California Trip

I booked a flight to California on short (1-week) notice.  My cousin, David, passed away unexpectedly and his funeral was on Monday.  That was really tough to pull off logistically, so I decided to come home for my Grandma Marion's 89th birthday party on Saturday.  It worked out really well.  My grandma was really surprised and I was able to spend some time with my extended family.

The birthday girl (complete with a flower bra, shot glass necklace, and tiara):

With my Uncle Carl and Aunt Jeni:

I had horrible carrot cake regret when I got home from the party, and somehow I managed to lace up my running shoes and knock out 4.82 miles in 46:22 (9:37/mile pace).  That night my dad, brother, and I had "happy hour" at the house and went to dinner at Green Street (their salads rock my world).  My brother and I did sibling night out (unfortunately... or maybe fortunately?... we didn't take any photos).  We were pretty tame, and I managed to get up at 7 am the next morning.

My dad, Uncle Carl, Aunt Jeni, and I took Grandma to breakfast on Sunday (her actual birthday).  And people really do dine at Spire's sober ;)

Birthday breakfast chocolate cake:

I took a sweet 3-hour nap when I got home and then ran 6.47 miles in 1:04:22 (9:56/mile pace).  My mom, dad, and I went to Cameron's Seafood for dinner.  I had a cup of the New England Clam Chowder and the pecan-crusted mahi mahi with coleslaw and mashed taters.  Nom nom.  I went to bed pretty early on Sunday night and mentally prepared for a big workout on Monday morning, which included digging out my old equipment bag kept at my parents' house.  These are my sweet paddles from the mid-90's.  Apparently I was very excited about my name.

On Monday morning I started my workout with the masters swim practice at Rose Bowl.  I swam 5,000 meters, with a main set of 2,100 (three rounds of 4 x 100's descend on 1:30/1:40/1:50 and a 300 pull on 5:00 at 70%/80%/fast).  I didn't know if I could make the 1:30 interval, but I went 1:22, 1:23, 1:23, 1:23 (not really a descend, but I was happy to make the interval with a few breaths to spare).  I descended down to 1:22 on the other sets of 4 x 100's, and I went 4:13, 4:11, and 4:09 on the 300's pull.  The workout was a lot more serious than I'm used to, but I felt a good sense of accomplishment... especially knocking out 5,000 meters when I normally do about 3,000.  After swim practice I ran the Rose Bowl loop around the football stadium and golf course.  It was 3.8 miles in 37:15 (9:48/mile pace).  I was ready for a nap, but my mom and I headed to Nordstrom Rack (I got two tops, some cool aqua shorts, a gold Betsey Johnson watch, a pair of sunglasses, and some workout socks) and then we had a yummy lunch at The Novel Cafe.  My mom's burger and fries looked much better than my egg white veggie omelet, but I would definitely go back!  I had a nice 2-hour nap in the afternoon.  My mom made some dinner at the house and I met my high school buddy, Sharon, for drinks at the Yard House.  This was my awesome blueberry beer.  I realize I took a picture of my beer and not a picture of my friend.

I was planning on attending swim practice again on Tuesday morning, but I didn't sleep very well.  So instead I got up at about 6:30 and went for a long run in the nice 60-degree overcast weather.  I ran a total of 9.1 miles in 1:29:42 (9:51 pace), which was probably my longest run in quite some time.  After that my mom and I went to TJ Maxx and I bought a pair of cute leopard flats, two tops, and a dress (I was tempted to buy a ceramic Bulldog statue, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get it on the plane).  We ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, because the BLT pizza on honey wheat crust is the best pizza ever invented.  Who would've thought that mayo on pizza would be so delish?  I treated myself to a 90-minute shiatsu massage in the afternoon.  We've always been kind of leery of the place because you end up being "exposed" every so often.  When I was getting ready to leave, my massage therapist kept in my my room for "2 minutes" because there was a man getting out of the shower???  Maybe that got lost in translation, but I definitely have suspicions about that place.  They do give an awesome massage though... nothing beats an Asian lady walking on your back while holding onto bars on the ceiling.  Of course I followed that up with a lot of water and a little nap.

I head back to Fort Worth tomorrow.  It was a nice break with lots o' family time.  I'm looking forward to picking up the pups and seeing my hubby!