but really it's not. I draw a cold bath hop in then poor in the ice. Soak while drinking coffee with Vanilla Whey protein powder in it. 10 to 15 min.
More later