We did it! We successfully finished our second half marathon of the year.
Everyone has their reasons for training to run a marathon or a half marathon. Some people want to set PRs (personal records). Some like having the sense of accomplishment; others go for the experience and to run with friends. And then there’s me. I just like to eat.
Post-race breakfast!
This afternoon we left Morro Bay and drove up to Monterey Bay for the Big Sur Half Marathon tomorrow. I brought the Cabin Fever sock and knitted during the drive, finishing the sock in the first hour. I didn’t bring any other knitting projects, so now I have to find other ways to entertain myself.
Speaking of entertainment, I thought this was amusing: Our hotel room is old school fancy. There is a gas fireplace and a cathedral ceiling with solid wood beams. There is also a telephone within easy reach from the toilet. You know, for those times when you’ve got to take care of business– while you’re taking care of business. Tee hee.
P.S. We went down to the front desk to ask about staying another night and were informed that we could, but Day 2 we’d be housed across the way in their other, newly renovated building. Apparently, renovations for our current building start tomorrow.
A week from today is the Big Sur Half Marathon at Monterey Bay. Sean and I got up this morning, ate some breakfast, and set out for our last long run (6 miles) before the big event.
On the way home, during the final mile, I spotted something on the ground and looked at it in disbelief. Surely, it couldn’t be… ? I picked it up and sure enough, it was. And the real deal, too– not a counterfeit.
I have to say, that was by far my best run yet.
This is what it looked like on the ground when I first spotted it.
And here it is in all its Andrew Jackson twenty-dollar glory.
I’d requested this Tuesday off from work because Pat and I had the knitting class last night in Ventura, and I knew I’d want to sleep in and give myself time to drive back to Morro Bay today. Also, Sean doesn’t teach a class on Tuesday mornings, so we were able to grab some breakfast at Cafe Nouveau and spend a little bit of time together before I hit the road. It was a nice little way to celebrate the 300th day of 365 days handmade.
Looking forward to cooler days ahead!
Remember my little pumpkin seedlings that Sean and I planted back in June?
They bore two little orange pumpkins, each one currently about the size of a honeydew melon. They’re too small to carve for Halloween jack o’lanterns, but they are certainly cute. Here’s one of them.
Isn’t it cute?
Sean and I are signed up for the 2015 Big Sur Half Marathon in Monterey Bay. It’s four weeks away, and today’s training plan involved running 9 miles. Some people train for marathons and half marathons because they want to set personal records in their running times. I run because I like to eat. According to my Garmin watch, today’s 9-mile run burned up 946 calories.
We went out to eat afterwards, and I’m pretty sure my meal replaced a huge portion of those calories.
It’s been a long day. Sean and I left Ventura around 2 PM to head down to Carson for the L.A Galaxy game against FC Dallas. We got home a few minutes ago, around 10:30 PM. The game was sold out, and it turned out to be a very exciting match between L.A. and Dallas. But now I’m exhausted, and I didn’t even do any of the driving. I’m so glad I don’t have to go to work tomorrow.
In knitting news, I made a little more progress on the second Green Print sock.
Twenty years ago in September 1995, Sean and I started dating. Seven years later, we got married. Today marks our thirteenth year of being a married couple. Sean likes to joke that I could have used a pair of my own knitted socks on the night before the wedding. You know, because I was getting cold feet.
In other news, I knit the heel of the Green Print sock.
This year’s finisher’s medal
We did it. We completed the half marathon this morning. 13.1 miles, plus an extra 5 miles that we walked today, getting to the event, getting back home, going out for breakfast, going out to lunch, and later walking to the Ventura Promenade so I could take photos for the blog.
All I can say now is Owww. And I’m hungry. Again.
You may or may not be familiar with the pop surrealist artists Mark Ryden and Marion Peck and their body of work. In 2008, they collaborated on a short film called Sweet Wishes. (Go ahead and click on the link to watch the film. It’s less than two and a half minutes long.) The film features Dolly, Baby, and Bear, and it’s a story of what happens when the three of them get what they wish for.
Ryden and Peck also released a hardcover book based on the short film. Even though both Sean and I are fans of Ryden’s work and have even been to a couple of his art shows in Los Angeles, we were unaware of the film and the book until just a few months ago when we stopped to browse the Kinokuniya Bookstore in L.A. before heading out to a Galaxy game. I spotted the book on the sale rack and quickly snatched it up.
Sean wanted to make sure that we got to the Galaxy game in plenty of time, so we left the bookstore shortly afterwards and headed out to the Stub Hub Center. Once there and safely ensconced in a parking spot, we realized we’d made it with plenty of time to spare, so I pulled out the book and we sat in the car and looked through the pages together. I never laughed so hard at a picture book as I did with this one. We went through it quickly, and then I had to go through the book a second time, enjoying it all over again.
Fast forward to last week, when Sean and I were walking to the Golden Egg Café in Ventura for Sunday morning brunch. A few doors before the Golden Egg is a thrift store. I always stop to check out the display in the window if something catches my eye. This time, something definitely made me stop.
Dolly?!
Unfortunately, it was Sunday, and the thrift store wasn’t open on Sundays. I wanted to make sure that this doll was the same Dolly from Sweet Wishes, so I stood in front of the window with my phone and snapped a bunch of close-up photos of the doll’s face. Then Sean and I went on to the Golden Egg.
I forgot all about Dolly until I returned to Morro Bay the following day. As soon as I remembered, I went downstairs and pulled my hardcover copy of Sweet Wishes off the bookshelf and compared my photos to the ones in the book. Sure enough, the two dolls were the same make and model.
“Sean,” I said that night when we were talking on the phone. “That doll was Dolly! And I didn’t buy her. Someone else probably will.”
“Aw, I doubt it,” Sean said. “That doll will still be there. You can go back and get her when you come home this weekend.”
The week passed, and on Friday Sean caught the train from Ventura to Morro Bay. We drove back down to Ventura late Saturday afternoon and stopped for dinner and then groceries, so we didn’t get back home until almost 9 PM. Sean was still unloading the car, so I got to the door first and let myself in. Guess who was propped on the coffee table? Sean had gone back to the thrift store on Thursday and purchased her for me as an early birthday surprise.
I did a little bit of online research and found out that she is a vintage doll from the late 1960s. She’s in pretty good condition, considering her age. She was made in the USA by the Ideal Toy Company just a few years before I was born, and speaking of birthdays, I told Sean that his purchase of Dolly was all the birthday gift that I needed this weekend.
365 Days Handmade 