It's been a month since I started training for a marathon. Which means I have about two and a half more months to reach the 26.2 mile mark. How am I progressing toward that goal, you ask? Well, first of all, thanks for asking. I'm progressing fairly well, if I do say so myself. There have been a few bumps in the road, so to speak (har har), but for the most part, I've been on easy street (OK, that's enough).
I'm using what's apparently the most popular marathon training plan, because every time I mention that I'm training, the person I'm talking to says, "Oh, are you doing long runs on the weekends and short runs during the week, with some hills thrown in?" Or something similar. And I say, "Why, yes, I am."
My most recent conversation of this sort was with a coworker today at lunchtime. He recited his part flawlessly, and I proudly informed him that my longest run so far was a whopping 10 miles. Ten miles! (I didn't repeat it to him, but I'm repeating it here because I'm damn proud of it.) That's the second-farthest I've ever run in my entire life (that's nearly 30 years, kids). The farthest was 13.1 miles, when I did a half-marathon in November of 2009. In a few weeks, I'll surpass even that distance. Assuming all the training continues to go well.
Which brings me to the kinks. There are two kinks at the moment: the right leg and the left leg. Specifically, the muscles at the very bottom of each leg, just above the foot, on both the front and the back of each leg. These areas have been tight during runs and even on my rest days. I was hoping the tightness would go away on its own as I continued to train, but so far, no. It's not a huge problem yet, but as my distances get longer, I'll need to be looser. I'm trying to stretch more often and stay flexible, so we'll see if that helps.
My girlfriend, however, has not been so fortunate in her training. For the past couple of weeks, she's been wrestling with a sore IT band, a bundle of tissue that comes down the thigh and around the knee. The best thing for it is rest, and maybe a little physical therapy, but she's having trouble doing either one. I hate to see her struggling like this, and can only imagine how frustrating it must be. I hope it heals quickly, because I don't want her to be unprepared for the marathon or to have to skip it, leaving me to run all by my lonesome. Or, worse yet, leaving me to run this marathon alone and then convincing me that I need to run another marathon with her when she's healed! Gasp! Please heal quickly!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Blue (in a good way)
With all the complaining I do about the unfavorable weather here in western Washington, I need to create some balance by celebrating the good days. And lately, there have been a lot of good days. Summer did not arrive on time, at the exact moment my little ticker turned over and started counting the other direction. But it has arrived nonetheless.
Two weeks ago, I went to Boise, Idaho, for my cousin's wedding. When I left Washington, it was still a bit chilly and cloudy, but not as bad as it had been at the very end of spring. I was glad to get away to sunny, warm, beautiful Boise and the mountains outside the city, where the wedding took place. Speaking to my girlfriend on the phone that weekend, I was informed that the Washington skies continued to be gray.
Since arriving home a week and a half ago, though, I've been incredibly fortunate. Some summers, the weather will stay cool and wet into the middle of July. This year, the warm days began shortly before July 4, giving us a better than usual holiday. At times during the past couple of weeks, I've even been hotter than I'd like. But I refuse to complain about that. I figure that if I whine about the cold, I'm not allowed to whine about the heat. And the truth is, with so much cold throughout the year, I really don't mind the heat.
Western Washington is a breathtakingly beautiful place, with its trees, mountains, and water. (In fact, I think I just saw an eagle fly over the inlet outside my window.) But it's so much easier to appreciate all that beauty when the gray covering is lifted and the spectacle is well lit and accompanied by what I consider one of nature's most appealing sights: a clear, blue sky.
Two weeks ago, I went to Boise, Idaho, for my cousin's wedding. When I left Washington, it was still a bit chilly and cloudy, but not as bad as it had been at the very end of spring. I was glad to get away to sunny, warm, beautiful Boise and the mountains outside the city, where the wedding took place. Speaking to my girlfriend on the phone that weekend, I was informed that the Washington skies continued to be gray.
Since arriving home a week and a half ago, though, I've been incredibly fortunate. Some summers, the weather will stay cool and wet into the middle of July. This year, the warm days began shortly before July 4, giving us a better than usual holiday. At times during the past couple of weeks, I've even been hotter than I'd like. But I refuse to complain about that. I figure that if I whine about the cold, I'm not allowed to whine about the heat. And the truth is, with so much cold throughout the year, I really don't mind the heat.
Western Washington is a breathtakingly beautiful place, with its trees, mountains, and water. (In fact, I think I just saw an eagle fly over the inlet outside my window.) But it's so much easier to appreciate all that beauty when the gray covering is lifted and the spectacle is well lit and accompanied by what I consider one of nature's most appealing sights: a clear, blue sky.
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| Not the most recent photo, but you can't argue with that view. (That's my brother in the foreground and a friend behind him.) |
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Marathon
Two weeks ago, my girlfriend ran her third half-marathon of the past year. She had tried to convince me to do it with her, but I had repeatedly declined, although I was tempted to say yes. I didn't think I would have enough time to train, and I didn't want excessive running to cause me to go back to being as skinny as I used to be.
Then, in the weeks leading up to her half-marathon, my girlfriend started asking if I wanted to run a full marathon with her later this year, on September 30 (one of her New Year's resolutions is to complete a marathon before the year is over). I hemmed and hawed for a few weeks, trying to decide if I should give in. Running a marathon is something I've thought about doing in the past, and it's an achievement I had wanted to conquer. But so far the closest I've come is a half-marathon two-and-a-half years ago. Since then, I've run a couple of miles here and there, but I haven't done much of anything to keep up with endurance athletics at all. Still, I've always had a bit of the runner in me, and I enjoy staying in shape. I also feel like I get sick less often when I'm running regularly. But on the other hand, I've been trying for the past year to pack on a few extra pounds of muscle, because I was tired of being scrawny. And I was afraid if I started running again, I'd end up losing weight.
So, before my girlfriend took her place among the horde of starters for the half-marathon two weeks ago, I made her a little bet. I said, 'If you finish this race three minutes faster than you finished your last one, I'll run the marathon with you later this year.' She groaned and pleaded her case. Knocking off three minutes would be hard, she said. She didn't know if she could do it. I, on the other hand, knowing the way she'd been training, and knowing that she tends to push herself harder when she has an incentive, was almost completely certain that she could. And I'd already made up my mind that I'd join her for the marathon no matter what. Two hours and nearly twelve minutes later, she came jogging across the finish line--more than eleven minutes faster than her previous personal best.
Since then, I've started my training runs. They've been short--between three and four miles--but I'm far enough out of shape to necessitate starting small. I'm already starting to feel healthier than I've felt in a long time, and I'm trying not to worry about getting too skinny. So far my appetite is strong enough to keep me from withering away; my body is making sure I replenish every calorie burned on training runs. And I'm still making time for the weight room. My hope is that I'll be able to balance the running with the gym and proper calorie and protein intake, so that even if I end up losing a little bit of weight, I won't lose muscle and strength. All-around fitness is the goal. And finishing in less than four-and-a-half hours.
Then, in the weeks leading up to her half-marathon, my girlfriend started asking if I wanted to run a full marathon with her later this year, on September 30 (one of her New Year's resolutions is to complete a marathon before the year is over). I hemmed and hawed for a few weeks, trying to decide if I should give in. Running a marathon is something I've thought about doing in the past, and it's an achievement I had wanted to conquer. But so far the closest I've come is a half-marathon two-and-a-half years ago. Since then, I've run a couple of miles here and there, but I haven't done much of anything to keep up with endurance athletics at all. Still, I've always had a bit of the runner in me, and I enjoy staying in shape. I also feel like I get sick less often when I'm running regularly. But on the other hand, I've been trying for the past year to pack on a few extra pounds of muscle, because I was tired of being scrawny. And I was afraid if I started running again, I'd end up losing weight.
So, before my girlfriend took her place among the horde of starters for the half-marathon two weeks ago, I made her a little bet. I said, 'If you finish this race three minutes faster than you finished your last one, I'll run the marathon with you later this year.' She groaned and pleaded her case. Knocking off three minutes would be hard, she said. She didn't know if she could do it. I, on the other hand, knowing the way she'd been training, and knowing that she tends to push herself harder when she has an incentive, was almost completely certain that she could. And I'd already made up my mind that I'd join her for the marathon no matter what. Two hours and nearly twelve minutes later, she came jogging across the finish line--more than eleven minutes faster than her previous personal best.
Since then, I've started my training runs. They've been short--between three and four miles--but I'm far enough out of shape to necessitate starting small. I'm already starting to feel healthier than I've felt in a long time, and I'm trying not to worry about getting too skinny. So far my appetite is strong enough to keep me from withering away; my body is making sure I replenish every calorie burned on training runs. And I'm still making time for the weight room. My hope is that I'll be able to balance the running with the gym and proper calorie and protein intake, so that even if I end up losing a little bit of weight, I won't lose muscle and strength. All-around fitness is the goal. And finishing in less than four-and-a-half hours.
A Slow Week
I should reiterate that my research into my family history is ongoing, and the information I posted last week is merely one side of a long, complicated story. I don't have any reason to doubt Tootsie's tales about my great-grandparents (her grandparents), but at the same time, I will do my best to find more than one source for each historical anecdote, and, wherever possible, corroborating documentation. Stories of my ancestors are great, but I want more. I want to know exactly what they were like, why they came to the States, and where they came from. Interviewing living relatives will be a huge help in that (and already has been), but as I learned when I worked as a newspaper reporter, every story is better when it includes multiple sources and factual documentation.
That being said, I think my next move is to join Ancestry.com and do a little digging through some records. That website seems like it'll be helpful, from what I've previewed so far, but I'll probably have to go further because I doubt they will have much information about my great-grandparents' lives prior to their move to the U.S. and their name change. Exactly what that part of my research will involve is still a mystery to me. But I'll think about what happens after Ancestry.com once I've exhausted that site's resources. And I'll post another update once I've gathered new information.
That being said, I think my next move is to join Ancestry.com and do a little digging through some records. That website seems like it'll be helpful, from what I've previewed so far, but I'll probably have to go further because I doubt they will have much information about my great-grandparents' lives prior to their move to the U.S. and their name change. Exactly what that part of my research will involve is still a mystery to me. But I'll think about what happens after Ancestry.com once I've exhausted that site's resources. And I'll post another update once I've gathered new information.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Meet the Great-Grandparents (Tootsie Interview 1)
Last night I had the good fortune to chat with one of my dad's oldest cousins, who also happens to be a bit of a family historian. She's in town for a visit this week, on her way up to Canada to see one of her own grandchildren.
Tootsie (aka Isabel) is the daughter of Carmen, one of my grandmother's oldest siblings (there were nine kids in all, seven who lived past infancy). Tootsie has firsthand knowledge regarding my great-grandparents, since they were still alive when she was a child. She was able to give me the names of everyone in my grandma's family, as well as some of their birth years, and a few anecdotes about them, which I was quick to jot down. For instance, according to Tootsie's mother, my great-grandpa Graciano Gonzalez was originally named Graciano Tovar when he lived in Mexico. And he didn't come to the United States in search of "the American Dream" as I had assumed. He came as a fugitive.
What sort of crime he supposedly committed in Mexico, Tootsie didn't know. But by the time Carmen and her siblings crossed the border with their mother, Eloisa Diaz (aka Moda), they found Graciano with a new last name, working in southern Texas. He found work on the railroad, laying track that pointed west. According to Tootsie, the family "followed the railroad to National City," a San Diego suburb. That's where they settled, where Tootsie was raised, and where some of the family still remains. From there, the descendants spread out throughout the San Diego area, up to Los Angeles where Tootsie and many of her children and grandchildren reside, and all the way up to Washington state and beyond.
But this is only the beginning of the story for me. I have a few pages of notes from my conversation with Tootsie, and my appetite for uncovering more of my family history has been whetted. I just might have to go to the family reunion in San Diego later this summer.
Tootsie (aka Isabel) is the daughter of Carmen, one of my grandmother's oldest siblings (there were nine kids in all, seven who lived past infancy). Tootsie has firsthand knowledge regarding my great-grandparents, since they were still alive when she was a child. She was able to give me the names of everyone in my grandma's family, as well as some of their birth years, and a few anecdotes about them, which I was quick to jot down. For instance, according to Tootsie's mother, my great-grandpa Graciano Gonzalez was originally named Graciano Tovar when he lived in Mexico. And he didn't come to the United States in search of "the American Dream" as I had assumed. He came as a fugitive.
What sort of crime he supposedly committed in Mexico, Tootsie didn't know. But by the time Carmen and her siblings crossed the border with their mother, Eloisa Diaz (aka Moda), they found Graciano with a new last name, working in southern Texas. He found work on the railroad, laying track that pointed west. According to Tootsie, the family "followed the railroad to National City," a San Diego suburb. That's where they settled, where Tootsie was raised, and where some of the family still remains. From there, the descendants spread out throughout the San Diego area, up to Los Angeles where Tootsie and many of her children and grandchildren reside, and all the way up to Washington state and beyond.
But this is only the beginning of the story for me. I have a few pages of notes from my conversation with Tootsie, and my appetite for uncovering more of my family history has been whetted. I just might have to go to the family reunion in San Diego later this summer.
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| A photo from Tootsie. She's in the middle of the back row. My dad's oldest brother, Dennis, who turns 70 this year, is front and center. |
The First Week of June
I have to add to my previous post about the depressing forecast. Right after I posted that bit about the weather not being as dreary as I'd expected, I went outside to find the rain falling hard. And in the days since then, the sun has shone through for a few hours, but otherwise it's been gray and wet and unseasonably cold. So the Weather Underground was dead on. My apologies for underestimating their forecasting skills.
Next post: Progress on the family history project!
Next post: Progress on the family history project!
Friday, June 1, 2012
The First of June
Today was not nearly as cold and dreary as I'd expected. It wasn't exactly sunny and warm either, but it was tolerable. I'm not saying the Weather Underground website was wrong, but they weren't exactly right either, because I saw more sun than I'd anticipated. That's not taking anything away from the Weather Underground, though. No one can really predict what the weather around here is going to do, because it changes so constantly. OK, maybe there are a few people who can predict the weather. But they're probably old men with trick knees who say things like, "Storm's a comin'. I can feel it in my bones," in a voice that creaks like the ancient porch their rocking chairs sit on.
The rest of us will have to keep an eye on the weather reports and stay prepared by having a raincoat, a sweater, flip-flops, and sunscreen always at the ready. That's what I'll have to do when I go out of town this weekend. I'm heading up to Sequim, on the Olympic Peninsula, to cheer for my girlfriend as she runs a half marathon. We're driving up there, about 2 hours away, on Saturday afternoon. We'll stay in her parents' RV on Saturday night, and the race will be on Sunday morning. I'm packing layers of clothing. I may get chilly standing out there, but that's fine. There is something good about running a race here in western Washington during this time of year though: While it may not be sunny and pleasant for the lazy spectators, it will almost certainly be cool enough to keep the runners from overheating. Run on!
The rest of us will have to keep an eye on the weather reports and stay prepared by having a raincoat, a sweater, flip-flops, and sunscreen always at the ready. That's what I'll have to do when I go out of town this weekend. I'm heading up to Sequim, on the Olympic Peninsula, to cheer for my girlfriend as she runs a half marathon. We're driving up there, about 2 hours away, on Saturday afternoon. We'll stay in her parents' RV on Saturday night, and the race will be on Sunday morning. I'm packing layers of clothing. I may get chilly standing out there, but that's fine. There is something good about running a race here in western Washington during this time of year though: While it may not be sunny and pleasant for the lazy spectators, it will almost certainly be cool enough to keep the runners from overheating. Run on!
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