Staying Positive!

Today is a good day. I had to remind myself of that throughout a morning wrought with car troubles and phone tag.

Lake Merritt in the mornin'

But before all that began, I set out on my first run since Sunday. Lake Merritt was shimmering, sky was looking fine, legs were feeling nice. Unlike the ORF half marathon, the RnR SF half marathon has quite a bit of climbing. I have the elevation graph taped above my work monitor. Up, down, UP, down, down, up, down. In my attempt to prepare for San Francisco's rolling terrain, I ran up a long flight of stairs and small hill. They left me panting. It still felt good to stretch my legs, though. 

I took my sweet time showering and making breakfast before finally heading out to go to work. My car started up and sounded a bit rattly. Nevertheless, I pressed on, only to have my car die half a mile down the road.

My poor little Golf, stranded on MacArthur Blvd.

Having been hauled around in clunkers all through my childhood, I am no stranger to car malfunctions. Overheating, mysterious smells, running out of gas, flat tires, dead batteries, I've been through it all. This was a case of Sudden Car Death. Hazard lights, on. Stuck in a left-turn lane at a moderately busy intersection, I got out of my car and crossed to the sidewalk, AAA card in hand. But first things first--call home!

My dad is a fixer. The reason why we had so many old cars is because he'd take friends' old "broken" cars and get them running again. He claims to have taught himself how to fix cars out of necessity, but I think he secretly takes a lot of pride and joy in bringing cars back to life. Dad wasn't home, but Mom picked up. She left the house immediately to come meet me.

Next, I called AAA for a tow truck to get me outta there! Long story short, I was standing in front of Oakland High School on the phone for close to two hours before the truck showed up and hauled me back to the house. The friendly AAA representatives with their southern drawls (I wonder where their call center is...) were nothing but helpful; it just took a lot of back and forth to get a tow truck authorized to come get me. Mom complimented me on how calm and cheerful I remained through the whole ordeal. No sense in getting frustrated, I told her. Nevertheless, I needed a drink! It was still the morning, though, so instead the two of us went out for some pizza.

Can you see the resemblance?

Mom and I sat down at Slicer on Piedmont where we reminisced about my grandparents over mushroom pizza and strawberry lemonade. After our tasty meal, we walked over to Mountain View Cemetery to bring some irises to my Yun-Yun and Yeh-Yeh. Relaxing with my mom was a nice way to counter my stressful morning. If only I had the whole day off...! Alas, I had to go in to work. 

Not surprisingly, my abbreviated work day flew by. And now, it is time to go and meet some friends for All You Can Bowl!! By the way, I'm joining a bowling league. It is a dream come true!

Run Run Run!

This past Sunday, I ran the Oakland Running Festival half marathon. My goal was to complete the 13.1-mile race in under two hours. I succeeded with a finish time of 1:51:25! Average pace of 8:30 min/mi.

Race Day: The morning started out slightly overcast until the haze gave way to sunny skies. There were lots of cheering spectators, live bands, and motivational signs ("Your Asana Looks Great!") to help the miles go by. Some of my favorite parts were running through the flaming arch at the Crucible and high five-ing the DJ at the Raider Nation underpass party. I ran the event with a few friends, but I also bumped into some folks that I hadn't seen since high school or college! Throw in the post-race beers from 21st Amendment and all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, and it was a perfect Sunday.

Come Monday morning, my legs were a little sore, but I could still walk (unlike when I ran the ORF half marathon in 2012 without enough training). I felt achy and accomplished, but also a little bummed out. I had spent the last three months training for the race, and now it was over. So what's the first thing I do when I get online? Search for another race, of course!

I decided on trying out a Rock 'n' Roll event. There are four RnR half marathons in California: San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, and Los Angeles. If you complete 3 of 4, you get a special Cali-Combo medal. I spied the glittery gold bling at the ORF Expo, and it is a beaut! Naturally, I bought a 3-event "tour pass" and signed up for the RnR San Francisco half, coming up in 2 weeks!

I must say, this is very unlike me. I think I've caught some sort of bug. But I'm feeling pretty good.