I am posting this a day early because we are flying back east tonight for the Rehoboth Half Marathon this weekend and I probably won’t get around to posting it tomorrow.
Monday afternoon, I got out before sunset for 3.2 miles at a 9:04/mile pace.
Tuesday morning, I ran before work, 3.1 miles also at a 9:04/mile pace. The full moon from the night before was setting over the ocean and it was so pretty.
I also finally got a picture of our “office dog,” Dio. He’s our office manager’s dog and she said he loves coming to work with her so much, he gets huffy when he doesn’t get to go haha. I love having him around!
Wednesday morning, I ran again before work, 4 miles at an 8:48/mile average. We wound up not going to run club that evening because I needed to get my packing done last night, while the painter wasn’t here, because he had all our bedroom furniture moved to the center of the room and covered in plastic so he could do the walls in there today.
And finally, today, I ran 5 miles at an 8:55/mile average.
And that finished off November, so here is a monthly summary.
Mileage:
Week 1 (Nov. 1-4): 6 miles
Week 2 (Nov. 5-11): 35.1
Week 3 (Nov. 12-18): 23.4
Week 4 (Nov. 19-25): 30.6
Week 5 (Nov. 26-30): 27.3
Total: 122.4 miles
I missed several days this month due to being at SEMA the first week and then getting my wisdom teeth removed Nov. 17, but I still got in a decent number of miles in preparation for Rehoboth, including a few long-ish runs. I also ran one race, the O’side Turkey Trot 5-miler, and was pretty happy with how I did there.
In December, Rehoboth in two days is most likely my last race of the year. I feel good and the weather looks nice so I’m hoping to make it a good one — maybe sub-1:50 for the distance for the first time in a few years? Depends on how many times I have to use the bathroom probably ha.
And last but not least, a bathroom progress update!
This week, they installed all the stone and painted, and it’s really starting to look like the light is at the end of the tunnel.
Master bath. The door was propped up in the shower for painting; it’s not staying there.
Our bedroom is now light grayish blue instead of brown! It looks so much better.
Guest bath.
The glass guy came here today to measure for the shower doors. I think he’s waiting on electrical to install the light sconces above the vanities before he measures for the mirrors. But it’s all coming along.
I started with Kathy, but she wanted to turn around at two miles. I was almost to where I’ve been turning around the last few weeks, a little past three miles, when I ran into Shawn headed back. So he ran the rest of the way back with me. I wound up running 6.2 miles at an 8:47/mile average.
Clark and I didn’t accomplish a whole lot the rest of Saturday.
Sunday, I did a long run, 12 miles to be exact. My longest run since the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon at the beginning of June! I’ve only done a few 10-milers since then — basically whenever I’ve been in Maryland for the weekend and could meet Susan for a run at the Salisbury zoo. But this was the last weekend before the Rehoboth Half Marathon so I had to get some training in finally ha.
It was a gorgeous sunny day. It took a couple miles to get into it but then I felt pretty good and the run just kinda glided by.
South Ponto Beach.
From the RV campground at Carlsbad State Beach.
I ran all 12 between 8:46 and 9:08, and averaged 8:56/mile.
The rest of Sunday wasn’t super busy either, but Clark and I did pick a lot of citrus off the trees in the front yard. We also watched the Ravens beat the Chargers in Sunday Night Football.
This morning, I had a follow up appointment with the dentist first thing. She said the sockets where the two top teeth were pulled are pretty much completely healed up, but the one bottom socket needs more time. It looks fine though.
Also today, they installed the countertops in both bathrooms! They’re still working in them right now so I can’t get a picture yet, but the stone looks really good. The sinks are in too, though they’re not hooked up to any plumbing and don’t have any hardware attached, like faucets and levers. But it’s significant progress! Hopefully they can get the glass for the shower doors templated soon now.
This week will be pretty light in terms of running, just some short easy runs, until the half on Saturday morning.
For the third year in a row, Clark and I started our Thanksgiving Day with the combo at the O’side Turkey Trot, the 5-miler followed by the 5K. I was a few seconds faster in the 5-miler than last year, and a lot faster in the 5K, because we didn’t walk the whole way with our in-laws, since they didn’t come out this year because neither of our bathrooms are functional yet.
Going back to Tuesday. I ran a short interval workout along the coast, just four quarter-miles with a quarter-mile of easy jogging between each. My splits were 1:44 (6:54/mile pace), 1:50 (7:22), 1:42 (6:50) and 1:48 (7:16.) With the warm up and cool down, I got in a total of 4.1 miles at an 8:40/mile overall average.
The first Christmas decorations have started popping up on the trees along the cliffs.
Wednesday morning, I ran an easy 3.1 miles at a 9:04/mile average. That evening, we went to Oceanside and picked up our race bibs and T-shirts. We had a couple beers at the newly opened Sublime Tap House and dinner at Blade 1936, where I had gnocchi with tomato sauce and some wine.
Thursday morning, I got up a little after 5, had some cereal and coffee and was able to clear out the GI tract before we even left the house. The weather was great too — not too cold or breezy, and overcast. Overall I was feeling pretty good about the race.
We got to Oceanside about a half hour before the 6:45 a.m. 5-miler start. I ran an easy mile to warm up. Clark and I found the “hidden” port-o-potties with no line (on the other side of the start line) so I could pee one more time. I got in the first corral, where I ran into Kathy, who was pumped to literally run the race for the first time after “running” it (organizing and orchestrating everything) for years. She sold the event this summer to the San Diego Running Co.
I think she was holding her phone upside down which is why we look like we’re looking at a completely different camera ha.
We got the commands and we were off.
The first mile goes straight down Coast Highway and makes a U-turn around Wisconsin Avenue. I was surprised to see my first mile split of 7:06. I haven’t run a mile that fast in a while!
The second mile went back past the start line and then to the harbor. The adrenaline from the start had worn off and I slowed to a 7:27 for the second mile, which is still pretty fast for me lately.
In the next mile, we hit a long downhill into the harbor, a short uphill out of it (that Kathy had laughed at me a couple weeks ago for thinking was uphill at all ha) and then headed toward the Strand. That mile was 7:26.
The fourth mile went down the Strand and then up the real uphill — a short but steep climb up to the pier, followed by a longer but less steep bridge to Pacific Street. It really took it out of me this year and I felt like I couldn’t get my rhythm back for a minute after we got back onto Pacific. The fourth mile ended on that street and I’d slowed to a 7:50. Just one more mile to go though, and no more climbs.
The only picture I got from the 5-miler was when I was dying on Pacific of course.
The last mile took us down Pacific, down a steep downhill back down to the Strand and then about a half-mile to the finish line. My Garmin had gotten ahead of the mile markers at some point and announced the end of my fifth mile — 7:30 — when I still had almost a 10th of a mile to go to the finish line, which is always annoying. I tried to sprint in the last remaining bit and finished in 37:56. Only nine seconds faster than 2022 but I’m back under 38 minutes for the distance for the first time in four years!
I hadn’t heard a peep from my stomach the whole race, but as I stood near the end of the finisher’s chute, waiting for Clark to finish, it started to feel a little weird. Not like I had to go to the bathroom but a little nauseated. Clark came through not long after and we went back to the car so I could get my hat, since the sun was coming out, and then we went back to the start line for the 5K.
There are a lot more participants in the 5K. We weren’t going to walk the whole thing, but we weren’t going to run the whole thing either, so we squeezed into the fifth wave and waited.
Clark was very excited to start another race haha.
We took the 5K pretty easy, walking when we felt like it. The course starts and ends the same as the 5-miler, but cuts out the harbor.
It looks like Clark and I are chasing down prey haha.
Running the last half-mile on the Strand toward the finish line near the pier.
Clark kept speeding up in this last stretch, and my Garmin claims we crossed the line at about a 7:00/mile pace. Our chip time was 33:21, a 10:44/mile average — a lot faster than the hour or so it took us to walk the whole way the last couple years.
Annual post-race picture on the pier.
I checked the age group results for the 5-miler, but I got shut out this year — I was fifth of 39 runners in the F 40-44 age group (in the open race; there’s a separate category for Oceanside locals only.) Overall, I was 26th of 492 women and 116th of 996 total runners (locals and open combined.)
Race shirt, bibs and medals.
Clark and I went home and my stomach just felt worse and worse as the morning went on. I wound up needing the bathroom several times over the next few hours. I don’t know for sure what upset it so much, but I suspect the wine with dinner the night before.
The gym closed at 2 p.m. for the holiday, so we got ourselves there in time to shower. I picked up some Brussels sprouts on the way back, to roast for a dinner we’d been invited to, and got a Sprite too. Sipping on that seemed to help and by the time we left for dinner, I felt mostly better.
We went to our friends Jennie and Corey’s house for Thanksgiving and had a very nice time with them and their family. I was glad they’d invited us because we hadn’t really thought much about what we were doing for Thanksgiving, since we didn’t have guests this year and I wasn’t sure how I’d feel six days after oral surgery.
I’m off today and apparently so are the painters we were told would be here to work on the bathrooms today. I think I might go for an easy run here soon.
This weekend is the last one before Rehoboth! I’m planning on meeting the run club tomorrow morning and then getting in one last long run Sunday.
I didn’t post Friday because I was recovering from my wisdom tooth removal, which went well, so here’s everything I did since last Monday’s post.
Tuesday morning, I ran before work, 4 miles at an 8:49/mile average.
Wednesday, I ran again in the morning before work, another interval workout on the bike path. I ran there for a warm up. Then I did four half-mile intervals; my splits were 3:33 (7:07/mile pace), 3:30 (7:04), 3:30 (7:02) and 3:28 (6:57.) I threw in one more quarter-mile interval, which I ran in 1:42 (6:51 pace), and then ran home for a cool down and a total of 4.1 miles at an 8:40/mile overall average.
The run club met that night in Vista but it was pouring rain, past dark and traffic was very busy, so we skipped the running part and just had a couple beers and dinner.
Thursday morning, I ran again before work, 6.2 miles at an 8:46/mile average.
It’d been a couple weeks since my one wisdom tooth with the cavity had bothered me, to the point I was wondering if I really needed to go through with the surgery, but I could feel it all day Thursday, even when I was running, which until then had been the one time I’d never noticed it. So I was ready to get it and the other two out by the time I went to bed that night.
I wasn’t supposed to eat or drink anything after midnight the morning of the surgery, so I didn’t run Friday.
Clark and I went to the oral surgeon’s office and they got me ready to go. I remember putting on my little hair net and lying down on the operating table, getting the oxygen tube inserted in my nose and then a needle in my right arm. The next thing I knew, I was waking up on a table in a different room. I’d never been put under before so it was a very weird feeling to go from fully conscious to not remembering a thing that quickly.
I didn’t feel bad when I came to, just wobbly, but I thought that was just because there was still a lot of Novocain in my face, especially the left side. The nurse walked me out to the car and Clark drove us home.
But then when the Novocain wore off, I still didn’t feel that bad. I had hardly any swelling and I only needed Advil to manage the pain, which wasn’t any worse than when the tooth with the cavity was still in there. I thought it would set in the next day.
Saturday came and I still didn’t have any bad pain or swelling. We just hung around the house all day until we went to a Friendsgiving dinner that night. There was enough soft food there — stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce — that I could eat a decent amount of food. The turkey really looked good though!
Sunday, we went into the village and I had a pumpkin spice smoothie and some plain scrambled eggs. That afternoon, I felt up to a short run, so I did 4 miles at an 8:50/mile average.
Today, I ran again before work, 4 miles at an 8:58/mile average.
I am still eating smoothies and soup for every meal, with some ice cream and popsicles in between and three saline mouth rinses a day, but I think I’ll be able to start eating more normally soon. I can still feel the holes in my mouth but they’re healing up well. I have a follow up with the dentist next Monday.
Finally, here are some bathroom progress pictures. They’ve put down most of the floor tile, but it’s hard to see because then they put down cardboard to protect it while they’re still working elsewhere. This week, they’re supposed to install all the stone, which I’m pretty excited to see.
Master bath. They still needed to lay down the shower floor tile as of this morning.
Guest bath, with the shower floor tile.
Later this week, Clark and I are running the O’side Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I was a little worried when I made that surgery appointment that I wouldn’t feel up to running it six days later, but I don’t think that will be a problem after all.
Karen and Kathy weren’t there, so I ran with Shawn and Barry. The pace started out innocent enough, around 8:40 for the first mile, but they kept increasing it. The fastest mile was just under 8, and we ran a total of 6 at an average of 8:19/mile.
The rest of Saturday was pretty quiet. Clark and I just hung out in the village for a while.
Sunday morning, I met the bike club at the Oceanside Harbor. Kathy and I were there to run.
We did the same loop I did last week. Well, Kathy turned around about a mile from the turnaround on the loop, so I ran the second half on my own. But I got in another 9.1 miles total at a 9:08/mile average.
Sunday was a repeat of Saturday. We went back to the village, specifically to Pure Project, where they had a beer and dessert pairing with The Goods, a nearby bake shop that provided three “mini” desserts to go with three 5-oz. tasters of beer.
This was a stout with a coconut and oat pie.
It was all delicious but those desserts didn’t feel so small and I was stuffed when I was finished! Clark didn’t help me eat them at all ha.
We got way too much fresh halibut to grill at home for dinner. Clark ate a big chunk of it last night but there’s a lot left, and he left this morning for a trade show for most of the rest of the week. So it looks like I’ll be eating fish for lunch and dinner for the next few days.
Today, I took a rest day, since it’d been a week since the last one.
It’s been a beautiful week for running here — when the sun has been up! I always hate the end of Daylight Saving Time when it’s suddenly getting dark at 5 p.m.
Monday, I wound up taking a rest day.
Tuesday, I ran in the morning, 4 miles at an unknown pace, because I screwed up the timing on my Garmin. It was just an easy run though so probably 9-something.
We didn’t run in the evening. Shawn’s Achilles still flares up if he does intervals, and it’s too dark after work now to run trails. So we just took the evening off.
Wednesday, I ran in the morning again. Since we didn’t do any intervals the night before, I ran to the bike trail and did four half-miles on my own. My splits were 3:42 (7:27/mile pace), 3:39 (7:14), 3:31 (7:02) and 3:32 (7:06.) I was most surprised by the last one; I felt like I was completely gassed halfway through it and barely moving, but it wasn’t far off the fastest one. Then I ran easy back home, for a total of 3.7 miles.
In the evening, I met the run club for a neighborhood run in Vista (with lights.) Shawn and I ran 4.2 hilly miles at a 9:31/mile average.
Thursday, I ran 3.1 miles at a 9:05/mile average, and today, since I didn’t run Monday, I did 5 miles at an 8:58/mile average.
On to a couple ongoing updates: first, the bathrooms. They’ve been tiling all week and working until after sunset. In fact, they’re still here right now, so I don’t want to barge in to take progress pics for my blog that three people read ha. It’s moving along though.
I did get this picture earlier this week, of the real site supervisor checking the work in the guest bath after they went home for the day, tape measure in hand.
And the other ongoing headache has been my wisdom tooth. I finally got a pre-determination of benefits note yesterday from my insurer. Good news, they decided I can have the anesthesia. Bad news, they decided some IV drug the surgeon also said I’ll need isn’t covered. My mom is an RN in a specialist’s office and has been dealing with patients’ insurance companies on their behalf for years, and told me to call and ask if insurance will cover a different drug instead or make an exception. But I haven’t done that yet.
Either way, the surgery is scheduled for next Friday, so this thing will finally be out of my head this time next week.
This weekend, all I have planned is a couple more runs both mornings, and I bought a ticket for a beer and dessert pairing at Pure Project on Sunday. Other than that, we’re just taking it easy.
Last week was my second time attending the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, a huge automotive aftermarket industry trade show. It went better, knowing what to expect this year — I didn’t come home with cracked dry skin on my hands (because I brought heavy duty moisturizer and applied it several times a day), a wonky hamstring that will feel tight for the next several months (because I replaced the tote bag I used to lug around all my gear last year with a laptop backpack) or a cold (just got lucky), unlike last year.
This is a running blog, so I have to mention I did not run a step all week, as I expected, but my phone’s pedometer claims I walked about 5 miles every day.
And now some highlights of the show:
Central Hall entrance.
1936 Ford pickup, “Nemesis,” owned and built by John Kosmoski.
I will not eat “Maryland seafood” out of a food truck in a Las Vegas parking lot, sorry.
Able Baker Brewing Co., where I went with a couple coworkers on Halloween night.
Overlooking the parking lot exhibits outside the convention center.
The Lotus-based Radford Pikes Peak Special, which won its class at Pikes Peak in June.
I always look for the 1969 Camaros, and this one was my favorite — “Viral” by Finale Speed.
Shelby Cobra replicas for sale. You can tell they’re replicas because they’re only $130,000 or so, instead of more than $1 million for an original. Affordable!
The SEMA FutureTech display had a bunch of older cars converted to electric. This is a 1955 Mercedes-Benz SL300 built on a Tesla Model 3 base.
Formula One grandstands along the strip in front of the Bellagio. The race is this coming weekend.
My coworker really wanted to see the Taco Bell Cantina on the strip. It’s just like a regular Taco Bell except there’s a second story, neon lights and you can add booze to your Baja Blast.
Last year, there were a ton of customized ’70s Ford pickups on display, but this was all I could find this year, probably from the early ’80s.
Early to mid-’90s Ford pickups.
1990 Mercury Grand Marquis station wagon customized to look like the Griswold family’s Truckster in “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”
Finally, there were a lot of lifted pickups, new Broncos and Jeeps all over the place, so I tried to find the tallest ones. I think these were the winners — I could stand under the front bumpers without hitting my head. Ridiculous!
I flew home to San Diego on Friday evening.
Saturday morning, I got up and met the run club.
It felt great to run for the first time in five days! Shawn and I ran 6 miles at an 8:38/mile average.
I was pretty lazy the rest of Saturday. It just felt good to be home again. Late in the afternoon, Clark and I went to visit Milad, who just had knee surgery a couple days before, but that was it.
Sunday morning, I met the bike club in Oceanside. I was going to run with Karen, but she texted that she hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before, despite the time change, so I was on my own. Luckily I always have my AirPods with me so I had my music to keep me company.
Everyone else was there to ride.
I meant to do at least double digits, but after running to the Strand, to the end of the pier and back, to the turnaround at a gated community between Oceanside and Carlsbad and back to the harbor, where my car was, I was only at 9.1 miles. Oh well, close enough.
All of my miles except No. 7 were below 9:00/mile pace. The seventh one was when the ghost pepper jack cheese I’d had at dinner the night before made its presence known ha. I had to walk almost half of that mile to get to the next public bathroom. That 11:34 mile brought the overall average down to 9:10/mile, which is still good for me on a long run.
When I got home, Clark was out running 9 miles on his own too, because we’re both running the Rehoboth Half Marathon in less than a month. When he got back, we did some yard work and then we called my parents and watched the NASCAR season finale. It was sad to see Kevin Harvick officially retire; I have no idea who my favorite driver will be next year. They’re all younger than I am now and it feels weird! But I was pretty happy to see Ryan Blaney win the championship, even if that meant my niece’s (and Clark’s) favorite driver, Kyle Larson, didn’t get his second.
In the evening, we went to the San Diego Wave’s semifinal game against the OL Reign (Seattle.) Whoever won is playing in the championship game at the San Diego stadium this coming Saturday. Unfortunately, the Wave lost, 0-1.
View from the cheap seats.
This morning, I didn’t get up to run before work. I might go after, but the sun sets early now, so we’ll see.
And I always have to document the bathroom progress. While I was gone last week, they got all the tile done on the walls in the shower in the master, and started on the wall tile in the guest shower. They also delivered and installed the cabinets for the floating vanities in both bathrooms. Those still need some of the doors/drawers, all of the hardware, the sinks and the slab countertops, but you can see where it’s going.
A Simple Running Log 