SOLVING THE PROBLEM

…before we know what it is.

Yesterday, I went for a 6.5 mile bike ride. Took about 29 minutes. Nearly two thirds of the way through, I heard a strange noise coming from my gears. I looked down, going 10 mph, and tried to decipher the problem. But the gears were still changing fine. The chain was still catching. So I kept riding, satisfied that I’d figure it out when I got home. While I continued, however, I began to imagine the potential problem:

• broken bike stand
• bent derailure
• bent gear wheel
• some other unusual problem that I wouldn’t be able to figure out

I need a new bike, I thought. I need a new $300 dollar bike. One with arm rests on the front for the long stretch of flat road, good gears, lightweight. I can’t keep riding this old thing (we’d got it from a bike tech friend who’d snatched it off of craigslist to repair and resell).

At the next light, I finally decided to check out what the strange noise was. When I finally discovered what it was, I felt sheepish. My rear reflector had come loose and was bouncing against the tire. I finger tightened the bolt and kept going.

I admonished myself that while I was busy buying fancy new bikes in my head, solving a problem I didn’t have, I was about to lose my protection. So often that’s true in life: we imagine that behind the symptoms we experience there’s a huge problem that needs to be solved; and while we’re busy cogitating on how to solve that problem, our defenses are down.

MAP IT! MAP IT GOOD!

I’ve been using Gmaps Pedometer to map my runs and bike rides. It’s a simple goodle ad app that lets you outline your intended path and calculates the mileage for you. It’s been great. Thanks to Caleb Brown and Jack Gilbert for turning me on to it.

However! I’m about to upgrade.

When I first got back into biking, I looked for an easy way to tell which LA city streets would be good for a long ride. Lots of the streets are narrow and many are quite busy, as you’d suspect. On that search, I found MapMyRide.com and at the time, it was chucky, clunky, and didn’t work. But I Apple+D’d it nonetheless, just it case they got themselves figured out.

And they did! They are now eons beyond Gmaps because while Gmaps will show you the google satellites and topography maps, MapMyRide will show me google’s new terrain maps which I much prefer! And they even show me the elevation of my intended (or already executed) ride, per feet and per miles! And you can change it to kilometers if you like. And it’s awesome. Did I mention that?

Shown here is the ride I just rode. Short, comparatively, but I have a lot to do today. Cheers!

I COULD NEVER RUN 10 MILES!

“I could never run 10 whole miles!” I said to my then roomie, Dianne, almost two years ago, as she was on her way out the door for a long run. At the time, she’d completed 8 marathons and was working her way to 10. I looked at her with admiration and fear. This tall, slender protein-eating beauty was a running machine! I feared her endurance and I was in awe of her aerobic capacity, the likes of which I was sure that I’d never be able to match.

I was a kickboxer. Mixed martial arts. We hit things. We learn speed and power in a shorter distance than even sprinting. Even though thoughts of Rocky brings up images of running in place at the top of a long flight of stairs, most kickboxers are not great runners. We hop around in place and flail our arms and legs (hopefully with precision!) and while aerobic capacity is necessary for a 90 minute black belt class followed by 45 minutes of sparring, it just doesn’t seem to require the same “lung muscles.” Or so I thought…

But I just finished a 10 mile run! In 2 hours and 4 minutes (in case anyone was interested)!

It’s not my first. I’ve run at least ten miles at least three times by now. I guess that means today was my fourth attempt at at least ten miles. Strange to think that it’s only my fourth attempt because it felt so good. I was able to get through 8 whole miles without soreness and the soreness that came at mile 9 was expected and even welcome! It means my training is effective!

So as a good friend once reiterated to me, “Never say never.” You don’t know what you’re capable of accomplishing, unless you try.

SPEAKING OF MARATHONS

…producing a movie is kind of like that. One foot in front of the other. Just keep takin’ the next step. Write your lists. Rewrite your lists. Make the phonecalls. Have the conversations. Make the decisions. Massage the budgets. And I’m just one of five! We’re trying to do a lot in a short amount of time.

Screenwriting is also like a marathon. Except, it’s like a marathon where you don’t already know the route. You have to discover it as you go. In consultation with other runners. And you might need to backtrack and go down a different street. It’s like a marathon with a constantly changing route.

May we all wear comfortable, er, gloves?

Moving confidently forward, one grunting, sweaty, shuffling step at a time…

13.1 MILES

5:30 AM – Today’s the day I run a half-marathon. I’m up early to go join my carpool down to Huntington Beach! An update will be forthcoming upon my completion of the race and return to Hollywood!

2:30 PM – Did it! Proud, tired, and sore; but again oh so proud. We’re quickly (as quickly as I am able to move) getting ready to go out again to a Superbowl Party. A “real” update on the race will come later tonight or tomorrow. Pictures included!

5:30 PM – Well, 5:30 PM two days later… Yup! I’ve finally got photos up and I’ve recovered enough to talk about my experience.

12 MILES

Yup, it’s true.  Yesterday I ran 12 miles.  From here, to here.  I ran the entire length of the bike path from Venice Beach (MDR), through Santa Monica, to Will Rogers State Beach.  The bike path starts in Venice and ends right past Temescal Cyn Rd.  I ran that.  Yup.  It’s true.

I haven’t really been keeping up on my running blogs.  After I hit 11 miles right before Christmas, I ran 10 miles (long runs) several times  over Christmas the the first few weeks of January and then began to increase my weekly training runs (4 or 5 miles instead of 2 or 3 miles for each run).  But the half-marathon, is in two weeks.  Half-marathon = 13.1 miles.  So I needed to run 12 miles yesterday… to push my wall back.

But I’d been getting a little nervous because up until last week, I’d been having a strange pain in my left foot.  In the arch.  Caleb, one of my running coaches, suggested 2 oz miracles.  So I bought them last week and have been running with them for a few days now…

And I did not have ANY pain yesterday!  Except for a Kansas-sized blister…  But other than that – NO ARCH PAIN!  YAY!!  I also wore a cotton tank and got a bit chaffed on the insides of my arms.  Sad.  But regardless, it was a gorgeous run.  The sun was beautiful and the temperature was perfect.  And I felt strong at the end.  Except for that dang blister!

Ryan drove us to Venice.  I took off for my run and after he found parking (an achievement in itself!), he walked up the Venice boardwalk and hung out at the Starbucks.  He was waiting for me when I finished and he drove us home.  It was so nice to have him there.

When I ran my first 7-miler (and blogged it) months ago, Sarita said that it does get easier.  It think it’s more appropriately said that it gets easier to push yourself harder.  I’m certainly running faster now (at a comfortably slow pace), than when I first started.  And when I do my “short runs” I’m able to push myself harder and go even faster for a longer period.  It’s exciting!

So for the next two weeks, I’m supposed to taper.  This means I start running shorter distances.  So I’m like a horse at the gate on race day.  Whoo hoo!

P.S. By the way, I ran 12 miles in 2 hours and 24 minutes.  I feel good about that.

WARSHIPS BY DAY…

“Trickle-down theory” by night…  I’m super proud of my father.  He’s generously quoted in this AOL Canada article about the Toronto Maple Leafs.

11 MILES

Yup.  I did it.  I ran 10 miles.  In fact, we went a little farther and did 11 miles… just because.  Well, because we accidentally took a wrong turn but that’s another story.  The point is, I did it.  And now it feels accomplishable.

My running mates are deciding whether we should continue on a half-marathon training pace or up the pace to a full-marathon training.  I think my feet wish to continue on half-marathon pace.  I might need new shoes.  Or new inserts.  Something.  11 miles of pounding certainly takes its toll!

This time we were joined by one of the faculty/staff members of Act One and he chose the route.  It took us by Warner Bros, Disney, the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, and of course, through Griffith Park and down Forest Lawn.  It was a lovely run and we saw several other training groups out.  As we past them (going the opposite direction), we would all wave at each other.  I enjoyed the solidarity.

And I enjoy running.  I’m starting to think I’m affected.

AFTER THE RAIN

It was raining on Friday in Los Angeles.  Unusual, wet, meaningful rain.  Cleansing rain.  Cool rain.  Rain that makes all the colours saturated.  Yummy rain.  Rain that beckoned me to run in it.  So, decked out in plastic clothes specially crafted (in China?) just for running, I ventured out.

It rarely rains in LA.  I thought of the recent fires.  I thought of home.  I thought of my father.  Once we’d seen a runner running while it was snowing, through slushy streets, and my father had commented, “Now that’s dedication.”  While it was only rain, and it was a cool 59’F in the balmy California fall, I was still running in the rain.  And I wondered if he’ll be proud of me, and say, “Now that’s dedication.”

I got slapped in the face several times by low-hanging, sopping-wet branches.  Water ran down my neck and sloshed into my aerated shoes.  And it was one of my best runs yet.  Strong stride, good turnover, little bounce.  And not too hot!

9 MILES!!

So yesterday’s goal was to run 8 miles.  But my running partner and I (others were out of town) arrived at the designated location without a designated route!  So we ran when we thought would be about 8 miles.  And afterwards, we discovered, with the use of sophisticated measuring devices (my car), that we’d run 9 whole miles!  The great part is, it was a good run.  We took it slow at the beginning and ran strong at the end.  I think I could have gone at least 3 or 4 more miles!  It was a good day.

So I’m starting to enjoy running!  It’s fun when you don’t feel like you’re in pain the whole time!

Don’t know if we’ll do 9 miles again next week or if we’ll move ahead to 10 miles…

7 MILES

Jogged it. Ran it. Walked a few bits. Walked often, but short bits. We do the “run for 5 minutes and walk for 1 minute” thing.  Or is it 10 minutes running…?  Halfway through, I was given a bit of banana and I ate it, but it didn’t fare too well in my tummy. And then I got stitches. I think next time I’ll refrain from eating while I’m running. I also had to pee for the last half. Very annoying! Anyway – still, I finished and am proud of myself.

Next week: 8 miles.

6 MILES

I ran them.  By myself.  I think it’s the longest I’ve run in one run.  Next Saturday, 7 miles.  Ack!

PULCHRITUDINOUS

The next time someone calls you pulchritudinous, thank them.

COUCH POTATOES?

Ryan and I saw the movie SURF’S UP on Friday night. It was a VERY GOOD MOVIE! In other news, they had a lifesized THE SIMPSONS MOVIE “poster” in the lobby. Ryan and I couldn’t help ourselves…

I don’t know about this…

Not sure what to make of it… I found this little piece of news here, and ironically there was a banner ad for “The Girls Next Door” (the reality show on E! on about Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends) right at the top of the page.

Study: TV sex actually has cooled off since the ’70s
Was the era of “Charlie’s Angels” and “Three’s Company” really raunchier than the era of Janet Jackson’s bared breast? Apparently yes. A new study of American primetime network programming between 1975 and 2004 says sexual content of nearly every kind has decreased sharply and consistently over those three decades, leaving today’s viewers with one-third the sexual content they’d have seen in the 1970s. That may be a surprise considering the big outcry over broadcast indecency the past few years. Analyzing 2,558 hours of programming, Amir Hetsroni, a professor of communications at Yezreel Valley College in Israel, found that kisses have become less passionate, suggestions of sexual intercourse have gone missing, and there’s been less talk about sex, including safe sex. The study also finds less content about what it calls “illegal sexual interactions.” Content related to homosexual sex is the exception, having increased markedly in the past two decades.

Well, they definitely got the homosexuality part right.  Still, I find this a little hard to believe overall.

HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED THIS!?

The California-located Anaheim Ducks beat the Canadian-based Ottawa Senators for the Stanley Cup this year…  and I learned about it from Florida-newspaper, the Miami Herald.  I’m not sure whether to feel proud, disappointed, or simply stuck in some fabulously weird irony-vortex.

Ugh… and it was 4 games to 1!