Where I Was

For you people who aren't cool enough to be on Facebook, here's the whole reason I went to the other side of the country and braved the cold weather:

She's an awesomely great baby, although I didn't see her when she wouldn't sleep and I didn't have to get up to feed her in the middle of the night, but still. She is awesome.

I did manage to get a few runs along the Hudson. I ran past:

NYC Skyline as seen from Jersey City

A defunct pier location (there's a high rise behind me)

Jersey City Sun Dial by the Hyatt

Lady Liberty

It was cold. I ran with snow. Not in snow, with snow. I took pictures to prove it.

These pictures were taken on my first run. There was a heat wave. It got into the high 40s! By the end of the week, the snow was gone. I never even got to use my last minute buy tights!

15 things about me

Happy Holidays, blog world. I hope your celebration with family and/or friends was great. If you don't celebrate any of the holidays we're having now, I hope you enjoyed the time off.

In keeping with a Facebook note theme, I thought I'd share 15 things about me, the athlete edition. But before we get to that, here's a week in review:

Tuesday, ran 2 miles instead of 4. Packed up and left to drive to Stockton around 10 am. Got to Stockton about 4:30 and went straight to work making tamales.

Wednesday, went for a walk with my mom, then did some last minute shopping/errands with Mom. Celebrated Christmas eve with my side of the fam.

Thursday, waited until a break in the rain (about 9:30, 10am) and ran 4 miles. Took off to the MIL's to "open" presents in WOW, then left to celebrate Christmas IRL (in real life) with Jeremy's mom's fam.

Friday, walked with my mom. Went over to celebrate Christmas with Jeremy's dad's family. We played Wii. I was great at the ski jump on Wii Fit. I lost at Wii Boxing, but did manage to strain my right bicep.

Saturday, ran 4 miles in 34 degree weather. I never once wished I wore short sleeves. Celebrated our anniversary (6 years) and went to Myra's NorCal baby shower. We then drove home to Southern Cali.
Sunday, rested. I pretty much did nothing but watch tv. (We invited a friend over to watch the first season of Pushing Daisies).

On to my list:

1. It takes me ~2 miles/20 minutes to get into a groove while running.

2. I can go 2, maybe 2.5 days without running/cycling/generating endorphins. Any more than that and the bitch is back.

3. I'm on a quest to find tart (read not sugary sweet) fluid replacement drinks. When I'm working hard and I take a sip of something sweet, it makes me want to puke. So far I've tried (and like) GU2O, Vitalite,

4. I use Kool 'n Fit for every run and ride, when I remember. It really helps my IT band loosen up.

5. I run with my cellphone and inhaler. I never forget my cellphone, but I routinely forget my inhaler.

6. Chocolate milk is my recovery drink of choice.

7. I want to race a 1/2 Ironman, marathon and Ironman, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it will have to wait until I have kids. (My marathon can be the run leg of my Ironman, but I'd rather it be the Nike Women's marathon. I'm not picky.

8. Cross training (cycling and, I guess, swimming) has made me a faster runner.

9. The hardest part of running with out my iPod is the negative self talk. For some reason, when left to my own devices I start breaking myself down. A 10-11:30 minute mile may not be fast to some people, but it's my pace and I'm going to own it until I pass it.

10. Triathlons have made me want a new car. I want a wagon so I don't have to take my front wheel off anymore.

11. I don't care what I look like when I'm running. Me in compression shorts, a tight tank and my utility belt (aka my fuel belt) is quite a sight to see, but it's me running.

12. I do care about what I look like cycling. I love buying new cycling jerseys. I'm hoping a love a riding comes with it.

13. I'm addicted to my Garmin. I've been able to be a "Zen runner" (running without a watch, garmin or iPod) a few times. Those times have usually been when I'm running less than 3 miles.

14. My nose always runs on the bike. I have tissues in my bento box because of this.

15. I love running. I know it's a love/hate thing, but most of the time I love it. I love it for giving me goals to work towards, so I don't get bored. I love it for making me get into the gym (which I need to get back to) so I can work on getting myself in shape to support running. I love that I get to buy new shoes every 4 or so months, because who doesn't like buying new shoes!

Gah

I'm trying to stay up until 10pm to get my clock back to PST.

Queenstown was awesome, although I now know I don't like ATVing. I like watching other people on ATVs, or be a passenger, but I don't like to drive one myself. Auckland was okay. LAX customs is not my favorite place to be for 30 minutes while they processes people. I am happy to be home with the animals. Happy to soon be sleeping in my own bed.

Where in the World is Yas???

Yup, kids, if you've been paying any sort of attention to me or this blog, you know I'm in New Zealand. Here's a quick run down of what we've been up to.

Day 1: Auckland - Kinda crappy day because of the jet lag. Walked around our hotel. It's a clean big city, but still a big city. We'll be back here for a day and a half before we hop our flight back to the US.

Day 2: Driving to Waitomo Caves. Kinda freaky driving on the left side of the road. Luckily Jeremy drove us most of today. Our jetlag was completely gone. Went to the Bed and Breakfast (Waitomo Caves Lodge - awesome) checked in and met Janet, Colin and their dog Gypsy. Went for a short bush walk.

Day 3: The Black Abyss Caving Tour. This is what we came to Waitomo Caves for. I didn't completely read the description of the journey. It did mention a "challenging" course and "climbing waterfalls". They were short water falls, but my indoor rock climbing did come in handy. (pictures to come)

Day 4: Traveling to Queenstown - This morning at the Waitomo B&B we ran into people who just came up from Queenstown. In talking with them we decided to stay another day in Queenstown, because there is so much for us see and do. I know I'm selling Auckland short, but we're looking for more hiking and outdoorsy stuff. Maybe we should have stayed outside of Auckland for that, but such is life. Checked into this B&B 5 Star Lane. It's awesome as well! Go Yas for picking great places to stay.

Tomorrow is Jet boating with a helicopter ride to some white water rafting. Maybe I'll squeeze in some time to post.