The reason I’ve been quiet lately is that I didn’t want to post complaint blogs. As you may remember, I’m allergic to my sweat and to latex. It’s been really, really, really hot lately and I developed a full body rash. 
Today is a little cooler and I’m not Ms. Crankypants anymore. It still itches, but not as bad as the past week. I may even be able to leave the house once it clears from my face, neck and arms.
Why do I look so short and fat? I’m not that squashed, I tell ya! But look at me run!
What a good race. Much better run than the Santa Monica Classic, they had drink stands throughout the course. The advertised expo was a nice size with lots of helpful booths. The race was chip timed, so there was no mix up with my bib. Whoever did the Brentwood Run, clearly has more experience than those who did the Santa Monica Classic.
But no matter what the page says, I think this course was a little harder than the SMC. Maybe it was the lack of adrenaline of a first time race or lack of anything interesting to look at, but even though this was a simple loop on a mostly flat course on San Vicente Blvd. it was very trying. The only thing I learned was that Brentwood has way too many coffee shops on one street. There are 2 Starbucks, 2 Coffee Beans, Coral Tree Cafe, Peets Coffee and various smaller coffee shops. All in less than a mile area.
I thought that I was going to have to leave the race before we even started. I had been doing stretches and knew my ankle was hurt, but didn’t realize how hurt until I stretched. YEEOOW!!! The heel was so tender, I started crying because the pain was so bad. 5 minutes to race time and I could barely put my foot on the ground. I popped two Aleve, I had the foresight to purchase and waited for the horn.
I did wind up running and was pleased when I hit the 1 mile marker and the timer yelled out 14:23. Whoo-hoo! I was banking on a 17 - 20 mile because of my ankle, so that made me happy. The second mile was not happy. There was a hill involved. And it was a deceptively nice hill. Me and fat ass struggled up that hill. I did try to run a bit on it, but that really hurt my foot. Right before the turnaround was a drink stand. I grabbed a cup and almost died. Grape Gatorade! Why did they hate me? It was like drinking Dimetapp. Bad, bad, bad!
Turnaround came, I started paying attention to the people around me ’cause I was bored. The coral trees aren’t the big draw Brentwood thinks they are. There was a woman who was pretty much walking most of them. Every now and then she’d run. She was there with a friend who was 1/4 of a mile ahead. Every time she got within talking distance of this friend, the friend would take off running. Somehow, her baby in the stroller disappeared and she finally caught up to the friend unencumbered. Wouldn’t you know it, the moment she finally fell in beside the friend, the friend took off. That’s fucked up.
The 2 mile marker came with the guy yelling our 29:30something…damn hill added a minute to my time. Ugh. I made it a goal not to let the 3 old guys walking in front of me to beat me, but they kept running. Assholes. 
Finally, ahead I saw the finish line. I didn’t think that I was ever going to make it. Limping big time, I started into another run/jog. I think I hit the line at 44:38, my watch said I finished in 44:41 and some change. When results are posted (I’m number 248) I’ll know. Oh and when photos are posted, I’ll be sure to share.
UPDATE: Times are posted and here’s mine
Place Div/Tot No. Time Pace Start Chip Tm ===== ======== ======== =========== ===== ======== =========== 751 53/63 248 0:44:59.69 14:31 0:43.65 0:44:16.04
14:31 pace makes me very happy indeed. My ultimate goal is to eventually get that down to 9 min. but for now, on a bum ankle? That’s pretty good.
Look for updates on Monday…I hope it’s hot enough soak in the pool
This morning, I checked my email and found I got a gift (thank you Ruth!) and now I’m able to run the Brentwood Run on May 25th. Proceeds from this race will go to the Brentwood YMCA
******
Pictures from the Santa Monica Classic are up. You can see my photos here. It’s funny to me to see that I’m smiling in all of them. I certainly don’t remember smiling that day.
Today I ran AND completed–thank you very much–my first race. I ran the Santa Monica Classic 5K/10K. I did the 5K.
First off, everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong; I over slept (both alarm clocks did not go off), I couldn’t find my shirt, the kids woke up, the batteries in both cameras were dead, I waited in a long line for parking only to find my permit was for the lot a mile away…and I had to walk back that mile to the start line. The race was to start at 7:30am, I got to the start line at 7:28, and was amazed by the crush of humanity for such a small race. I…uh, didn’t get the race was starting and watched all these people move forward. Some guy told me, “Yeah, that’s the 5Kers.” OH! That’s me! Where was the gun? I wanted a gun!!!
There was no way I was running with all those people around so I started walking. Once we got onto Main St. and the major group of Runners were gone, I started on a small jog. I guess I should mention at this point that I hadn’t run or walked in almost a month because of my knee. My relationship with the gym had dropped to something closer to a booty call. I had been smoking abut a pack and half a day. I also neglected to eat anything this morning becasue I thought that there’d be time to get something before. Oops. For a moment there, I thought I was just going to have to die. Then I saw the mile marker and beamed. That wasn’t too bad. I can do this!
As we turned left onto Colorado, we can see the mass of Runners hitting the finish line. Show-offs. I kept trudging up Ocean Blvd. mainly to get away from this couple running with their two dogs (WTF!?!). As I headed back down Ocean Blvd. we saw the leaders in the 10K coming up with a police escort. Ha! I thought, I’m going to finish the 5K before the 10K people show. Whoo-hoo!
I didn’t do too bad. I was finished around 8:20, so that means I walked/ran 3.2 miles in about 50 minutes. I was banking on completing the race in 1:30, so that was very good time for me. Not bad for an out-of-shape smoker with a bum ankle.
UPDATE: My time didn’t get posted. I didn’t know that the bottom of my race bib was used to scan my results. It looked like a receipt for the t-shirt I got in the mail and I didn’t need an extra t-shirt, so I removed it before I got out of the car. So, beyond my watch (49:53) there’s no record of me even running the race, short of my photos and my aching legs. Sniff. I’m pretty upset over this now.
In 2002, I joined a birth club board for people due with babies in May 2003. For 7 months, we went through the ups and downs of pregnancy. Some of us had our babies early (mine was born in April) some went beyond their due dates, hanging on until June. At the end, the due date boards of May, June, July and August were rolled into one board. Naturally, as many of us were new mothers, the demands of a new baby forced many women to leave. Typical internet drama forced others off. Still no matter what, there are times that people drop in with news or questions. Autism was a big concern. Some babies were diagnosed as early at 8 months. The kids are turning 5 this year and some are still being diagnosed.
Some time in ‘04, I joined two other birth club boards and other moms were announcing that their kids, sons usually, were being diagnosed with autism. I read what they had to say and did my own reading since I was not clear on what exactly autism was. The Autism Society has a website that goes far to educate the general public on autism.
Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum disorder” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no known single cause for autism, but increased awareness and funding can help families today.
They also have a list of behaviours that will help you determine whether a physician’s help was needed:
Autism is treatable. Children do not “outgrow” autism, but studies show that early diagnosis and intervention lead to significantly improved outcomes.
Here are some signs to look for in the children in your life:
- Lack of or delay in spoken language
- Repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)
- Little or no eye contact
- Lack of interest in peer relationships
- Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play
- Persistent fixation on parts of objects
The list made me curious as to how some of these parents decided to have their doctors test the kids. When she was around 2, my daughter had 5 of these 6 traits. It made me very concerned that kids as young as 8 months were being diagnosed since some of these behaviours were normal or impossible in 8 month olds. That’s when I learned a bit more about the spectrum. Reading about the spectrum is enough to send any parent into a frenzied state of worry. Last year, I found that a lot of the behaviours listed in some of the spectrums are exhibited by my son. Naturally, I spoke to his pediatrician and she ran a few test. She said that he was not autistic, but we have an appointment in June to revisit the issue just in case. Therefore, I tend to keep abreast of new studies and treatments in austism.
Many of the women on my birth club boards with autistic children, have something that I lack: healthcare. They are able to get their children to autism specialists. If either of my children are diagnosed with autism, I wouldn’t know where to turn. So, I direct my energies in helping these women get their representatives on board with changing and enacting legislation. There is also the obvious fact that as a black person in America, the healthcare I receive will be substandard compared to what my (white) husband would get. Wanda Brown wrote an article detailing the Disparties Among African-Americans with Autism.
There are clear racial disparities in healthcare and special education, parents and caregivers must help arrest to ensure a brighter future for our loved ones with autism.
Studies have consistently reported negative biases toward minorities in the areas of diagnosis and treatment.
Black autistic children were diagnosed later, received more misdiagnoses than Whites, and were more likely to be misdiagnosed as having organic psychoses, mental retardation, or selective mutism.
Clinicians may interpret autism symptoms differently in children of different races.
African-Americans are less likely than Whites to see the same doctor over time. A pediatrician who treats a child over time may recognize autism sooner than others may.
April is Autism Awareness Month and I’ve chosen to use my blog to spread the message. If this urges one more parent to get their child tested, then I’ve done my job. You can always donate to many autism foundations. So why don’t you join Autism Speaks on April 26th at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for a walkathon? Or…You can buy a shirt celebrating this month:
On Saturday, we went to Descanso Gardens for the World of Good Weekend. (see photos here)I had never been to Descanso Gardens before, but I heard it was more like the Arboretum than the Huntington and it was. In theory. Even though the Descanso gardens has a lot of different kinds of gardens and pathways, I prefer the Arboretum.
The one thing at Descanso that was truly impressive were not just the number of lakes and ponds on site, but the different layout of them all. It is a beautiful place that seems more like a large nursery than a place to study plants. Sadly, there is also a severe lack of customer service onsite. From the moment we got there until we left, no one who worked there knew anything about what goes on 4 feet beyond them. The guy at the ticket booth didn’t know procedure on if we give our receipt to the lady or what. The lady at the entrance had no idea if they sold sweaters or jackets in the gift shop. “You can ask”, is what we were told. The little girl had to go to the bathroom. We hiked all the way up the hill to the Boddy House couldn’t find a bathroom. I asked two people who worked there where it was and neither of them knew. I’m expected to believe that they were up at the top of the hill, working, and had no idea where the bathroom was? I could say that you get what you pay for, but the Arboretum and the Zoo both cost the same and the workers at both places are unnervingly friendly and helpful that you almost believe they’re robots…or not from LA.
One of the most wonderful parts of Descanso was the lilac garden. Yummy. It was like heaven with that scent in the air. Every time I found a lilac that was beautiful, I found another that was even better.
The camelia forests were also nice. I wasn’t too dazzled by the California garden and was very underwhelmed by the succulents and cactus there. The iris garden was amazing and most of the irises hadn’t even opened yet. I should go back to see the other hundreds of cultivars available. There were only about 10 open this weekend.
The kids loved the little train and even Daddy thought we should get one for the back yard (yeah right). Oddly enough, I loved the tulip garden. That was outstanding.
At the entrance of the park, there is an installation titled Edible Estates. As you know, I’m virulently anti-grass, especially for Southern Californians. We are slowly getting rid of most of our lawn and had considered giving it over to food. The subject came up again, as my husband tried to convince me to move my veggie garden to the front yard so we can put the pool in the backyard. The Edible Estates installation, prodded us a little closer to that goal, though I still need more sun than I get in the front yard.
The artist, Fritz Haeg, will be back at Descanso on May 17th for a book signing and artist’s reception. I believe he’ll unveil his summer theme at that time too. (Brasil Brazil is also playing that weekend, so I’ll definitely be there!)
I got the Bollywood Burn DVD on a tip from not goth. Due to a stupid knee injury, I’ve been pretty much out of it the past week, but feeling better, I tossed on some sweats and popped in the DVD.
I hate Hemalaya.
Okay, no I don’t. But the “burn” part of the title is for serious. My thighs could start forest fires!
This exercise is not for everyone. If you’ve never done aerobics before, forget it. If you’ve never danced bhangra or even watched a Bollywood movie, forget it. The directions on there are pretty bad. While you’re in the middle of doing something, you’ll be told now tap your toe. You have to stop to look at the DVD to see what she means.
The other downfall of the video is that it’s all done in voiceover. So you barely hear the music because Miss Hemalaya is too busy giggling at herself. That is annoying. It was like she was watching the DVD while doing the voiceover and was just cracking herself up. That is why I don’t do voiceover work. I suck at it. I know my limitations. She could hve gotten any number of LA people to do the voicework, but sadly, didn’t.
With all that out of the way, the exercises themselves weren’t too bad. A lot of it was legwork that could be tricky. I was wearing my New Balance cross-trainers and it was clumsy. If I had more stable ankle, I probably would have gone barefoot. The dances were nice a simple…it actually made me want to go to party. Of course, it didn’t help that she kept mentioning that “this is a cool move to do at a party.”
I only did the first two modules. The first was ran a little over 14 minutes. It was very hard and slow. More of a warmup or slow day sort of exerecies. The second one was a little over 15 minutes and fast. By fast, I mean you were doing a lot of fancy footwork (think Lord of the Dance) and the whole point of the workout was to put together a dance. I have to admit, that was a lot of fun. I’ll probably do the 3 module on Wednesday, so we’ll see how that goes.
Okay…it’s more like anger.
The running thing.
GRRRRRR.
The man sucks.
It’s nearly impossible to get out of the house because of him. Why? Because there are two toddlers here and he’s only awake between 1pm and 4am and most of that time he’s eating, working or dicking around. And dicking around and eating are very important to getting the working part done.
This morning, I got up to go running. The little boy felt a bit hot, so I was going to leave him here. Asked the Mr. if he’d stay up so that I can do this, I’d take the little girl with me. 8:30 rolls around and the man is on the sofa sleeping with baby boy cuddled up. Great. Only problem is that he was really and truly sleeping. I wasn’t going to leave baby boy with sleeping dad, so I got the kid ready and we left.
Got to the park and started walking, so far so good…started running, oh wait…the kids want to look at the swimming pool. Then they wanted to look at the baseball kids, the playground, the ducks, they lake…baby boy started picking friggin’ flowers. Not to mention the entire time Miss Diva whined and begged for stuff. 45 minutes later, I had run a total of 57 seconds. 57 seconds? We spent another 20 minutes at one of the playgrounds and then we came home.
I told him,”Dude, this is not going to work.”
Mumble-grumble, “What? I told you you could leave the boy with me.”
Pfffft. I asked him to get up so that I can go back to the park. “No.”
No.
He won’t even get up for 20 minutes.
Now…remember back when I say I’m surrounded by non-encouraging people? He’s their ringleader. I know this about him. I’ve always known this about him. I’m not asking for a “Good job, honey!” or even daily inquiries on what’s going on. I don’t need, nor want that–in fact, it would probably bug the crap out of me. What I need is for him to be helpful. What I need is for him to get out of my way.
About 6 or 7 years ago, unless it affected him directly, I pretty much stopped telling him my plans because of this, what I dramatically call, sabotage. He’s a perennial roadblock. You’d be amazed at how stuff he had been talking about for years all of a sudden gets Really Important To Get Done NOW when I’m in the middle of something. Actually, you probably have someone in your life like that. I’m lucky in that I can count 9 people I know in my life like that. It sucks when it’s a friend, it’s hard when it’s a relative, it super blows when you’re married to that person.
Well, I’m off to run the “track” I didn’t want in my tiny backyard. I love the part where I try to avoid poking my eye out on the lemon tree, running into the fence, and stepping my plants. I figured that 16 times around equals ~1/4 mile. Hey, he wanted the track for his cars and has used it maybe 9 times in the past year. It’s about time it gets some use.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I appreciate any comments, but disruptive ones, stupid ones, spammy ones and ones that just make no sense will be deleted. I don't mind if you post a comment related to your blog, but don't expect to be able to spam my blog with links to your blog. I will delete those comments and block users.
There are 1,243 Posts and 1,782 Comments.
