400s, Uphill

Good evening ladies,

I trust we've all had fabulous weekends of running, relaxing, and perhaps some entertaining and successful shopping (Marisa). What a bea-u-ti-ful weekend, eh? For those of you who met early doors at 7(freaking)15AM, applause to you. Not sure if the sun was even shining at that hour but hopefully you all had as tremendous a LR as Megan and I. The foothills were amazing - we LITERALLY could see downtown SF from the dish! Luckily, Ms. Megan went easy on me and kept it at a conversationally pace - even when I (at mile 11) thought it would be a great idea to run straight up and over the foothills from Alpine to Stanford Ave. It was worth the view, and the 10 second 1:1 face off with the brown cow (which we won . . . luckily). After that hill you don't even feel the others and you really appreciate the downhill finish :)

The SBV had a light load this weekend with just 3 of us, but we packed in to the GTI 1.8 Turbo and headed for the city. 8x400m hills (10 for the big leaguers - Megan and Ginger) short, sweet and a bit of a relief after the 3K's on Tuesday. Unfortunately, Tony K was MIA - too bad because we really could have used his spurts of speed on the repeats. Luckily, Kathryn was out in front keeping us honest and finishing strong.

2k repeats on Tuesday - until then . . .

/deezy

The big news.....

Greetings ladies,

So finally a topic very blog worthy, as you all know by now I'm engaged. The details are what many of you are missing so I will do my best to reinact the lovely evening again!

On monday after lunch I recieved an email from Adam saying he was given credit at this restaurant in Moss Beach called the Moss Beach Distillery, see link: http://www.mossbeachdistillery.com/
It was given from a coworker who couldn't not use this alleged credit and it had to be used by wednesday. Adam knew I had practice tuesday so he made reservations for us on monday (Jan.24th for the offical records) at 6:30. He sent me the link and said he hoped I could make it home early enough and would like to go. I quickly sent back a yes reply and went on my day. Moving on to the car ride there he was totally normal, we got to the restaurant a bit late due to traffic and walked in to be the only ones there. It was dim lighting and right on the ocean (basically perfect). We sat down promtly ordered an appetizer that our waiter recommended, ate that then ordered our entrees. At that moment adam said I'll be right back I left my wallet in the car. So I sat there and read a story they give you with the menu about a lady that supposely haunts the restuarant (see link above). When adam returned I started babbling about the lady and then at some point after that he started telling me how much he loves me, reached for his pocket (this is the moment where I started freaking out), he stood up and got on one knee- ahhhh! Then he asked and there was the ring, etc. The whole time I just cheap staring at the ring and him and was smiling. A couple at a few tables over sent us over champange, which was a very nice touch. After dinner we went out hiking (well as much hiking as a girl can do in heels) on the cliffs above the ocean, it was so romantic and perfect.

We are planning on having the wedding this July, date TBA (hopefully decided soon), in Lake Tahoe outside. I know the next few months will be crazy as the past 48 hours have been very crazy. Can't wait to see those of you that were missing tuesday in person. I may be interested in going to saturday practice or doing a workout around here but I have to play it by ear.

The Lovely Bones?

The Lovely Bones? The verdict is still out . . .I finished last night . . . stayed up late to push through to finish and see what would happen - Would Mr. Harvey get caught? Would the body be found? Would the detectives be good for anything besides bad news and home wreck? And, would Sebold ever stop with the overt metaphors, imagery, and juxtaposition that are fun at first but in the end leave this reader feeling slightly patronized and exclaiming aloud, "C'mon!?" But perhaps I'm too harsh and perhaps the blog allows everyone to be a critic ;)

Well, ladies, I'll let you arrive at your own conclusions. I'll save my "opinionated" book review until we meet but rest assured that overall it is an engaging read reaching for if not touching just about every emotion. Yes, it even gets a little hot & steamy (Oops, looks like overtness is contagious - "steamy" pun intended - when you get there you'll know what I mean).

I hear that some of you ladies haven't "made it to the bookstore" . . . Make it come to you - Order it on Amazon and it will magically arrive at your doorstep in 1-2 days. (Plus, you might save a couple bucks and you'll probably get free shipping ;) ).

Here's the direct link to the book on Amazon,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316666343/104-7414619-9001521

Ok time for us all to stop reading the blog and dive into the book.

Catch you on the flip side,

'deezy

PS: No update on practice or the LG meet today. What's the word, yo?

eight8's

Good evening ladies!

Yes, I should be in bed right now and I'm about 3 minutes away . . . post to blog, give cat Rx, wash my Kiehls rare-earth mask off my face . . . Ok, maybe I'm 5 minutes away. . .

Well, we had an excellent "showing" at the track tonight ;) . . .

8 8's (or 6 8's . . . or 10 8's if your a big leaguer). Awesome teamwork on the track - solid packs of impala's all around and super cheering from the different groups. Angela and Marisa running strong, Peggy moving up throughout the workout (Frederique (sp?) keeping her honest), and Nelda running real tough, not giving up even when she said "I'm falling apart" - Caroline and I couldn't let her get away with that so in unison we replied, "No, you're not!". (She finished the interval and held strong!). And I can't forget Sally keeping me and Caroline honest on #8.

Brrrrr!!! It was very cold out there tonight - poor coaches they were frozen through by the end of it. Megan, you would be proud, no tights for me tonight. Who'd a thunk it, a valley girl from So. Cal wearing shorts in the middle of a San Francisco winter night? I know I can hardly believe it myself.

Most of all tonight was heaps of fun! You know you got something special (or you're crazy) when 8x800m with 50 of your closest friends is your idea of a good time at the end of a 12 hour day.

Until next time . . . Peace out.

/deezy

The Cure, Strawberry Hills & All the Carbs You Can Afford to Donate

For those of you who couldn't make it on Saturday - and those of you sipping schnapps and cocoa on the snowy slopes, you missed a typically fabulous ride in the SBV. It was a fashionable family affair with a guest appearance from Lt. Fullove and stories about trips to the vet, fateful nights with The Cure and the darnd'est things sons will ask their mothers. The ride wasn't complete until we contributed to a local tsunami relief fund by refueling on the culinary delights of the Gowri's moms club . . . Tony K made a live appearance in the workout -- we went easy on him, even if he did try to be a big leaguer and make a (minor) break half way up the hill on the second repeat. No comment there really except maybe 2: (1) no, we didn't let him get away with it and (2) no, he was no where to be found on #4. But I will applaud his dual-duties of doing the workout, making it to the top of the mountain to call out everyone's time and then sprinting to get back to the bottom of the mountain with about 3 seconds rest before Tony C said, "Go!".

Everyone looked awesome out there Saturday! Ladies you keep having workouts like that and this year is going to be hot!

Ok, housekeeping, The Lovely Bones is the first book for the book club and the date is TBD. It's tentatively scheduled for Feb 11th. If you haven't started reading - Start Today! - I've read the first 100 pages and its great, I can hardly put it down! I want them to catch that $%#@#* scum bag! And I want my heaven to come with closets of Choo's & Louboutin's, self-cleaning litterboxes, and flights to India that only take 3 clicks of my new ruby Manolo mary janes. Oooh! Maybe that'll be one of our fun discussion questions - What's in your heaven? I'm honestly not that shallow so I'll have a better answer by Feb 11th.

Have a great week, ladies!

/deezy

400's rock!

So last night four of us (Katie, Angela, Gowri and I) made the journey into SF. Topics of discussion were numerous including the book club, the "hole" in shal achillies, men and their inability to "see a mess" was a huge topic and we also talked about the cal-10 race as I needed to be filled in on the details.

Workout was good and the 400's just flew by. Everyone was pleased with their preformance and even more pleased that we got home to the park and ride in timly fashion (at 8:30, a record I think).

Everyone is reminded to started reading "The Lovely Bones". Oh also there will be a south bay group going to saturday practice, meet at the starbucks by katie's and megan's place (corner of el camino and I can't remember the other street) 7:30 if you want coffee and 7:45 depature. Have fun I'll be up in tahoe so I'll miss out but I know katie, angela and gowri all plan to go!

USA Masters Track & Field Rankings -- I'm ranked?!

Ladies,
OK - you find something new everytime that you Google yourself. Did you know that according to the website below, I am only 11 places below Olympians such as Nicole Teter, Jennifer Toomey, Shayne Culpepper?

No joke - check it out yourself. It's curious that there are no other Impalas mentioned (that I can tell.) Just my buddies Nicole, Jen and Shayne! (and they spelled Nicole's name wrong but got mine right!)

GO FIGURE! Maybe it will inspire some of you to run in a PA Track meet this spring so that you, too, can be cool enough to have your name on the list.

Here's the link:
http://www.mastersrankings.com/2004/WDIST.HTM

If you search for my name you'll find:
W30 1,500 METER RUN <-Is this everyone who competed in W30-34 age group?
World Record:
American Record:
All-American Standard: 5:10 <- What does this mean? I'm "All-American"?

4:06.33 SHAYNE CULPEPPER (071)
4:07.44 JENNIFER TOOMEY (071)
4:07.64 AMY RUDOLPH (071)
4:09.03 SARAH SCHWALD (071)
4:11.50 NICOLE TEETER (071)
4:11.81 COLLETTE LISS (071)
4:12.21 COURTNEY BABCOCK (071)
4:17.8h SINEAD EVANS (071)
4:27.6h SARAH HANN (071)
4:29.15 CHRIS GENTILE (236)
4:29.93 GENEVIEVE GRAFF-ERMELING (071)
4:31.13 SARAH LEONARD (060)
4:49.15 MICHELLE ISHIO (118)
4:50.37 JENNIFER UWINS (118)
5:03.99 ERICA NEMMERS (306*)
5:06.22 GOWRI GREWAL (161)
5:28.96 GRAZINA NARVILIENE (342)
5:40.72 STEPHANIE BACHE (259)

Cal-10 Results & Pictures

Happy Monday Ladies!

Thank you Megan for the colorful re-cap. Love the details! The Tony's just sent out the fantastic results, and I thought this would also be a great place to keep a history of our year's running results.

Full results of Cal-10 are here:
http://www.sundancerunners.org/tiki-view_articles.php

Beautiful pictures of all you ladies are here:
http://zinsli.com/pictures/05_0109_cal10/index.htm

Great job everyone!

/deezy

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year all you south bay van ladies and impalas!

Well, it's official, looks like the 2005 Impala season has started. The Tony's have spoken with a dose of zen and practicality, the new board is . . . um, on board, and most importantly the ladies are back, unified and ready to dominate beginning tomorrow with the Cal 10!

For you south bay van absentees, I'll provide a brief re-cap. Introductions, budgets, elections and all that jazz. Janet DOMINATED just about every division she was eligible for - including the "hottie in a red dress" at the high school reunion category. (Don't worry, Janet, the SBV accepted all the applause for you). Marisa was elected Race Director, Angela was recognized for her yell and I continue to be the team's biggest Google advocate. We exchanged stories about holiday gifts and travel - Marisa's fabulous cruise and Megan's beautiful new ring (NO! Not *that* kind of ring). Angela added us to her new phone by taking our pictures - on the phone! - and we discussed the pro's and con's of certain boyfriend's moving to India. (In case you were wondering, the only pro we could really come up with is that it could be good timing with Brad and Jen now on an official "break").

Lastly, we discussed starting a book club. With that it's time for all of us to propose our first book and I'll organize timing and location. This is going to be fun!

Ok ladies, that's it for a re-cap. Good luck tomorrow for everyone racing!

Don't forget to post to the blog or click the "comment" button to post.

shal-deezy