Race Report: Coyote Hills 10k trail Run - January 29 , 2011

Two Saturday's ago I ran Brazen Racing's Coyote Hills 10k with my buddy Jo Lynn. It was a great race

(Full disclosure: It was a tad over crowded for my taste. I have no idea what the costs of putting on a race like this and trying to eek out a living are, so I am not going to judge how many sign ups they allowed. But I will say I would have preferred less people on a course that had an out and back trail section. As usual though, they had plenty of support and the race ran as smoothly as I have come to expect from their races, but it felt more like a crowded road race than a trail race IMHO)

Jo Lynn and I posing with the Dumbarton Rock Quarry (aka a big, fucking hole in the ground) behind us.

After 2 weeks of spring-like weather here in California I was having trouble adjusting to the cold. (I am certain that those of you who had to chisel your way out of your homes to go to work after last week's ice storms back east are flipping me off right now. My apologies. The ridiculous property taxes on my 900 sq ft house would make you feel better, I assure you.)

I do not have much to say about this race. It was nice. I love running with Jo Lynn.  I got to see my buddies Ron and Katie (who have thrown my old, fat ass over and now run together without me. hmpf). But were there any funny stories? Not really.

RBR, Katie, and Jo Lynn *

*Yes, I cropped the shit out of this picture. There was a concern I would be charged with spandex abuse for what those poor shorts had to do to cover my ass.  

*Notably missing Ron and RBR pic* 

I do not have a cute pic of Ron and I to post. I am not self confident enough to post pictures that I can not crop into acceptability. Sorry. Next race big guy!

I did not even get an It's It after the race. *collective Awwwww! from the audience*

Let me clarify, lest you think that either 1. I was too slow, even at the 10k distance, to finish before they ran out of It's Its. or  2. I found "God," have sworn off all high fat, low nutrient foods,  opting to "fuel" my body and eat only for function not pleasure, choosing lean meats and dark, leafy gree...

Hoo! I can not even type that with a straight face!  

So, no. That is not why. Actually, I am doing pretty well on my diet and 6 miles is not enough calorie burn to justify the 340 calories and 18 grams of fat in an It's It. (Ok, I will be totally honest I just looked that fact up.  I thought it was more like 600 calories and had I known it was only 340 I may have gone for it. So Brazen, keep an Its It on ice for me at the next race)

Reminder of the ice cream-y deliciousness that is an It's It!

Reminders of why I do my job/In case you forgot I was a nerd

I often bitch and moan about my job, but occasionally I get reminders of how really, really cool my job is.

End of the semester gift: My students presented me with an end of the semester gift. It was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but it did not arrive in time. Yes, loving this shirt as much as I do makes me a nerd. The fact that I wear it ALL THE TIME makes me an uber-nerd! I an ok with that

How awesome is this shirt?!

At last weekend's lab (To my fellow teachers: Yes, my students are so dedicated they come in on Saturday morning to do labs! It is ok to hate me.)

The students created squash prep slides of garlic root tips and then stained them to look at the phases of Mitosis. This is not as easy as it sounds. In a world of such easy access to excellent visual images made by the most advanced technology, students are often underwhelmed by what we can create in the classroom. It is a different story when they get to struggle to with tougher techniques like doing a squash prep thing enough to see individual cells yet not so hard that you create a hot mess of cell parts, or driving stain through the cell wall of plant cells to stain the DNA without destroying the rest of the cell and turning the whole damn thing blue, which was their task for one part of the lab:

Student *grumbles*: This is my fourth slide! If it is messed up again, can I just Google it to draw the picture?

Ms. RBR *looking through microscope*: DUDE! (I know, I am the paragon of professionalism) That is beautiful! Let me get my camera!

Student *trying to hide proud smile*: Finally. God.

Ms. RBR *taking a picture of the microscope field*: Quit whining and look. (Ok, and paragon of patience as well)

Student *looking into scope*: Whoa. That is kind of cool.Can you email me that picture? I want to show my mom.

Taken with my pink point and shoot camera that I just held up to the eyepiece. Pretty cool, huh? The pointer is on a cell in telophase of mitosis.

Bits and pieces:

My heart is breaking for a dear friend going through a very tough time. I think they know I would do anything to make it better, but I guess that only time can do that. Love to you, buddy.

LA Run buddy is now well into her third trimester. Due date is April 16th. She is uncomfortable as one would expect with an almost 8 month old human nestled within her intestines, and routinely doing the macarena on her bladder. She still exercises 4 times a week, works like a beast, and is the funniest and most loving and beautiful person I know. I have to throw a fucking baby shower and I hate attending baby showers, much less throwing one, but since I do not have to make the human or push it out my hoo ha I will keep my whining about it to a minimum.

My depression is improving.

Jo Lynn and I ran a great 8 miler yesterday (ok, 'great' is strong. I tried to bail at 3 miles and she would not let me, but we got it done) and are running the PCTR 20k at Lake Chabot on February 20th.

I have chosen a spring marathon Avenue of the Giants Marathon on May 1st.  (Although, I would rather be heading to Wisconsin to run Diana's first marathon with her *sniff* I just can not make it happen this year. I will be there in spirit, girl! You will rock it!)


Ok, that is enough randomness for one day...