jet laggity-laggin'

http://www.mccd.edu/faculty/jrmccabe/jetlag.JPG


ugh. jet lag. hate it.


i have a "cure" if you're interested: hours and hours of bright sun light as soon as you land. mentally prepare yourself for the local time at your destination and set your watch as soon as you begin your flight. once you land, keep yourself busy, in bright sun light as long as you can, and don't go to sleep until the local bed time. this usually does it for me...however this week, here in der schwiez, it is raining, raining, raining, raining. sunshine is not happenin'.


#1 daughter and i took miz nina for a run in the barenreid forrest on sunday. i was so happy to watch nina frollicking along with us. she loves to race back and forth between the two of us. (#1 daughter has gazelle legs and is always ahead!) we managed a little over 3 miles in nice cool weather. speaking of #1 daughter, her graduation at W&M was beautiful. they do it up good. She's the one in the red converse all stars.





yesterday we opted to rest ourselves, as our muscles were a little sore. i had missed the hills around here while i was in virginia. when i move back later this summer, i will make an effort to find good hilly trails.

today, i woke up with a sore throat and a snotty head. hmmm. i feel like crapola, but think i can at least manage a short run later with the girlie and the canine. we are on track for running in the swiss women's race soon.

#1 son has completed all his final exams. he had over two weeks of really difficult I.B. exams and i know he's relieved that all that is behind him. his class voted him to be their speaker at their graduation on saturday. his graduating class is about 20 kids. we're really proud of him.

the one with the 200 miles

today i completed 200 miles in 2007. i did a quick 2 miles this morning in my sister's neighborhood. she has a SAH that she lives on. always FUN to end a run with that.

turns out Mr. Wonderful was joking about my dog running away. no words can explain how far he crossed the line with me. i'm relieved my sweet nina is ok.

#1 daughter and i are catching the plane back to CH this evening. hope you're having a good day.

my dog ran away

miz nina, my faithful companion, ran away the morning that i left switzerland. i am so sad.
i don't return until next weekend. maybe by then mr. wonderful and #1 son will find her.

all my bags are packed, i'm ready to go...

it's 6 a.m. and i am making coffee. soon i will be heading out the door to catch the train to the zurich airport. i'm off to virginia for two weeks! #1 daughter is graduating! this will be awesome.

i woke up this morning a teensy bit sore in the glutes. hmmm. i have S.A.H.-butt. ha!

thanks for following me along as i prepared for my first race. i appreciate your support. i'll be back to blog before too long. next up - the Frauenlauf, June 10!

see ya!

the one with my first race

this is me in the backyard before the race

race day!

i've been training for this for 6 months.

it came...

and it went!

i ran my first race ever in my whole life! i enjoyed, savored every moment of it. is that a way to say i took my time? enjoyed the scenery? yes..it is. i took it easy, and if i wasn't the last runner, i was close to the last runner. the swiss are all freakishly fit! there were old, old people walking faster than i was running. that was disconcerting, but i put myself in my "bubble" and tried to just concentrate on myself, and i got through it. i even made it up most of the way on the S.A.H.!!!! i was surprised! i did have to stop and walk a little bit, but i was able to get it back together and finish the last kilometer with energy. thank goodness the last 1/2 kilometer was doooown hill. ahhhh. when i crossed the finish line, they announced MY NAME!! ahhh! i was so surprised!

my time: 36:46. yay me!

now we're cracking open a bottle of bubbly. :-)

hope you're having a good day too.

Schweizer Frauenlauf

today i signed #1 daughter and myself up for the Schweizer Frauenlauf on June 10.

i had a good workout today. it was my last "hard" run before the 5K on saturday. it was really windy. i'm hoping running uphill into the wind will make me a teensy bit stronger. the weather report for saturday is "iffy" so i'm expecting it to be cool and rainy.

tomorrow i'm going to run my very last "easy" run with miz nina before the 5K. then she and i have an appointment with the village vet. it's time to get miz nina ready to move to the U.S.A. she's originally from toulouse, france. when we first got her, she didn't speak english. she's now tri-lingual: french, english and some swiss-german. ha!

le freak, so chic

ahhhh

freak out!

le freak, so chic!

everything i've been planning and looking forward to is coming together. everything is going to pretty much happen at once! hang on! everything is "snowballing!"

first up is this saturday's 5K. my very first one ever. i'm ready. can't wait! i'm going friday morning over to the "expo" to pick up my packet.

afer the race, the very next morning, i'm flying to virginia to get ready for #1 daughter's college graduation. but i'll be back soon - in order to attend #1 son's high school graduation! (jet lag! what's that??)

my goal for the month of may is to run at least 16 miles a week. with all the travelling it will be a challenge to stay with it, but i'm motivated and don't want to lose momentum. there's a race in bern in june...so if sign up for it, i will have more reason to keep running, right??!! it's the schweizer frauenlauf (swiss women's race), sunday june 10. i will be packing out the week after that race...maybe i really should sign up for it. the running will keep me focused instead of freaking out about all the stuff i have to do.

i ran today in the baerenreid forrest. i took it slow and easy, but made it all the way to the top of the little mountain. that's an approximate 200 feet elevation in 2 miles. i made 2.33 miles in 21 minutos, amigos. slow and steady, just like the tortoise. my legs were feeling a little tired, especially my lower calves, but i was going slow enough, i kept my heart rate and breathing at a comfortable level. i only stopped at the very top to take a swig of water, stretch out my lower back, check on miz nina....then we headed back the way we came. it was nice and cool this morning - about 50 degrees. felt wonderful. i had to stop again just before i was finished for miz nina to take an unexpected poo. ha. so..whatever. i counted in that time too.

there's lots going on for my little family. i'll post in my blog as often as i can, but it will certainly be limited due to the travelling, moving, and setting up a new household. but! before i go, i'll write about my first 5K!

hope you're having a good day wherever you are.

her majesty the queen

my daughter, who is in the queens' guard at william and mary had the honor of standing guard for the queen during her visit to the college yesterday afternoon. she's in the group somewhere!

for highlights of the queen's visit to w&m click here.

here's my girlie <3

my little girl is the 2nd guard on the left

we're having lots of rain here in my swiss town today. there was a brief break this afternoon, so i dashed out and got in a quick three miles in about a half hour. yay me.

we're hosting a surprise birthday party for a friend in a few minutes. shhhhh!

just another day in paradise

president bush speaks at the centcom coalition conference at macdill AFB florida
chavez seizes control from big oil (he's a p.i.t.a.)
castro is a no show at the may day parade (hmmmm)
georgia wild fires won't let up (ctclady is enhaling smoke!)
boy george was arrested for assault
rosie o'donnell is leaving The View (thank goodness)
dannilynn is going home with her biological father
immigration marchers take to the streets

mr. kicky is having dinner out.
#1 son is at bern library feverishly studying. his I.B. exams begin tomorrow. dun-dun-DUN (theatrical music here).
#1 daughter is hanging on by a thread. her last class is this friday. everyone send her happy thoughts. :-)

i got my run in today. and YES!! i made it up S.A.H. again today...and then managed to run another 40 meters before stopping to take a swig of water. actually when i got to the top of S.A.H. there was a young couple walking past with their stroller and they glanced at me in a slightly disgusted and worried manner...as i wheezed and plodded up the S.A.H. their expressions consequently encouraged me to at least pull it together and trot ladylike past them to the next path where i nonchallently slowed to a walk and took a drink of water.

i got my "bern grand prix racing number and entrance ticket" today.
and i ate cereal for supper..and i'm reading a really good, trashy novel. doesn't get much better.

hope you're having a good day too.