Happy Halloween and Other Miscellany

So it ended up raining after work yesterday. Which was a bummer because I was really looking forward to running 8 miles at a trail near work and burning off the Indian buffet lunch that I overdosed on. I ate in anticipation of burning it off in the run. A little rain doesn't usually scare me but the rain was quite steady and didn't really feel like getting soggy shoes. So, what a girl to do? I headed to the gym instead. I really don't like to run on the treadmills. Does anyone really? And, the gym near my work is always crowded and not easy to hog the treadmill for more than 30 minutes. I knew I had to break the rules and really, be a bad gym member and not share. Good thing for my iPod and good running mix, I don't know how I got through the 8 miles on the mill but I did! Running on the treadmill is really hard for me because I get so tempted to stop and say, I can make it up tomorrow! It's so easy to push the pause button and stop where as when you're out on th road or trail, you have return to your point of origin. Besides the all the crazy amount of calories that I consumed at lunch time, I really am serious about my training for th CIM. I kinda half-a$$edly ran the Nike Marathon and I really want to run a sub 4 hour marathon at the CIM. All that motivated me to stick to my 8 mile treadmill run. Oh and I want to lose some weight so that I can shave off some time off my PR! I only had to switch treadmills once because people were waiting and I felt guilty about hogging my machine. But, I did re-start the machine over once when I thought no one was paying attention. I swear, I felt dagger stares on my back coming from people waiting for the machine. I'm so sorry!

After my sweaty 8 miler at the gym, I went to go visit my younger sister who's 15 weeks pregnant! (I'm the oldest of 3 girls!) I feel like I'm surrounded by pregnant women these days. My husband's cousin is 18 weeks pregnant, my best friend is 26 weeks pregnant and of course, lovely ND is 24 weeks along. :-) As a matter of fact, I'm throwing my BFF a baby shower next weekend! Oh and yes, it will be my first time being an aunt. She finds out the sex of the baby next week, I think! My sister and I ate my mom's left over lasagna (she dropped by earlier to drop off the food), watched Elizabeth (the movie) and watched my sister knit.. She's starting up her own business selling baby beanies, scarves, greeting cards, handmade jewelry and other hodgepodge. I somehow missed the day God was handing out the crafty talent gene.

Here's a photo of my 2 sisters on my wedding day. The pregnant one is Sujin on the right. My youngest sister Sue (on the left) lives in Riverside, CA and don't get to see her very often. I'm off to the right with Duane and the flower girls. Rest of the bridesmaids to the left.

Just for the heck of it, here's a picture of my good looking family. I guess I was off taking pictures? (Sujin, mom, dad & Sue)

And another gratuitous photo of me and my husband... along with the flower girls.

I can't believe it's already Halloween. Where did this month go? I have no Halloween spirit as usual and we'll probably go meet some friends in the city for dinner and drinks (sans costume). Tomorrow, I'm shooting for 16 miles in the morning then heading up to the Healdsburg area for the Russian River Wine Tasting event with the hubby and another couple. We'll be staying overnight, yay! Too bad this event didn't coincide with the half marathon last weekend! (Or maybe that was precisely the point...) Hope the rain lets up!!

And, of course, best of luck to everyone racing this weekend!!

Steve in the Tesfa 5k on Sunday
Training for Half and her husband at the 10.3 trail race on Sunday
The Running Lamintor in the NYCM on Sunday!!
Marlene in the Hamilton Half Marathon on Sunday
ncrunner12 in the City of Oaks Marathon *first marathon*
Marci in the Hamilton Marathon on Sunday (She JUST signed up?!?!)

Ok, one relevant photo for the day courtesy of Heineken:

Spinning vs Running

I'm supposed to run 5 miles today, according to the training schedule. With the bad air quality in the Bay Area lately, it concerns me a bit to run outside. I have heard long term affects are not-too-pretty when you inhale smoke and such. Yesterday morning, I woke up to lots of ash on my car!! Good thing it was my rest day. I'm thinking about going to the gym and spinning for an hour. I'm not crazy about spinning (I could never adjust the seats correctly and I'm usually sore for a day or two)! But is that a good enough alternative to running 5 miles? I sure do sweat a lot if I spin for an hour... While burning calories is great, not sure if it's good enough training for a marathon. I could run on the treadmill for 5 hours (which I've done before) but the 24 Hour Fitness near my work limist cardio equipment to only 20 minutes during peak hours. And I always feel guilty if I go over that time limit and I see there's a line to the treadmills. spinning