La Brea Tar Pits

On each of our trips to Southern California we always aim to do something different. Get in our rental car and leave the cocoon we call Disneyland. This trip's big get out of town trip was to the La Brea Tar Pits.

Back in the summer of 1982 we took a family vacation to Southern California. It is probably one of the most memorable trips we ever took as kids in part because it was the only time we went to California, and because I was 12 (almost 13) at the time. We saw our new Uncle Sterling. I hung out at a country club with a relative of one of our neighbors who used to spend part of her summer in Paramus, went to Disneyland, the beach, and La Brea Tar Pits. The trip the took an eastern turn via Houston to Denver to visit Aunt Barbara and Uncle Allen when they lived there.

Fast forward about 30 years. Ashley became a big Flintstones fan. There is an episode where they reference the La Brea Tar Pits. In trying to dredge up my memories I just could not do the place justice. How often do you find an archaeological dig in the middle of a huge metropolitan city?

As we were making our plans for the trip, I told my sister Rebecca's ST-END Sue that we were thinking of going to the tar pits. Turns out, that is one of her favorite sites. We made plans to meet there after the Wonderland 10K (and a shower). Unfortunately life got in the way, and Sue and HIM could not meet us. We still had a good time.

We learned:

1) There are no dinosaurs in the Tar Pits. Go figure! The dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years, back when Los Angeles was still covered by the ocean. The Tar Pits are only 50,000 years old.

2) There is no "tar" nor "pits." They are really bubbles of crude oil. 

3) The tar pits are still trapping small animals on hot days.

4) They are still digging up remains and studying them.

For me the neatest part of the exhibit was being able to watch scientists at work in Fishbowl Lab. I can't imagine working while people stare at me, but on the other hand jobs in archaeology are rare, so maybe the scientists don't mind as much. The room looked like a step back in time. Funding, as you can surely guess, is a big issue.

Though it would have been a treat to listen to Ragtime Alan play that day (he was a last minute substitute pianist at Coke Corner), my legs and body appreciated the slower day so I could rest up for the Disneyland Half Marathon the next day.

Perfect 10-miler

Last weekend I ran a brand-new race -- the CGI Perfect 10-Miler. It is a women's only race that took place in Mercer County Park, a mere 15 minutes from my house. This is where I do most of my long training runs, so it felt very familiar and comfortable. 

It is hard to tell from the picture, but I wore my Double Double Dare shirt.

Packet pick up was the day before in the rink at Mercer County Park. That could not have been any smoother. I hope, though, next year they can get some girly vendors, such as Sparkle Skirts or Bondi Bands.

I brought my camera along for the run, but only took a few pictures. This was quite a different experience from the DisneyLand Half and Alice in Wonderland 10K races. At the end, I remarked to myself how much faster my pace is when I am not stopping to take pictures and pose with characters.

A few days before the race we were told due to the rain we've been getting, parking was being moved from the grass to the paved parking lots of Mercer County Community College and that shuttle buses would be provided. Sure enough, the red Rutgers shuttle buses took us from the parking lot to the start line. The shuttle bus experience took longer than the drive to the parking lot, but it was still a positive experience.

Even with that monkey wrench in the plan, the race only started 4 minutes late. Not bad at all. They had pacers with signs indicating their pace to help us self regulate where to stand at the starting line. That worked perfectly! 

It was a chip start, not a gun start, so my time was my time and not add a few minutes to get to the start.

I found myself with the same pack of women for the entire race. I noticed a lot of the women were doing intervals, even with doing different intervals (mine were 2 run / 1 walk, others were 3/1), we stayed together as a pack. After starting with me, my friend Michelle ran the whole race. We still finished within a few seconds of each other (I darted ahead at the last moment to try to get a finish line picture of her, but missed).

I kept seeing the same husband and dog team taking short cuts to see his wife. It was fun seeing him along the route pop up along the course. I must have been just ahead of his wife the entire time.

Though I knew a lot of women in this race, I only bumped into Michelle, her friend Heather, and my Perfect Princess friend Debbie. I never did see Gabrielle, or Jen, or bump into any surprise friends.

As with the Rutgers 8K (same organizers) the finish line food was very good. This time, it even included a chocolate fondue, which I managed to get all over my face, bib, and shirt. It was tasty! 

The medal is nice, too. I know Michelle will always treasure it because it is her first. 

The weather could not have been nicer. It was 58 at start and 64 at finish. Head wind for the last couple of miles, so maybe it could have been a *little* bit nicer. I suppose I had a nice tail wind for much of it, but didn't realize it. It was overcast. So much better, though, than the three Disney races I have done this year. 

Also unlike Disney, there were not many people wearing costumes. A few women dressed up as super heroes, but for the most part people wore normal running clothes. How boring! LOL My Sparkle Skirt made me stand out.

Michelle drove me back to my car. My wonderful thermos still had warm tea in it. Ahh!! Michelle followed me home for a shower and waffles by Don.

My chip time was 1:59:04 -- under a 12-minute overall pace! Once you factor in the extra .25 of a mile worth of weaving I did to stay out of people's way during the walking portion of my intervals, it worked out to an 11:41 pace. I believe that is the best I have ever done in a race longer than 5K. Best of all, my miles were fairly consistent. I did walk mile 8, which gave me a 13 minute pace, but not bad. 
Afterwards I tried to explain to Ashley why I love a women's only race. I came up with how supportive everyone is with each other, as well as being super encouraging. I felt more women were running intervals than I see at co-ed races. Overall there is a general sense of Girl Power! We are in it together, and having fun together.

The best reason to do a women's only race -- the swag fits!


At first I was thinking I wouldn't do the race again next year because it falls during Columbus Day weekend - which is a nice time of year to go away. I learned next year's race is October 26. Sounds perfect to me!

I'm Ba-a-a-a-ck

Expect... Anticipate... Hope for... Dream about... a bunch of new blog posts over the next few days. I've truly missed blogging. I've also missed putting pictures in scrapbooks. Those you'll have to visit me to see, but blog posts can be seen by anyone all over the globe. A bit scary, eh?

You might be wondering what I have been doing.

I ran more in two days  and HERE than I ever thought possible, and smiled my way to the finish line.

I celebrated another rotation around the sun in early September.

I started a one-month sub job as a school librarian, and regretted the invasion before the half-way mark. (There is a longer story, but I'll keep it at that.)

We replaced the kitchen and family room floors and painted those rooms to complete the first floor transformation -- it only took us 5 years or so.

I returned to my freelance work and took a once a week job with a friend. More on that as it develops.

It has been busy. I'm looking forward to returning to my blog. I have noticed my posts happen in inverse proportion to the amount of freelance work I have. I finally reached a pause today, hence the chance to write for fun.

Back to Work?

After Ashley was born, we made the big decision that I would stay home and take care of her. Pros and cons to every decision, but when I shopped around here for daycare and saw just how little I would take home after I paid a sitter, the choice was fairly simple.

When Ashley was two I started my graduate school program in library science with the intention of landing a school librarian job when Ashley started school. 

Instead, I decided to home school Ashley for first and second grade.

When she went into third grade, I thought NOW is the time! Instead I began to find some freelance work with the Lawrenceville Patch, then later with other publications. 

I was at the point that I just wasn't looking anymore when a friend emailed me to let me know about a one month position as a school librarian. The position could not have been more ideal -- it is a 12 minute drive with relatively no traffic; starts late enough that I can see Ashley off on the bus; ends early enough to not be an issue; great staff and faculty; pretty decent kids, too. 



So what is the issue? Why the question mark in the title?

Nothing is ideal. We quickly came to the conclusion that now is not the right time for me to work full-time. Since the position is temporary, I'm still juggling my freelance work. We have a home remodeling project that was scheduled months ago and cannot wait a few more weeks. I'm trying hard to be there for Ashley and Don when I am home, that I have no time to run or take care of the things I normally do. So much is not getting done. So much is getting lost in the shuffle.

Worst of all -- Ashley says I'm grumpy when I'm working. Looking back, she is right. I'm taking today off to prepare for the contractor and realized I'm smiling for the first time in three weeks.

The email and verbal compliments are very sweet, but nothing beats the twinkle in Ashley's eye when I told her I'd be home today.

I'll go back for the week and finish what I started. Perhaps I'd feel better about working if I was earning a teacher's salary with benefits (instead of a sub salary) and could afford to stop my freelance work, or the position was only three days a week instead of five. For now, though, the right decision is to continue building my freelance business and loving my family.

Disneyland Half Marathon

The day after rousing at 3:30 for the Wonderland 10K, I decided to sleep in a little and wake at 3:45 instead. Between the race the day before, the heat, and our day trip to the La Brea Tar Pits, I was tired. It felt like a case of "deja vu all over again." 

For the second morning in a row I walked in the dark down Harbor Boulevard, through the esplanade and over to the starting area behind the Disneyland Hotel. 

For the second morning in a row I bumped into the Facebook group PaceBook Running Club for a group photo.

For the second morning in a row I admired costumes (most fresh for the second race). 

For the second morning in a row I followed the herd to the corrals. This time they were better organized and I found my correct corral, which meant losing the group of people I thought I would pace with because they were in Corral C and I was in D. Oh well.

For the second morning in a row I saw Don at the start line and he snapped a picture of me.

This is where our story diverges. Unlike Saturday, Sunday they had us line up super early and we were entertained by Run Disney celebrities (Sean Astin, Jeff Galloway, Allie from the Biggest Loser, etc.). Each told us the same thing -- in this heat HYDRATE. 

The corrals were larger, so we were more spread out. There were 8 minutes (instead of a loose 5) between each corral starting. Twenty-four minutes after the first bunch left, I was off and running. I kept to my 2 minutes run / 1 minute walk for a while. My biggest early disappointment was the lack of water until mile 2 -- about 90 minutes after the last chance I had for water before being ordered to line up.

As we were nearing mile 2, we were also nearing the parks. I know where most of the water fountains were located along the route. The perk to having a race through the parks is that there is indoor plumbing along the route. :)

The next few miles were through the parks. I was pleasantly surprised by how much the route varied from the day before. We still hit most of the same highlights, but in a different order.

All too soon we were hitting the streets of Anaheim. One pleasant change over when I did this two years ago was that around mile 8 they had classic cars stretching on both sides of the street for over a mile. I tried to thank the owners for coming out and cheering up a rather dull section of the race.

My favorite part of this race is mile 9 -- when we run through Anaheim Angels Stadium. This time I caught myself on the jumbo tron (but was not fast enough with the camera). The section is filled with scouts who came out just to cheer us on. 

After mile 9 comes the knowledge that you have now passed the last of the sweeper vans. I later found out that was a myth as some people were swept at mile 12! I was enough ahead of the sweepers that I didn't worry. 

Somewhere along mile 11, while on Disneyland Way, I noticed Tower of Terror and the Matterhorn and knew we were getting close. I think this is when I got a little choked up.

At mile 12 I saw Peggy Sue, Pacebook's most famous cheerleader. This trip I had a chance to meet her and she is just as lovely in person as everyone said she is. Her daughter, Jane, was running both races, too. Peggy Sue comes out to cheer on all runners, especially those in the back of the pack. We all love her.

Well now I was on Disney property, even if it was just back stage. Miles 2 and 12 share the same stretch for a bit, making it feel again as if I was having a case of "deja vu all over again." As I neared Mile 13 we were in the Disney parking lot. Lots of people cheering us to the finish line. Some read our names off of our bibs and encouraged us personally. That is always a huge lift (note to spectators -- it really does help even if it comes from a complete stranger).

Almost there now!

And the medal collection grew!

Again I was slower than hoped. I wanted a 2 as the first digit, but it was 3:06. For a hot day to be 30 seconds per minute isn't too bad. Next up the Perfect 10 Miler, Beauty and the Beach 5-miler, the Princeton Half Marathon, and the Trenton Half Marathon. Oh, and a one-month subbing gig in Princeton.

Wonderland 10K

Last November I signed up for the Princess Half Marathon and mentally made the commitment to run the Disneyland Half Marathon and earn my Coast to Coast medal for running a half or full marathon on each coast in the same calendar year. In the meantime, Disney decided to add a 10K Alice in Wonderland themed race and call the combination of a 10K and half marathon the Dumbo Double Dare. Back in January when registrations filled up in less than an hour, I was swept up by the excitement and signed up for D3, as it quickly became known.

This was my first racing experience where I was handed three medals at the end of one race. Not bad bling for a morning run!

The 10K was held at 6:15 a.m. on Saturday, August 31. I woke at 3:30 a.m., trying to leave the room without rousing Don or Ashley. Don met me at the hotel room while Ashley slept through the race. I dressed as the Mad Hattress. There were a lot of truly amazing and creative costumes. 

I was fortunate to find a group of friends from the PaceBook Running Club (an Facebook running club that offers each other lots of encouragement) and be in their group shot. I also walked around a lot just admiring costumes -- individual and team ones. Naturally many were Wonderland themed.

Southern California was suffering from a massive heatwave complete with humidity. Our entire trip had temps in the upper 90s and 100s with over 50% humidity (yes, not overly humid by East Coast standards, but humid by Southern California ones). I think it was 80 and humid at the start.

Speaking of the start, that was the most chaotic part of the race. The 5K began at 5:30. We could not start lining up for the 10K until after the started. There was a lot of misdirection. By the time I found my corral, it was time to start. Made out fine, and found Don at the start, but it was not the relaxing pace I expected.

The 10K course (6.2 miles) mostly went through Disney property. Much of it was back stage. It also wound through the new Cars Land, Paradise Pier, and Grizzly Peaks sections of California Adventure before winding through the Disneyland side of the esplanade. Frankly, the route is a jumble since we did a similar route the next day during the half-marathon, and a third route two years ago when I completed my first half-marathon.

The route featured many characters -- especially ones from Alice in Wonderland. The Mile 1 marker was from the 5K and featured the Mad Hatter from the Mad Tea Party -- a dance party held evenings in California Adventure.

I also stopped for a picture with the more traditional Alice and the Mad Hatter, ones we know from playing musical chairs at 2:30, and the one I was trying to copy with my style.

It was hot, so I kept my stops to a minimum in the hopes of finishing before it became truly miserable. Don caught me at mile 6 and took this picture of me stopping for a tea party. Not coincidentally, my pace for mile 6 was the worst because by then I was having more fun posing than running. There were plenty of runners behind me (fortunately!).

At the end of this race I collected a medal and another plastic bracelet. The red bracelet would be traded in the next day for the Coast to Coast medal, and the green bracelet would be traded in for the Dumbo Double Dare medal.

In the end my time was pretty slow (1:33), and I "only" took 84 pictures. More importantly, though, I had reserves stored for the half marathon to take place the next day.

Birthdays

Birthdays. Love them or hate them, whether or not we want to admit it we all have them. Yesterday I celebrated another spin around the sun with my two favorite people.

Don and Ashley took me to Leonardo's II, a local restaurant where Lamberti's used to be. We had our favorite server, Marta, and bumped into our neighbors, Bob, Dave and Liz, which added to the local feeling of the night.

Birthdays always make me feel a little nostalgic. I thought about writing this post last year when I interviewed for a job, which I did not get. I thought that year would be marked by my re-entry into the work force. I was only off by a year.

On my birthday I started a new job as a one-month school librarian in the Princeton Public Schools. While it is only for one month (the librarian they hired needed to give her former district 60 days notice, beginning in early August), it is still a huge step for me. This will be my first time going to a job every day since before Ashley was born. It is also my first professional library position since earning my MLIS degree in 2008. My emotions are running from excited to scared stiff, and can shift fairly quickly.

Back to birthdays. Four years ago I was turning a milestone age that ends in a

0. Dave and Lisa made a dream of dining in Club 33 a reality (Club 33 is an invitation only restaurant in Disneyland). On that trip something life-changing happened -- I met a woman who planted the seed in me that I could actually run a half-marathon. Four years ago I didn't even own a pair of sneakers, yet this stranger believed in me. Last weekend I completed the Disneyland Half Marathon for the second time, and also the 10K the day before.

That same year my family and friends threw a "Ladies' Only" surprise tea in my honor at my parents' house. It was a treat seeing everyone so relaxed because they left their kids at home.

Another life altering year was in 2002 when I started graduate school on my birthday with a teacher I later learned was starting her career at Rutgers on her birthday. We've since become birthday buddies. Hard to believe that was 11 years ago.

As with everyone, some birthdays have been better than others. I remember weeping when Princess Diana's funeral took place on my birthday, just as I had cheered when she and Prince Charles got married. It didn't matter that our paths had never crossed. It just was. I also remember going to a viewing on my birthday for someone from our former church.

A truly rough one for me was walking Ashley to kindergarten on my birthday. Ashley and I have a tradition of celebrating my birthday together -- either by going out to breakfast, or out for ice cream depending on whether or not she has school that day. This year she took me out for ice cream at the Purple Cow -- just us two girls.

I remember celebrating with Don in Italy when I turned 30-something. Nearly got run over by a car that day when we walked a couple of miles from our hotel into town (we were on a tour group, but ditched the tour group that day), but had an amazing dinner of gnocchi at a tiny Italian restaurant in the mountains.

Growing up I remember a birthday party at a mini-golf place and a trip to the Statue of Liberty. We always had a family party, too.

I have had a couple of conversations recently with people about the perfect time of year to have a birthday. Late-December is bad because it coincides with Christmas. That sort of idea. In my mind, growing up early September was bad because I never quite new the new school year rules for birthday parties -- do we still have them? What do people bring in? I was always the first birthday of the year. 

On the other hand, I hardly ever went to school on my September 6th birthday because it often coincided with Labor Day weekend. Back in those days, Paramus schools started the Wednesday after Labor Day. I only had three chances out of seven to go to school on my birthday. Not bad odds.

On my 10th birthday I was supposed to go to school on my birthday when Hurricane David hit knocking out our power and blocking us in the house when two separate neighbors had trees knocked into the middle of the street. I remember opening my presents by candlelight. Ironically, I received a tape recorder, but had no way to plug it in. ;) (I think it also ran on batteries, just thought it was a funnier story the first way.)

As the years go by, there will be more birthdays and hopefully many, many more celebrations.