Water station volunteering

One of the reasons I joined the running club was for the support on longer runs. Almost every week there's water and snacks at stations along our routes.

Today it was my turn to work at one. The conversation was great and the runners were grateful. I had bought some powdered Gatorade, which was a big hit.

I had a particularly good conversation with one of the former presidents of the running club. One of my annoyances with the club has been a lot of fussing about my nutrition when I choose to share what I do. There's been this implication that I'm going to have big problems because I don't drink Gatorade or eat processed sugars or flours. I may very well have big problems -- but it won't be related to my nutrition.

Anyway, here's a great article from his website on nutrition for athletes, which is much more in line with my take on it.

15 minutes of anti-vertigo work

Instead of running today, I got my hour of rowing. And 15 minutes of exercises designed to stop the dizziness caused by my stupid, obnoxious, irritating benign positional vertigo.

It was also our 15th wedding anniversary. I came close to posting a wedding picture, but opted not to. Since I was the oldest in my family, our wedding ceremony was as much for my parents. So I did the white dress and veil thing, which is vaguely embarrassing, even though I picked a rather timeless style. Paul says if we were to do it now, he would've pushed for something simpler and smaller, and he's probably right. Our biggest expense was the bar tab, though, so it wasn't like it was a scarily expensive wedding. My custom-made dress cost only $150 because I found a local seamstress. Most of the flowers were free because the church was still decorated for Christmas.

But anyway -- we went out lunch rather than dinner for our anniversary today. Paul's got a new interest in college football, which I don't share, and the championship game was tonight.

One thing I find interesting about the Internet is how it is so individual what people consider too personal. The big thing on Facebook today is for women to post what color bra they're wearing. I'm so not up for that. My friends list is heavily weighted toward women right now because of my former La Leche League position, but I also have a bunch of guy friends. I don't want them to have any visual images of my underwear. Oh, sure, I write about some inappropriate things here, but people who come here are choosing to do so -- it's not like getting hit with it on Facebook.

Indo-Row

Well, I didn't run yesterday. (More on that coming.) Or today. Yet.

But I did try out a free Indo-Row class at Studio 1-on-1 this place in Venice that I used to go to in 2008. It's a nice studio, and I generally felt surprisingly comfortable there. I'm just cheap.

It was a lot of fun. A bit rah-rah for me, but I'm used to that kind of stuff. I just find it funny/ludicrous when I get involved with it. That's one of my issues with races and the running club, too. Which I guess is an insight into why I avoided much exercise for too many years. I'll have to see how sore I am tomorrow.

Anyway, regarding my running, the vertigo scared me yesterday. I bent down to pick up something I dropped as I was getting out of the car, and I lost my balance and almost fell down on Wilshire, a very busy street. I need to avoid that kind of thing. So, my daily minutes of running might be better spent on 15 minutes of anti-vertigo exercises.

The vertigo returns (again!)

I'm dizzier than usual with the return of my vertigo. It happens when I get more active.

The bad part about it is it gives me nausea, so I start worrying that I'm pregnant. I know I'm not, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to worry about it.

Of course, if I got pregnant again, I would be thrilled, but it's not something I'm aiming to accomplish. And the whole idea (childbirth, babies, toddlers, etc., etc.) scares the heck out of Paul. We've done our share of that already.

My kids have been pushing for a baby sibling for years now, but it has been amped up with the birth of a baby in a good friend's family.

I told them I can't get pregnant now because I've got the marathon coming up. So they're hoping for after the marathon. Or they start talking adoption. They're tenacious.

Goofy things my 13-year-old has said: Today, he he made fun of me enjoying my fancy salt: "You're weird, Mom. You seem to be more into food now than you were when you were fat."

We also had this exchange, when I glanced at some music video he was watching. ...

Me: Who is that?
Son: I don't know -- I think maybe Pearl Jam. (The singer was vaguely Eddie Vedderesque.)
Me: No, I don't think so. Eddie Vedder is around my age and he wouldn't have that style of tattoo on his neck -- that's for a younger guy.
Son: You know tattoos are permanent, right Mom? (Because I'm Just. That. Stupid.)
Me: Yes, of course. Why do you say that?
Son: Because he could've gotten the tattoo while he was younger. And then, you know, gotten older, maybe?

It's funny how my sweet son now assumes he knows more about everything than I do, particularly since I've taught him so much of what he knows.

A sluggish jog

I did another 30-minute jog this afternoon. My feet felt absolutely leaden.

I'm going to have to get back to my early-morning outings.

Part of the problem is I'm taking in too much work, and I'm finishing it up when I'm at my best early in the a.m. -- which used to be when I'd always run.

30 minutes of running

I did P.E. class with a homeschooling dad today. We played kickball, dodge ball and did stretching/calisthenics. Tonight, I ran for 30 minutes, late, with Paul trailing me and getting his own walk in. I had just eaten dinner, and I prefer to run on more of an empty stomach. But it wasn't a terrible run. I did make the tactical error of starting out a bit too fast, which I felt near the end, but that's going to happen sometimes.

15 minutes at home -- and a lovely weekend

We all went to the mountains and desert this weekend and spent great time with friends. My 5-year-old's Christmas wish was to see snow, and he finally got it.

I didn't get home until 10:30 -- and I hadn't done my run. So, I ran in place for 15 minutes. I'm not sure I will let that count in the future for my daily 15 minutes or more.